Renewed Day by Day

So once again with the help of the Lord I would like you to turn with me to the first chapter that we read together, 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16. 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. For 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. Last Thursday I went to the dhikr and this is the text that I took that evening. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, we are renewed. yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

I'm a bit troubled whether I had it right that I should bring it to you this evening, but really encouraged by the hymn that Edwin has chosen, speaking about the new man and the old man, and the dual nature which the Christian has, that he has been made alive in the inner man, and yet he's housed in a body which is dying, and there is a constant conflict between the two as the new nature, as the new man that has been made alive in Christ Jesus strives after holiness and godliness and yet there is that conflict between the sinful nature that still exists in our body and that's the constant warfare that the Christian has until the day that they will die. This battle does not become easier. You speak to those people who have been Christians for many, many years, older people that are in their 80s and maybe 90s, and you think that And this battle would be not quite so evident, and yet they still say that I'm a sinner. I'm still struggling against sin. And I remember my granddad saying to me, I feel to be a worse sinner now than I was 50 years ago. as the work of God continues, his sanctifying effect, the more sinful that person feels because maybe they see the clarity and the holiness of God and they see how undeserving they are to receive such a gift. such a treasure as the Apostle Paul places it in this chapter, and they see themselves as unworthy to receive such a wonderful gift of salvation.

And so the battle exists, the battle was there in the life of the Apostle Paul, the battle is there in every single person that has been born again of the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit desires for holiness, yet the flesh despises the way. The flesh has to be, as Paul puts it later, we'll see, beaten into submission. It has to be dragged along on the narrow way that leads to life and seeking to be conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there is that conflict and there is that battle that takes place and as the outward man is perishing, The inward man, that is the spiritual man, is renewed on a daily basis.

He writes, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things become new. so there the point of salvation, the Christian now walks a new pathway as he steps from that broad road that leads to destruction onto the narrow way that leads to life, as he comes from the kingdom of darkness and he enters into the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of light, as he becomes or he loses his spiritual blindness He now has eyes of faith to view the Lord Jesus Christ who, having not seen, he loves. The man who he once despised and walked in contrary to his ways, he now has a delight to walk in his pathways. And so the apostle was just a man, a man chosen by God to be his messenger with his message.

He was a man as Elijah of like passions as we are. He was a man who struggled with his flesh just like you and I do, yet he was a man who did not focus upon that struggle. He was a man that was not consumed by that struggle. He was a man that did not look at the temporary surroundings that were round about him, but he had an eternal perspective.

He looked beyond this world to the things that are invisible and he laid hold of them as though he could see them as we saw recently about faith. Faith lays hold of the invisible truths as though they are a reality and so he lays hold of the invisible truths that God has laid before him as a reality and that enabled him to persevere through much trouble, through much opposition, much persecution, much difficulty. he believed that one day he would be raised again from the grave just like the Lord Jesus Christ as we saw this morning with Lazarus. It links very well with this evening that Lazarus has that type of that final resurrection and judgment as the Lord Jesus Christ will one day come with that shout and all will come up from the grave wherever they have been laid.

As the scripture says, the sea will give up its dead and all will stand before the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the apostle laid hold of those truths and that is what enables him not to walk casually, but to endure sufferings for Christ's sake. He says, we have received the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore speak.

He knew And he believed what the Lord Jesus Christ had said. And he believed that the Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the grave. Although he had that heavenly vision, although he had seen him and communed with Christ, yet he still continued to believe and to trust in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he believed that as Christ was raised up from the grave, So we also will be raised up from the grave knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you.

One thing that is very lovely about the Apostle Paul as he was an apostle, yet he called himself a servant. He didn't elevate himself to have lordship or mastery over the churches, but he acknowledges that when I am raised up, I'm not going to be set to a higher position, but we are going to be raised up together with you and we'll be presented with you to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, the Bible speaks to us of one church.

Sometimes things wind me up. People speak about a beloved denomination. A denomination is just a group of people that gather around a set of articles. But the denomination itself is, and the people within that denomination or the believers within that denomination are only part of the one true church. The denominations divide the true church. Within each denomination, there are people who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are brothers and sisters in Christ. They may not agree on secondary doctrine, but the fundamental truths is what they agree on. And so denominations, yes, they help us to have some structure about what people believe, but it divides the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. the Apostle Paul, he says that I will be raised with you and we will be presented together to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not a beloved denomination, it is a denomination It is a people that gather together around a set of articles that believe certain things, but they are not separate from any other part of the true church. They are not an elite group of people that are better than any other part of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is only one church, and that is the worldwide church, all that the Lord Jesus Christ has died for of every nation, of every tribe, of every kindred, and of every tongue. There will be people in that church that you don't agree with. There will be people in that church that don't agree with you. But, as Paul said, I'm going to present you as a chaste virgin before a Christ. It is one church, and it is one body, and it is one bride. not just one denomination. It is one church, one bride and one body and that is the worldwide church, or what the old Puritans used to call the Catholic church, the one true church, the worldwide church of all that Christ has died for.

And the Apostle says we are all part of that church, all those that are in Christ Jesus, we are all part of that church. We are resting and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation. We are all part of that church. We cannot say that this denomination is going to be, you know, the neck or this denomination is going to be the foot. No, we're all part of that one body. Every individual believer is part of that one body and has specific purposes and uses and gifting to enable that body to function and for Christ to be glorified and for his church to continue and to advance.

There is only one head and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pope may say that he is the head of the church, but he is not. Pastors may say that they're the head of the church, but they are not. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one head of the true church.

He has authority over that whole church. He gave his life for that church. He shed his blood for that church, and they are his. Remember what Paul said to the Ephesian elders, he says, whom the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, whom Christ has purchased with his own blood. Each believer belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He has shed his blood for that individual and he places them under a local church where they can be fed and encouraged under the ministry of the word and where they can be useful in that church.

As we saw this morning, there are some believers who have that spiritual life, yet they are bound. They come to the church in order to be unbound, unraveled. through the ministry and set free and able to walk and to walk out their Christian life and to live as ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ as lights in a dark place. And so it is one church. Revelation 21, that one church is described as the holy city of Jerusalem. is not described as varying denominations coming down from heaven and each are going to exist on this new heaven and then on this new earth in separate communities because of their varying different beliefs. All of that will be gone. Everyone will see everything clearly with all clarity. All divisions will have ceased.

And as John says, I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are past away. And so in this new heaven, in this new earth, as he sees the new Jerusalem, the church, the bride of Christ descending from heaven, he sees her as a bride adorned for her husband without spot, without wrinkle, or we could say closed in white, waiting for her husband, the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come.

And so this is what Paul has in his mind in his ministry, what enables him to keep going. He sees that he has a message, the message of the gospel. And he sees that that message takes people from the kingdom of darkness and brings them into the kingdom of light. And he sees that when they come from that kingdom into the kingdom of light they are brought into the family of God and united together with Christ Jesus in the unity of the spirit and they are now part of that one body.

The Thessalonians tells us 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 Verse 13, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which sleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. 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 unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be ever with the Lord.

And we looked at this verse this morning. as Lazarus is raised again from the dead, as he was raised again from the dead to die again. And as the early church moved on, they were concerned that those that had died and were buried and were what he calls asleep would miss the resurrection. But Paul says, it's not so. Those that are dead in Christ will rise first.

They will not miss this triumphant entry to the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not be separated from this one body because they have died already. They will not be ignored but they will be gathered up first out of the graves and they will be with the Lord forever and ever. And he says, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so what is revealing to us is what is going to happen. as Lazarus came out, as Jesus Christ came out. So at the end of time, those that are buried in the graves or wherever they are, will be taken out of the graves. Their soul will be placed back into their body. And those people that are alive, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, will be changed. He says, in the twinkling of an eye, this mortal will put on immortality and they will go to be with the Lord for forever and ever.

And so this is what motivated the Apostle Paul. He says, I would gladly spend in Corinthians. He says, I will gladly spend and be spent for you. As he had received mercy, as he had received the light that shined in his heart, he desired that others also would have that same blessing. that the light of the glorious gospel would shine within their hearts as well. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And so he says we preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ the Lord and ourselves, your servants for Christ's sake. He saw the Gospel as a great treasure that was hid in his heart. He had received it. The light of the glorious gospel had shined in his heart. His dead spirit had received life and he saw it as a great treasure. He says, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, this gospel, this Christ Jesus. We have this treasure in earthen vessels or clay pots.

Why has God put this treasure in clay pots? Just like the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, why did he delay? He delayed so that Christ would be more glorified, that God would be more glorified in this wonderful miracle which took place, the raising of the dead, the raising of Lazarus from the grave. He waited for those extra two days so that Christ would be seen. Why does God house this treasure in earthen vessels?

He says, so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. As Paul said that, he said that God's strength is manifested in our weakness, but it is not of might nor by power, but by thy spirit, saith the Lord. And by the foolishness of preaching, those weak things are presented to confound the wise. And so the Lord has housed this precious treasure, the treasure of the gospel, in the hearts of sinful men and women who have been rejuvenated, who have been born again of the Spirit of God, whom he uses, labourers together with him in his vineyard, in his harvest, for the advancement of his his kingdom. So we saw that he was taking the gospel to those that were blinded, that he was bringing to them this great treasure. So he sang this morning, beg a poor at mercy's door. What do beggars want? They want something to help them.

Well, Paul was taking to them a treasure. the most valuable gift that this world has ever seen, the precious Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, whom he gave to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And so he puts it in this clay pot so that God himself is seen.

The Bible tells us that when somebody is converted, that God dwells with them. There is a mystery that takes place that cannot fully be comprehended by man, that God dwells with man or in man. If you remember when the temple was built Solomon said, the whole world cannot contain you, yet nevertheless this building which I have built or something along those lines. But it is true that the whole world cannot contain God. He is in all places and yet he dwells in the hearts of men.

There was that story I remember that Paul Hayden told years ago of somebody who was mocking a young boy. They saw him reading his Bible, I think, and he came up to him and said, how big is, how big is your God? And the boy sat there for a little while and he said, he's big enough to fill the whole universe, yet small enough to dwell within my heart.

That is our Lord. We look at Isaiah 57 and verse 15, it says, for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him also. That is of a contrite and a humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite or the repentant ones. And so God, he has two dwelling places. He dwells in a high and lofty eternity. but also he dwells in the hearts of his people.

And as the gospel is preached, Satan's kingdom is defeated. The kingdom of darkness is put aside and the Holy Spirit of God enters in to the heart of that individual. As Paul says, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you? And so it's this glorious gospel as it is preached, and as the Lord works through the ministry of the word, bringing sinners to salvation.

Those that are dead in trespasses and sins, spiritually separated from God, housed in a dying body, going on to an eternity in hell, which is the second death, are able to be transformed. turned around and set on a new course. Yes, still housed in a dying body, yet their immortal soul has been fed with spiritual life, gifted with spiritual life.

And this is where the apostle comes. says, though our outward man perishes, yet our inward man is renewed day by day, the outward man. The outward man is the body, the dwelling place of the soul. Here he describes it as a clay pot, As we look back right at the beginning of time, God made Adam out of the dust of the ground, breathed into him that life-giving breath, and he became a living soul. And so Adam is body and soul, married together, very difficult to separate the two and to see where one begins and one starts. As the body affects the soul, so the soul affects the body, but the body is perishing, the body is under the curse, the body is dying.

We are vulnerable, aren't we? We are vulnerable. If we stop for a moment and think how vulnerable we are to sickness, to accidents and to death. Our lives are fragile. It doesn't take much to knock us down or to bring us down. Our lives are in the hands, aren't they, of a holy God, a sovereign God.

And yet this body is dying. time as time is like a river it is eroding all the time away the banks of that river and so time is eroding it erodes away our flesh and the longer time goes on the more evident of the outward man perishing becomes I said on Thursday, I think that, you know, you may think that you are strong and you got many, many years, but those years fly by and you become weaker and weaker and weaker. There is no stopping this process of the outward man perishing.

Paul says, in Corinthians chapter 1 verse 9 verse 23. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all? but one receiveth the prize, so run that you may obtain. And every man that stribeth for the masteries is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are incorruptible.

And here he is speaking of the body. Remember the apostle Paul has been born again. He is a man that is striving after holiness. He's a man who's striving after the advancement of the gospel. He's a man that's housed in a perishing body. And he says that this Christian walk is like a race. He says those that are running in a race, they are temperate. They're able to restrain the things of their body, to enable their body to function in a way that's going to help them win this corruptible crown. But he says we are in a race that is going to inherit an incorruptible crown. And he says, I run.

Therefore, so run, not as uncertain, so fight I, not as one that beats the air. But I keep my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. And so the apostles saw that it was this body, this body was the weakest link. This body was the part that was going to cause him to fail and so he sought to keep this body under subjection, that he sought to overcome this body that is perishing by strengthening the spirit, his spirit.

Like he says, which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day, and the inner man is his soul. We know that, as Jesus says, man does not live by bread alone, but every word that comes out of the mouth of God does man live.

The regenerated man needs spiritual food. He has a spiritual appetite. And that's so. Our souls must be fed. Our souls must be encouraged. Our spiritual side must not be neglected in our daily walk. As we feed our bodies, as we exercise our bodies, So we must, as Paul says, exercise our souls, strengthen and encourage and feed our souls. By our nature, our soul is dead.

Not that it doesn't exist, not that it has no life in it, but that it is separated from God, it is inept, it is unable to feel any union and love to God himself. It is separated from God. It is blind to God. It is unstirred by the gospel. You think of those who have heard the ministry of the word and they are unstirred, untouched. Their hearts are hard. They don't receive the truth. It's because they're souls. They are dead, separated from God and have no, are not drawing from that eternal life. The Bible tells us that they are lost. without hope, been blinded by the God of this world.

The Bible says we are all like sheep that have gone astray, we are without hope, we are cut off from spiritual life but through the ministry of the word which Paul laboured for, knowing that the light of the glorious gospel could shine within the hearts of those who heard it and and impart that spiritual life-giving blessing from God.

That soul that was once dead and blind and unfeeling is now alive. But it has to be nourished and cared for. So the believer is a living soul housed in a dying body. The Bible says that he doesn't die, but he lives. When the believer comes to die, as his body succumbs to this outward man that is perishing, as the toll of sin and the curse takes place upon the body, and the heart stops beating, and the Lord takes the soul, it's a separation. He doesn't die but lives. He soars to eternal life. He's received eternal life the moment he was born again and that just continues. He steps out of this body of clay. He steps out of his tent and he goes and he dwells in a house.

Paul says that's his desire. His desire was that he would be separated from this tabernacle, from this tent. and that he would be housed in a house, meaning his immortal body, the body that he would be given when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again. He says, for we know that if our earthly house, this tabernacle, is dissolved, We have a building of God, a 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.

Is that the battle that you have this evening? Do you know something of what it is to have that conflict within yourself? That the old nature, your old man resists that new nature, that new man. There's a conflict going on within yourself, as we have sang, that the new man and the old man, they can't agree. One desires to look at the temporary where the other desires to look at the eternal. There is that conflict and Paul says that I have this same desire, I have that same conflict.

He says I long to be with Christ which is far better. He says I long to step out of this tabernacle, this tent. I long to step out of this clay pot and to be closed with a house. with a body which I'm going to have for eternity, a body that's in sync with my soul, a body without sin, a body that desires to be with God and to be with Christ and to be in glory. And so it's this that keeps him going. It's this that enables him to endure persecution and beatings and hardship for the good of the church and the advancement of the kingdom.

He says, for we walk by faith. Faith, as we've seen recently, is the gift of God. It's the gift that God has given us, yes, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to enable us to walk in this world. to look beyond the temporal, to look to the eternal. And that faith must be exercised on a daily basis. As the runner has to go out running every single morning to exercise his body, so the believer has to exercise their faith every single day so that they're not overwhelmed by the temporary blessings that are around about them. They look to the treasure that they have in heaven. He says, for we walk by faith. and not by sight. We are confident, I say, confident to be willing rather to be absent from the body and present before the Lord. So the believer is renewed on a daily basis. We're not given a lump sum of grace to sustain us through our whole life.

We are given a drip feed. by that drip feed must be drawn upon. You think of those little hamsters, when they run around their cages, they go to their bottle, don't they? And they lick the little ball bearing on the end of their bottle with their tongue and they receive their drink, a sustained bite. They have to go to it and drink from it. So it is with you and I in our spiritual walk. We can't just expect these things to take place.

Although the Lord does act gracefully and mercifully upon us, but we must go to Him and draw from and drink from that living fountain, draw from the living word, commune with the Lord in prayer and know the benefits and blessings of His Holy Spirit. We're to drink at the well, we're to eat of the food, but also we're to look by faith to him, as Paul said, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. And that's how Paul endured, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in what the Lord Jesus Christ had said, knowing that even if he was killed, as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, knowing we also shall be raised up by the Lord Jesus Christ and that this tent, this clay pot will be changed and we will be given a house, an eternal body to be with the Lord for ever and ever. And he says, you know, it's just a light affliction, a light affliction which is just for a moment. but works in us far more exceeding an eternal weight of glory. For 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.

May the Lord help us then in our daily walk to be overwhelmed with the temporal, but to be drip fed and given that strength sufficient for every day. As the Lord's Prayer says, give us this day our daily bread, give us this day, renew my strength for this day, whatever is before you this week, maybe you know, maybe you don't, but know this, that as you walk out a day at a time, the Lord will give you that strength sufficient for every day, but you are to go to him, Do not be blasé, do not be presumptuous that you are going to receive all that you need. Come unto me as we saw the other day, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavily laden and I will give you rest. There is to be that going to the Lord, to commune with him, to receive that strength sufficient for the day.

May he add his blessing. Amen. Hymns for worship number 166. Lord, it belongs not to my care whether I die or live, to love and serve thee is my share, and this thy grace must give. Hymns for worship 166, June 97. ♪ All to my care ♪ ♪ Ever I adore your name ♪ ♪ To love and serve thee is my share ♪ ♪ And it's my praise to thee ♪ In life below, my will be done, that I may no more live. It's short yet why should I be sad?

And He was true, He told, And He was true, God's Kingdom come. May we meet Thy blessed courtesy, For which Thy Word boldly speaks. I shall end my sorrow, praise, and weary sinful days, and join with thee triumphant saints who sing. I only trust that Thou wilt restore Thee, I am very dear. How t'is in love that Christ is born, And I shall be with Him.

Lord our God, we thank Thee for Thy Word and for the encouragement that it gives to us and we thank Thee Lord that we may be able to commune with Thee and to experience that daily renewing of our strength and even though our outward man is perishing, we thank Thee for that prospect of that a heavenly body which will be able to dwell with Thee in eternity forever and ever. O Lord, we pray, increase our faith to lay hold of these truths, help us to shed any fear, any anxiety, any doubt And Lord, do fill us, we pray, with thy love and favour and blessing. Do dismiss us with thy blessing, as we pray in Jesus' name. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you each now and forevermore. Amen.

Renewed Day by Day

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