My Gospel
Take your Bibles tonight and turn to the
II Corinthians, II Corinthians, chapter 2. While listening to some of the things that
were presented in Columbus Ohio, in the opening session of this 4th
anniversary for the Columbus Bible Way church fellowship, I was inspired within
my heart to share with them this truth which I would like to share with our
people here tonight.
That whenever men attune themselves to God,
whenever men rise up to believe God, that it is God who calls men. God
has never called an institution or an organization. God calls men and I’m using the word men
collectively including women. God calls
men not organizations or institutions.
And the ministries, ministries live because men dare to live the
ministry. The apostle Paul, unto whom
the greatest revelation that the world has ever seen was given was a man of God
called of God, and he never did fit in any institution or organization because
God called him and God gave him a ministry.
God calls men and the ministries whereunto men are called, live. Because men, like the apostle Paul lived the
ministry.
In the book of Acts, we are told very plainly in Acts chapter 19 that
all Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jew and Gentile under the Ministry of
this mighty man of God, in 2 years and 3 months. And someplace else in the epistles and I
couldn’t just find it a little while ago.
It says that toward the end of the apostle
Paul’s ministry, if some of you know exactly where it is, I’ll take it any
second you’ve got it. Where he said that
toward the close of his ministry before the apostle Paul died, he says all
But these are the things that sometimes dwell in my heart and they jell
in there and I know this is what the Word says, this is what it teaches. But there in Acts 19, that’s what I know
because I teach it in every foundational class.
That all Asia heard the Word of God and yet before the death of this man
of God, in whom this great and wonderful ministry lived, whom God called before
that man died, the greatness of that Word of God that had dwelt within that man
and the people to whom he had taught it had been so ravaged by the world and
all the other things that entered in, that this great revelation was lost. This is why God had him to write the book of
Corinthians. Because the revelation of
the book of Romans and the greatness of that revelation is summed up in the
last chapter of the book of Romans if you’d like to take a look at it. The last chapter of the
book of Romans. Verse 25.
Now to him who is of power to stablish you according to [everybody’s opinion, No. Paul said
according to my gospel my gospel, why was it
his gospel? Because
God had given it to him. God
calls men and when God calls men, God gives ministries to men and those
ministries then become the property of the men.
We are responsible for what we do with them. We, as men of God, are responsible for how we
utilize, how we operate. This is why he said,
‘this is my gospel’. God calls men. God never moves generally speaking in this
world unless they’re are men, women dedicated to believe God. God is more anxious to hear our prayers than
we are even to pray
them. Right? Boy, we ought to be getting oodles of prayers
answered then, right? He is
anxious. Then why are prayers not
answered? Because we as people haven’t
risen up to the believing reality of ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ We dilly dally around. As someone said, we always got an ace up our
sleeve, you know. After all, we can
always go some other place and get the best.
You see, as long as we have these things, we have not come to the place
where we again can say ‘Thus saith the Lord’.
And every man or every woman in the Word of God whom God called and to
whom God gave ministries, were men and women who dared to stand and who dared
to believe. The apostle Paul was one,
but there are many, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses. How about Noah? But you see they were always individuals,
never institutions, never organizations.
Because the moment it’s institutionalized or organized, it’s already
dead. For the life of God is not in
organization, it’s in the power of His Holy Spirit and the greatness of His
wonderful matchless Word. That’s where
the life is – Christ Jesus. Amen.
Before I go any farther, I want to say with the help of someone in the
auditorium I now know that the Scripture I was searching for before is in II
Timothy 1: 15. It’s funny I didn’t see
it because I read I and II Timothy myself a little while ago. Just before I came in here and I didn’t see
it. I thought it was in Timothy. But I’ll tell you what I did,
I didn’t read the first chapters too well.
I read the last chapter because I figured he ought to tell them goodbye
in the last chapter. But it’s in the
first part, wonderful. Well, that’s good
to locate.
This thou knowest, that all they which are in
Now to him
[I’m back into Romans] that is of power to stablish
you according to my gospel, I want you to see this thing because people
you are born again of God’s spirit filled with
the power of the Holy Spirit, it is your word, it is to your gospel because God
gives you His Word, you speak it whether your man or woman. You speak it, it belongs to you because you
belong to God and God has given it to you.
You speak it. God calls men. Without dedicated men, without the dedication
in the hearts and lives of men and women, there would be no light. Now as much as you might like to say it,
might like to think it, might say well, wouldn’t make
any difference what happened to me, the teacher, this place is here. That’s what you think. That’s right.
The place is here. But unless
there would be another man to step in my shoes, to teach the greatness of God’s
Word, you can have this place built all over this 150 acres, and it wouldn’t be
worth hill of beans in a hailstorm or anything else. Because it has to be men in whom the Word
lives. They have to have ministries in
the body. This does not mean that I am
the only one that’s important. No,
no. But men whom God
calls, in whom God puts His Word.
He has the power to stablish you according
to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation [the
revealing] of the mystery, which was kept secret
since the world began.
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to
my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of
the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. -- Romans 16: 25
But now is made manifest, [now it’s revealed, manifest, you can see it by the Scriptures of the prophets, not the Old Testament
prophets but the New Testament ones] according to
the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the
obedience of faith.
But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the
prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to
all nations for the obedience of faith: -- Romans 16: 26
It was this mystery, this revelation of the mystery,
that the people forsook. That
they put away. They said it’s too good
to be true. It’s too good to be true
that you can be saved by grace, not of works lest any man should boast. We liked the old method because then we can
boast a little. Lord, I’m not like that
other fellow. I paid tithes even to the
end that I tithe the mint, the cumin.
I’m not like that other fellow.
It’s so much easier to get saved by works. They said we don’t like this revelation of
the mystery where you are saved by grace, not of works lest any man should
boast. And we don’t like the revelation
of the mystery that it’s Christ in you the hope of glory. That God has broken down the middle wall of
partition between Jew and Gentile. That whosoever of Jew or Gentile will come to him. And confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus,
believe God has raised him from the dead, is going to be saved. And that the Gentiles are
fellow heirs and of the same body.
We don’t like that. We like the
bride.
This is what had happened within the lifetime of the vitalest ministry
the world has ever seen under the apostle Paul.
And so God said, I want you to address an epistle to the church in
The books of Acts is the story of the rise and
the expansion of the Christian church.
The revelation of the mystery is given.
The foundation for it laid in the great book of
Romans, then, because they failed to adhere to the book of Romans and its
revelation, they got into error in their practice.
They practiced the wrong things, so Corinthians was written to correct
the practical error that had crept into the church due to the failure of
adhering to the revelation in the book of Romans. Then Galatians was written to correct the
doctrinal error which had crept into the church because of wrong practice and
the wrong practice because of the failure of adhering to the revelation given
in the book of Romans. That’s if you
want to understand Corinthians, you must understand the book of Acts. You must understand the book of Romans and
read the book of Acts, Romans, then Corinthians, then Galatians. And if you’ll watch it in the way in the which I’ve given it to you, these books will become new
and vital and alive, real to you. Because this is why God set them in His Word like they are set
here.
In the second chapter of second Corinthians,
in verse 14 of that second chapter. The Word of God says: Thanks be unto
God. Thanks be
unto God. Will you please see that? Thanks be to God,
not thanks to my neighbor. Not thanks to
my earthly brother or sister, to my dad or mother. Not thanks to the house of
representatives or the senator.
No, a thousand times no. And yet
we may be grateful and thankful for our brothers and sisters, our dad and
mothers. We may be grateful for a
Christian senator, a Christian representative.
Surely we are. But our thanks is not to them.
Now thanks be unto God, which [who] always
causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour [fragrance]
of his knowledge by us in every place. -- II
Corinthians 2: 14
We do not lean to our own understanding or to the arm of man. Our thanks is to
whom? God. Isn’t that wonderful? Thanks be unto
God. Thanks be to God who, once in a
while, no, who always, who always and the word always means always. Who always causes us to be defeated. To triumph, He always, thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph. Thanks be to God,
who always causes us to triumph. In
every situation, wherever we are, we are more than what? Conquerors because he loved
us and gave himself for us. And
in every situation, the early church was more than a conqueror even when they
took the believers and threw them into the arena. Those men and those women in that situation
were more than conquerors. Shall I read
it to you from Hebrews 11? Hebrews
chapter 11, verse 33.
Who through faith [believing] subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtain promises, stopped the mouths of [what?] lions. --
Hebrews 11: 33
Remember the story of Daniel?
Oh, they say it didn’t happen. I
don’t care what they say. Word says it
did. I stand on the Word. The Word’s wrong - go down with the
ship. But you see,
these are the believers of the Old Testament.
That we’re talking about here.
Have we any less in Christ Jesus than they had under the law? God forbid.
Then Christ Jesus lived and died in vain, right? And look what they
did. Stopped the
mouths of lions.
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant
in fight, turn to flight the armies of the aliens. -- Hebrews 11: 34
How did they do it? Through believing.
Believing what? The Word of God,
that’s right. Believing
that it was God who had called them.
That it was God who is on their side.
That it was God who protected them.
That it was God who was walking with them. That it was God who was inspiring them. That’s why they accomplished this. They didn’t have to trust Nebuchadnezzar,
Belshazzar or who ever were in power at that time. They trusted the Lord. Thanks be unto God
who always causes us to what? Triumph. Look
at the rest.
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: -- Hebrews
All the way through of the greatness and we’re surrounded with so great
a body of believers giving us a testimony of their believing and they had not
even received Christ. They looked
forward to his day, but the Word of God in Hebrews says we have more precious
promises in Christ than they ever had.
They just looked forward, you and I got it. The reality of it in Christ
Jesus. Back to II Corinthians 2:
14.
Who always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest, makes
manifest the savour, the sweetness of God’s
knowledge, the greatness of His Word. He
makes known the sweetness of it, the savour, you
know. Chanel
number 5. For what is it? My sin, my temptation. I don’t know what you’re all wearing.
But that’s the word savour, the sweet smell
of His knowledge. He makes known by His
angels. No. He makes known by the institution and the
organization, nope. He makes known by
us. By us, not Life, Look, or Times,
Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest.
But he makes it known by us. The individual believers, the men and women of God who are called
of God to whom God has committed the greatness of His wonderful matchless Word. Isn’t that something? He makes manifest the savour
of His knowledge by us in every place.
Well then, we ought to smell like it.
Sure, wherever we go we have the savour of His
knowledge, the sweet smell. You walk in
the shop or the factory tomorrow morning.
They ought to smell you. They
ought to know you’re there. That’s
right, why? Because
you have the Word in you. You’re
a different man, you’re a different woman.
The rest of the boys and girls may walk in and be all negative. But when you walk in, the
sun shines. That’s right. That place may be dripping with clouds, but
when you walk in, the clouds move because a man or a woman of God dared to walk
in and you having the greatness of God in your life, you effervescence, you go,
you shine, you radiate. You carry
forward the sweet savour of God’s knowledge. And people you and I well know we don’t have
to write it on the cuffs of our shirts.
We do not need to wear God driven.
We’ve got him on the inside and so renewed our minds on His Word that
wherever we walk, we glow. Wherever we
go, people are blessed because God in Christ is in you and when you go forth
that God in Christ is there where you are.
And where you are, there is a sweet savour of
His knowledge. There is the greatness of
His power and of His presence because you’re there.
Now thanks be unto God, which [who] always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
– II Corinthians 2: 14
Look at verse 15.
For we are
[you don’t have to try, you are. It’s
like in Acts, remember, ye are witnesses unto me both in
For we are unto God a sweet savour
[fragrance] of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish: -- II Corinthians
This is what we’re witnessing to.
In them that are saved and in them that are what? Perish. That’s right.
To the one we are the sweet savour, the sweet
smell of death unto death, and to the other the savour
of life unto life.
To the one we are the savour of death unto
death; and to the other the savour of life unto
life. And who is sufficient for these things? – II Corinthians 2: 16
By the way, this translation of
But do you know something? It
bothered me for years that we should be the sweet savour
of Christ to them that are saved and to them that are perished. That’s what I couldn’t understand. But you know it’s very simple because
representing the knowledge of God and with that positive attitude that you are
what the Word of God says you are and you have what the Word of God says you
have walking in the light of that mystery of God’s Word. You’re the only good thing that ever happens
to the guy that’s going to go to hell.
That’s right. You’re the only joy
that boy’s got on the road to hell.
You’re the only positive thing he has ever run into. You’re the only one that really loved him
even while he’s headed for hell. The
rest of them will just kick him and send them along a little faster. But you are wonderful even to those who are
dying - in death, without the new birth.
To those you are a sweet savour. Boy, this is tremendous. It is so wonderful, you know why, this gives
us our walk which is glory and nothing but glory all the way. It is glory just to walk with Him. It is glory, and as we walk forth, here’s a
man who doesn’t believe God’s Word. Well
what’s my life going to do to him? It
certainly isn’t going to push him down any lower. I’m not going to criticize him and find fault
and tear the rug out from under him.
That poor boy has already got the rug torn out from under him. All I’m going to do is just bless him
good. And I will just love him with the
love that I can engender. And that’s the
essence of what this Scripture means. To
the one we’re the savour, the sweetness to those who
are dying unto death. To the others, we
are the savour of life unto life because they believe
the gospel. Now it says, “Who is
sufficient for these things”? Well,
who? Nobody except
that body or that person whom the Lord has made sufficient. For it is our thanks be unto God who always
causes us to what? Triumph. It isn’t that a single person himself
triumphs. It is that God within me if
there’s any triumph, it is God within me, it is God
within you that makes you to triumph.
Who is sufficient? Nobody. But when
Christ is in you, you are more than a conqueror. Don’t you see it? That is what gives you your sufficiency. He is our sufficiency. Verse 17 says:
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: [that’s how they got the practical error.
They corrupted the Word of God]. But as of sincerity, [they did it sincerely, they
corrupted it, they thought they were right]. But as of
God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of
God: but as of sincerity, but as of God,
in the sight of God speak we in Christ. -- II Corinthians 2: 17
There we begin again to commend ourselves? No, for our sufficiency is not of
ourselves. Our sufficiency is from
Him. It reminds me of the apostle Paul’s statement in the Word of God where he said,
am I not well qualified? Could I not
offer all of my credentials? I came out
of the best stock of
Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we as some,
epistles of commendation to you, or
letters of commendation from you? -- II Corinthians 3: 1
Does a man of God in whom the Word of God lives need a letter of
introduction to you? Does he have to
present his credentials? Or is his life
the teaching ministry, the apostolic ministry, the prophetic ministry, the
pastoral ministry, the evangelistic ministry.
Are those wrapped up in that second verse where he says ye are our
epistles, written in our hearts known and read of all men.
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read
of all men: -- II Corinthians
3: 2
This is it. So when we speak the
Word, when we believe the Word, then the people among whom we minister, they
are living epistles. And its a lot better to have a living epistle than to have a letter
of commendation or recommendation or to have something put into a little 8 x 10
picture frame hanging on your wall. These are living epistles and you know what
makes it living. The
Word of God. And outside of that
Word of God, there is no life. This is
why God calls men. This is why God gives
ministries and ministries live because men and women dare to believe God’s
Word.
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