"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day!" (II Corinthians 4:16)
Last week, in our lesson on II Corinthians 4:7-15, we saw the apostle Paul literally at his wit's end, from a human standpoint; yet from a spiritual standpoint he was on top of the world! His life was such a paradox! As he himself describes it (in verses 8-9), he was "afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Christ, so that the life of Christ also might be manifested in his body"!
And in looking back at the seemingly unbearable litany of trials and persecutions he endured in his life, particularly as cited in II Corinthians 11:23-28 (as we noted in last week's lesson), we can't help but conclude that there was never another a man in all of history who suffered for the cause of Christ as much as he did! In I Corinthians 4:9-13, he wrote that God had "exhibited us as apostles last of all, as men condemned to death...as a spectacle to the world...fools for Christ's sake...slandered...the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even as now"! In II Corinthians 1:8 he added, "We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of the affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raised the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us!"
And yet, he declared in his opening statement of II Corinthians 4 that "since he had this ministry, as he had received mercy, he did not lose heart..but by the manifestation of truth commended himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if the gospel is veiled, it is veiled those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (Satan) 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!"
And he continued, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said (in Genesis 1), 'Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ!"
And he added that "we have this treasure--this priceless treasure ("the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"--or 'the good news' off salvation in Christ!) in earthen vessels"! Likening himself (and others who preach, and deliver, the treasure of the gospel of salvation), as "earthen vessels", or cheap, common, and fragile clay pots, so that the surpassing greatness of the power (of salvation in Christ!) will be recognized as the work of God, and not from ourselves"!
And so, through this process, the great gift of salvation in Christ (the priceless treasure!) was "spreading more and more (through his preaching), and abounding to the glory of God"! And with "the same spirit of faith," Paul knew and believed, with great confidence and an unshakeable conviction that even if he died, he would one day "be raised up, just as Jesus was raised, and be present and alive with Him, and with them" (those who had also believed and trusted in Christ) for all eternity! For him, "to live was Christ, and to die was gain!
And that same confidence in Christ that Paul demonstrated in last week's lesson set the scene, and the tone, for our lesson last night, where Paul begins by declaring that "therefore" (because of the reality of the treasure of the new covenant promise of "new life in Christ"), "we do not lose heart," and that "though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day"!
The apostle Paul was just like us, in the sense that we're all growing old and "wasting away," physically, as part of the normal aging process, but the beatings and sufferings he endured from those who opposed him, only added to, and speeded up, that dying process, as it was taking a heavy toll on his body! He literally wore himself out in ministry for Christ! And yet his inner man was being renewed and increasingly growing into more Christlikeness, as he "put on the new self"! (Colossians 3:10)
And yet, in another paradoxical way, he viewed all the heavy affliction that he suffered as only "light" and "momentary," producing for him "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison"! The way Paul saw it was that the more he suffered in this life for the cause of Christ, the greater the rewards, and eternal glory, in the life to come! ("Not that affliction is something to be endured in order to reach glory," writes Constable, but that "the affliction that he suffered was part of the process that created the glory"!)
Philippians 2:5-11 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in the appearance of a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross! For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!" (MacArthur notes that, "Christ's suffering on the cross is the greatest illustration of how suffering is related to glory! The greatest suffering that ever occurred in the universe occurred on the cross; and the greatest glory that has ever been given was given, by God, in response to that suffering"!)
In verses 18-19 (in yet another paradox), Paul writes that "while we look not at the things which are seen, which are temporary, but at the things which are not seen, which are eternal"! The present, momentary, visible things of life paled in significance for Paul as he considered the future, eternal, invisible things ahead! He looked forward to his heavenly home, a house not built with human hands but built by God, eternal in the heavens--drawing from the example of Old Testament heroes of faith, like Abraham, who (Hebrews 11:10 says) "looked for a city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God"!
Paul writes, in Romans 8:18-19, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God!"
And in Colossians 3:1-3, he wrote, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ (and, as believers, we have!), keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God! Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (that are passing away)! For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory!"
And he further wrote to Timothy (in II Timothy 2:1-3), "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also! Suffer hardship with me as good soldiers of Christ Jesus!"
So what are the "eternal things," and how do we fix our eyes on them? Constable writes that the eternal things "include such things as fullness of joy, our completed salvation, and our heavenly inheritances" but that we must look with "eyes of faith"! Hebrews 11:1-3 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! For by it the men of old gained approval! By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made by the things which are visible!" And, in verse 6, that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him!"
So why do we have trials and hardships in our lives, and what's the secret of enduring them? Jesus (in Matthew 6 and elsewhere) warned us that "in the world we would have trouble;" Job wrote (in Job 5:7), "For man is born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward;" and Paul wrote (in II Timothy 3:12) that, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly will suffer persecution"! MacArthur notes that "life can bring disappointment, discontent, pain, grief, loss, disasters of all kinds, and that it is filled with unexpected turns, unanticipated events, dread, and sometimes debilitating and painful experiences! That's life! And the longer we live, the more likely the potential for pain and difficulty! And so we must learn to deal with life and endure it!"
Jesus said (in Matthew 6:34) "not to worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself, and that each day has enough trouble of its own"! And, in John 14:1, "not to let our hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me!"
Psalm 46:1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore, we do not fear, though the mountains slip into the sea!" Wow! And, in verses 10-11, "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold!"
And how bout this one (in Psalm 16:8-11): "I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken! Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh will dwell securely! For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay! You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forever more!"
MacArthur writes that "the secret of endurance (as shown in this passage) "is focusing on the inner man, not on the outer man; focusing on the spiritual and not on the physical! To look at the future and not the present! To take our eyes off present pain, and look at future glory! And to be consumed with what is invisible and not on what is visible; to give your life to what will never perish, not for what will perish! To place the unseen far above the seen, the future far above the present, and the spiritual far above the physical!"
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!"
Isaiah 40:28-31 (not to be outdone!) says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increase power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary!"
And when you do all the above, MacArthur notes, you will be able to say with Paul (coming full circled!): "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed! Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day! For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 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!"
And we gotta add Paul's prayer, in Ephesians 3:14-21, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, so that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fulness of God!"
And we just want to close by bursting out and singing some hymns and gospel songs that come to mind and reflect what we've learned in this great passage! Songs which the apostle Paul could well relate to and want to join us in singing! And perhaps this one in particular:
"Through it all, through it all, O I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God! Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word...!"
How bout this one: "Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here; trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause to worry or to fear! He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best. Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest!
Every day the Lord Himself is near me, with a special mercy for each hour; all my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Power. The protection of His child and treasure, is a charge that on Himself He laid; as your days, your strength shall be measure, this the pledge to me He made!
Help me then, in every tribulation so to trust your promises, O Lord; that I lose not faith's sweet consolation, offered me within Your Holy Word! Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e'er to take as from a father's hand; one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, til I reach the promised land!"
Or this one, "O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me; when by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me...!"
Or this one, "He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater, he sendeth more stength when the labors increase! To added affliction He addeth His mercy; to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace!
Or this one, "Is there a heart o'er-bound by sorrow? Is there a life weighed downn by care? ...All your anxieties, all your cares, bring to the mercy seat, leave them there; never a burden He cannot bear; never a friend like Jesus!"
And last but not least (for Paul for sure)! "Give me Jesus, give me Jesus! You can all this world, but give me Jesus!"
And all this calls for Paul's benediction (in Ephesians 3:20-21); "Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think, according to the power that works within us; to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations for ever and ever! Amen!"
Don't lose heart, men!
Lowell
Last week, in our lesson on II Corinthians 4:7-15, we saw the apostle Paul literally at his wit's end, from a human standpoint; yet from a spiritual standpoint he was on top of the world! His life was such a paradox! As he himself describes it (in verses 8-9), he was "afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Christ, so that the life of Christ also might be manifested in his body"!
And in looking back at the seemingly unbearable litany of trials and persecutions he endured in his life, particularly as cited in II Corinthians 11:23-28 (as we noted in last week's lesson), we can't help but conclude that there was never another a man in all of history who suffered for the cause of Christ as much as he did! In I Corinthians 4:9-13, he wrote that God had "exhibited us as apostles last of all, as men condemned to death...as a spectacle to the world...fools for Christ's sake...slandered...the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even as now"! In II Corinthians 1:8 he added, "We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of the affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raised the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us!"
And yet, he declared in his opening statement of II Corinthians 4 that "since he had this ministry, as he had received mercy, he did not lose heart..but by the manifestation of truth commended himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if the gospel is veiled, it is veiled those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (Satan) 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!"
And he continued, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said (in Genesis 1), 'Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ!"
And he added that "we have this treasure--this priceless treasure ("the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"--or 'the good news' off salvation in Christ!) in earthen vessels"! Likening himself (and others who preach, and deliver, the treasure of the gospel of salvation), as "earthen vessels", or cheap, common, and fragile clay pots, so that the surpassing greatness of the power (of salvation in Christ!) will be recognized as the work of God, and not from ourselves"!
And so, through this process, the great gift of salvation in Christ (the priceless treasure!) was "spreading more and more (through his preaching), and abounding to the glory of God"! And with "the same spirit of faith," Paul knew and believed, with great confidence and an unshakeable conviction that even if he died, he would one day "be raised up, just as Jesus was raised, and be present and alive with Him, and with them" (those who had also believed and trusted in Christ) for all eternity! For him, "to live was Christ, and to die was gain!
And that same confidence in Christ that Paul demonstrated in last week's lesson set the scene, and the tone, for our lesson last night, where Paul begins by declaring that "therefore" (because of the reality of the treasure of the new covenant promise of "new life in Christ"), "we do not lose heart," and that "though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day"!
The apostle Paul was just like us, in the sense that we're all growing old and "wasting away," physically, as part of the normal aging process, but the beatings and sufferings he endured from those who opposed him, only added to, and speeded up, that dying process, as it was taking a heavy toll on his body! He literally wore himself out in ministry for Christ! And yet his inner man was being renewed and increasingly growing into more Christlikeness, as he "put on the new self"! (Colossians 3:10)
And yet, in another paradoxical way, he viewed all the heavy affliction that he suffered as only "light" and "momentary," producing for him "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison"! The way Paul saw it was that the more he suffered in this life for the cause of Christ, the greater the rewards, and eternal glory, in the life to come! ("Not that affliction is something to be endured in order to reach glory," writes Constable, but that "the affliction that he suffered was part of the process that created the glory"!)
Philippians 2:5-11 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in the appearance of a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross! For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!" (MacArthur notes that, "Christ's suffering on the cross is the greatest illustration of how suffering is related to glory! The greatest suffering that ever occurred in the universe occurred on the cross; and the greatest glory that has ever been given was given, by God, in response to that suffering"!)
In verses 18-19 (in yet another paradox), Paul writes that "while we look not at the things which are seen, which are temporary, but at the things which are not seen, which are eternal"! The present, momentary, visible things of life paled in significance for Paul as he considered the future, eternal, invisible things ahead! He looked forward to his heavenly home, a house not built with human hands but built by God, eternal in the heavens--drawing from the example of Old Testament heroes of faith, like Abraham, who (Hebrews 11:10 says) "looked for a city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God"!
Paul writes, in Romans 8:18-19, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God!"
And in Colossians 3:1-3, he wrote, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ (and, as believers, we have!), keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God! Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (that are passing away)! For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory!"
And he further wrote to Timothy (in II Timothy 2:1-3), "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also! Suffer hardship with me as good soldiers of Christ Jesus!"
So what are the "eternal things," and how do we fix our eyes on them? Constable writes that the eternal things "include such things as fullness of joy, our completed salvation, and our heavenly inheritances" but that we must look with "eyes of faith"! Hebrews 11:1-3 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! For by it the men of old gained approval! By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made by the things which are visible!" And, in verse 6, that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him!"
So why do we have trials and hardships in our lives, and what's the secret of enduring them? Jesus (in Matthew 6 and elsewhere) warned us that "in the world we would have trouble;" Job wrote (in Job 5:7), "For man is born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward;" and Paul wrote (in II Timothy 3:12) that, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly will suffer persecution"! MacArthur notes that "life can bring disappointment, discontent, pain, grief, loss, disasters of all kinds, and that it is filled with unexpected turns, unanticipated events, dread, and sometimes debilitating and painful experiences! That's life! And the longer we live, the more likely the potential for pain and difficulty! And so we must learn to deal with life and endure it!"
Jesus said (in Matthew 6:34) "not to worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself, and that each day has enough trouble of its own"! And, in John 14:1, "not to let our hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me!"
Psalm 46:1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore, we do not fear, though the mountains slip into the sea!" Wow! And, in verses 10-11, "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold!"
And how bout this one (in Psalm 16:8-11): "I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken! Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh will dwell securely! For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay! You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forever more!"
MacArthur writes that "the secret of endurance (as shown in this passage) "is focusing on the inner man, not on the outer man; focusing on the spiritual and not on the physical! To look at the future and not the present! To take our eyes off present pain, and look at future glory! And to be consumed with what is invisible and not on what is visible; to give your life to what will never perish, not for what will perish! To place the unseen far above the seen, the future far above the present, and the spiritual far above the physical!"
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!"
Isaiah 40:28-31 (not to be outdone!) says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increase power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary!"
And when you do all the above, MacArthur notes, you will be able to say with Paul (coming full circled!): "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed! Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day! For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 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!"
And we gotta add Paul's prayer, in Ephesians 3:14-21, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, so that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fulness of God!"
And we just want to close by bursting out and singing some hymns and gospel songs that come to mind and reflect what we've learned in this great passage! Songs which the apostle Paul could well relate to and want to join us in singing! And perhaps this one in particular:
"Through it all, through it all, O I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God! Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word...!"
How bout this one: "Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here; trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause to worry or to fear! He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best. Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest!
Every day the Lord Himself is near me, with a special mercy for each hour; all my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Power. The protection of His child and treasure, is a charge that on Himself He laid; as your days, your strength shall be measure, this the pledge to me He made!
Help me then, in every tribulation so to trust your promises, O Lord; that I lose not faith's sweet consolation, offered me within Your Holy Word! Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e'er to take as from a father's hand; one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, til I reach the promised land!"
Or this one, "O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me; when by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me...!"
Or this one, "He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater, he sendeth more stength when the labors increase! To added affliction He addeth His mercy; to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace!
Or this one, "Is there a heart o'er-bound by sorrow? Is there a life weighed downn by care? ...All your anxieties, all your cares, bring to the mercy seat, leave them there; never a burden He cannot bear; never a friend like Jesus!"
And last but not least (for Paul for sure)! "Give me Jesus, give me Jesus! You can all this world, but give me Jesus!"
And all this calls for Paul's benediction (in Ephesians 3:20-21); "Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think, according to the power that works within us; to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations for ever and ever! Amen!"
Don't lose heart, men!
Lowell
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