2 CORINTHIANS 4 SINCE WE HAVE THIS MINISTRY2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Corinthians 4 Since We Have This Ministry

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as we work our way now into 2 Corinthians,

It's the second letter of Paul to the Church of Corinth. It's probably not actually the second letter. It seems that there was at least one more letter in between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, but we don't have that record. But Paul alludes to it in the letter, the previous communication that he had with them. And so he's continuing to develop this relationship, continuing to address issues,

and follow up on some of the things that he addressed in the original letter and the things that were happening there in the church at Corinth.

Well, a lot of what Paul is doing here in the book of 2 Corinthians is really establishing himself as an authority, really reestablishing himself and defending himself against those who have come into the church, falsely accused Paul of many things and attacked his credentials as an apostle and as a minister of Jesus Christ.

And so 2 Corinthians in many ways is a very personal letter as Paul reminds them of his time with them, reminds them of how he ministered to them, but also as he refutes what false doctrine is being taught and also the way that false teachers operate. And we see that a little bit here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

where Paul really reminds them of him and his ministry and the things that he has endured and continues to endure. But it begins in verse 1, saying,

And it refers back to chapter 3 where Paul is talking about the ministry of the gospel and the way that God is able to bring in truth and transform lives. And so Paul says, look, we have this ministry. And as a result, there's some powerful impacts that he will be explaining in the rest of the chapter. And so I've titled the message tonight, Since We Have This Ministry.

Like the Apostle Paul, we have been entrusted with ministry from God. That is, every believer in Jesus, as a believer, you are a disciple. You are a follower of Christ and you are charged with making disciples. As a believer, you're a member of the body of Christ and you're given a role within the body and you are gifted by the Holy Spirit to fulfill that role.

And so whichever way you want to look at it and, you know, whichever way you consider it, as a believer, we have a ministry from God. We have a capacity to serve God. We have areas and avenues by which God has called us to represent him and to serve him in this life. And sometimes that takes place here at the church on this property. And many times it also takes place in our homes.

It takes place in our schools and our workplaces. It takes place wherever God may send us, that there is connections he wants us to make, conversations he wants us to have, ways for us to serve him and bring glory to his name, to bring forth the love of Christ and the message of the gospel.

And so Paul says, since we have this ministry, since I have this opportunity, this responsibility, since God has entrusted all of this to me, well, it shapes my life. And that's what the rest of the chapter is about. Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way. He says, when Paul considered the fact that he was a minister of Jesus Christ, he was overwhelmed by the grace and mercy of God.

his positive attitude toward the ministry had some practical consequences in his life. And so we're going to look at some of those practical consequences this evening. And I want to encourage you to consider, put yourself in the shoes of the Apostle Paul because you have this ministry also. And

And since you have this ministry, since I have this ministry, well, these are things that should flow out of our lives as a result. So five points will work out as we go through 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Since we have this ministry, point number one, we do not lose heart over rejection. Since we have this ministry...

Paul here is going to explain, we don't lose heart when, well, our message is rejected or people reject us when we are misunderstood. We don't lose heart over those relationships that fail or those rejections that come. Again, verse 1, therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, 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. Paul says, as a result of being entrusted with this ministry, I make a deliberate approach to life and I've renounced the hidden things of shame.

I'm not trying to be tricky or sneaky or crafty in fulfilling my ministry. I'm not taking an approach that, hey, the end justifies the means. And so, you know, however I can do what I'm supposed to do, then that's what it is. He says, I'm not going to do anything that's hidden or shameful. I'm not going to be walking in craftiness. There's not going to be trickery or deceitfulness. He says, I'm not handling the word of God deceitfully.

There are ways to handle the word of God deceitfully where you're not honest with the text. You're not honest with what God is saying in the passage and you're using it to accomplish a different agenda than God has. You're using it to accomplish something else than what God is seeking to accomplish. And Paul says, look, I purposely, because I've been entrusted with this ministry from God, I purposely don't do that. I've laid aside hidden things of shame.

Now, previously, prior to Paul becoming a believer in Jesus, he would have had no problem doing hidden things of shame and walking in craftiness in order to trap Christians and to get them to denounce the Lord Jesus. But Paul says, I've removed all of that from my life. I don't behave that way. I'm not, you know, manipulating people to accomplish my purposes. Instead, he says, but by the manifestation of the truth...

commending ourselves to every man's conscience. That is by bringing forth, by speaking forth the truth, I'm commending myself to everybody's conscience. That is they may reject the things that I say, they may reject the truth that I bring forth, but they don't have anything about me to blame in it. Their conscience testifies, their conscience agrees as God is speaking to them,

So that there's nothing to blame. If I bring it forth in a crafty, tricky, deceitful way, well, then there is reason to blame and there is an excuse for someone to reject and to not believe. And so Paul says, I want to make sure that there is none of that.

Similar to how we saw in 1 Corinthians, Paul said, look, I purposely withheld my right to receive support from you while I was ministering to you, but I didn't receive your finances because I didn't want that to be an issue as an excuse for people not to receive the message.

And so the hidden things of shame I've put away. The craftiness of handling the word of God deceitfully, I've put that away. And instead I focus on revealing the truth and bringing forth the truth clearly. That is commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. So that before man and before God, the truth is clearly portrayed. It's not trickery. It's not deceitful. But then he goes on in verse 3, but even if our gospel is veiled,

And so I'm not teaching a secret gospel, a gospel that is veiled, Paul is saying in the first couple verses. But now he says, okay, but even if there is a veil or if it seems like there is a veil, the veil is there for those who are perishing. And it's not a veil that Paul has put there, but he goes on to explain this is a veil that the enemy, Satan, has put there. Verse 4.

whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. Paul says, look, I'm ministering to people. I'm doing my best to bring forth the truth clearly. I'm not putting any veils. I'm not hiding behind anything. I'm not doing anything trickery or manipulation or behind the scenes. I'm bringing forth the truth clearly. But if there is a veil so that people don't understand the message clearly,

He says, I want you to know that veil is not something that I'm putting there. I'm not the one who's hiding the message. There is instead the God of this age, which is a reference to the enemy, Satan, who rules in this world. And he has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. He puts blinders on. He puts veils on. He obscures and confuses and brings distortion and deception because his...

goal, he says here in verse 4, is that they would not receive the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. His goal is that they would not understand. And so the enemy brings this blindness, this deception. The enemy is at work against the work that Paul is seeking to accomplish. And so here again, Paul's saying, he's making the point, we have this ministry, we seek to bring forth the truth clearly and

And if there is a veil, it's because really of the hardness of hearts of those who will not believe and the enemy has put blinders on them and veiled the message for them. Pastor David Guzik says, understanding Satan's strategy with unbelievers should affect how we pray for the lost. We should ask God to shine his light, to bind the blinding of Satan and to give faith to overcome the unbelief.

You see, the real problem is not with Paul's message. It's not with Paul's approach. The real battle is not even with the people that are refusing and rejecting the message. The real battle is a spiritual battle with the enemy who hates the work of God and hates for people to be forgiven of sin. And so the enemy seeks to destroy and to keep people from the truth of the word of God.

connecting all this together again paul says since we have this ministry we don't lose heart even if our message is rejected we know it's not because we were being clever or crafty or trying to do it in our own resources we're being faithful to bring forth the message that god has given to us and and the the responsibility for the receiving of the message is not really upon us the responsibility well it really lies on the individual who will not believe

And that's between them and the Lord. But our job, as Pastor David Guzik was saying, is to pray along with the message of truth, is to pray for those that we are seeking to minister to because, well, the hearts are blinded by the enemy. And there's a real spiritual battle that's taking place. But we don't have to take it personally. You know, as we interact with people who are not believers, there is often, you know, that rejection that is felt, right?

And it's a good reminder that we don't lose heart because we have this ministry from God. And our job is to be faithful to God. And as recipients of his mercy and grace with the opportunity to serve him, our focus is on that, serving him. And we do not lose heart over rejection. We do not lose heart when people reject because it's not our message. It's not our ministry. It's a ministry that's given to us.

Well, since we have this ministry, first of all, we see that we do not lose heart over rejection. But the second point to consider in verses 5 through 7 is that we do not preach ourselves. Since we have this ministry from the Lord, by his mercy and grace, Paul says, we don't make it about ourselves. Verse 5, for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God...

Here Paul goes on to say,

We've received this ministry. We didn't generate it. It's not our idea. We don't have any credit for it. We've received it. The opportunity to serve God, the opportunity to be part of the work of the kingdom of God, we get no credit for it. It's not really ours. It's God's grace and mercy that has given that to us. And so as we go about our business of serving the Lord, Paul says we do not preach ourselves. We're not the message itself.

We're not the focus. We're not the thing that people should be attracted to. Instead, we should shine forth clearly the glory of God. We do not preach ourselves, he says in verse 5, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your bondservants, for Jesus' sake. Here's our focus. It's on Jesus. Jesus is the Lord.

And we're your bondservants. We came not to be your Lord, not to be your masters, not to be over, but to come alongside and to serve you for Jesus' sake, to help you know the Lord, to help you walk with the Lord, to help you draw near to the one who loves you so much that he was willing to die upon the cross for you. We're seeking to come alongside of you, not to make ourselves famous in your eyes, but

not to lift ourselves up, not to preach ourselves. It's something that we need to pay attention to. Who are we focused on? Now, as we have opportunity to serve the Lord, who gets the glory? Who gets the focus? Who is it for? It really needs to be a position of service to others for Jesus's sake. Pastor David Guzik says, often people love it when the preacher preaches himself.

it is revealing, it seems intimate, and it is often entertaining. But the bottom line is that the preacher himself can't bring you to God and save your eternal soul. Only Jesus can. Now that's an obvious thing to point out in the context of standing on a stage and bringing forth the message of the word of God or of the gospel. I could stand up here and just talk about myself all day. I could, you know,

Just focus on me. I could try to make myself look amazing in your eyes. I don't think I have to really work hard at that. I think I'm already amazing in your eyes, right? But that's not the focus. My emphasis, my focus needs to be to help you come alongside of you to help you see the truth of the word of God. And so heaven forbid that I would get up here and preach myself. But then considering your role and what that looks like, you know, as you come alongside people in friendship,

in seeking opportunity to share with them the love of God. It's important to keep this in mind that you don't preach yourself, that your objective is not to present yourself as the hero to them, right? You're not the one who can solve their problems. You're not the one who can save them. You're not the one who has all the answers. Your objective is to come alongside them to help them want to know Jesus as you serve in whatever capacity you might serve in.

As you take steps of faith, as the Lord puts things upon your heart. Since we have received this ministry, it's not ours. We don't earn it. We don't deserve it. We don't own it. It's by the mercy of God, he says in verse 1. Since that is the case, we don't preach ourselves. We preach Jesus. We focus on him. He says in verse 6, Remember that?

Going back to the book of Genesis, he said, let there be light. And there was light and light shone out of darkness. That same God who called light into existence, he says, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In the same way that God spoke light into existence at the very beginning of creation there in Genesis 1,

In that same way, God has given us light in our hearts in the face of Jesus Christ. And he has brought forth light. He's brought forth revelation. He's brought forth understanding in the person of Jesus, in the face of Jesus Christ. And again, his point is, the focus is on God. It's God who we serve. It's God who does this incredible work. It's God who is the one who brings light. And so we don't preach ourselves.

We preach Jesus Christ. I'm a servant coming alongside to help you know the God who spoke light into existence. Because the God who created all things loves you so much that he sent his only begotten son to die upon the cross for you so that you could be forgiven, so that you could be redeemed. And that's who you need to know. That's our message to the world around us.

And it's this incredible power of God, right? The God who spoke light into existence. And yet he goes on to say in verse 7, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. This treasure, what treasure? The treasure of the gospel. The treasure of the God who spoke light into existence and shown into our hearts in the face of Jesus Christ that

The God Almighty, the creator of the heavens and the earth, his work for us, his work in us, this treasure, he says, we have in earthen vessels. He's painting the picture here of, you know, we're a clay pot, an earthen vessel. And the clay pot itself isn't valuable. The treasure that's inside is valuable. The clay pot itself is the vessel to hold, to bring forth, to deliver the treasure, right?

But the clay pot itself is not the focus. In a similar way, Paul is saying, look, that's us. We're bond servants. We're servants of God. We've been entrusted with this ministry of God. And it's this incredible treasure that God has placed in us. And God has done it this way so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So that people wouldn't walk away thinking, wow, Jonathan is so powerful.

He is so excellent. It's all about him, right? No, when Jonathan serves the Lord, it should be we preach Christ, not ourselves. It should be through my brokenness that you see the power of God. Through my weakness, through my frailty, through my humanity, that you see God at work. And sometimes we are so terrified of, you know, being seen as human, but we're human.

Sometimes we're so terrified to let, you know, others see our frailties, our emotions, our struggles, our battles. But we're not the hero. We don't have to pretend to be the hero. We don't have to pretend to be the thing that's excellent. We don't preach ourselves. That's not our ministry. You know, sometimes we hold ourselves back from things that God puts upon our heart.

Because, well, you know, I'm not really, you know, that good. I'm not really worthy. I kind of blew it, you know, today. So I shouldn't do that, you know, later today. You know, we hold ourselves back for all of these reasons, which are the very reasons why perhaps we should go forward in the thing that God has put upon our heart. Because then he will be glorified even though we're frail and broken and messed up and earthy. We don't preach ourselves. Right?

We preach Jesus Christ the Lord, and we preach ourselves as bondservants. I just want to serve the Lord. I just want to be faithful to the Lord. As you think about the earthen vessel, it might be something that you can relate to, and maybe it's something that is a focus of yours. Now, there's two sides to this. On the one hand, we need to make sure we're not glorifying the vessel, right? And

Because we want the treasure to be glorified. We want Jesus to be glorified. But we also need to be careful not to go too far the other way and to abhor the vessel. Think about it this way. Here's what Pastor Warren Wiersbe says. He says,

Each of us must accept himself and be himself. You might find that quite challenging. No Christian should ever complain to God because of his lack of gifts or abilities. Do you ever feel incompetent for the work that is before you, for the challenge that is at hand? Do you feel unqualified to do the thing that God has put upon your heart? Do you feel like you're not up to the challenge of the situation that you face?

Warren Wiersbe gives us a pretty severe challenge here. No Christian should ever complain to God because of his lack of gifts or abilities. God made you. He created you. And he even allowed for those weaknesses in your frail condition, in your humanity. So that, going back to verse 7, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. You see, if I don't have the wisdom that I think that I need, well, that's okay.

I mean, I can obey the scriptures and if I don't have wisdom, I can ask God who is the one who gives wisdom. James chapter one talks about, right? That we can do that. We can seek out the Lord for the wisdom that we need, but we can also understand if I don't feel like I have the wisdom, if I don't feel like I'm qualified, it doesn't mean that I'm out of commission because perhaps it's through my foolishness that the Lord will glorify himself and his excellence will be made known and his treasure will be revealed.

It's like if I just, you know, walk onto the golf course and I don't know how to play golf and I just kind of swing, hit the ball, it goes in, hole in one. Nobody's going to give me credit because it's very clear, obvious, like that's a lucky shot, right? But ministry wise, if you go out and say, you know, I don't really know what to say, but

Here's something I'm going to say. Because God's told me to speak. He's put something on my heart. I don't know why he's put this on my heart. It doesn't make sense. You know, so many times we want to like come in with the answer. Or we want to have the why. We want to have the whole picture, the whole story. And then, you know, then we'll come and share. But...

then we'll come and act, then we'll go and serve when we know the whole picture. But what God often wants is for us to just trust him. We don't have all the picture. We don't have all the pieces. We don't understand all the things. And that's okay because we're not preaching ourselves. I want to appear very wise in your eyes, right? But if I insist on that and if I make that the focus, then I'm not going to be effective to communicate to you the wisdom of God.

It's often going to be through my weakness and my frailty and my foolishness that the wisdom of God is going to be revealed to you. When I bring forth his word, kind of unknowingly, you know, without my plan, without my devices, because I don't preach myself. You don't preach yourself. We preach Jesus. We have received this ministry from the Lord. And so it's Jesus we preach, not ourselves.

Well, moving on to verses 8 through 12, we get the third point to consider this evening. Since we have received this ministry, we are not crushed under pressure. That's point number three. We are not crushed under pressure. Let's look at verses 8, 9, and 10. It says, we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken.

I think this is one of those passages that are incredibly challenging for us. And for this passage to really be in effect in our lives, we have to be really aligned with the will of God and the plan of God.

We really have to have it on our hearts that we want God to be glorified in our lives, that we really want to seek the Lord, to know the Lord, to walk with the Lord, and to be right in the center of God's perfect will. For these passages to really take effect, we need to be in perfect sync with the Lord because there will be those times where we are hard-pressed on every side. And Paul says, look, we are hard-pressed on every side, but we're not crushed by it.

He's not pretending like there's no challenges and there's no difficulties and there's no afflictions. He's not pretending like, you know, it's just, hey, it's a life of victory because I believe in Jesus. And, you know, everything is perfect and wonderful and amazing. No, he says we're hard pressed. Everywhere we turn, there's a hard surface. We're between a rock and a hard place and a cliff and a valley. And, you know, like we're stuck all around, hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. There's incredible pressure on us, but we're not crushed, perplexed.

We don't know what to do. We don't know what God's doing. How can God work through this? How can God bring good through this? How can God accomplish anything through this? We can't figure it out. But Paul says, but that doesn't leave us in despair. Even though we just like, it's so perplexing. It's so confusing. It doesn't make any sense, but we don't despair. Again, tying it back to verse one, because we have received this ministry from God. Because God has called us to be his servants,

Even when we don't understand and we're perplexed and confused and can't see the whole picture, he says, we're not in despair because we know God's entrusted this ministry to us. We know he's with us. We know he has a plan for this. We know he's going to work through the midst of this situation. And so even though I'm hard pressed, I'm not going to let it crush me. I'm not going to give up. Even though I'm persecuted, Paul says, I'm not forsaken. I'm not going to give up.

People are coming against me and they're even victorious in their battle against me. And they're accomplishing their purposes in their attacks against me. But at the same time, I'm not forsaken. The Lord hasn't left me. I'm struck down, physically beaten, physically hurt, but I'm not destroyed. And so Paul says, look, kind of summing it all up, I'm always caring about the body, in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus. I'm suffering physically.

like Jesus suffered. But as I'm doing that, he says, the life of Jesus is being manifested in our body, enduring the suffering and enduring the difficulty, being pressed but not crushed, being perplexed but not in despair, being persecuted but not forsaken, being struck down but not destroyed. Enduring those situations, Paul says, it's manifesting, that is revealing to everyone around us

The Lord Jesus, the life of the Lord Jesus. You need to understand as Paul is talking about suffering here, he knows what he's talking about. We'll see that here in 2 Corinthians as we continue on. In chapter 6, he talks about the marks of a minister and one of the, not just one, but the majority of the marks of a minister he'll describe there is suffering, endurance, hardship. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he'll talk about many of the things that he endured.

The times that he was beaten, the times that he was shipwrecked, the times that he was robbed, the times that, and he talks about those things throughout this letter. He experienced those things. Pastor David Guzik says, everything Paul says about suffering, he says as a man who probably suffered more than you or more than anyone you will ever meet. This was not theory to Paul, but real life experience. You can be hard pressed and not crushed.

Again, I would say for this to really take effect in your life, you need to be aligned with the will of God and the plan of God. You need to put God first, to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That truly has to be first in your life. Because if Christ is not first, if God's will is not the priority, if it's not God's glory at all cost, then very easily I will be hard pressed and crushed. And I will despair. And I will lose heart. And I will lose faith.

Because, well, God is not my focus. He's not my priority. He must be first. He must come before all else. Going on in verse 11, he says, Now there's some interesting things to consider here. Paul here is explaining, look, we're delivered to death for the Lord's sake.

Again, calling back to 1 Corinthians when Paul was referring to how he would not refuse or would not receive income from the Corinthians as he was ministering to them. He said it was a matter of endurance for him. He endured hardship.

It was incredibly difficult. It was incredibly challenging. He faced persecution. He faced difficulty. He had to work very hard to provide for himself and also to minister to the people. He was experiencing the dying of his body. He was experiencing the suffering of his flesh. Great hardship and endurance. So that the Corinthians could experience the life of Jesus. And they benefited as he...

Well, as he says in verse 12, so then death is working in us, but life in you. And he was willing to pay that price. He was willing to suffer in that regard, to give of himself, to experience and endure hardship to that degree so that they might have life because his heart was aligned with the will of God. And so he's able to say, we're not crushed under pressure because we're right where God wants us to be. And we're willing to suffer. We're willing for ourselves to

our flesh to be put to death, the death of the Lord to be manifested in us, that you might experience the life of Christ. He's talking about really sacrificing himself so that they might benefit, aligned with the will of God and the heart of God. Pastor Thomas Constable puts it this way, while Christ's ministers suffer because of their testimony for the Savior,

Those to whom they minister experience new and greater spiritual life because of those ministers' faithfulness. The more faithful Paul and his companions remained to God's will, the more they suffered and the more the Corinthians prospered spiritually. Their faithfulness to God's will led them into more suffering, which led to greater spiritual results and realities for the Corinthians.

That's one of the ways that God works. You think about Paul's life himself, right? He was impacted hugely by the stoning of Stephen. And it was as this man stood up in the name of the Lord for the gospel of the Lord and died on behalf of the Lord. Paul witnessing this, watching all of this, it was after that that he began to wreak havoc in the church.

If you look at it from Stephen's perspective, he was willing to suffer in the will of God to die, to make the impact upon Paul that would eventually lead to his turn unto the Lord, his receiving of the truth of the gospel and receiving of Jesus Christ. You see that the gospel is worth it and the ministry is worth it. The ministry that we've been given is, it's such a great opportunity. It's such a great responsibility. It's worth it.

being completely sold out to God and his will and his purposes, even if it costs us severely and greatly. And when we're sold out for the will of God, even though we're hard pressed on every side, we're not crushed because we've been given this ministry from God. Even though we're perplexed, even though we can't figure out what's going on, we don't despair. We don't give up. We don't quit because we have this ministry from God.

And so we go forward with what God has called us to do. Moving on to verses 13 through 15, we get the fourth point to consider this evening. And that is we believe and therefore speak. Here's what it says in verse 13 through 15. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak. Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will present us with you.

Paul here makes a reference back to Psalm 116, where the psalmist says this,

And the context as he talks about it, he says, I believed and therefore I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, all men are liars. Verse 12, what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. It's the journey that the psalmist David is going through. And so he's saying, look, I believed and therefore I spoke. I believed God at his word. I believed what he said and therefore I

It prompted me, it caused me to speak out, to speak forth. And Paul says, we have the same spirit. It's the same thing for us. All of these where we're hard pressed and not crushed, we don't see it. We don't see it and therefore speak. We're perplexed, but not despairing. Not because we see it, but we believe and therefore we speak. We believe God at his word. We trust the word of God.

Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus. Paul says, look, I can say these things to you with great confidence. I believe, therefore I speak to you. Because even if I'm crushed when I'm hard pressed, even if it does cost me my life, here's what I know. He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus. In the past week or so, we've been really focused on resurrection. Looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

And here Paul is kind of reiterating that. We know this. There is a resurrection. There is an eternity. All things will be made right in eternity. And so it gives us this great confidence. It gives us this great boldness. And we're able to be hard-pressed and not crushed. We believe and therefore we speak because we know our eternity is secure. And so Paul says, all things are for your sakes.

that grace having spread through the many may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. We're seeking to serve you and we're willing to suffer in order to serve you. And even if it costs us dearly, even if it costs us our life, because we know.

eternity is the reality. And Paul is going to go on here in verses 16 through 18 to really focus on the life that is to come and the eternity that he looks forward to. And so let's jump into verses 16 through 18. It gives us point number five. Since we have this ministry, we do not lose heart over temporary things. And just think through that thought a little bit. Since we have this ministry, we

We do not lose heart over temporary things. Verse 16 says, Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary things.

but the things which are not seen are eternal. Here Paul says, again, we don't lose heart. He said it in verse one. He's still explaining this whole time why he doesn't lose heart. Even though he suffers greatly, even though he's misunderstood, the message is rejected, even though he's going through all these things and experiencing all these things and has all these accusations against him and is dealing with the people that he ministered to there in Corinth and have turned against him,

Therefore, he says, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, physically, boy, we're being torn up. Physically, we're being worn out. Physically, exhausted, stretched thin. But inwardly, God continues to work. Inwardly, God continues to speak. And so we're being renewed day by day, Paul says. God's renewing. He's meeting us still where we're at.

And so even though physically on the outside, we're worn out, exhausted, beat down, stressed out, internally, we get this refreshing from the Lord. We get this fresh fire, this fresh vision, this refreshing peace as we connect with God. And he says, day by day. And again, for these things to really take effect in our lives, we need to bring ourselves into full alignment with God and his will.

So that day by day, we're connecting with God and being renewed and being recharged by the Lord, having a real connection to him, to be fed, to be fired up, to be refreshed and renewed internally, no matter what's happening to us externally. And Paul says, our light affliction, which is but for a moment. You can think about that for a minute, right? Our light affliction. Now, a few moments earlier, he was saying, we're hard pressed on every side.

And now he refers back to that as a light affliction. How can that be a light affliction when he's hard pressed on every side? Which is but for a moment. Paul here is not speaking about how little the problem is, how little the difficulties are. He's speaking about how little they are by comparison. The afflictions are not actually light. Like if we were to measure them and we were to experience them, we would not call them light afflictions, right? And you know how it is when you're suffering, when you're hurting, right?

Each moment feels like eternity and it feels like this pain is never going to end. And so when Paul says our light affliction, which is but for a moment, he's not saying the affliction is short. He's not saying the affliction doesn't hurt, but he is in his mind doing a comparison with what? Eternity. He says it's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

So you look at the affliction and then you look at the result, the weight of glory that results in eternity. And by comparison, you say, oh, it's a light affliction. You really have to believe God at his word for this to be the case. You have to believe and therefore speak, knowing that the one who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise me up to be able to say this life, the afflictions that I face, they're light afflictions, which are but for a moment. You really have to believe God at his word for this to

to be effective in your life. And Paul says, look, I really believe it. In eternity, the reward is so great, I'm willing to pay the price. And so it makes this affliction a light affliction. It makes this long affliction a moment of affliction. It's not unlike, you know, something perhaps lavish or expensive that you want, and it's costly, but

And it, you know, requires you to save. It requires you to work hard and you save up and it's a sacrifice, right? But you get this, whatever it is that you want. Car, phone, tablet, Apple Watch. It costs, but you say, oh, you know, at first you go, oh, that's expensive. Or you tell somebody else, hey, I'm going to buy this. They go, oh, that's expensive, right? Oh, no, no, no. It's not too bad. Because as you're looking forward to it, you're like, hey, it's worth it.

even if it costs me my savings, right? Like, oh, no, no, it's worth it. I don't mind because you're valuing the result. You're looking at what it will bring. And in a similar way, the light affliction, which is but for a moment, Paul says it's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The things that we face in this life are but for a moment. It never feels like that. I understand. Well, maybe the, you know, the good things and the wonderful times feel like just a moment, right? But

But the hardships and difficulties that we face, the pain that we work through, it never feels like it's just for a moment. But it is. Believe God at his word. Pastor David Guzik says, even if one were to live for a hundred years and suffer every day of their life, by the measure of eternity, it is but for a moment. Boy, that is hard for us to believe, right? But it's the truth. When you compare this life, even if you live a hundred years, to eternity, this hundred years is just a moment.

It's so fast. There's so much more that God has in store. It's worth it to be aligned with the will of God. Since we have this ministry, oh, let's serve the Lord. Let's give ourselves to the Lord. There's not going to be like, it's not going to be without cost. It's not that it's going to be all glorious and rainbows and pillows and butterflies and soft things and, you know, all good stuff. It's going to be hardship and there's going to be affliction.

But you know what? Even if you're not seeking to serve the Lord and fulfill the ministry that he's given to you, your life is going to be filled with hardship and affliction. And so really you have a choice. I mean, you could try to live in a fantasy world where there's no hardship and no affliction and there's no emptiness and your soul is, you know, not aching. You could try to live in that fantasy apart from God if you want to, but it's a miserable existence. No, there is going to be hardship in this life. There's going to be affliction.

There's going to be fires. There's going to be difficult things that we face. But if we will align ourselves with the will of God and agree with God that it's worth it to put him first, to serve him above all else, there will still be affliction, but we'll be able to understand it's a light affliction. Not that the affliction is actually lighter by, you know, other people's comparison. In fact, they're probably going to look at our lives and say, boy, you're crazy. How can you have joy in the midst of that?

How can you press on under those conditions? How can you survive under those things? No, no. It's going to be real affliction, but it will be accomplishing an eternal weight of glory that by comparison, it's light. The heavy things that we face are light compared to the weight of glory that it produces for us in eternity. The long seasons of affliction that we face are just for a moment light.

When we are in eternity with the Lord and we look back, we'll agree. It was just a moment and it was worth it. It was worth it. Pastor G. Campbell Morgan says, "'Affliction is not something to be endured in order to reach glory. It is the very process which creates the glory. Through travail comes birth. Through suffering comes the triumph. Through dying comes the living.'"

It's not that we have to endure affliction just to get to the eternity, right? But it's the affliction itself which produces the weight of glory that awaits us in eternity. And so Paul seeks to keep his eyes focused. In verse 18, he says, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. We keep adjusting our focus. We keep redirecting our eyes to not look at the things which are seen, but

but to be focused on the things that are not seen. Because the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Everything that you see is temporary. The physical, it's temporary. And we could be devastated when we lose that thing, but it is temporary. It was always temporary.

And it's easy for us to get distracted by the physical, by what we can see, because we can see it and it seems so real to us. But if we believe the word of God, these things that seem so real to us that we can touch and taste and feel and see, these are not the things that are permanent. These are the temporary. And sometimes we get so invested in the temporary. We get so invested in the things that aren't going to last. And so when they don't last, we lose heart.

Paul says, since we have this ministry, we don't lose heart over temporary things because our focus is not on this life. And we continue to redirect our eyes, to point our focus on the things that will last for eternity, on the things that are to come, the things that will be forever and ever and ever and ever. For this chapter to really take effect in our lives, we need to align ourselves with the will of God.

to really be willing to say, okay, God, whatever you want, and Lord, however you direct and however you lead, my main goal is gonna be to serve you and fulfill the role that you give to me, to do the things that you call me to do. And when that's my heart, when that's where I'm at, well, then I can not lose heart, even when there's rejection. Even when I seek to fulfill that ministry and it doesn't seem to be received well, I can not lose heart.

I can choose to not be discouraged, to not quit over the apparent failure of that attempt because I've received that ministry from the Lord and I'm just doing what he's called me to do and what he's put upon my heart. And so I'm going to take steps forward and even if it doesn't seem to be successful or understood, I won't lose heart. Since we have received this ministry, we don't preach ourselves. I'm not the hero. You're not the hero.

We're not seeking to glorify ourselves in people's eyes. We're seeking to glorify the Lord in our lives, to be the vessel that brings forth the treasure, that reveals the treasure, that our weakness reveals his strength. And the Lord will tell Paul that later in 2 Corinthians as well, chapter 12. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. And so let's be okay with that. We're earthen vessels. That's okay. We don't preach ourselves.

And we're not crushed under pressure. We're not crushed, even though it gets hard, even though there's pressure. We have received this ministry from the Lord. We don't give up. We don't quit. We don't abandon it. He's with us. He's working through us. And he's even working through the afflictions and difficulties to a greater degree than we understand. We believe that. And therefore we speak. Therefore we serve. Therefore we do what God has called us to do, fixing our eyes on the eternal so we don't lose heart

over temporary things so we don't get distracted and caught up and consumed with this life. But instead, our hearts, our minds are above. This is the ministry that you've been given. So let's align our hearts with God's and look to serve him above all else. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and the great reminder, Lord, of the ministry that you've given to us.

lord what a privilege it is to be part of your work to serve you and to bring honor to your name i pray god that you would stir up this desire in each one of us lord that we would put you first that we would seek to know you that we might then serve you and communicate your love and your truth to the world around us and i pray that you would help us as we work through these things as we seek to serve you

Lord, there's all kinds of things that we're gonna face and all kinds of experiences that we're gonna have. Help us to keep our eyes focused and fixed upon eternity, to have the eternal picture in view. Lord, that day by day, we might be renewed by you to endure, to press on, to continue the ministry that you've given to us. May we be faithful to you in this life. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

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