Isaiah 53:4-6 - Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
Romans 1:16-17 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
1 Corinthians 15:1-5 - Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Four Principles of Stewardship:
1. God owns everything, I own nothing.
2. God entrusts you with everything you have.
3. You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it.
4. God can call you into account at any time, and it may be today.
Main idea: When you preach the gospel to yourself, the Lord will strengthen your faith and your witness to others.
I. Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Strengthens Us to Accomplish the Ministry He Gave Us
2 Corinthians 4:16 - Therefore we do not lose heart…
A. Because it is the wonderful ministry of the new covenant
B. Because God sovereignly helps people understand the gospel
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
C. Because we know that we will be raised since Christ was raised
2 Corinthians 4:13-14 - But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
II. Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Helps Us Focus On Our Inner Man
2 Corinthians 4:16 - …but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
III. Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Helps Us Focus On the Eternal Glory
2 Corinthians 4:17 - For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…
IV. Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Helps Us Focus On the Unseen
2 Corinthians 4:18 - …while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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