All right, let's take our Bibles
once again. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter
4. I'd like to deal with verses
8 through the end of the chapter. What I'd like to also do is just
before I start in verse 8, I'd like to just kind of bring us
back up to where we are. The Apostle Paul had expressed
that every believer is the recipient in verse 7 of a treasure. Now this treasure that he's talking
about today is the illumination in the heart of the gospel of
God's grace. That blessed gospel that the
Lord commanded, verse 6, that light to shine out of darkness
shined in our hearts to give the light, the illumination of
the knowledge of the glory of God. What is the glory of God? It's when Moses asked the Lord,
show me your glory. Here is what the Lord said His
glory was. He said, I'm going to cause all
my goodness to pass before you. All the goodness of God is the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's the totality. In Him
dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So if you want
to talk about the goodness, the glory of God, it's Christ Jesus
the Lord. I'm going to cause all my goodness
to pass before you. And I will have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion. on whom
I'll have compassion. So Paul sets forth that God Almighty
has shined out of darkness, out of the darkness of unbelief,
He shined into the heart of His people to give the knowledge
of the glory of God, that illumination, that treasure. Do you realize
if you believe the Gospel, you believe the Lord Jesus Christ,
Do you know that's a treasure? Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Faith that cometh by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God, it comes as a treasure from Him
who has the right to reveal it or withhold it from whomsoever He pleases. It's
a treasure. It's a treasure. Because it is
the power of God unto salvation. It's a treasure because it comes
from God. It's a treasure because God has
the right to reveal it and withhold it in Himself. A believer is
nothing more than an earthen vessel. He knows what he is.
He's just a weak, frail creature of the dust. But his frailty
is truly a God-honoring frailty. And here's the reason that an
earthen vessel is to the glory of God, even that treasure hidden
within. Verse 7, we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
and here it is, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. Now, we know that this illumination,
It's treasure. What a blessing. But it comes
with something else. It's going to come with trials
and tribulations. John 16.33, the Lord said this
in this world, you, ye, ye who are earthen vessels in whom is
found this treasure, you, you're going to have tribulation. Verse
8, Paul sets forth concerning these tribulations. He says,
we're troubled on every side. We're troubled, that's we're
hedged in. He said we're hedged in and we're
pressed in different ways. We're troubled, yet not distressed. What does that mean? We're not
hedged in though with no way of escape. The Lord will always
allow His people a place to escape. They can flee to Christ. There's
no tribulation that can stop God's people from looking to
Him. He says in the latter part of
verse 8, we are perplexed. That is, we are often brought
into circumstances where we hardly know what to do. You find yourself
in a place where you're powerless. You're powerless. You got a loved
one that's sick. You got a loved one that's on
a deathbed. Let me ask you something. What
are you going to do? How are you going to change this?
We're brought into circumstances where We don't know that right
course to take. We're surrounded by foes with
circumstances that we didn't anticipate. Paul says we are
perplexed, but we're not in despair. That is, we're not left to the
Lord without means of help. The Spirit of God that comforts
us and reminds us of the Lord's faithfulness God will provide. That's the truth that we have.
The Lord will provide. I'm not going to leave you. Look
at verse 9. Paul said we're persecuted. Pursued. Pursued, but not forsaken. We're not left deserted by the
Lord. He says we're cast down, latter
part of verse 9. Cast down. were thrown down,
but not destroyed, never to a point of dying without His permission. It's appointed unto man wants
to die. Paul says we're just from all sides, everywhere, without
knowing, not knowing what to do at the moment. But we know
this, He's always there. Look at verse 10, always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. He said we're always
bearing about in this body, in the body, the dying of the Lord
Jesus. Paul was saying that he had on
his body the marks, stripes of punishment and persecution. Same kinds of marks for the same
reasons, is what he was saying. The Lord Jesus Christ. There
when he was brought before, pilot, before he went to this one, that
one, this one, they spit on him, they beat him with reeds, they
plucked out his beards, they buffeted him. Paul says, I've
got in my body the same marks of punishment that he possessed. for the same reason. He was exposed
to the same violent trials and persecutions which the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself endured. Paul said in Galatians 6.17,
he said, I bear in my body the marks, the same marks of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But then he says in that latter
part, verse 10, always bearing about the body the dying of the
Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body. That that resurrected life. Paul says the Lord has called
us to be preachers. We don't handle the Word of God
deceitfully. We're honest about it. But it comes with a promise
from the Lord. You're going to be buffeted.
You're going to be tried. There's going to be tribulations. Paul says we do this. We're persecuted, cast down.
We're just troubled. on every side, but He said we
always were bearing about the marks that He bore. Oh, that
the life of Jesus, that resurrected life of Jesus might show forth
in our bodies, though feeble as they are, that we might arise
from the dead as He did and be glorified with Him, be like Him. The same thought that Paul was
We're talking about what's found in 2 Timothy 2. If you'd like
to turn there, 2 Timothy 2 and verse 11, 2 Timothy 2.11. It says, if we suffer, we shall
also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will deny
us. The Scripture sets forth, if
we're found to be dead with the Lord, dead to this world, knowing
that the cares and the religion of this world, dead to our flesh,
struggling, buffeted, if we've been found faithful according
to His power and grace to keep us, He said we're going to be
raised with Him, be like Him. Verse 11, back in 2 Corinthians
4. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus'
sake. Paul was setting forth that those
of the apostles and preachers of the gospel who were still
alive and preaching the truth at that time were constantly
exposed to death. Now they knew that they weren't
going to die until the Lord was pleased to take them. They knew
that. They knew that it was appointed unto man once to die. But that
it was a fact that they were always delivered unto death,
always realizing that it could be today for the sake of the
gospel. For we which live are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh, that the resurrected
life of the Lord might be evidenced through our flesh, which is liable,
Then he said in verse 12, so then death worketh in us, but
life in you. That's an amazing passage of
scripture. Death worketh in us. Paul was saying that they were
ever, as he just had the last two verses, he said we were ever
exposed to death. He said the preaching of the
gospel by the good pleasure of God, exposes men to trials which
may be regarded as death working in us. That is, it shows itself.
Death, Paul was saying, is an energy. It is an energy that
is at work. It is active. It operates. It's constantly employed, death. in the inflicting of pains upon
God's preachers for the reason for them preaching the gospel.
But while death was working in the preachers of the gospel,
Paul says this truth. So then death worketh in us. Death is ever-present, ever-striving. It's actually, like I said, a
living element. It was an enemy. He said, death
worketh in us. He said, but life in you. The effect of God's preachers
in preaching the gospel, though death was always working in them,
what they were preaching had a benefit to it. The converts,
those that heard them, reaped the advantage of the preacher's
exposure. to trials and sufferings. He
said, you've received by the grace and power of God eternal
life as the fruit of our toils and our exposures. Paul said,
it's a costly thing. It's costly. A man called of
God, he does what he does by the grace of God wants to do.
Jeremiah had said after so many rejections, rejection, rejection,
he said, I quit. I'm not going to preach anymore.
But His Word was hitting me like fire in my bones. I couldn't
withhold. I had to preach. The love of Christ constrained
me to preach. Paul was saying, death worketh
in us. And we know it. We know it, it's
an active body of evil because of the gospel that we're preaching.
It worketh in it. But he said, but the benefit. God's got a people. And He's
going to call them out by this gospel. And we preach because
we want to preach, we've got to preach. Paul said, woe is
unto me if I don't preach the gospel. A man called of God, he has a
heart to give himself to the ministry. I heard Brother Henry
Mahan say one time, a man called of God may grow weary in the
Gospel, in the study, in the diggings, in the seeking God,
looking, asking for God's mercy. If I could say this right, the
burden of the Word is a drain on the flesh, but the renewal
by the Spirit of God to keep a man desiring to go on. God sustains him, upholds him.
He's tired. He's tired in the gospel, but
never of it. Never of it. He says in verse
13, he said, we have the same spirit of faith. We have the same spirit of faith.
He's going to tell us what it is right now. He prefaces what
he's going to say. He said, we have the same spirit
of faith according as it is written. He said something was written.
And what it was, it was written by David back in Psalm 116.10.
David wrote this. He says, I believe and therefore
have I spoken. That's what David said. Psalm
116.10. We also believe and therefore
we speak. Paul said God's preachers got
that same attitude. Right there. We believe and therefore
we speak. A man who believes in the Lord
Jesus Christ. called by God to preach the gospel. All of these trials and tribulations
and being perplexed and persecuted and cast down, Paul said, the
only reason we don't quit is by the grace of God. The only
reason we don't just give it up is because we can't give it
up. There's no way. Why? Because he believes. He
believes. He believes God. And he says,
I've spoken. He said, I believe what David
believed. David said, I believe and therefore
we speak. Paul said, we believe that same
thing. That's what he meant when he said verse 13. We have the
same spirit of faith according as it is written. I believe and
therefore have I spoken. Then he said, Paul is saying
an agreement. He said, we believe and therefore
we speak. Listen to this truth. And Luke
6.45, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is good. An evil man out of the evil treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Verse 14, knowing that he which
raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and
shall present us with you." Paul is just continuing to say what
he believed. He said, this is what God's people
believe. The assurance that every believer
has concerning being resurrected. He said, I believe the gospel
that I preach. I believe when the Lord is pleased
to take me, I believe that He is going to call me out of the
grave. He said, 1 Thessalonians, he
wrote to the church of Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians 4.14, for this
we believe, with confidence in this, that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring
with Him. Paul said we believe this same
thing right here. 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4 verse 13 to 18. Paul said this is what we believe.
This is what the Lord had taught him. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse
13. But I would not have you be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope, no confidence. For if we
believe, that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which
are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of
God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
So Paul says in verse 14, knowing that he which raised up the Lord
Jesus shall raise us also by Jesus and shall present us with
Then he said in verse 15, for all things, what things, Paul? Well, for all the things that
he'd been mentioning. All things, the ministry that
they'd received by the grace of God, their care to not handle
the Word of God dishonestly, that the God of this world has
blinded the eyes of them which believe not, concerning the trials
and tribulations that are suffered by God's preachers, Paul says,
All things are for your sakes. For your sakes. One reason that
the rich mercy of God should be manifested for the sake of
God's people. All things are for your sakes
that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many,
redound to the glory of God. God has sent these preachers
to preach to the churches And that through the preaching to
many hearers, to all these churches, they traveled here and there,
the abundance of grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God. He said that God's divine favor
and blessing would extend to more and more people. And that the thanksgiving and
glory might be given unto the Lord. He said that's why we suffer. That's why God's called us. That's
why God keeps us. And we believe these things.
We believe. Then he says in verse 16, for
which cause we think not, but though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For these reasons,
I just gave you, that the Lord might be glorified. We don't
become discouraged and have these thoughts of quitting. We're not
exhausted through the fear of man. Yes, our outward man is
progressively perishing and decaying. I know that. I know that by experience.
I know that by the Word of God, by the revelation of the Word
of God, and I know it by experience. It just seems as though that
my energy level is not what it once was. My ability to meet,
Comprehend, and I'm sure there are many others that listen to
me. Comprehend and relate what the
Lord has taught me. This outward man, it's decaying. It's going down. It seems to
be backing up. But we don't faint. The outward
man perishes, but oh, that inner man. That inner man, that new
man is invigorated. It's progressively renewed day
by day. He said because, and this is
the confidence that we've got. I know we're in trials, I know
we're in tribulations, I know we've been called to preach,
and I know we're hated for the sake of the gospel, but we believe,
we believe, we believe what all God's people believe. Then he
said in verse 17, for our light affliction, Light affliction. I tell you, I know many of you
are going through some tough afflictions now. You may hear
that right there and you may think, light affliction? Light affliction? If you only
knew what I was going through. But I know that according to
what the flesh says, it's always heavy. I understand it burdensome,
grievous. But faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, says our light
affliction. Light. How is it light? Well, I can tell you this. What
we're going through, those that believe, for the sake of the
Gospel, compared to what we deserve, You realize that God called us
out of darkness, has given us a new heart, and we're saying,
I've been persecuted for the sake of the Gospel. I've got
people that talk about me, I've got people that lie about me
and say I say things that I didn't say, and they twist my words,
and this, that, and the other. Can you imagine compared to the
judgment of God, if God had not Called us out of darkness? Light? How about compared to the suffering
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Compared to what He suffered?
What He gave? Being made sin? The Scripture
says our light affliction. Comparatively speaking, light
affliction. Why? Why is it light? Well, but
for a moment. But for a moment. There's been
some things that I've thought about while I'm speaking right
now. Things that's happened to me
in the past that, oh, when I, you know, I thought, oh my, I
don't know if I can bear up under that. But the scripture sets
forth that these, but for a moment. The afflictions that we suffer
in this life are just momentary. They're passing away. But while
we're going through these afflictions, these light afflictions, these
afflictions that have been sent of God, we're being supported
by the Lord. Listen to this. He said, Our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. He's showing
us the truth of sustaining and keeping grace. Showing us that
His grace is sufficient through all of these trials. That these
trials have all been sent for His glory and our good. Paul
said in Romans 8.18, I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. And then last verse, while we
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen. We don't look at the things that
we see right now. Trials, tribulations, chastisements. We don't look
at those things. We look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Oh, eternal glory. Just a little while longer. Just
a few more setting suns. Just a vapor. That's all we've
got left. Just a few more breaths. The
Lord's going to get it. 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. Oh, but the things which are
not seen. Not with these eyes. The eyes of faith, they're eternal. Our brother Henry Mahan made
this statement. I'm going to share it with you.
He said someone once said that two things support the believer
who's under trial. First, the seeing that the Lord's
purpose and hand is in it all. You know, when we're going through
a time right now, this virus is going through this world.
And the world is scrambling, trying to find a way to get things
cranked back up and this, that, and the other. But do you know
how many times have I said this? Romans 8.28 is always Romans
8.28. All things, all things work together for good. to them
that love God, to them who are of the called according to His
purpose. So the thing that we behold in
these things that we consider, all of them have been sent by
the hand of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will. And the second thing that we
behold is by this, looking by faith beyond this world to the
glory which the Lord has prepared for those that love Him. Last
scripture, Hebrews 11. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 9 and 10. Hebrews 11, verse 9 and
10. By faith, talking about Abraham. He sojourned in the land of promise,
is in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. He looked for
a city which hath foundations, who's builder and maker is God.
This is what Abraham was doing. He was looking, beholding, seeking
after those things that were not visible to this corporeal
eye. Not visible to these natural
ears. He was looking for a city that
had some true foundations. A city built of God. These trials, these persecutions,
these tears, these pains that we see, Paul said we don't look
at those things. which are not seen, except by faith. Those things that are eternal,
they exist right now. They exist right now as surely
as we could see them. Us seeing them don't change the
fact. The only difference it's going to be is when we see Him
who is now unseen with these eyes right here. We see Him with
the eye of faith. There's coming a day in which
the things which are not seen are all going to be. be held
and seen. They're going to be seen with
a new eye that's been changed. And that eye that forever is
going to behold Him and see that glorious kingdom that He's prepared
for those that love Him. While we're here, God's promised
we're going to have some tribulations. But believer, take heart. Those
things that are not seen, those things we believe, as Paul said,
we believe them, we speak them, we preach them. for God's glory
and our good, amen.