Renewed day by day

Q: What does the Bible say about the inward renewal of believers?

The Bible teaches that though our outward man perishes, our inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). 2 Corinthians 4:16 states that despite the decay of our physical bodies, believers experience a renewal of their inner selves every day. This renewal is a work of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us as we face external trials and bodily afflictions. The process of inward renewal reminds us of our eternal reality and the hope we have in Christ, motivating us to persevere through life’s challenges.

Q: How do we know that our sufferings have purpose?

Our sufferings are not in vain; they work for us a far greater eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). The Apostle Paul explains that our sufferings serve a divine purpose, contributing to an eternal weight of glory. This perspective allows believers to view their afflictions as light and momentary compared to the eternal joy and glory that await them in heaven. The trials we endure refine our faith, making us stronger and more reliant on God. Consequently, our sufferings can lead to greater consolation and a deeper understanding of God’s mercy and grace.

Q: Why is the eternal perspective important for Christians?

An eternal perspective helps Christians endure temporary afflictions and focus on spiritual realities (2 Corinthians 4:18). Having an eternal perspective is crucial for Christians as it shifts our focus from the temporal struggles we face to the lasting promises of God. In 2 Corinthians 4:18, Paul emphasizes that while we look at the things that are seen and temporary, we must realize that unseen, eternal matters are of greater significance. This mindset enables believers to withstand trials, knowing they are securing rewards in heaven and participating in God’s redemptive plan for their lives and the lives around them.

Seeking once again the help of God, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and the text you'll find in verse 16. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. week or so ago when David was preaching he preached from chapter 5 and verse 1 and we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens and it seems in these few chapters the Apostle Paul is focusing upon the sufferings that he is experiencing, the frailty of the human body, the temporary nature of the things of this world and the eternal objects that he had in view that enabled him to persevere under much trial and opposition as he underwent great persecution through the preaching.

Because of the preaching of the gospel, he always had in view this eternal perspective that this light affliction, as he calls it, is but for a moment, worketh for us as far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. What he saw as he preached, as people were saved and brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, this gave him that greater purpose for for his ministry. He understood that this was not just, as I said recently, not just a fairy tale. This is people being brought from the brink of hell, from the kingdom of darkness, from the clutches of Satan, and being brought from the broad road that leads to destruction and placed onto the narrow way that leads to life, and that is a life eternal. And so as he had this a treasure in earthen vessels, as he had this ministry, as he has received mercy, he says that he faints not, that he desires to preach, not themselves but Jesus Christ, the Lord and our servant, ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sakes. He understood that Christ has set him apart for the ministry. He had put this treasure in his body, this message of the gospel, and he now lived a life of servanthood, not only to the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to the churches, so that he was their servant for Christ's sake, he was their slave for Christ's sake and he desired to not to know anything among them except for Jesus Christ and him crucified and so that enabled him to persevere under much opposition and persecution.

He says it was a cause worth suffering for, the gospel? As we read and we look at church history, there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of Christians who have believed that the gospel is a cause that is worth suffering for, that the Lord Jesus Christ is worth suffering for, and how did they have that perspective?

They didn't have it because they had an earthbound perspective. They had it because they had an eternal perspective. They looked beyond these things that are temporary and they looked to the things that were eternal. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified they saw that he did not lay in the grave but he was the first fruit of the resurrection and they believed that as Christ died and rose again and is in heaven waiting for them so they believed that they also should this body perish that they also would be raised again in likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with him for forever and ever and so it was a cause worth suffering for And Jesus tells us that this gospel, this kingdom of Christ is a treasure.

It is like a treasure that has been hidden in a field. It is like a pearl of great price. In Matthew chapter 13, he says, and again, from verse 44, and again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field. The witch, when a man hath found it, he hideth, and for joy goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. And again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant, man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and brought it. so the Lord Jesus Christ is saying that the kingdom of Christ is like a treasure, a hid in a field, a one-of-a-kind treasure, a treasure that is worth selling everything for so that you may obtain this one treasure.

It's worth losing everything else for, everything that is temporary, everything that is passing away that you may hold on to, this eternal treasure which is unpassing, which does not dissolve, which does not fade away, which is an eternal treasure. And so this man, Jesus says, they sold all They left off with everything that they had. But in losing everything that they had, they had everything. Because they had the one thing that is needful, and that is Christ.

And if you have Christ, then you have his kingdom. And if you have his kingdom, if you have Christ, you have his kingdom. And if you have Christ and his kingdom, you have eternal life. And the Apostle Paul saw that he had eternal life. And to the observer, that he was somebody that was just wasting his life on, wasting his ambition, wasting his education on a futile message that was going to end in his destruction. But to him, he saw that his life was not wasted, but he saw that his life was lived for Christ. the one who saved him and gave himself for him. And he so loved what Christ had done for him. He so loved the gospel, the simplicity of the gospel that Christ died for sinners.

That he wanted, that he spared not his own body so that this message could continue. to advance the kingdom of Christ. He says, therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. He says, I have received the mercy, undeserved love.

God has not dealt with me as I have deserved to be dealt with. And therefore, if Christ is the friend of sinners, then I'm going to proclaim that Christ is the friend of sinners. And I'm not going to slow down. I'm not going to weary myself. I'm going to labor and labor and labor until I'm placed in the grave, as long as my body has breath. I will preach Christ Jesus.

What a lovely attitude that is to have. to be a servant to Christ and to be a servant to his church and to have a concern, as the Lord Jesus Christ did for the multitude, that others may experience what you have experienced, as you have experienced mercy, that you desire that others also will experience that mercy.

And Paul saw that Christ And what Christ has done was worth losing everything for. He wasn't worried about that he suffered the loss of all things. He says, I count them as rubbish. I count them as rubbish. That his salvation, that he had received this eternal life, was a treasure hid in a field and was a pearl of great price for which he was willing to sacrifice everything for, why? Because he saw everything here below as temporary.

And everything that he was ministering for was eternal. We think if you minister the word of God and one sinner is saved, so you labor for 50 years and one sinner is saved, through your labours, through God using you as an instrument in his hand, that one sinner has been taken from death to life, that one sinner is going to spend an eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ, that one sinner whose soul is worth more than the whole world put together, because the world put together is temporary, but the soul of man is eternal.

Think what joy there is in heaven over one sinner that repents. Heaven doesn't ring, you could say, when we get a new house. Heaven doesn't ring when we get a new car. Heaven doesn't ring with joy when our salary goes in every month. But heaven rings with joy over one sinner that repents of their sins and turns to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Because it's a treasure. It is a treasure held in earthen vessels. It's the proclaiming of the accomplishments of Christ Jesus. And when a sinner is brought to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, heaven rings for joy for another one has been snatched from the burning. And for this message, the apostle was willing to suffer. He was willing to be pressed on every side.

Often we get so discouraged. If you're like me, I'll get, as I would tell you, I get so discouraged. And, you know, maybe you could do some, you speak to somebody and they may, they may reject your message and you think, great, you know, that's not very good. I'm not going to do that again. I'm just going to give up. I'm so useless. I don't have the right words to say. and you give up. And yet all it is, is just one person who doesn't like what you've said.

Yet the Apostle Paul, and those apostles with him, they experienced such hardships, suffering as Christ suffered the loss of all things. And he says in the first chapter of the second Quintet, he says, For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ, from verse five.

For whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of these sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. And so there was the sufferings that they were passing through, and then they looked to the consolation, the comfort in those sufferings or after those sufferings.

That was his mindset, looking beyond, whether it's this life or the life to come. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our troubles which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. That's what his ministry was, pressed above measure. Everywhere he went, there was an opposition, a Satan rising up against him, the kingdom of darkness rising up, the people of Satan, the ungodly rising up against him, pressed above measure, despairing even of life, wondering if I'm even going to survive. but we had this sentence of death in ourselves. And we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raises the dead.

He understood that as Christ met with him on the road to Damascus, and he was told that he's going to suffer much for Christ's sake, I will appear to him to show him how much he would suffer for my name's sake. Most people would run away. Well, I don't want Jesus if I'm gonna have to have a life of suffering. I don't want to be a Christian if the first thing I hear about Christ is that my life's gonna be so difficult, I'm gonna undergo suffering and persecution.

But Paul looked beyond the suffering and persecution and saw what Christ had done for him, what he had secured for him, an eternity. that everything was temporary, even the sufferings, they were temporary. And he came to that point where he says to be with Christ, which is far better. But he says that even if I'm killed, it is God who raises the dead. As Christ was raised again from the dead on the third day, so God will also raise up us again. He understood that from the beginning, he had a sentence of death. upon him.

But we don't have that in our country. But there are those countries where when people come to faith in Christ, a sentence of death is placed upon them. They are dead men walking, waiting to be discovered, waiting to suffer the loss of all things, waiting to be chased from their homes, from their lands, from their families. They have to have an eternal perspective. have to look beyond this temporary world so that they can endure the suffering.

In the God that raises the dead, who delivered us also from greater death and does deliver us, in whom we trust that he will deliver us. But also he says, ye also helping together by prayer for us. at the church as they saw Paul and the others suffering.

They didn't just say, oh, well, you know, it's God's will for them. Or they didn't say that it's his own fault. You know, he shouldn't have gone into that town. He knew that it was a difficult place. It's their own fault for having persecution there. They should have gone to the more easier places.

No, he thanked them for their prayers, for upholding them in the ministry and providing for them of their substance. They were together. They were labourers together in the Lord, whether in prayer or whether on foot or whether the spokesperson or back at home, kneeling at the throne of grace, elevating the Lord's people in their troubles. And so he was willing to continue.

Why? he wanted to see people saved. He loved to witness the salvation of souls. Proverbs tells us, he who win his souls is wise. Every Christian, I believe, or they should do, should love to see sinners converted should love to see sinners being brought from darkness to light, should love to see a moving of the Holy Spirit, breaking open hard hearts and humbling people under the Word of God, that they may fall at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and cry out, what must I do to be saved? It's our delight to read of times past when the Spirit of God moved on the multitudes and that many came to a saving knowledge of Christ and we desire that God would do the same.

But it always comes at a cost. Always comes at a cost. There's always been those who labour in prayer. And there's always been those who labor in the ministry. There's always been those who suffer persecution and opposition. And even in times of revival, there are those who stand on the outside and say, well, it's just a moving of the flesh. It's not a real work of God. There's always the critics. There's always opposition.

But the apostle Paul, he did not faint. Pressed above measure, worrying about pressed above measure, despairing even of his own life. Why? Out of love to the Lord Jesus Christ, out of love to the glorious gospel, and out of love to the Lord's people, he proclaimed the truth.

And his life was not wasted. His life was not wasted. And he didn't stink that his life was wasted. because he looked beyond the temporal and looked to the eternal. All of this has an effect. All of this has an effect upon the human body. It said of Whitefield that he preached himself into the grave. That preaching over and over and over again has an effect upon the human body. And as the apostle Paul, as he's beaten, as he's shipwrecked, as he is fasting and praying, it has an effect upon the human body. And so he says, for the cause we faint not. For the advancement of the kingdom, for the cause of Christ, we don't faint. We faint not. But though our outward man perishes, our outward man.

You see, us human beings, we are different from the animals. We are spirit and body. We are, as he puts it here, we have a treasure in earthen vessels. We are clay pots. As we bury people, we say, from earth to earth, dust to dust. Dust you are, and dust you shall return.

Our bodies are tents. or a tabernacle, which can be dissolved. And so he says, although our outward man perishes, in one of our hymns, I think it says, as soon as we are born, we begin to die. Soon as we are conceived in the womb, our time, our allotted time is set. Our soul has been placed inside a house of clay, and that house of clay has a limited lifespan, yet our soul is eternal. And so the scriptures tell us that our bodies are like a tent, or they're like a clay pot, an earthen vessel.

In chapter five and verse four it says, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that which we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up in life, that this mortal body, this body that is dying, that is passing away, that is weak and failing, might be clothed upon. with eternal life and as he has that eternal perspective, understanding that this body is going to fall away, this tent is going to be put off, that one day it is going to be raised up again. And he says, in verse 8, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and present from the Lord. He understood in verse six, he tells us that while we are at home in this body, while our soul is housed in this body, we are absent from God. We are absent from the Lord Jesus Christ physically. But when we are separated from this body, the soul soars to be with Christ. The body falls away, decomposes in the grave. And we'll wait for that resurrection day.

And so Paul says, everything that we see, it is temporal, it is passing away. Those things that are unseen are eternal. That's why we are called to walk by faith. How easy it is for us to be caught up with those things that we can see. Yes, our bodies are very important. They've been given to us by God and we've been to look after them. We're to care for them, not to abuse them. But they are still temporary things that are passing away. If you think, I saw some pictures as we were unpacking of Elsie and me when we were going out. We looked so young. But now it just flies by. You take pictures of the children when they're babies and they just fly by and they grow up. You go and visit people in the old people's home, and the outward body is failing. You know, you look at our dear friend Ted.

It's like he can't communicate properly. But you know, the inner man wants to speak. The inner man wants to declare Christ. And you may see a smile, but he can't. The body is failing. and it can't communicate as it once did. And it's the same with all of us. And the apostle says, all these afflictions, they're taking their toll upon my outward body. Our outward man is perishing.

This tabernacle, this clay pot, it is falling away. And we all know it, don't we? sickness. How many of us have been unwell this year? Not even one and a half months in, we've had cold, we've had the flu, we've had other things and the people who are detained at home this evening because they were unable to get here, the spirit is willing but the body is struggling under sickness. The outward man is perishing. Those of you who've been labouring today, working outside or working in the office or moving from place to place, the body is tired, the brain is tired.

It has an effect upon us. We can't continue 24 hours a day because of the weaknesses of our bodies. There are limitations. Those of you who are older, you can look back no doubt in your life when you thought, well, you could run here and there, you could ride your bicycle, you could do races, you could go swimming, you could do all of the things that you wanted to do. But as the outward man perishes, There are limitations then to the things that we can do. And especially if we've passed through great trouble, great difficulty, these trials that we pass through, they have an effect upon the body. And the apostle saw it, the things that he passed through, that he was despairing even of life, pressed above measure, seeing his outward man perish.

Because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He doesn't leave it there. Because we are body and spirit. Because our body is undergoing decay because of sin, our body is falling away because of sin. Yet because he has been regenerated by the spirit of God, because he is born again, he understands that inwardly, that he is being renewed day by day, that his physical, temporary nature is falling down. But as that physical nature, that physical body, that tent crumbles, he is experiencing a strengthening in the spirit.

I've often wondered, you know, when you say, for instance, Ted and others who are a great age and their bodies, they can't communicate what they are, what is going on within. Because you've never been in that position and because they're unable to tell you, you wonder what goes on inside. What are they thinking about? Are they able to process thought just because they can't speak? But sometimes you are able to get glimpses of what is taking place. With Ted, he may smile or something. With my auntie, my great aunt, there was that confusion. Then suddenly there was light.

It's like the spirit broke through and overcame the body that was passing away. And you're able to get a glimpse of what's taking place inside. this inward nature, this spiritual nature that is being renewed day by day, this immortal part of the human body that desires to separate itself, to escape the house of clay, to soar to lands untold, to soar to glory, to be with Christ.

And so he says, my mortal body, perishing, but the inward man is renewed day by day, the spiritual man, the regenerate one who's been made alive. In the book of Titus, Titus chapter 3 there tells us, or Paul tells us again, how he deals with this inner nature. It is, though his spiritual, his outward man is perishing, it is inward man is being renewed day by day.

In chapter 3 from verse 4 he says, but after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared. not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

How did Paul operate under such extreme circumstances? How did he operate being pressed above measure, despairing even of life by the comforter the Holy Spirit, the strength of the believer. He was renewed of the Holy Ghost, washed over in Romans. also it tells us there about the renewing of our minds.

Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And so Paul understood that this affliction, this trouble, what the Lord has told me I'm going to pass through, he says I will show him how much he would suffer for my namesake, as he held this treasure in earthen vessels, as he had a great concern for the souls of the lost and a desire to make Christ known. Under the influence of this Holy Spirit of God, he is renewed in the inner man. Though his outward body is perishing and suffering, He is renewed in the inner man. then he said in Romans, he says, by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and the acceptable will of God. He knew then that this is the will of God for him.

Under the influence of the spirit, as it were meditating upon the greatness and goodness of God and the advancement of God's kingdom, and the calling boat for what he has. His mind is renewed, his inner man is strengthened in Isaiah 40. In verse 29, he says, he gives power to the faint and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up as wings, as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. They that wait upon the Lord, they that await at the throne of grace and commune with their God, they that wait at the word of God and are fed spiritual food, are strengthened, to be able to persevere under these temptations, pressed on every side.

Maybe that's you today, this evening. You feel to be pressed on every side. Maybe you feel even to be despairing even of life itself. Or how did the Apostle Paul, a man like you, a man like me, how did he persevere? In his own strength, no. He says, my own strength, my own body is failing. My own body is falling away. My own body is dying. I'm a dead man walking. But I am renewed in the inner man by the Holy Spirit of God. I'm renewed in my mind and I'm strengthened by the Holy Spirit to continue. Did it hurt him? Yes.

Was he was he numb to all pain and suffering? No, just like the Lord Jesus Christ, he was not numb to the pain and suffering that he went through. And so the Apostle Paul was not numb to the pain and suffering that he went through. And neither were you and neither am I numb to the pain and suffering.

But we can experience the strength of God, the strength of the Holy Spirit of God, that we can be renewed. day by day. He says, for a light affliction is but for a moment. If you think of his light affliction, I'm not going to be able to find it now, but he says in Corinthians, all that he has been through, suffering shipwreck, There, chapter 11. Are they ministers of Christ?

I speak as a fool. I am more, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes, saved one. Thrice I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day have I been in the deep. in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, beside those things that are without. those things that affect my body, they which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches, who is weak and I am I not meek, who is offended and I not burn.

That was what he was going through. And he calls it a light affliction. To us, that would be the end, speaking to myself, that would be the end of the road. It would be done in. Naturally speaking, throw in the towel, give up. But not for the apostle. He calls it a light affliction. Why?

Because it is for a moment. Now I know some trials can go on for years and years and years. And the apostle Paul's trial went on for years and years and years until his life was taken from him. But still in comparison, to eternity. It is a light affliction for a moment. 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 the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. these afflictions, he says, they work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

What he saw taking place through his affliction in himself and also in the advancement of the kingdom, he saw that it was far outweighed, all that he was going through, far outweighed. he had an eternal perspective. He saw the value of one's soul coming to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and he was willing even to die for that Christ that may be exalted.

May the Lord then help us as we travel this pilgrim journey to remember that our outward man is perishing. We are We are on a timer, our life is set, we are corrupted by sin, we are frail, we are prone to sickness, but we can be renewed daily by the Holy Spirit of God and we can be given strength sufficient for each and every day to undergo the pathway or to walk the pathway that the Lord Jesus has caused us to walk in. May the Lord bless these few remarks. Amen.

Let's sing our final hymn this evening from hymns for worship number 145. 145. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me. Hymns for worship 145, June 385.

♪ How great thy praise, whose name is love ♪ ♪ To heaven lift and peace proclaim ♪ ♪ Thy name is great, O Israel ♪ ♪ My name is written on his heart ♪ ♪ I know that while in heaven he's rest ♪ ♪ No time can be in the end still ♪ When Satan tempts me to despair, And tells me of the guilt within, Ah, but I know you can see him there, Who paid and e'er for all my sins.

Because the sinner's Savior died, My sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied, To look on Him and pardon me. ♪ My perfect, boundless righteousness ♪ ♪ The great unchangeable I am ♪ ♪ The King of glory and of peace ♪ ♪ With himself I come to thee ♪ My soul is purchased by His blood. My life is lived with Christ on high. With Christ my Savior and my God.

Almighty God we do pray that thou give us that true outlook of the great treasure that we have within our clay bodies. We ask Lord that thou help us to view and see the true value of a soul and we ask that you give us a true compassion as Christ had to the multitude and do give us that true zeal that the Apostle Paul had to view all things as temporary that he may win Christ and to win souls to salvation. We pray Lord that thou help any who may be passing through great trouble a great trial in their life that they may lean upon thy spirit and know what it is to be renewed by thy spirit and to be have their minds renewed and to be washed over by thy holy word do then bless us each we pray and help us lord in our individual lives that do give us that strength to persevere and now with the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god the father with the fellowship and the communion of the holy spirit to be with you each now and for evermore. Amen.

Renewed day by day

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the inward renewal of believers?

How do we know that our sufferings have purpose?

Why is the eternal perspective important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About James Gudgeon

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Renewed day by day

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the inward renewal of believers?

How do we know that our sufferings have purpose?

Why is the eternal perspective important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About James Gudgeon

Comments

More from James Gudgeon

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Suggested for You

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book