2 Corinthians 4:1 “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;”

2 Corinthians 4:2 “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, 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 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:”

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Hello readers, I hope you’ve had a good week. It’s the end of another week here, time continues to rush by, and I had this thought recently from the Bible that I’m writing about today “If it’s hidden from you, it’s not because I hid it from you”.

I’ve been reading 2 Corinthians in recent times, and it is a book in which Paul talks about his ministry, his manner of life, what he went through, what he did, how he did it, what he told people about Christ. So it is very instructive to us Christians particularly as it relates to “our conversation in this world”.

You know, we are meant to grow up. We are meant to care about others and not just live a self absorbed life while others die and go to hell. And we are meant to reach other people with the gospel, and the Bible tells us how to do it. Remember, just as Paul wrote “by manifestation of the truth”… if you aren’t reaching people with the truth, you are wasting your and their time.

But here’s the facts… When we get saved, we are still in this world, a world described as “this present evil world”, a world that “lieth in wickedness”, a world in which many are perishing in their sins. And we are here as ambassadors of Christ with a ministry of reconciliation that has been given to us on behalf of Christ. We want to see people reconciled to Christ as we have been to him.

But the thing is, we will and do interact with a lot of people whom the gospel is hidden from. Just go and tell someone the gospel and find out. There’s a world out there who Jesus Christ is hidden from. Because he’s been hidden from them. And the gospel can be hidden from people for a number of reasons. But if it’s hidden from them, make sure it’s not you that is responsible for hiding it from them! Don’t YOU be among the number of reasons why the gospel is hidden from people.

So Paul, who is writing this epistle, was a minister of Jesus Christ. What that means is that he told people about Jesus Christ “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…”

Paul knew of the power of the gospel to save people from their sins and completely transform their thinking and their lives. Because it happened to him. And that’s why he didn’t offer his opinions, philosophies and theories, in fact for such a scholarly educated man, yet the only thing he said he knew was Christ and Christ crucified.

But when Paul said “I am pure from the blood of all men” as recorded in the book of Acts, it was because he hadn’t hidden the gospel from people. And you see, the point of what I’m writing is to say that if people don’t get saved… don’t let it be because you hid the gospel from them. Sometimes we pin it on the devil, but sometimes it has to be pinned on us… what have I done that’s harmed instead of helped?

The obvious way we think of hiding the gospel from people is that we don’t tell them the gospel. And yes that’s true. We should be praying the the word of God has free course in our lives and in conversations we have… and we should also pray for a door of utterance. And when there is an open door, we need to walk through it. You know, the best moments in your life looking back will be the times you shared the gospel with others… that’s what ultimately counts.

But we can hide the gospel from people in many different ways other than just flat out not tell them how to be saved when we should. And there are some things about us which actually undermine what we are saying, and even further hide the gospel for people. For instance, we can hide the gospel from others with our hypocritical, sinful, pretentious and two faced lives. That’s why Paul talked in this epistle about being “open faced” and how that we are the epistle of Christ “know and read of men”.

The fact is, people are “reading” our lives often long before we tell them about Christ. They often read you before they hear you. And if your mouth speaks differently to what your life is speaking, that is not going to be a good witness of Jesus Christ. And so our manner, behaviour and conduct in this world is vital to being a faithful witness of Jesus Christ “and ye shall be witnesses unto me…” Before the witness, there has to be the power… power that’s saved us to then save others. Often there is no power present to save… ask ourselves why that is “and the power of the Lord was present to heal them”.

So it might not be a mind blowing thought here today, but we know that Jesus Christ said we are the light of the world. And we know from scripture he is the light of the world. So our light is his light in us… Christ in us, the hope of glory “and his life was the light of men”. And we are not meant to hide that light, we are meant to shine that light before all men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is heaven. Our words and works have to match up.

So let’s think about our own lives personally and what witness our life is really speaking in this world. Because for many people that are not saved, guess what their number one reason for rejecting Christ is? That’s right, the hypocrisy of Christians. For many, it’s not they haven’t heard the gospel, but they’ve been put off by Christians behaviour. What if we fixed our behaviour so that “they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ”. And while lost people will find whatever excuse is necessary, lost people honestly can often make very valid observations about the deplorable conduct of professing Christians in this world.

“Having renounced the hidden things of dishonesty”… have we? Have I? Have you? Are we living double lives? Have you truly got Christ in your heart? A lot of us have him in our head, but not our heart. And nobody likes someone who is sneaky and untrustworthy and slimy, and yet that’s what most people think of pastors and churches these days… like they’re really after your money and they speak nice to you but aren’t real with you. There’s so much dishonesty in Christians these days, they can be the most untrustworthy people, and that ought not to be.

So really, I hope this thought sticks with you for a while. Can you honestly say that if the gospel is hidden from people that you know, that God has placed in your life, who are in your sphere of influence and you might be the closest thing to Bible they ever read… can you honestly say that you are not responsible for hiding Christ from them?

I don’t want to be guilty of hiding Christ from people. Not with my actions. Not with my words. Not with the manner of man I am. So I don’t want people to see I’m a hypocrite, not for self righteousness sake… but for Christ’s sake. I don’t want people to see I’m two faced, pretentious and a religious, pious sham… for Christ’s sake. We’ve got to get back to caring about our witness of Christ and what our life is really speaking about the Saviour we are representing.

Paul wrote a bit earlier in this book that he and his fellow laborers in Christ were “able ministers” of the new testament. Because as said earlier… every Christian is a minister of Christ, we are all meant to minister Christ to this world.

And yet, if there are “able” ministers, that also means there are “unable” ministers. And many Christians are not able to minister Christ to this world, because they don’t read their Bible, they don’t believe it, they don’t pray, they don’t tell others how to be saved… they are not “able”. Maybe you are not able because you have been “dis”abled by your sin and unbelief.

Or maybe you just have not been enabled. But “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me…” Paul wrote in another epistle. So let’s pray that God “enables” us to be a faithful and true lights in this world for him. The reason why we are not able is often because our ability that we rely upon is our own, and that we walk in… but our ability needs to be Christ “but our sufficiency is of God”. Remember, the light is the life of Christ in us. But if his life is not in us, you cannot shine. How can you minister the spirit when spiritual life is not in you “the husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits”?

But for today, let’s think about why the gospel would be hidden from people that God has placed in our lives. You know, I can reach people you never will. And you can reach people I never will. Just think, if every professing Christian was a faithful witness and minister of Christ to their sphere of influence… how different would our society be?

Yes, we know that the gospel is hidden from people, and it’s hidden from them by the devil. But please, just don’t let it be hidden by us from people. Don’t let it be us, and our lives, which serve to hide Jesus Christ from this lost and dying world. And let us all be able to say “If it’s hidden from you, it’s not because I hid it from you.”

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