Looking in 2 Corinthians chapter
4, Paul has been setting forth the foundation of the ministry
that the Lord gave him and the basis upon which he declared
those things and why he declared them. That is exactly what we
are seen set before us this morning. And we'll begin reading there
in verse 6. It says, For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, that is, the same One that created
the world and made the light. And God said, Let there be light,
and there was light. And we pointed out last week,
and this ought to be something is prevalent in our mind, is
that the Lord created the light before He made the sun. Now,
a lot of people think the sun is the source of light, but the
Lord is the source of light, and the sun, He just lighted
the sun with the light that He had. And the sun cannot show
its light unless He sees fit to cause it to, just like we
see in the case of the Egyptians, where the light was cut off,
But yet the Scripture says they had light in the dwellings of
the Israelites. I don't know how all that occurred. I wouldn't attempt to explain
it to you from a scientific standpoint, because I don't think all things
necessarily have a scientific explanation, although a lot of
people would like to think that they do. But nonetheless, in
the same way, in the same God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. In the like fashion and according
to the same power, He has shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God. Just like He separated
between the light and the darkness in the creation of the world,
so He does that in the new birth. when He comes to a man and He
causes that light to shine in the man's heart. Now, the world
was never the same after there was light. The Scripture says
the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. But when the Lord separated the
daylight from the dark, when He made the light, then that
was never the same again. The earth would never be the
same again because once the light had shined, it couldn't be put
back because it was what it was. And so it is when the Lord shines
in the hearts of God's people, then they will never be the same
again. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts because of this to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Now, that's the difference between a man who is brought to light
and faith and the man who is not. Now, a man can learn a lot
about Christ. He can learn a lot about the
Gospel. He can learn a lot about the Bible. You can teach your
children the Bible, and you should. You can tell them all these things.
But unless the Lord causes the light to shine in their hearts
to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ, it will just be a lesson that
they learn, maybe a good one. I certainly wouldn't discourage
anybody from teaching anybody the Bible. That's a good thing,
for sure. But knowing this, that the only
way that a man can come to faith in Christ is to be shown the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. A man has to come to the place
of seeing who Christ is in order that he might have true saving
faith. It is not just enough to hear
about it, but he must see it. And it must be that which he
delights in, because it is the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, because in Christ we
see the glory of God. Now, a man who does not believe
that Jesus Christ is God has not seen what Paul is talking
about right here. You know, some people kind of
view Christ as being kind of like this lesser He's like, well, you know, you
got God and then you got Jesus. Well, you missed it. Because
that's what the whole purpose of the gospel and the whole purpose
of the ministry of Christ in the earth was to manifest the
fact that He that walked among them was indeed the very God
who created the heavens and the earth. And he said to Philip, or to
Thomas, or Philip I believe it was, who said, Lord, show us
the Father and it will suffice us. He said, have I been with
you all this time, Philip? And you didn't know who I was.
Because you see, the Lord would be pleased to reveal Himself
unto His people as to who He is. And so it is that Paul says,
The client makes this declaration and then he says, but we have
this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. Now, the Lord could have saved all
the good people. That's how people think it would
have been, wouldn't it? I mean, you know folks like Mother
Teresa and all the people that do all the good things in the
world. And that would sit well with people, would it not? I
mean, that would seem like a good thing. But the Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. And we have this treasure. It
is a treasure. It is not something we made into
a treasure, but it is a treasure that was given to us. We have
this treasure in earthen vessels for this reason, that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. There is no place for a man to
glory in faith, in what he believes or what he knows. The excellency
of the power is always of Christ. If we know anything, it is because
He showed it to us. And if there is any power involved,
it is His. It is not ours. Any glory, it
belongs to Him. 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. 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 what Paul is saying here is that
he has delivered himself in his own mind and in his own determination
by the glory and power of God that has been given to him, by
the grace of God, then the ministry that the Lord has given him.
He said, I consider myself as good as dead. I don't even think
about it. He said, for we which live are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. We're already figuring
we're not going to make it anyway. So he said, we're going to give
ourselves over for your benefit. Because He said there, so then
death worketh in us, but life in you. Though we are dying,
you are living. And that is our purpose. Now
He is not making a boast here of what He is doing. He is merely
showing them that the ministry that He has received is of such
importance to Him that He does not care if He lives or dies
in the prosecution of it. Now it makes no sense to the
natural man that a man would lay down his life to declare
a religious principle, much less the things of the gospel which
they consider to be foolish to start with. Paul said, this is
what I'm called to do and I'm going to do it. Now he says here,
we are troubled on every side. Now that's interesting. word
there, the word troubled, it really means we are crowded.
We are thronged. This is the same word that is
used when the Scriptures speak about the
throngs that thronged the Lord Jesus, like when the woman who
had the issue of blood touched Him. And the Scripture says that
the crowds thronged Him. That is, they were pressing in
around him, and yet he felt this woman touch him. And Paul is
saying here, we are troubled on every side. That is, we are
being crushed on every side. And he said, we are troubled
on every side, yet not distressed. We are being crushed, but not
crushed. So he said, we're being crowded,
but we're not being overwhelmed in this. He said, we're not in
a comfortable position. Now most everybody seeks their
own comfort. We discovered this in the recent
storm that we had. You know, everybody's biggest
complaint was they didn't have any air conditioning. or they
couldn't take a hot shower, or all of these things. Now, all
of those things are nice, but do you think Lewis and Clark
thought much about that when they were on their journey across
the West? I mean, do you think that the
men that rode over here on Columbus's boat had those things high on
their list? But men, by nature, seek the
most comfort they can get. Paul says, I am not concerned
about comfort. He says, though I am crushed
in this crowd, I am not crushed. He says, I am troubled on every
side, yet I am not distressed by it. He said, we are perplexed,
but we are not in despair. We're in great trouble. Basically
what he's saying there is we don't see any way out of the
situation we found ourselves in. We're in a mess and we can't
get out of it. But he said, we can't get out
of it. He said, though we are perplexed,
but we're not in despair. We don't see any way out of it,
We don't really care. We're not in despair. Because
you know, the same One that put us here is the same One who will
get us out if it so pleases Him to do so. He said, but our purpose
is to go forth and declare that which has been given to us. Persecuted,
but not forsaken. We're those that have troubles
on every side, but we're not being abandoned. We don't feel
ourselves to be abandoned even though we've been abandoned. Remember when he wrote those
words? He says, you know, all they that
are in Asia have departed from me. He says, Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. Paul knew what it was
to be bereft of friends. and those whom he counted on.
He knew what it was to be forsaken. But yet he says, I'm
not. He says, I'm pressing on. Because
that's my calling. That's what I'm going to do.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
Cast down, but not destroyed. Now this is the place God's people
Now what happens is that people often get to thinking that they
ought not to ever have any troubles or distresses, but that is not
the calling that any of the Lord's people have been given. We are
all subject to troubles and problems and things that oppress us. But we're not destroyed by them.
That is, we're not completely put off the track. And Paul says,
I'm not either. Always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest. What we're looking at, he said,
is not the troubles that befall us. And get to thinking, well,
you know, we've really got some troubles. Now, if you get to
thinking about your troubles, you will not be able to look
very far away. I mean, if all you did was sit
at home and say, oh my, we don't have any lights, or we don't
have any hot water, or we don't have any air conditioning, or
we don't have this, we don't have any ice, we don't have anything.
If all you did was sit around and think about that, you wouldn't
have time to think about those that were in places of greater
need than you were. And so that's what Paul says
here. He said we are always bearing about the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in us, that
we might show to you, he says, to you Corinthians, that your
benefit is that which we are seeking. We're not seeking our
own self. You see, it would make no sense
whatsoever from a practical standpoint for Paul to do the things that
he did. I mean, Paul, you're crazy to go off down there to
Jerusalem when you know that those people are going to try
to kill you. I mean, that's what those prophets came to him and
said, didn't they? They said, well, if you go down
there, they're going to kill you. They said, you don't need to go down there,
Paul. He says, I'm going. They said, well, that doesn't
make any sense. Paul said, what I'm telling you
here doesn't make any sense. It's not supposed to make any
sense. Because it doesn't make sense to the flesh. But that's
not what we're called to serve. That the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our mortal flesh, that you might see the
risen Christ in us. So then death worketh in us,
but life in you. Even though we die, we do it
for your benefit. Because he said, we are ready. In fact, in another place he
says, I die daily. Now a lot of people have taken
that to mean Paul is talking about he is depriving himself daily. That
is, he is denying himself and every day he goes forth. No,
what he meant by that was, he says, I am already giving myself
over to death so that I am not even concerned about it anymore.
Because my purpose is greater than my consideration of the
benefit of life. Because our life is Christ. And
he says, I want to serve Him. So then death worketh in us,
but life in you. We having the same spirit of
faith, according as it is written, I believe, therefore I have spoken,
we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He which
raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and
shall present us with you. He said, we believe that Christ
rose from the dead, and if we believe that Christ rose from
the dead, then we believe that we too shall rise from the dead,
and therefore those things that befall us in this life are unimportant. If our desire is towards your
benefit, we go that way, knowing that He which raised up the Lord
Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us
with you. Now, there is no more important
doctrine for the children of God than the resurrection. of
Jesus Christ. That is the centerpiece of what
we believe. If Christ be not raised, Paul
said, then we are of all men most miserable. Because if Christ
be not raised, then we shall not be raised. There is no resurrection. And if we have hope only in this
life, then brethren, we are of all men most miserable. It would
make no sense at all, Paul is saying, if I went out and gave
myself, gave my life up to serve you, if that was all there was
to it. I mean, what would be the thing?
I mean, what would be the benefit? He said it would, from a fleshly
standpoint, be a waste of time. But he said we believe because
Christ rose from the dead that we too shall rise. For all things are for your sakes
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
renown to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not,
for though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day." Now you see, Paul wasn't going around saying, oh,
woe is me in saying all of this, was he? He said, don't weep for
me. He said, don't feel bad for me.
He says, I'm giving myself to you for Christ's sake. But he
said, don't pity me, because he says, Though our outward man perish,
our inward man is renewed every day. The glory of God, just from
what He said there, the revelation of the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ far exceeds any
pain or suffering or anything else that might befall us in
this life. Those things are of nothing. Our inward man is renewed day
by day. You see, that's the place where
God's people are desiring to be is for the work of God to
take place within us, to conform us to the image of Christ, to
cause us to delight in the things of God. For our light affliction,
which is the outward things, 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." Now, that's a principle that should guide
us in all of our expectations in all of our daily walks of
life is we are not, as the children of God, we are not looking at
the things that are temporal. I mean, if you get to looking
at the things that are temporal, then you get to weighing up the
value of things. Paul said, if I was thinking
of things temporal, I'd say, well, you know, I don't know
if I ought to go down there to Jerusalem or not, because I could
probably get hurt. I mean, it would be better if
I thought... I'll think more rationally. You
know, people tell you, well, you need to think of yourself.
You ever heard that? You need to take care of yourself.
You've got to love yourself first. Paul said, what's the thinking
that arises? Is that eternal thinking? Or
is that temporal thinking? Paul says, I want to be found
useful in the kingdom of God. And I think on those things that
are eternal and not those things which are temporal, that is,
passing away. So whatever you see is passing
away. If you can look at it, it's going
to be gone one day. That's just as sure as it can
be. There's not one thing you can
see with your natural eye that will be eternal. It can't be. It's not going to happen. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.
If so that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened Not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for
the selfsame thing is God, who hath also given us the earnest
of the Spirit. Wherefore we are always confident,
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not
by sight. We are confident, I say, and
willing, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present
with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of Him." So, you know,
these are not just swelling words. Sometimes you hear that stuff
read at funerals and that sort of thing. It is an appropriate
thing, no doubt. But Paul wasn't applying it to
his funeral. He was applying it to the fact
that he was prosecuting the ministry that God gave him to do. He was
doing what God called him to do. He said the most important
thing for any of God's people to do is to do what God called
you to do. Now, I don't know what God called
you to do. You know, that's not for one
man to tell another man, well, God called you to do so and so.
I don't know what God called you to do. But I know this, that
whatever the Lord has called His people to do, let them do
it with all of their might, as unto Him, knowing that these
things that we see are temporal. And those things that we don't
see are eternal. And those things that are eternal
are those lasting things that fade not away. And so it might
not make sense to people for you to do certain things, you
know, but you don't ever have to apologize for doing those
things that would be eternal. That would have eternal consequences. That would have eternal value.
You don't ever have to be ashamed of that, because that's what
the Lord calls you to. And that's how we are to live
our lives. Not seeing those things which
are temporal, but those things which are eternal.