Turn with me if you would to
2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the heading
at the top of my page for this chapter says, the excellency
of the gospel ministration. the excellency of the gospel
ministration. He's telling us how privileged
we are to know the gospel. How absolutely privileged we
are to have this gospel, to know it, to have it, to declare it,
to minister it. What a privilege it is to minister
it out. What an honor to be given this
declaration by the Lord. Such an honor. And he's saying,
even though this ministration is full of obstacles, and that's
what we have seen and are going to continue to see in this chapter,
even though it's full of obstacles and full of hardships and full
of sorrows and full of all kinds of things, the finish line, standing
at the finish line is our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the end
goal of every believer, and that's the end of this ministry, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And to have Him is to have it
all. Nothing, absolutely nothing,
is worth losing Him over. Nothing is worth losing Him over. Absolutely nothing is worth losing
him over. Nothing. Nothing is worth losing
him over. I could say that for, I'd be
happy to say that for the next 25 minutes. Nothing is worth
losing him over. Alright? Nothing. Everything
is worth losing if we can have him. Everything is worth How
much is that worth? It's worth losing. I'll tell
you that much. If we can have Him, and when
the Lord, God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit that
that is so. That's the truth. Even though
this flesh wants and wants and wants, it says that's right.
Nothing is worth losing Him over. And everything is worth losing
if we can have Him. Everything. Christ is truly all. Now, our text will begin with
verse 11. That's where we're going to pick
up, but let's read the first 10 verses leading up to it. Therefore,
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of
God should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. 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. Now verse 11 where we pick up
says, 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. Now the apostles were actually
delivered unto death. They were literally, these men
were, they were many, many, many disciples, were delivered unto
death, stoned, beheaded, crucified. And we naturally think, well
yeah, but they were apostles. And they were men who were on
a completely different spiritual level from us. They were just
men. They were just men, that's all
they were. They had doubts and fears, just like we do. They
felt pain, they felt sorrow, just like we feel. They lacked
faith, just like we lack faith. Men, just like us. Over in James
5, verse 17, you can turn or I'll read it to you. James 5,
verse 17, it says, Elias, that's Elijah. was a man subject to
like passions as we are, just like us. Like passions just like
us. Everything we feel, every fear, all the sorrow, just
like us. And you hear about the martyrs,
these horrible deaths for the gospel's sake. Always for the
gospel sake, not just for random violence sake, for the gospel
sake. But you hear about all these
horrible things that believers had to endure and you think,
what a terrible end. These men were in the ministry.
They had the ministration of the gospel and you think, what
a terrible end. What a difficult life and a terrible end. How sad. Obstacles, heartaches,
hated for the true sake. And then a terrible end. The
Apostle Paul right here saying no. What an amazing beginning. What an amazing beginning took
place at that moment. Verse 11, 2 Corinthians 4 verse
11 says, 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." Right now, we're in mortal flesh. It's heavy,
isn't it? It's very sluggish. It weighs
on us. Mortal flesh. Our soul is in
mortal flesh. Our soul is going to leave this
mortal flesh. Still going to be us? It will
be our soul. Our soul is who we are. Right
now, it's in mortal flesh. Mortal flesh is temporary life. Real soon, the eternal life of
Christ is going to be made manifest in our mortal flesh. That's an
amazing verse to me. Eternal life is going to be made
manifest. And you think about God being
manifest in the flesh. A body was prepared for him.
You could see him. He walked this earth. Well, real
soon, the life of Christ is going to be made manifest in our mortal
flesh. Look back a few pages to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50 says, Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O
Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. If we right now
could see the apostles and the martyrs, right now, as they are
right now, if we could see the immortal, incorruptible life
of the Lord Jesus Christ, In them, in what they have inherited
right now, you know what we'd do? If we could see it right
now, you know what we'd do? We would faint not. We would
press toward the mark. When this end comes, he just
said right here that the sting of death is sin. Well, sin has
been removed. That means the sting is removed.
And the strength of sin is the law. That's been settled. That's
been paid. There's nothing to fear. And
this mortal is going to put on immortality. And if we could
see it, buddy, we'd start pressing. We would faint not and start
pressing. Back in 2 Corinthians 4, verse
11 says, 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. So then death worketh in us,
but life in you. Now, honestly, what would all
your sufferings be if God would save your children at the end
of it? What would they be? All the sufferings and the persecutions. Paul is encouraging God's people. What would they be if in the
end God would save your children? What would all of those sufferings
and persecutions be if in the end God would save your spouse?
God would save your parents? What would it be? What would
it be? Look with me over at 2 Timothy
2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2nd Timothy 2 verse 10. Therefore I endure all things
for the elect's sake. that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. He said, I endure all things
for the elect's sake. Just endure it, he said. For
God has an elect. God's going to save his elect.
Just keep going. Keep enduring all things for
the elect's sake that they might obtain the salvation which is
in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. That is wonderful. It's
worth it, that's what he's saying, it's worth it. Whatever it is,
it's worth it. It's absolutely worth it. Back over in our text,
verse 13, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 13 says, We, having the same
spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and
therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore
speak. Paul said we have the exact same
spirit of faith that David had when he wrote in Psalm 116 verse
10, I believed therefore have I spoken. He said, we also believe
and therefore we speak. We believe and we speak. God
has caused us to believe his truth. We believe it with all
our hearts. Every day that goes by, we more
so and more so believe his word, don't we? We believe it. He's
caused us to see our sin. He's caused us to see our savior.
We see the means he's chosen to call out his people with,
and we believe it. Therefore, we speak. We speak. Verse 14 says, knowing that he
which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus
and shall present us with you. God has promised us through faith
in the blood of Christ, through faith in the blood of his son,
through absolutely renouncing all works. completely renouncing
all works, believing on His blood alone. God has promised His elect
the exact same resurrection that Christ received. The same resurrection,
the same ascension that Christ received, the exact same one. Don't turn over there, but 1
Corinthians 15 again says, Christ is risen from the dead, And he
has become the first fruits of them that slept, first one that
rose to eternal life. Men and women were raised from
the dead. Lazarus, I'm about to mention
him in a little bit. Different ones were raised from
the dead. They all died again. He was the first one risen to
eternal life. And His people are also going
to be risen with Him to eternal life. He was ascended up to glory. His people are also going to
ascend up to glory. It goes on to say, for as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And don't turn over here, but
1 Thessalonians 4 says, the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout. 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. And this is what Paul
is talking about right here. We're going to be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Now, where do our earthly trials
rank compared to that? Where do they rank compared to
that? The sufferings, the persecutions,
the afflictions, where do they rank compared to that? Verse
14 says, Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall
raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. Christ is going to present us
to God his Father. He's going to present us completely
redeemed. God made man and God said he's
good, very good. Lost it all, redeemed. reinstated, and Christ is going
to completely redeem and present His people to His Father, washed
in His blood, perfect. Absolutely perfect. Presented
in the image of Christ Himself. Look at this, okay? Jude, there's
only one chapter, Jude verse 24. Jude verse 24. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and
forever. Amen. He's able to present you
absolutely faultless. Perfect. Perfect. You won't even think about your
problems anymore if you think about that. If God will ever
let you get a hold of that, trials, afflictions, they're nothing.
They're nothing. How long does eternity last? How long does eternity, when
we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we
don't have, we haven't, the second, It's not even a second. It's
not even a. All right, we're on this earth for three score
and ten, three score and ten, it's so light, it's so light
and. It's nothing. It's absolutely
nothing. Eternity, eternal glory, faultless,
presented before God, standing there in His presence with exceeding
joy. Our Lord endured the cross for
the joy set before Him. That's His exceeding joy. Father,
every single one of them you gave me, I've lost none. Totally
redeemed back to the original state we created them in. They
ruined themselves. I have totally redeemed them,
reinstated them. That's just wonderful. Back in the text, 2 Corinthians
4 verse 15 says, For all things are for your sakes that the abundant
grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory
of God. What that means is, everything
that happens is for the calling out of God's sheep. Everything,
all of these trials, all of these afflictions, all of these persecutions. Every single thing that happens. Things happen every second of
every day. All right, you start your day
out bad, it gets better, gets bad again, better, bad, better,
worse, great, bad. That's how we live this life.
Every single thing that happens. Every single thing that happens
is for the furtherance of the gospel and for the calling out
of his sheep. Every single thing that happens
is for the furtherance of the gospel and the calling out of
God's sheep. We are constantly saying, I am
constantly saying, oh no. Well, that's just terrible. I can't believe that happened.
Why would that happen? Every single thing that happens
is for the furtherance of the gospel and the calling out of
God's sheep. Everything. 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. Knowing the truth of this
matter is what keeps us from becoming discouraged. Knowing
the truth of this, this is what keeps us from wanting to quit.
Even though these things, all of these things that come, everything
that we face is putting gray hair on our head, it's putting
wrinkles on our faces, all these things that are coming, we worry
about them, we stress over them. Our bodies are wasting away. They're wasting away. Every decade
is a massive wasting away, isn't it? Our inward man, though, There
is an inward man, one created in Christ Jesus. And God's Spirit
and God's Word causes that man to grow stronger and stronger
in the grace and the love and the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our bodies just grow farther and farther down. I love that
story. I don't remember his last name. His first name was Brother
Hubert. But anyway, you might remember him. He was a man and
his He had some disease that caused
him to be bent over, just completely. His back was bent over and his
wife, I think the situation was she was in a wheelchair and there
was a handicap with their daughter and it was so that his wife was
having a hard time taking care of him and their daughter. So
he voluntarily checked himself into a nursing home so she could
focus on her. And Brother Henry and Brother
Paul went to go visit him one day and they walked in and he
said he was standing at the window completely bent over, you know,
looking out the window. And they asked him, Brother Hubert,
are you here all alone? And he said, no, brother, the
Lord is with me. Even though that man's body was
just deteriorating, there's an inward man inside there. And
that inward man is growing stronger and stronger in love, in faith,
in grace every day. This physical body, this corruption
is going down, down, down, down, down until that final point.
And this inward man, this new creature is growing up, up, up,
up, up until that final point. And it's a glorious transaction.
Glorious transaction. For our light affliction, that's
all it is. Our light affliction. This flesh
causes us to say that, you know, everything is just so grieving
and burdening, and it is. I'm saying it. I'm actually saying
it. This flesh causes us to say things
are so heavy, things are so burdening, they're so grieving. To say we
weren't actually grieved by these things would be lies. We just
are. And we do get to a place every
now and then where we think, I don't know if I can make it
anymore. I just don't know if I can do this anymore. At that
moment in time, faith steps in. This flesh says, I don't think
I can go any longer. At that exact moment in time
when we need it, faith steps in and says to the heart of that
new man, in this, you're being used for the calling out of God's
sheep. Keep going. In this, you are being supported
by the grace of God. God's grace is sufficient. Keep
going. This is proof of God's love and
favor to you. Keep going. This is all for your
good and His glory. Keep going. And then when faith's
work is done, we say, you know, these are really just light afflictions.
That's really all they are compared to the eternal weight of glory,
we're saying, oh, these things are so weighty, but they're just
so weighty. All right, let's just take one second and compare
them to the eternal weight of glory. These are just for a moment,
light afflictions just for a moment. Go with me to Romans 8, almost
finished. Go to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 18 says, For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
It's not even worthy to be compared. Verse 16, For the Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children than heirs, heirs
of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together. It's just
not worthy. Not worthy to be compared. And
back in the text, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 17. 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. Chapter 5, verse 7 says, For
we walk by faith, not by sight. We faint not because God's Spirit
has absolutely convinced us that every single thing that we can
see on this earth is temporary. It's just temporary. It has no
lasting importance. It has no lasting satisfaction. Everything we can see is going
to turn out to be empty, worthless, and destroyed. Everything we
can see. But the things that man's natural
eye can't see, the things that can only be seen with the eye
of faith, Christ, His glory, His kingdom, God has caused us
to believe that those things are eternal. We do believe it. Eternal. The things of Christ
are of eternal importance. The things of Christ bring eternal
satisfaction. Eternal satisfaction. Man is
not satisfied. That's man's problem. He's not
satisfied with anything until a man receives Christ. And then
all of a sudden, he's satisfied. That's it. Done. So by His grace,
we're going to faint not. And we're going to run this race
set before us, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the author
and finisher of our faith. All right, you're dismissed.