Eight Characteristics Of A Gospel-Based Ministry - [2 Corinthians 4:1-7]

If you would turn with me in your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians, not 1st Corinthians, 2nd

Corinthians 4, verses 1 -7. Every year as an alum of Dallas, I get a magazine for the alumni.

And the one that came out in the summer of 2009, a couple years ago, was on expository preaching.

And it has a lot of quotes in there, of course, from men like Charles Spurgeon and some others. But one of my least favorite quotes is from George Burns, the late great comedian.

And once I say the quote, you'll know why it's my least favorite. He says, and I quote,

The secret to a good sermon is to have a good beginning, a good ending, and to keep the two as close together as possible.

2nd Corinthians 4, if you would follow along with me, 1 -7.

Therefore, having this ministry, by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

But we have renounced disgraceful and underhanded ways.

We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the

God of this world 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 what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

The Apostle Paul here highlights, as it were, eight characteristics of a gospel -based ministry.

Eight characteristics of a gospel -based ministry, whether it is in the context of a local church, or if you're teaching in Sunday school, or teaching in a discipleship relationship, or even teaching your children in the nurture and admonition of the

Lord. The Apostle Paul highlights eight characteristics, eight criteria for a gospel ministry.

The first one is courage under fire. Courage under fire.

He says in verse one, therefore having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

We do not lose heart. The King James says, we faint not. It's a very strong Greek term.

It means, basically, that one is not a coward. One is not, as it were, a spiritual wimp.

One, in the face of ministry, does not go hide in the corner with, in our today's vernacular, with their tail between their legs.

Paul knew what he was talking about because as he writes 2 Corinthians, his ministry and his apostleship were under attack by many critics, false teachers, false apostles, and he didn't even give in to them.

They were trying to discredit his ministry. He actually begins the epistle in chapter one, verse one, by saying

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. And if you would notice with me,

Paul was uniquely an apostle of Christ, unlike the other 12. The 12 were fishermen who were untrained.

They weren't scholars. Whereas Paul was a scholar who was trained on the Gamaliel. The 12 were called by the incarnate

Christ. Luke chapter six, the Lord takes an entire night in prayer and then calls the 12 to him.

Paul was called, in contrast, by the risen Lord in Acts 9, as we know, on the road to Damascus.

And unlike the other 12, as we read in Acts 1, when he was seeking a replacement for Judas, one of the criteria of apostleship was that they had to be with Jesus and be a witness of his resurrection, which

Paul was not. So he was uniquely called as an apostle. But these false teachers, these super apostles, as Paul refers them to, were trying to discredit his ministry and his apostleship.

And he says here that I did not lose heart. I did not become a coward and give in to them. That's why he wrote the book of 2

Corinthians. It's one of his major thrusts. He tells us in chapter 11 of the book, if someone comes and proclaims another

Jesus than the one we proclaim, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

Their end will correspond to their deeds. And he continues in chapter 12. I have been a fool.

You forced me to it. For I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super apostles, even though I am nothing.

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with the utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

Paul was not willing to give in at all in any cowardly fashion to these false teachers who were trying to discredit him, his apostleship and his ministry.

And that's part of the reason why he wrote 2 Corinthians. What was his motive for not losing heart, for not going faint, for not giving up?

He gives us two motives in verse 1. First of all, therefore having this ministry.

Whenever you see the word therefore, you got to ask, what is it there for? It forces us to look back at the context of chapter 3.

What ministry is he referring to? He's referring to the ministry of a new covenant. Chapter 3, verse 6, he calls him the minister of a new covenant.

He compares it with the old covenant. And he makes a major contrast in chapter 3 between the new covenant ministry and the old covenant.

For example, let me just walk you through them briefly. Verse 3 of chapter 3. The old covenant ministry was written with ink.

The new covenant ministry was written with the spirit of the living God. Verse 3 again.

Old covenant ministry written on tablets of stone. New covenant ministry written on tablets of human hearts.

That ought to jar your memory. Back to Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Jeremiah, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts.

Ezekiel, chapter 36. I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you.

That's the new covenant ministry. Also, in verse 6, he contrasts. Old covenant ministry of the letter that kills.

New covenant ministry of the spirit that gives life. Verse 7.

Old covenant ministry is a ministry of death. But the new covenant ministry, verse 8, is a ministry of the spirit.

Verse 9. The old covenant ministry is a ministry of condemnation. The new covenant ministry is a ministry of righteousness.

The old covenant ministry, verse 11, will be brought to an end. But the new covenant ministry is permanent.

Follow with me from verses 7 to 11 in chapter 3. And notice the term glory.

How many times Paul repeats it. Chapter 3, 7 to 11. Now if the ministry of death carved in letters on stone came with such glory that the

Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the spirit have even more glory?

For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.

Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it.

For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Paul's point, the old covenant ministry has no glory because the glory has been surpassed by another.

The new covenant ministry is more glorious. It's exceeded the old covenant ministry by far.

That's why the writer of Hebrews can write in Hebrews chapter 3, for Jesus has been accounted more worthy of glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.

But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And in chapter 8 of Hebrews, he continues.

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. And speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.

And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The apostle Paul knew that despite the attacks that were hurled at him to discredit his apostleship and his ministry, he stayed firm.

He did not lose heart because he knew he was a minister of the new covenant ministry. What was his other motive?

He says in verse one, therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God.

Of course, we talk about the mercy of God when it comes to our salvation. Titus 3 .5, he saved us not because of things we have done, but because of his mercy.

Or the classic parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee is so much better than everybody else.

He tithes, he fasts twice a week. The tax collector couldn't even look up to heaven, beat his chest and said,

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. But I love what Paul does in his own testimony in 1

Timothy 1. He says, I thank Christ Jesus, my Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

And Paul there combines the mercy of God was what called him to the

Savior and called him to this new covenant ministry. This is courage under fire.

A couple of years ago, sadly, my best friend's brother suddenly passed away.

And they had the funeral at church where I grew up. And I was given an opportunity to just share a brief few words.

And I kind of knew the audience there, people from different backgrounds, some Greek Orthodox, some Catholic, some evangelical

Protestants. And I spoke briefly for Matthew 7, where the

Lord said, Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not do this in your name and in your name and in your name?

But the Lord turns and says, depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. So I challenged the people there to consider the claims of Christ.

And I said, one day you're going to be where Nick is and somebody else is going to be sitting where you're sitting.

And when you get to that point, will you hear the words of Christ? Depart from me. I never knew you.

Well, it was during that time that the Lord really had to give me some courage because I came a little bit under fire, nothing to what, of course, the

Apostle Paul faced here in Corinth. But I got a letter from somebody that said, and I quote,

In you I saw a vengeful medieval pseudo -prophet trying to spread guilt, terror, and fear to all of those who came to pay their final respects to the deceased.

Your message was vile, vicious, and vindictive, surely not worthy of the pulpit nor the sanctuary you shared.

You created a false perception to the guests of the church regarding its truths, beliefs, and values.

Two other friends met me at our house. We had them over for dinner that I know who go to that church to correct my theology.

And before I knew it, my best friend whose brother had passed away suddenly called me up and said, You're being slandered on the

Internet because I had written a letter to the pastor of the church and to another lady who spoke at the church for giving false assurance and false hope to the people there at the funeral about their eternal destiny.

And I only sent that letter to those two. And somehow it got on the Internet. If you're going to be involved in church, in a gospel -based ministry, or in your personal life, expect to be under fire.

But don't lose heart because you have this ministry, New Covenant ministry, and we have it by the mercy of God.

Second criteria is a renouncement of the ways and methods of the world. A renouncement of the ways and methods of the world.

Notice what Paul says in verse 2. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.

We've renounced those things. Those are the ways of the world, even of the evangelical world many times.

We have to woo them in somehow. So let's go to the market -driven theology. Paul says renounce, it's a strong Greek word, is to run away from, to shun away from this stuff.

He says in 1 Thessalonians 2, the same idea that he's saying here to the

Corinthians. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive.

For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness.

Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Paul denounced any kind of worldly methodology and ways. He renounced this, despite all the attacks and the pressure that was on him.

So not only was he had courage in the fire and he renounced these worldly ways, but number 3, the unadulterated expository preaching of the

Word of God. The unadulterated expository preaching of the Word of God.

He continues in verse 2. We refuse. We refuse to do what?

To practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

That word tamper is an interesting word in the Greek. In non -biblical sources, it was used to describe the dishonest business practice of diluting wine with water.

The King James says we refuse to handle God's Word deceitfully. The Nazby says we refuse to adulterate

God's Word. Peter himself uses this word in 1 Peter 2, where he says he lists 5 sins in verse 1.

He says, put away all malice and all deceit. It's the same word there. And then in verse 2, he has a play on words.

He says, like newborn infants, many of you are familiar with this verse, long for the pure spiritual milk, the adolo.

He takes the A and negates it. In other words, the Word of God is not deceitful. It's the exact opposite.

It's pure. And that's what Paul is saying to the Corinthians. We do not practice cunning.

We do not tamper with God's Word because it is pure. We don't play around with it.

Merill Unger gives a great definition of expository preaching. And in describing the text, he says, it's real and essential meaning as it existed in the mind of the particular biblical writer and in the light of the overall context of Scripture.

That's what it is. What was in the mind of the writer when he was writing this under the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit and in light of the number 2 of the overall context of Scripture. Paul doesn't take this lightly, and we shouldn't either.

Why do you think that in his one song in 2 Timothy, the very last words that Paul would give to Timothy, what were they?

Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and careful instruction.

Why? For the time will come, and has already come, the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myth.

That's why James wrote in chapter 3, verse 1, Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

And that's why Charles Spurgeon said, The moment the church of God despises the pulpit is the moment

God will despise her. Not to be taken lightly. That's why

Paul in his pastoral epistles to Timothy, he said in 2 Timothy 2 .15, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth.

This has to be handled with care, the very words of God. But what was

Paul's motive? Just like in the first characteristic, he was motivated by this ministry, this new covenant ministry.

He was motivated by the mercy of God. What's his motive here in giving the unadulterated word of God?

He tells us in verse 2, But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

That's his motive for giving the word of God. Earlier in chapter 2 of Corinthians, he says,

For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

Unfortunately, in our day and time, this has been taken a backseat. There's not the same conviction and passion that the

Apostle Paul had about the unadulterated word of God. In his book,

Reverberation, Jonathan Lehman, who is the editorial director of Nine Marks Ministry, writes this,

I recently heard about the pastors of one church who struggled to maintain faith in God's word. Historically, these leaders were known for their commitment to the primacy of expositional preaching.

They would stand up to read and preach the Bible with reverence, and a hush would come over the congregation.

Ears would perk up. Fidgeting would stop. But then something happened.

They became discouraged by the lack of growth, and so they began a second service geared to a younger generation.

The pastors changed their clothes between services. Some said they changed their hair.

More gel, more spike. Well, fortunately, that won't have to happen with Pastor Mike.

More significantly, he continues, the church lost its hush whenever God's word was read.

That's how one departing member put it. Another departing member grieved that the leaders began to confuse tattoos with authenticity.

Both of these members, like many others, left to find a church where God's word was central.

My wife and I had the privilege the week of the 4th of July to go to an annual family

Christian camp that we go to every year. And I love the camp. It's great for the kids.

I'm always hesitant about the speakers they select sometimes. And the speaker was talking about the five loaves and the two fish and the miracle

Jesus did. And his extrapolation from that was that God can take anything insignificant in your life and make it significant.

Can he not? Of course he can. But please, don't use the text which highlights the deity of Jesus Christ to prove your point.

Twenty years ago, Pastor John MacArthur wrote a book which has gone under the radar. It's actually one of my personal favorites.

It was given to me as a gift after graduating seminary. It's called Our Sufficiency in Christ. And as only

John can put it, he writes, simply preaching the word is out. It's too confrontive. The unvarnished gospel is too offensive.

Bible exposition is deemed distasteful. Better to charm people first than slip the gospel unsubtly.

Any pastor who follows that pattern and fails to preach the word, listen to this, is prostituting the ministry.

Many preachers today are fearful only of offending people. Hence they preach an insipid, powerless message that is in fact an offense to God.

The fourth characteristic of gospel ministry, a biblical understanding of why the gospel is veiled.

A biblical understanding of why the gospel is veiled.

Verses 3 and 4, Paul says, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.

In their case, the God of this world 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.

Twice, Paul mentions the term veil. He picks it up actually from chapter 3, where he says in verses 15 and 16,

Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the

Lord, the veil is removed. It reminds us of Exodus 34, when

Moses will go up to the mount and he behold the Lord in all his glory and he would come down from the mount and we put the veil over his face while he would talk to the people.

Notice that Paul says it is veiled only, only to those who are perishing.

As Pastor Steve mentioned this morning, it's 1 Corinthians 1 .18. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.

It's moronic. It's actually mentioned four times in chapter 1 of Corinthians. In chapter 2,

Paul says the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are moronic to him.

The God of this world, referring to Satan. It's not that Satan is in charge, that he is the

Lord, only Jesus is. It's that he is the leader of the system of the world. He's blinded their minds, he says in verse 4.

It's interesting that when we think of blindness, we think of what? Sight. He's blinded their minds though,

Paul says. That is why we teach the word of God to give spiritual understanding to the mind.

And that is why Paul said in Ephesians 4 .18, they're darkened in their understanding. And no, this blindness is not partial, it is total.

It's not partial depravity, it's total depravity. It's total blindness.

I like the NIV because it says in the NIV, he's blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel.

It's not that they will not see, they cannot. It's impossible apart from the

Spirit of God. No one can come to me, Jesus said, unless the

Father who sent me draws him. Before I get to the fifth and sixth characteristic, which is found in verse 5, let me read the verse for you because there's two characteristics that come forth from that verse.

Verse 5. For what we proclaim is not Jesus Christ, but ourselves.

For what we proclaim is not Jesus Christ, but ourselves. Oh, it doesn't say that.

I must have the wrong study Bible, edited by Rick Warren and Joel Olsteen.

Wrong one. What does Paul say? For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.

Anything that is not Christ -centered preaching is self -centered preaching. Anything that's not

Christ -centered preaching, Paul is saying, is simply self -centered preaching. One of my professors from seminary,

Howard Hendricks, affectionately known as Prof, used to say, don't believe your press reports. If I had to boil it down,

I'd say, lie low and exalt grace. Because you can't promote yourself and him at the same time.

You're going to have to decide who is the center of attraction to your ministry. It's got to be

Christ. 1 Corinthians 2 too, right? For I decided, I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And on this point, Pastor Mike brings out a good point in his book, Jesus Christ the Prince of Preachers, quoting from Donald Gray Barnhouse.

If Satan really were to take over a city, the following would happen. The bars would close, no alcohol would be sold, there would be happy marriages and well -behaved children, no crime, and everyone would be in churches on Sunday where Christ is not preached.

That's what Satan would do. Christ -centered preaching is the fifth characteristic.

The sixth one is the lordship of Jesus Christ, taken from the same verse.

For we do not, what I like, the NIV says, preach. It's a Greek Gedexon, it's the same word used in 2 Timothy 4 too.

Preach the word. We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as what? As Lord. That's the issue.

Here it's a reference to two things. It's a reference to deity and to authority.

The term Lord here is a reference to deity first, because as we look at the end of verse 4, it says in reference to Christ, who is the image of God.

Colossians 1 .15, Christ is the image of the invisible God. Hebrews 1 .3, He is the radiance of the glory of God in the exact imprint of His nature.

It's the deity of Christ, but it doesn't end there. It's about the authority of Christ. How do we know that?

Context, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as what?

Your slaves. Your slaves. A slave has one master, one ruler, one authority, none other than Jesus Christ.

How interestingly, in the book of Acts, the term Savior mentioned twice, the term Lord about 90 times.

I love Peter's climax in his sermon at Pentecost, Acts 2 .36.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him, both

Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Why is it so significant?

Very simple, because it will determine the salvation of people's souls. At the same camp we were at, some of the counselors, high schoolers, would sit at our dinner table.

We'd get to know them, so I would engage them. So I'd ask two of the ladies there, I said, Tell me how you became a

Christian. Typical testimony. Well, when I was young, I prayed the tarar prayer, and then when

I got older, something happened in my life. And I challenged them to reinvestigate their testimony that maybe that when they surrendered to the

Lordship of Jesus Christ, that's when they truly got saved. Jim Elliott, Elizabeth Elliott's former husband, who died for the sake of the

Lord in Ecuador, writes, The Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Two more, number seven. What other criteria is Paul highlighting as a gospel ministry?

Number seven, an understanding that salvation is all of God. Salvation is all of God.

Notice what he says in verse six. Where does

Paul go to take us back to? Creation. He says, For God who said,

Let light shine out of darkness. That's a direct reference to creation. What was there before creation?

Nothing. It was only by the power of God's spoken word that everything came into existence.

So Paul is using that as an analogy to say, In the same way, you guys, at some point, the veil existed.

But God shone His light in your hearts also. What was there in our hearts before?

Nothing but sin. This is Ephesians 2. Dead in our sins, following the prince of the air.

But God who spoke creation is the same

God who speaks a new creation in Jesus Christ. We too once were blind, and we too had our veil over us.

Richard Phillips, in his book, Chosen in Christ, puts it this way. Why is anyone a Christian?

One might answer, Because they believe the gospel. But we go on and ask, Why did they believe while others did not?

The issue then is this. Is it because of something in the Christian that is more spiritual, that is better in some way, that enables him to believe while others hear the same message and do not?

The Bible says no. It is not because of anything in us, but because of something in God.

Namely, His own sovereign choice. Just as creation, there was nothing,

God spoke it into existence. Before we were saved, there was nothing in us to desire

God, to even want to please Him. God had to do it by His sovereign grace.

It is one of those but -Gods, isn't it? But God, who is rich in mercy because He loved us, made us alive with Christ.

That is why I love the way Charles Wellesley put it in his hymn, Can It Be, verse 4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin in nature's night.

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.

My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed

Thee. Any gospel -based ministry acknowledges readily that salvation is all of God.

Finally, the eighth criteria or characteristic of a gospel -based ministry.

The minister, anyone who is ministering, has a humble view of himself.

The ministers have a humble view of themselves. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Earthen vessels, the King James says. This is literally, in the Greek, clay pots that were used not only for putting plants, but were used for putting garbage and even human waste.

What is Paul saying? We have this treasure, this treasure of this new covenant ministry, this treasure of the gospel in clay pots.

His point is that I'm just lowly, common, expendable, irreplaceable.

I was talking to a friend recently who loves James Montgomery Boyce, who went to be with the

Lord about ten years ago. And my friend is having some struggles with his life about what to do. And I said, listen, you need to move on.

God will find a replacement for you. I said, just like he did with your James Montgomery Boyce that you loved when

God decided to take him home, God's ministry will continue however he sees fit with any clay pot that he chooses.

That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3, For when one says, I follow Paul and another, I follow a Paulist, all the division of leadership that was going, are you not being merely human?

What then is a Paulist? What is Paul? Slaves through whom you believed.

That's why also in 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to himself as the scum of the world. The Greek term,

I love it, is perikarthama. It comes from two Greek words, which means basically to scrape around the bottom of a burnt pot what was left over.

Paul says that's all we are. We're slaves, we're jars of clay, we're the scum of the world.

But God decides to use us. A fascinating study is to see how Paul views himself as we close through his entire

Christian life. When he wrote the book of Corinthians circa 55 A .D.,

he referred to himself in chapter 15, the classic resurrection chapter, as the least of who?

The apostles, 12. Later on, when he wrote Ephesians about A .D. 60, he referred to himself in chapter 3 as the least of all

God's people. By the end of his life, when he wrote 1 Timothy, he referred to himself as the chief, the foremost of sinners.

As Paul grew in maturity and in ministry, he realized more and more his true identity, who he was.

But why does he say we have this treasure in jars of clay? And he reaches a climax here.

To show what? That the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

What power? The power to save. It doesn't belong in my hand or in your hand. It's in the power of God, the power of the gospel.

It's a gospel -based ministry. Romans 1 .16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Why? Because it is the power of God.

A gospel -based ministry is highlighted by courage under fire, the attacks of those who would discredit a ministry.

It's highlighted, number two, by renouncing the ways of the world. It's highlighted by, number three, an unadulterated, expository, open preaching of the word of God.

It's highlighted by an understanding of why the gospel is veiled. Not because our methods need to be more creative, but because there's a spiritual blindness caused by the god of this world,

Satan. It's highlighted by a Christ -centered preaching. It's highlighted by the lordship of Jesus Christ.

It's highlighted by understanding that salvation is all of God. And finally, it's highlighted by a humble view of who we are as we minister the gospel.

Lord, we thank you for your eternal word, for how it speaks to us.

Thank you, Lord, for preserving it through the ages, for its truth in our lives.

I'm reminding you of Jesus' prayer, as I was reading earlier today. He prayed, sanctify them in thy truth.

Your word is truth. So, Lord, we pray here at BBC and individually in our homes, in our families, and in our personal lives with those that we teach, in whatever capacity that may be, that our ministry would be a gospel -based ministry.

That when we come under fire, under the attacks of critics to discredit our ministry, that we would not faint, that we would be courageous.

That we would denounce the ways of this world and we would just give the unadulterated word of God. That we'd understand spiritual blindness for those who are perishing.

That it would be Christ -centered in the lordship of Jesus Christ. And we praise you,

Lord, that you took the veil away from our eyes. Salvation is all of you. And thank you that you've called us to be clay pots, jars of clay.

Why? To show that this all -surpassing power is not from us, but it's from you.