Turn with me in your Bibles to
2 Corinthians 4, verse 17. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17. The Apostle Paul here writes
in this verse, for our light affliction, which is but for
a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory. I've spoken often concerning
the affliction that everyone, even believers, go through in
this life in which we live. Affliction is something that
causes pain and suffering. Even believers go through this
life with pain and suffering. Paul calls it light affliction. The child of God's affliction
in this life is called light affliction, and the word light,
the Greek word, elophoros, means easy. Our affliction in this
life, the believers, not the unbeliever, but the believers
is called easy, easy affliction, light affliction. How so? Because of what it's compared
to in the very same verse, that being the eternal weight of glory
found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Compared to eternity, our affliction
is light. It's small. It's easy, short
and easy. Paul says it's but for a moment. Our affliction, secondly, has
a purpose. Paul said it works for us. That's
the purpose. This affliction, this chastisement,
this correction, and that's what it is, is working for us. It has a purpose. It refines,
it strengthens, it prepares us for something greater and eternal. Thirdly, compared to eternal
glory, light affliction is insignificant. Our affliction is brief and yet
purposeful. And interesting enough, the Hebrew
word for glory here is kabod, and it means weight. It means weight. When weight
is added to gold or to a precious stone, it increases its worth. So our light affliction, though
grievous, though painful, though it causes suffering, works for
us more glory. And you know, when we use the
word glorious, what we mean is that whatever we're talking about
has reached the limits of human language. We can't assign a more significant word than glorious. It becomes difficult for us to
define its excellence and its perfection. But the glory that
awaits us is weighted. It's more, it's of infinite value. It's a far more exceeding eternal
weight of glory. How does focusing on eternity
help us to endure trials, you might ask? Well, we see that
first of all, compared to eternity, our suffering is temporary. but
for a moment. Compared to eternity, it's but
for a moment. We see that our pain and our
suffering has purpose. We keep our focus on God, not
on our circumstances. Look at verse 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 for a
moment. But the things which are not
seen are eternal, forever and ever. We don't fix our eyes on
what we see, but on what we don't see. That's what faith is. Fixing our eyes on not the things
around us that we see, that we experience, but on what we don't
see, those things that are eternal. Things that are seen are temporary,
but when compared to the unseen things like the kingdom of God,
faith, salvation, and forever being in Christ's presence, these
afflictions of ours become light. They become light. Everything in this world, pain,
suffering, success, Wealth, even life itself, it's fleeting. No
matter how real or overwhelming our struggles seem, they'll eventually
pass. If I am sick, deathly sick, one
day I'm going to die and it's going to be over. My sickness
is, but not my life, because of who I trust is. The unseen
things are what truly matter. God's promises, God's Word, which
we talk in great detail about the first hour, Christ being
our mediator, His substitution and sacrifice and perfect work
of righteousness, being the eternal things that will last forever,
are what really means something. I am dealing with a few health
issues. I don't want to make this about
me. But yesterday I got a call reminding me of an appointment
I didn't know I had. And it concerned me because of
the kind of doctor it was. And I thought, well, it ain't
not telling me something that I need to know. You know, all
kinds of stupid things go through your mind. And I spoke with Teresa
about it. And she put me at ease. She said,
well, what can you do about it? I mean, that's what we preach.
God brings these things to pass in our life, and He knows what's
best, and He's doing what's best for us, right? Why do we worry about them? We
do. I do. Wish I didn't. You know, in 1996, at the age
of 40, my dad was dying of cancer, and my mother had a stroke as
she endeavored to take care of him. Some of you remember that.
I moved in with him, and being an only child, they didn't have
anybody else to help them. And it sure didn't seem like
a light affliction to me. But it was. And even though I knew that the
Scriptures declare very plainly that our life in this flesh is
like a vapor, it's here for a moment, and then it faded away. It was my first experience with
the reality of it. Both of my parents were on the
brink of death. How can something like that be
called light affliction? Yet compared to the eternal weight
of glory, that glory that God promised His children, and knowing
that all afflictions are for the believer's good, light afflictions
is exactly what they were. Light afflictions. Lord, help
us to change our way of thinking about things. God sends these
afflictions to wean us from this life. And the afflictions that we think
and believe are heavy become light when we compare them to
what awaits us in glory. The sufferings of this present
time, Romans 8, 18 says, are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that shall be revealed in us. Did you hear that? Let me read it to you again.
The sufferings of this present time. If you're going through
a trial, suffering, pain right now, not worthy to be compared. Light affliction compared with
the glory that shall be revealed in you if you believe and trust
in Christ. And that's not me promising that
to you. That's God promising that to
you. Are we going to believe God? Sometimes I wonder if I
do. Our affliction in this life is
but for a moment. Affliction is common, is a common
lot of human existence. Man is born unto trouble. That's what God said. Man that
is born of woman is a few days and what? Full of trouble. Full of it. And it's all the
consequence of sin. It's through much tribulation
that we enter into the kingdom of God. Don't misunderstand me. Afflictions are not light in
and of themselves. They can be heavy, they can be
grievous. But they are comparatively light when we consider what we
really deserve. They are light in comparison
to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. By God's grace, they are
the lightest when they are compared to the weight of glory that awaits
us. So let's don't waste our time. I'm talking to David right now. I'm just allowing you to listen
in. Let's don't waste our time worrying
about things that we can't change, and let's dwell on the things
that God has promised us. Light afflictions or eternal
glory, which is more pleasant to think about. Eternal glory. Trials and sufferings help us
grow in patience and in faith and in the knowledge of God.
And James said, knowing this, that the trying of our faith
works patience, and it does. Afflictions are used by God to
conform us to the image of His Son. Afflictions are a part of
God's sovereign purpose to work all things together for the good
of those that love God, who are be called according to His purpose. And even if God's not pleased
to remove our afflictions, now listen, sometimes He don't. Even
if He's not pleased to remove the affliction, He provides the
grace needed to endure them. That's good news. That makes
my afflictions light. Religion tells men and women
that their afflictions are a result of something that they did bad
or a lack of faith and a weakness of believing. They say everyone
needs to have a victorious life. God wants you to be wealthy,
healthy, and wise, having the best of everything. And if you're
not, then you're doing something wrong, you don't have enough
faith, and you're being defeated and controlled by the devil.
Hogwash. I find that so ridiculous in
the light that the Bible, God's Word, teaches us exactly the
opposite. The Lord had no place to lay
His head, and yet He was the Lord of glory. He owned the cattle
on a thousand hills. All things were made for Him
and by Him, and because of Him all things consist and exist. The Lord called out-of-work fishermen
to follow Him and to preach the gospel. All the apostles were
out of work because they left all to follow Him. How much a man has, how healthy
a man is, how wealthy a man is, has nothing to do with eternal
glory. In many cases, it detracts from
it. It's those who are poor in spirit,
those who are sick and in great need that are the blessed of
God, spiritually. It's not talking about physically.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs, the poor in spirit,
is the kingdom of God, Matthew 5.3. To be poor in spirit means
to recognize your spiritual neediness and dependence on God. It's about humility and acknowledging
that you don't have the resources spiritually within yourself to
save yourself apart from God's grace. It's God revealing to us that
our righteousness, that our strength and our salvation comes from
Him alone. Only those to whom God reveals
their need will be the ones who are earnestly seeking. John read
for us a passage in the scripture reading about Peter going to
walk with Christ on the water. He asked the Lord if he could
come out to him, and he bid him to come, and he walked on the
water. Peter did. He walked out on the
water. And we're not told what distracted
Him. We'd be pretty sure of what it
was. The storm! The storms of life
are distracting. The afflictions that God sends
often distract Him. And they're not light to us.
But Peter either got his eyes on the waves and the wind and
began to sink, or maybe like John said, he got overconfident. Hey, I'm walking on water too.
But he took his eyes off Christ and he began to sink. And he
was in need. Listen, he began to cry out and
he said, Lord, save me. I'm in trouble. in the Lord immediately. Those
who are in trouble, those who are in need, they're the ones
that cry for help. Every time. Those that are well
have no need of a physician. Those that are sick do. It's God's revelation to us. Need to be the reason that we
cry out. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Who are these that mourn? Those
saddened and brokenhearted over their sin, knowing the harm and
the guilt it causes them, and the shame that it casts upon
the God who loved them and gave Himself for them. Those who come to Christ and
trust Him for the putting away of their sin, shall be comforted. That's what God said. Do you think they will? No, I
know they will. Because God said they shall be comforted. There's
no doubt that they will be. Who are these meek that Matthew
chapter 5 talks about? They are those who God has humbled,
made gentle, patient, those not prone to anger or aggression,
Ooh. They aren't weak or passive,
but rather exhibit a controlled, humble strength, knowing from
whom all their blessings flow. Have I attained to that? Have
I arrived there? No, sir. Nowhere close. But I'm
striving to. I'm endeavoring not to look behind
me, but look before me to the things that God has purposed
and planned And that includes eternal glory. My afflictions
are light. So who does God bless? He blesses
those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Those who are
poor in spirit. Those who mourn over their sin.
Those whom God has humbled. Those whom God has made weak.
That's who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Gotta have
it. I gotta have it. Or I'll perish. Now these harling
charlatans who, sheep, wolf in sheep's clothing, what they are,
who teach and preach prosperity assert that God wants all believers
to be wealthy and prosperous and healthy. And what they're
teaching is absolute contrary to the Word of God. Some of the Lord's choiceless
people We're very poor. Look up at verse seven here in
2 Corinthians 4. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. Our treasure is not in the things
of this world or the things that we personally have. but in what
awaits for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul emphasizes that despite
facing various troubles and challenges, believers are not defeated or
abandoned. Our physical bodies may deteriorate,
but the inner spiritual self is continually renewed and strengthened
by God. I don't agree with that health
and wealth teaching. I just don't. If God's pleased
to make me a multimillionaire, that's His business. And if He
is pleased to make me a poor pauper, that too is His business
and probably the best thing for me. Because if I have everything,
and I might add even everything that I would in my flesh won't,
it would be more of a deterrent than it would be a help. Because
the more we have, the less dependent we are on God. The healthier
we are, the less dependent we are on God. Some of you know
that. Paul had a thorn in the flesh.
He never said what it was. I have my opinion. I think it
was his bad eyesight. But it may not be. Whatever it
was, it was a thorn in the flesh. And God did not remove that thorn. He left it. And Paul asked him
three times to take it away. And God gave Paul the grace that
was sufficient for his need. God said, my grace is sufficient
for you. And it is for me, and it is for
you, and it's for every believer. And God calls it our affliction
week, light, easy. God does heal, but sometimes
it's not His will to heal, causing us to glory in our infirmities
that the power of Christ may rest on us. That's what this
verse is dealing with. We see that our suffering and
our hardships are not obstacles, they're opportunities. That's a hard pill to swallow. God's power is displayed in our
weakness and infirmities. Instead of complaining and trying
to remove our weaknesses by doing something ourselves, we learn
to glory and trust in the Lord Jesus in the midst of our afflictions,
knowing that they're working for us. Don't miss those three
words in the verse. They work for us. For our good,
His glory, a far more exceeding, far more exceeding, abundantly
above. More exceeding, far more so,
eternal weight of glory. We learn to look not at the things
which are seen, our afflictions and suffering, they're temporary,
and look more to Christ and grow in the grace and in the knowledge
of Him. He that is far more an exceeding
weight of glory." Our Lord said, in this world you shall have
tribulation, but, do we stop reading after He says you shall
have tribulation? No, we can't stop reading there. But, be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. David said, it's good for me
that I've been afflicted, that, this is why, I might learn thy
statutes. I might learn your appointments,
your decrees. Paul said in verse seven, we're
troubled on every side, but because of God's grace being sufficient,
we're not distressed. We're perplexed, but we're not
in despair. We're persecuted, but we're not
forsaken. It can always be worse. We're cast down but not destroyed. Verse 16, for which cause? We
faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet, don't you love
these buts and ifs and ands and yets? Yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. Our suffering is light because
it can lead to spiritual growth and patience, assuring us of
the glory that awaits us in eternity. Do you believe that there is
glory that waits for you? In Christ, I do. Paul was a man that knew a great
deal about afflictions. He learned to look upon them
with the right frame of mind. My prayer is that I could. Lord,
give me a right frame of mind concerning the afflictions and
the pain and the suffering that I experience in this life. Give
me faith, Lord, to believe that there's trouble, but You've overcome
the trouble, and You're working it for my good. Paul was afflicted
in more ways than any of us ever been. His testimony declares
in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, Now listen,
I deserve to be in prison, but I've never been. Paul said, I've
been in prison more frequent and death oft. Thrice was I beaten with rods.
Once was I stoned. I suffered shipwreck a night
and a day. I've been in the deep and journeyings
often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils
of my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen. And what do we do? We go around
crying. Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. Paul said,
I've been through the meal here, and perils in the sea, and perils
among false brethren, and weariness, and painfulness, and watchings
often, and hunger and thirst, and fastings often, and cold
and nakedness. And listen, you and I don't deserve
anything from God but death, which is our due wages of sin. Why do people feel entitled? Because they've yet to see from
the Word of God who and what they are and what they really
deserve. Is there any among us who could
declare such sufferings as the Apostle Paul went through? A
psalmist in 103.8 said, the Lord is merciful and gracious. The
Lord is slow to anger. He's plenteous in mercy. He will
not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. And
then he says, God hath not dealt with us after our sins. Aren't
you thankful? God has not rewarded us according
to our iniquities. Aren't you thankful? God does
not punish us as we deserve to be punished, nor does He repay
us according to our wrongdoing. Aren't you thankful? Instead, He treats us with grace
and forgiveness. Our afflictions are always lighter
than what we truly deserve. Always. I don't need perfect health.
We're all dying and we're going to have to leave somewhat. but
we all desperately need the presence of Christ in our death. I don't
need prosperity for if I've got Christ and I've got all I need
and I have it all in Him, He provides my every need. If God gave me what I deserved,
I'd be crying with that rich man in hell asking Abraham to
send Lazarus to dip his finger in the cool water and touch my
tongue. We'd all be forever tormented
in the flames of hell. And we can go all the way back
to the Garden of Eden, because all of us were in Adam when he
fell. And I fell in Adam, and I fell with him, and that's why
I'm in the shape that I'm in. But God, who is rich in mercy,
made the difference. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? You know, and my afflictions are light because of Him. So that sin shall surely die,
we deserve death. We can go back to the day of
the crucifixion of our Lord and find ourselves with that multitude
that cried, crucify Him. We will not have this man to
rule over us. Kill him, get rid of him. Pilate
said, this is your Lord. I'm going to write it on the
sign above His cross. And they said, no, don't write
that. He said He was our Lord. We say He's not. That's you and
me. Don't ever think you didn't. We two sat up front row seats
at the cross to mock and ridicule and even spit upon the Son of
God, laughing as He died. And I had people tell me, well,
if I'd have been there the day they crucified Him, I would have
stopped it all. I'm so, I don't want to hear
it. You'd have been right there with Him. You'd have been shoving
the crown of thorns on His head. You'd have been piercing His
side with a spear. You would have nailed His hands
and feet in that cross and enjoyed it. I would have been with Judas
when he betrayed Him, and I would have split the 30 pieces of silver
with Him. I would have been with Peter
when he denied Him. And I would have been cursing
right along with him, saying, I don't know the blankety-blank
man. I, like all the apostles, would
have fled when they came to take my Lord away. I deserve nothing
but hell. And anything this side of hell
is mercy. You know that? God has not dealt with us according
to our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. He's dealt
with us in mercy, in grace. Whatever I have other than eternal
condemnation is more than I deserve. Yes, dear believer, your affliction
of mine is light compared to many others who've lived and
some that still do. There's always someone who has
it worse than us. John Bunyan, the one that wrote
Pilgrim's Progress, was imprisoned for 12 years for preaching the
gospel. 12 years! His imprisonment had
a profound emotional effect on his family. He had a young daughter
that was blind, and she would come down to the prison. There
was a window with bars on it, and she'd come down, and she
could talk to him, and she said, Daddy, I miss you so much. When are you gonna come home?
And I read that There was a provision made that if John Bunyan promised
to never preach the gospel again, they would let him go. You can
go home. But he wouldn't commit to it. I can't do that. My, my. He broke his little girl's heart. By nature, we're so prone to
complain about our light afflictions. There's an old tale written by
someone that says, I complained that I had no gloves until I
met a man that had no hands. And I complained about not having
good shoes until I met a man that had no feet. We're professional
complainers. We ought to give thanks to God
for everything that we have, even our afflictions and our
infirmities. In the sense that they work for
our good and for God's glory. They work patience. They cause
patience to increase. They cause our grace to grow.
They cause us to increase in the knowledge of our Savior. My light afflictions in no way
compared to what the Lord suffered bearing my sins for me. Can you see him there in Gethsemane's
garden? Lord, there's blood dripping
from your forehead. Have you hurt yourself? I sweat
great drops of blood when my sin was laid upon him. There he is under the weight
of our transgressions and sin, and he sweat great drops of blood. Can you see him in Pilate's hall,
beaten, mocked by the soldier? The scripture says his visage
was so marred, his appearance was so marred, that he resembled
a mangled beast more than a man. Can you imagine how much beatings
he took to look that way? I got a picture yesterday from
my oldest son, my granddaughter, who's seven, was roller skating,
and she's quite active. And she went tumbling down a
hill, and his description was, her eye looks like Rocky hit
her. You know who Rocky is. And he sent me a picture, and
it did. Can you see the Lord hanging
on the cross and asking, is it nothing to you, all you that
pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me. Now listen. Yes, men by wicked hands took
and crucified the Lord of glory. They beat Him. They did all those
things to Him. The crown of thorns, spear in
His side, all that. But it was by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. In Lamentations 1.12, the
Lord says, is there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is
done unto me? Wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day
of His fierce anger. God was behind this, and you
know why? To put my sin and your sin away. Our light affliction is just
that, light, compared to what we have in Christ. Especially when And by, through
the Lord Jesus Christ, God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. There's an article in the Bulletin
today. Wisdom. We receive wisdom. We're made
to know who God is. And wisdom to know our need of
Him. We don't figure that out, that's
a divine revelation. We receive righteousness, we're
made to see the perfect righteousness of Christ, which is required
for every chosen sinner to be accepted of God, is given to
us. We're made sanctification, we're
made to see that in Christ we're set apart by God and made perfectly
holy, just and righteous. Redemption, we're redeemed, bought
with a price, that being the precious blood of our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus. It's of God that we are in Christ
Jesus, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. Oh, what a glorious
place to be. Why else would James have written,
my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers, various
temptations, trouble and afflictions, For there is waiting for us a
far more exceeding weight of glory. Through what? Afflictions, trouble,
sorrow. Most are not willing to give,
not willing to suffer, not willing to bear any reproach for the
glory of Christ, which He bore so much for His people. And it
simply proves that they're not His people. They complained about
their affliction, even with their life, and compared to what he
suffered for my sin, that's exactly what they are. No greater blessing
than to be a child of God. God Almighty has given his people
benefits and mercies, yet they still complain. Friends, we must learn that afflictions
given to the unbelieving are just that, they're afflictions.
But to us, these afflictions are chastening. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy chapter
eight, I'm almost finished, verse five. He said, consider in thine
heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God
chasteneth thee. Therefore, thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord to walk in his ways and to fear him.
Moses compares God's discipline to that of a father correcting
his child. And I've told you this many times,
and you know it so yourself, that our parents chastened us,
corrected us, because they loved us. That was hard for me to learn
growing up. You'd sit there and wear my rear
end out with a belt and tell me you loved me. But I know now
they did. When Israel faced hardships in
the wilderness, it was not out of cruelty, but out of love and
the desire to teach them and refine their character. God was
training them to trust and obey Him. Verse six emphasizes that in
response to God's discipline, Israel would remain faithful
by obeying His commandments and showing reverence to Him. Walking
in God's ways is an act of submission and a demonstration of gratitude
for His care and His provisions. That's why to get angry and bitter
about the afflictions that come upon us is to rebel against the
Heavenly Father that loves and chastens His children. That's
all light affliction is, God chastening us. Proverbs 13, 24,
he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him
chastens him. The child of God, afflictions,
is nothing more than discipline. A parent who neglects the discipline
is not shown love. From a perfect Father in heaven,
this chastening, this correction, Light affliction is an act of
love. Failing to correct a child's
wrong behavior and lack of trust in the parent is nothing short
of neglect. Now, I'm going to close here
and I want you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. I want you
to see this. Hebrews 12 verse 6. Got it? I'll give you a second moment. Hebrews 12 verse 6. For whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chastened not? Here we see that our light affliction,
which is God's chastening, is a sign of God's love. Chastening,
correction, affliction from our heavenly Father confirms our
identity as His children. Look at verse eight. But if you
be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then you are
bastards and not sons. God not your Father. This confirms our identity as
God's children when He corrects us. If God didn't correct us
and teach us, it would be proof that we're not His. Verse 9,
furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily
for a few days, our earthly parents, for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure. But He, God, for our profit,
that we might be partakers of His holiness, there awaits for
you an eternal weight of glory." That's the difference between
earthly and heavenly discipline. Human parents discipline the
best that they can, the best that they know how. But God's discipline is perfect. It's always for our ultimate
good, to make us holy just like Him. Verse 11, Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless,
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. Nobody enjoys discipline. Not
in the moment, but in hindsight, we see that it leads to spiritual
growth and peace and righteousness. And we're thankful. So what are
we to learn by this? What is this message about? We
shouldn't resist God's discipline and should consider it light
affliction. Way short of the discipline that
we deserve. should strive to understand that
affliction from God is training. God makes difficulties to shape
and strengthen our faith. And lastly, we should trust in
God's purpose, even when the affliction, the chastening, the
discipline is painful. With God, it always leads to
a great good. Our light affliction, verse 17
of our text. Discipline, correction, chastening,
which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal way to glory. I hope that we believe that a
little more now than we did at the beginning of this. And that far more exceeding weight
of glory is to be forever in God's beloved son and to be God's
beloved child. May God be pleased to make it
so.