Go with me, if you would, back
to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 4. I had already felt led to be
here and was already preparing a message from this whenever
I heard Monday morning of our brother's declining condition,
and I felt confirmed that this was where we needed to be tonight.
Our message is really going to come from verse 17, but let's
begin reading in verse 15 to the end of the chapter. It says, for all things are for
your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving
of many, redound to the glory of God. For the which cause we
faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man
is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. 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." He said in verse 17, our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory." What a verse that is. Our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. I've titled this message, Light
Affliction and Eternal Glory. Light Affliction and eternal
glory. That's what God's people can
expect from this life and the life that is to come light affliction
and eternal glory. Our Lord has plainly told us
that the life that we live here on this earth will be a life
of affliction. And when we look at these things,
we are helped, we are comforted, we are encouraged. We realize,
oh yes, things are going exactly like they're supposed to. Our
Lord has told us it's gonna be a life of affliction. So we're
not surprised when it comes. We're not surprised at all when
we see it come. Let me just quote some scriptures
to you. Job 14.1 says, man that is born of a woman is a few days
and full of trouble. In John 6.33, our Lord said,
in the world you shall have tribulation. First Peter 5.10 says, that our Lord will make us perfect,
and He will establish us, and He will strengthen us, and He
will settle us after we suffer a while. After we suffer a while,
that's just how it is. That's how it's gonna be. Here
on this earth for all of mankind, and that's what I want us to
realize, this applies to all of mankind. It applies to those
who are not God's chosen people. And it applies to those who are
God's chosen people. All of mankind will suffer affliction. Everyone suffers affliction and
it's real. It is real affliction. It comes in different forms.
It comes in different degrees. but it's a real affliction for
all of mankind. No one is exempt. Sickness runs
through all of mankind. Heartache, trouble, it runs through
all of mankind. No one is exempt. But for God's people, and that's
who we're gonna focus on, it's this way for all of mankind,
but for God's people, God's particular people, those who have been called
to a knowledge of Christ. That's what we've been called
to. A knowledge of Christ. A real knowledge of who the Lord
Jesus Christ really is. What a blessing it is to know
who the Lord Jesus Christ really is. God manifest in the flesh, you
know. Those who know what he truly
accomplished for his people, aren't you so thankful that we
have been told and given a revelation of knowing what he truly accomplished
for his people? Those who worship God in the
Spirit, I mean worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have absolutely no confidence in the flesh at all. Those who say, and they mean
it, they say any work before God that is performed by me,
I count it all dumb, I just counted all dumb. I plead the work and
the blood of Christ alone. That's who we're going to focus
on God's people for God's people who receive afflictions, just
like everybody else, no matter how devastating the affliction
may be. And they can be. Devastating. I mean, life-altering devastating. Life, life is never the same. No matter how great the sorrow
is, and it can be great. I mean, it can be so great. No
matter how heavy the burden is, it can be so heavy. For God's people, all of their
affliction is light affliction. It's all light affliction. And
I wanna make it very clear in saying light affliction, it can
be devastating. Devastating. It can be a way
that no child of God could possibly bear. Just incredible, incredible
sorrow. But for all of God's people,
It's light. Light affliction. Resting and
believing and trusting in God's sovereignty in whatever this
affliction is that comes. Just in knowing that God is sovereign
over it. Resting in God's sovereignty
over it. You know, the Lord in mercy brings
us back to the Word. He brings us back to the Word.
We get out there and He brings us back to the Word. And we remember
God is sovereign over all these things. Resting and believing and trusting
in His providence and in His purpose in all of these things.
Everything is on purpose. Everything has a purpose. knowing
that He's for us and He's purpose to bring good to us in all things,
knowing that and believing that and trusting that. That causes
us to consider all of our afflictions from His hand to be light. Easy? No. But light. Absolutely overwhelming at times?
Yes. but light. Can the heartache be heartbreaking? Absolutely. But it's still light. And here's the reason why, okay?
And I hope this will be a real help. I hope this will be a sincere
help for anyone who ever endures any type of affliction or trial
or pain or sorrow. Here's the reason why. Five reasons
to be exact. I want to give you five reasons.
I read something that a man wrote who was commenting on this scripture.
And he gave these five reasons why God's people consider their
afflictions to be light. And these are five good reasons.
And I want to pass them along to you. When I read these, I
thought, that is, that's so. That's right. Five reasons why
God's people consider their afflictions to be light. Number one, they
are light compared to what we deserve. And that's not just
a doctrine. That's not just the doctrine
of total depravity. I know me and you know you. And the afflictions that have
come to us are so light compared to what we deserve. They are
so, so light compared to what we deserve. You know what we
deserve? Judgment. That's what we deserve. Immediate,
swift judgment. We deserve wrath from God because
of our sin against him. That's what we deserve. But do
you know what He delights to show? Mercy to sinners against Him. Mercy because of the blood of
the Lamb, His Lamb, because of His mercy and His grace to us,
the afflictions that we have received for who we are and what
we are. They are so light compared to
what we deserve. Just so light. Turn with me over
to Psalm 103. Boy, this is one precious portion
of Scripture right here. Psalm 103, verse 10 says, He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him, for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we
are dust. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, For the wind
passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know
it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness unto children's children. Because of his mercy
and his grace toward us, our afflictions are so light compared
to what we deserve. He has not dealt with us according
to what we deserved and dealt with Christ. All right, here's
the second reason why. God's people consider their afflictions
to be light. They are light compared to what
other believers have had to suffer for the gospel's sake. They are so light. When we get
to thinking, you know, this is just more than I can bear. You just remember this. You think
about some of the old saints in the Old Testament, the things
that they endure like Job. Think about Job. The point being
the Lord's grace was sufficient for Job. That's the point of it. Think
about what some of the saints in the New Testament had to endure
like Paul. How many shipwrecks? How many
times was he beaten? How many times was he stoned?
How many times was he in prison? And the Lord's grace was sufficient
for him. Think about what the martyrs
had to endure to take a stand for the Word of God, for us to
hold a copy of this Word, burned at the stake. Go with me, if you would, to
Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, the end of this chapter
speaks of the victories that came to believers, these amazing
things that came to believers, and then it speaks of the great
trials that came to believers. Verse 35 says, women received
their dead raised to life again. And, it goes on to say, others
were tortured. not accepting deliverance, that
they might obtain a better resurrection. Think about Bunyan was in prison
for 12 years. He could get out anytime he wanted
to come out. All he had to do was renounce this God and this
gospel and this word. And he said, I can't do it. Verse
36, others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,
moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder. They were tempted. They were
slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom
the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. Our afflictions
are so light. They are so light compared to
what many believers have had to suffer for the gospel's sake.
So they're light compared to what we deserve. And they're
light compared to what so many other brethren have had to endure
for the truth's sake, all right? Here's the third reason. And it's, I wouldn't even, I
don't even believe the word light ought to be included in this. But to stay with our text, they
are so light compared to what the Lord Jesus Christ suffered
for our sins. Our sins. Our afflictions that
we bring on ourselves because of our own sin. Our sufferings
are so light compared to what Christ suffered for our sins. No man ever suffered like he
did. No man ever suffered the unmerciful,
unbridled wrath of God Almighty. No holding back. Not for himself, but for another. No man suffered like that. Isaiah 53 says, He bore our griefs
and He carried our sorrows. And because of that, it says
he was stricken, smitten of God. Think about that, smitten of
God. And afflicted. He was afflicted. He was afflicted. He was the
man who saw affliction. He was the man who saw affliction.
So compared to the affliction that he bore, we don't have any.
We honestly do not have any. Look with me, if you would, at
1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 19, it says, "...for this is thankworthy,
If a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongly,
for what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults,
you shall take it patiently? But if when you do well and suffer
for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
What he's saying is if you did something wrong and you are punished
for it, and you just take the punishment, you were owed that.
But if you didn't do the wrong and you were punished and you
take it patiently, he said that's acceptable with God. Verse 21,
for even here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps,
who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when
he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins," meaning he removed them from
us, We being dead to sins should live unto righteousness. By whose
stripes you were healed, for you were as sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. What light afflictions we have.
He bore them all for us and returned us to the shepherd and bishop
of our souls and covered us in his righteousness. We have none.
We have none. Compared to the affliction that
he endured for us, we don't have any. Here's the fourth reason. Fourth reason why believers would
confess that their afflictions are light. They are light compared to the
blessings that we have in Christ right now here on this earth. Our afflictions are right now
here on this earth. And compared to the blessings
that have been given to us, right now, here on this earth, all
of our afflictions are light. They're light. The Spirit of
God, His Holy Spirit, has convinced of, this is a blessing given
to us. He has convinced us that all
things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. And we believe
it. When the Spirit comes, He will convince men. And we've been convinced. And
we forget it from time to time, but He will reconvince us. The
Spirit has convinced us that every spiritual blessing that
there is to have in heavenly places We have it in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Spirit has convinced us of
that. The Spirit has convinced us that
we are accepted in Christ, the Beloved. The Spirit has convinced
us of that. We are accepted in Him. We are forgiven in the blood. The Spirit has convinced us of
that. We have rest because of that. That's the reason why we
have rest. We are complete in Him. That's the reason why we
have rest in our heart. We're complete in Him. The peace
of God rules in our hearts. The struggle of the flesh is
at war with it, but the peace of God rules. In the end, the
peace of God rules in our hearts. We've been given the gospel. We have been given the gospel,
not the message of man's works. We've been given the message
of good news. the message of comfort, the message
that Christ has already finished everything. We've been given
the fellowship of brotherly love. We've been given a knowledge
of Christ. That's what we said we've been
called to, this knowledge of Christ. We've been given a knowledge
of Christ. We've been given eyes of faith
to look on Him, ears of faith to hear Him, heart of faith to
believe Him, What great blessings these are.
Great, great blessings. But the blessings are not only
spiritual blessings, they're also physical blessings too.
We are not forsaken or begging bread. We have roofs over our heads,
clothes on our back, food on our tables. Where does all that
come from? It comes from Him. He gives it to us. Every good
and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights. We take
it for granted. Where does it come from? Well,
I got up and I went to work and I earned my paycheck and I paid
my bills. That's not so. The air to breathe, the mind
to think, the body to do, the health to do, all of it is of
Him. Just look at all the abundance
that He's given to us. It far outweighs the affliction
that has come our way. Our affliction is so light compared
to what we deserve. It honestly is. It is so light
compared to what other believers have had to suffer for the gospel's
sake. What blasphemy it would even
be to try to compare it to the sufferings of Christ. for us. It's non-existent compared to
the sufferings of Christ for us. And when you compare our
afflictions to the blessings that we have received from His
hand, the hand of our God, they are so light. They're just so
light. All right, here's the last reason
that was mentioned. Just like the rest of them, it's
so true. They are light compared to the eternal weight of glory
that is at the end of them. They are so light. Go back to
our text, 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 15, and
just see if the Lord will let you hear this and enter into
this. Verse 15 says, all things are for your sakes, that the
abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound
to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not,
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, 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." I would love for, just like the Apostle Paul
did, I'd love for our brother Roy to come back down and stand
up and tell us I couldn't even describe to you what I have seen.
I could not begin to describe what I've heard. The eternal
weight of glory. Eternal weight of glory. We say that, we can't enter into
it, we don't know what it means. Everything here though is so
temporary and everything there is so permanent. It is an eternal
weight. It's not something that can be
blown away. Everything here is just so sinful and it's just
so wretched. Everything there is so pure and
so righteous. Everything there is so pure. It's just so righteous, it's
so holy. Everything here, and I do mean
everything here, is covered with sorrow and pain. Everything there
is covered with glory. Everything there is just covered
with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The next time that you feel a
temporary weight, a temporary burden of affliction, that will
come. The next time that you feel it,
it will come. Just remember the eternal weight
of glory that is coming so soon. It's coming so soon. Revelation
21 says, in that eternal glory, God shall wipe away all tears
from our eyes. There shall be no more death. Neither sorrow nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed
away." All that will be left is an eternal weight of Christ. He's the glory. That's all that
will be left. and eternal weight of glory.
I want to read you something that I've read to you before.
Charles Spurgeon wrote this and he titled it, Why Go I Mourning
from Psalm 42, 9. Why am I so sad? Why am I so
sad? I just love this. Why go I mourning? Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why
thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy
anticipations? Who told thee that night would
never end in day? Who told thee that the sea of
circumstance would ebb out till there should be nothing left
but long leagues of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told thee
that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost,
from snow and ice and hail to deeper snow and yet more heavy
tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows
night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed
to winter? Hope thou then. hope thou ever,
for God fails thee not. Dost thou not know that thy God
loves thee in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness
hidden, are as real as in day, and God's love is as true to
thee now as it was in thy brightest moments. No father chastens always,
Thy Lord hates the rod as much as thou dost. He only cares to
use it for that reason which should make thee willing to receive
it, namely, that it works thy lasting good. Thou shalt yet
climb Jacob's ladder with the angels, and behold him who sits
at the top of it, thy covenant God. Thou shalt yet, amidst the
splendors of eternity, forget the trials of time, or only remember
them to bless the God who led thee through them and wrought
thy lasting good by them. Come, sing in the midst of tribulation. Rejoice even while passing through
the furnace. Make the wilderness to blossom
like the rose. Cause the desert to ring with
thine exalting joys for these light afflictions. will soon
be over, and then, forever with the Lord, thy bliss shall never
wane." Once this is all over, the bliss and eternal weight
of glory will never go away. Never go away. If the Lord will
let us keep our eyes on the eternal weight of glory, Christ Himself,
Everything down here will be a light affliction. Things are
tough, they are sorrowful, they are heavy, but once we see Him,
it's a light affliction. It honestly is. And that comfort
will get us through the trial. Every time, it'll get us through
the trial. May the Lord comfort our hearts
for Christ's sake. All right, let's all stand together.