2 Corinthians 4:7-18 | “We Do Not Lose Heart” [ The Cost of Discipleship ]
The Cost of Discipleship • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 53:57
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· 54 views“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” - 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (ESV) Sunday, July 6, 2025. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 | "We Do Not Lose Heart.” Preached to Heritage Bible Chapel in Princeton, MA. This sermon is part of an independent series of sermons on The Cost of Discipleship.
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I. The Reading
I. The Reading
A reading of 2 Corinthians 4.
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,
14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
[ ~4 min Read Time ]
Context
Context
With this passage today, we’re counting the cost of discipleship - that is, the cost of following Jesus.
We know there are wonderful benefits to following Jesus.
But how often do we, as Christians, count the cost of following our Lord with our lives?
The apostle Paul, who is writing this letter to the church in Corinth, was a man who knew the benefits and cost of life with Christ all too well.
And as a minister, Paul was honest about both.
Take for example, these last three verses read in our hearing, where Paul writes of some benefits saying —
Our inner self is being renewed day by day.
And that being prepared for us is an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
These are benefits of life with Jesus!
Yet what do these benefits have in common?
It is that they are presently unseen and eternal.
I CAN’T SEE my inner self being renewed.
I CAN’T SEE what is being prepared for me in glory.
All I can see, Paul says, is an outer self wasting away, and numerous afflictions and sufferings.
Cost
Cost
So what is the cost of following Jesus?
If we were to summarize the message of this text, we could say that the cost, the price we pay as believers when we follow Jesus with our lives, is to give up any ability to SEE the benefits in the here and now.
— We give up a life that is defined by sight.
The COST of following Jesus:
We no longer live by SIGHT
(2 Cor 4:18).
After Jesus was crucified, and raised from the dead, his disciples were locked inside a room on the first day of the week.
John, chapter 20 tells us that miraculously, Jesus came and stood among them, and spoke Peace to them, and breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit.
But one disciple was not there when Jesus appeared to them — Thomas, called the Twin.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Eight days later, the disciples are gathered again, and Thomas is with them, and Jesus appears to them again, inside the room with a locked door.
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then listen to what Jesus says —
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The cost of following Jesus for believers, is that we no longer live by sight.
This not being able to SEE didn’t sit well with Thomas.
And this doesn’t sit well with many today.
Those who doubt, like Thomas, want to SEE — “unless I see, I will never believe.”
Intellectuals want to KNOW and EXPLAIN — “unless I can understand this, I will never believe.”
Emotionalists want to FEEL — “unless I feel, I will never believe.”
We put up so many objections to follow Jesus, but all of these objections share the same thing in common.
At our core, we want proof.
If I don’t have proof that Jesus is who He says He is, and did what He says He did — dying on the cross and being raised from the dead — how can I believe?
It wouldn’t make sense to believe …and to then endure all kinds of suffering in His name.
So — our human nature craves proof in any number of its forms.
We want to see the benefits BEFORE we make the purchase.
So — PROVE IT!
But this is a statement made by someone who is not willing to pay the cost of following Jesus.
And if we are not careful, we as believers can fall into the same way of thinking, too.
Because when we follow Jesus, the price we pay, the cost of discipleship, is that we give up a life that can be understood and explained and lived by what we SEE.
And we follow Jesus along a different path.
We follow Jesus by faith, NOT by sight.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
The proof God offers — is faith.
And faith is the conviction, or the assurance, or the evidence of things NOT SEEN.
In other words, the cost of discipleship is that we give up any demand we once had for proof, or understanding, or sight as a prerequisite to following Jesus.
Later in this letter, 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says it simply, of Christians —
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Now this can be a bit scary.
This can be disheartening.
Jesus does NOT promise Christians that life by faith will be easy — far from it!
For while we can’t SEE the glorious benefits that await us in eternity, the things that we CAN see, momentarily —
the afflictions, the sufferings, the wasting away —
give us plenty of reasons to quit.
To give up.
To become discouraged.
To become weary.
To lose our motivation.
It is actually easier to NOT follow Jesus in this life, than it is to follow Jesus by faith, because of the cost involved.
The apostle Paul knows this, and given all that he endured, he probably knows this better than any of us ever well.
And yet, Paul writes something not once, but twice in this chapter that we should take notice of.
He writes this phrase: “We do not lose heart.”
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
And again, in verse 16 —
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Notice first, that there is a very large message implied by this statement — “we do not lose heart” — said here not once, but twice.
I imagine he wrote this twice, one for each step that’s required to walk and keep moving … !
What message is implied with these words?
It is that there are numerous reasons for why Paul could, and Paul should, and Paul would lose heart if it weren’t for the mercy and grace of God keeping him!
What about us?
Are any of us on the edge of having enough, reaching our limit, and giving up altogether on this Christian experiment?
For Paul, the ministry God called him to is not easy, and is fraught with discouragement.
The same is true of the Christian life!
After all, Jesus’ invitation sounded exactly like this:
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
There are numerous reasons for why Paul should lose heart - for why he should be discouraged - for why he should give up.
But notice that he does not say this phrase twice, as a command.
He’s not saying “don’t give up” Paul!
He’s not saying “don’t give up” Christian!
If this were a command, it would leave room for some uncertainty.
When a command is given, that command may be obeyed or that command may be ignored. It remains to be seen what will happen.
If this were a command, we would be left wondering what Paul would do.
Don’t lose heart! — ( are they going to give up? )
But this is NOT a Command.
Twice, in this text, this is a statement of CONVICTION.
We DO NOT lose heart.
Christians DO NOT lose heart.
Someone once described Christians like a bunch of question marks.
Walking around, all hunched over, full of uncertainty, full of doubt.
When we ought to be like a bunch of exclamation marks!
Full of conviction, full of faith!
Shaped not by our circumstances but by God’s faithfulness and Word!
Question
Question
So WHY is this not a command?
Why was Paul able to say, with conviction, that he would PERSEVERE as a minister when there were numerous reasons for why he could give up?
How can we, as followers of Jesus, live with this kind of conviction and determination that no matter what is thrown at us in this life, we won’t stop living with Jesus and following Jesus?
One way that will help us in this, and one way that helped Paul, was to examine what we are looking at.
For Paul, this conviction came, NOT by looking at his outer self wasting way, NOT by looking at the momentary afflictions he suffered, but rather, by looking at the things that are unseen.
So as we think about the cost of discipleship, meaning we no longer live by sight,
and we think about living with conviction such that we do not lose heart — not as a matter of question, but a matter of conviction — we do not give up —
Let’s also ask —
2. How was Paul able to look at things that are UNSEEN?
For an unbeliever, this is a silly statement.
We can’t look at things that are unseen.
This is the TENSION of this text.
Paul — HOW do I look at things that are unseen?
But for a believer, we know the answer is faith.
It is the opening of the eyes of our hearts.
So how can we strengthen our faith as we follow Jesus with our lives?
“WE DO NOT LOSE HEART”
How to LOOK
at things that are UNSEEN …
In this text, Paul gives four reasons for why “We Do Not Lose Heart — by drawing attention to what “We Have … “ what “We Are …” what “We Believe … “ and where “We Look … “.
And using Paul’s own progression through this text, I invite us as well, to consider why we should not lose heart, in our ministries, in our discipleship, and also where we should look with eyes of faith, to see the things that are unseen, and to take another step with Jesus.
II. The Exhortation
II. The Exhortation
If it helps us remember, we can call this first point:
The VESSELS of the Gospel
The VESSELS of the Gospel.
Paul — as an apostle of Jesus Christ, a minister —
and we as Christians as well —
are VESSELS of the glorious, permanent, ministry of the Spirit and righteousness and freedom and light with exceeding and surpassing glory known as the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This ministry is, for Paul, a treasure.
And if we were preaching through this letter of 2 Corinthians, by the time we would arrive at verse 7, we would be overwhelmed at the magnificence of the ministry of the Spirit and the new covenant and how wonderful the Gospel really is.
And that would prepare us for what might seem like a let-down in verse 7.
And we would understand what this verse communicates with a bit more weight.
Look with me at verse 7 —
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
The VESSELS of the Gospel — are Jars of Clay.
“WE DO NOT LOSE HEART”
Because WE HAVE … (v.7)
A. This Treasure in Jars of Clay
The “jars of clay” or “earthen vessels” is a reference to our bodies — our mortal flesh.
God places this treasure, this ministry, this gospel — in our mortal flesh, that cannot, and never will, outwardly reflect or attain to the worthiness of what is contained within.
But nevertheless, Paul knows what he HAS … and this gives him motivation to take another step with Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, do we know what we have in Christ?
It’s not uncommon when looking through ads in a marketplace to come across something someone is selling —
And it looks like junk. It looks like trash.
It may be a rusted excuse for a car.
It could be anything …
Whatever it is — someone will say — “Serious offers only. No low-balling… (and here comes the statement…here comes the justification for why the price is firm. )
They’ll say — I KNOW WHAT I HAVE … “
To you it might look like junk.
But to me and anyone who knows, it is treasure.
Paul is saying, in essence, Christians don’t low-ball ourselves.
Outwardly, this isn’t much to look at.
But inwardly, We know what we have!
But we can’t SEE what we have.
What we can see — outwardly, doesn’t reflect what we have within.
This reference to “jars of clay” as God’s chosen vessel for the Gospel, describes our human frailty.
THE VESSELS OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FRAILTY.
In other words, we are weak.
ALL the words to describe the Gospel — powerful, extraordinary, surpassing, treasure — do NOT apply in any way to this vessel.
Clay jars in Paul’s day, were very ordinary.
They were affordable, easy to make, and understandably fragile.
They could easily break.
WHY would God place this treasure into something so weak, and fragile, human bodies that were formed from the dust of the earth?
God does this for a specific purpose:
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
Should a frame around a painting be more ornate, and more attractive, than the painting itself?
Of course not. If the frame was better looking than the painting, people would come to see the frame and NOT the painting!
A servant is NOT greater than his master!
Do we want people to see Jesus?
Do we want people to see the glorious Gospel and the power of God?
Why not put that Gospel into something that is weak, and fragile, and unworthy, and incapable of containing it, except for the keeping power of God!
Who will get the glory then?
God will! Is that not what we want?
That is what Jesus wanted.
As we are thinking about discipleship, we are thinking about what it means to follow Jesus and to be like Him.
Well let’s consider Jesus then — specifically, his incarnation.
THE VESSELS OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FRAILTY.
Consider Jesus’s INCARNATION.
The doctrine of Jesus’s incarnation is what we celebrate at Christmas.
This is when the eternal God — the Word — became flesh, and dwelled among us. (Jn 1).
Listen to what is said about Jesus in Philippians 2:
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We can understand, what it means for glory to inhabit a weak, fragile vessel, when we look at Jesus — for that is what He did when He left glory to be born in the likeness of men.
And brothers and sisters — in a similar way, the Bible says that when we come to Jesus in faith, receiving the gospel of salvation by faith, we receive the power of God.
And Jesus Christ dwells within our hearts by faith (Eph 3:17).
That through the Holy Spirit, Jesus lives within us.
And so as VESSELS of the Gospel, we are as Paul will say, “temples” of the living God!
Our bodies are temples.
Not to do with them what we want to do, but to with them what God wants for them.
And so if we want to learn from Jesus who took on human flesh, as weak VESSELS of the Gospel ourselves in mortal flesh, we can learn what that required of Jesus and what that requires of us.
And in one word, it requires obedience.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
So we can ask, as disciples of Jesus —
THE VESSELS OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FRAILTY.
Consider Jesus’s INCARNATION.
Am I following Jesus who OBEYED?
This in part, is what it means to be a Christian —
A Christian obeys Jesus.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
We are not our own, for we were bought with a price.
We now glorify God with our bodies.
And that means with our obedience.
Am I following Jesus who obeyed?
Paul did!
Paul speaks often of his ministry as a calling of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.
If that is God’s will, if that is God’s call — then this requires Paul to obey.
And so it doesn’t matter how Paul feels, it doesn’t matter what Paul endures, it doesn’t matter if his heart is in it or not —
Paul does not lose heart, because as a vessel containing the glorious Gospel that belongs to God, he obeys God, just as Jesus did, and takes another step with Him.
We do not lose heart because WE HAVE this treasure in jars of clay.
Christians are not surprised by this.
So what might discourage us, actually serves to encourage us, through our obedience.
That’s how we persevere.
But how then can we look at what is unseen?
The answer, as a VESSEL, is not to look outwardly, but to look within.
To see what is unseen, we look —
LOOKING AT THE UNSEEN …
Look INWARD for the Spirit’s POWER.
Knowing it is the Holy Spirit that dwells within, and that it is God’s surpassing power at work, NOT US.
The Lord told Paul “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
Therefore, Paul boasted all the more gladly of his weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon him.
Obey, boast in our weakness and frailty, and let’s draw our gaze inward to see by faith the Spirit’s power.
III. The Teaching
III. The Teaching
Now as we look inward for the Spirit’s power, others are looking outward and they need help to see that power within through our weakness.
And so, if it helps us to remember, this next point speaks about:
1.) The VESSELS of the Gospel
2.) The VISIBILITY of the Gospel
Now, Paul moves on from talking about what WE HAVE, to drawing attention to his experiences.
Now he speaks of what WE ARE …
We are suffering …
And just as before, we do not lose heart, we do not give up, because of our suffering, because we are ALSO enduring!
“WE DO NOT LOSE HEART”
2. Because WE ARE … (v.8-12)
A. Suffering
B. Enduring
Now how much did Paul suffer?
Could he possibly have suffered anything like what I am experiencing?
We should probably reverse that statement and ask:
Can we possibly suffer anything like what Paul experienced here?
Let’s look again at our text, to verses 8-9:
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
The way this is worded, “WE ARE … “ implies that AS Paul is writing these things, he is experiencing them.
These are common, not only to him, but to all believers.
And this is what we as believers see, and what others see as well.
What is helpful is that Paul is naming what he is experiencing.
We all will be greatly helped if we will name what it is we are experiencing.
It may be that so many of us are paralyzed and immobilized and stuck and giving up because we don’t know what’s wrong!
And can’t call it by name.
And if we don’t know what’s wrong, and we can’t call it by name, then we can’t be encouraged with God’s promises for those problems.
Here we find a principle:
Don’t blame it, NAME IT!
Paul is not blaming his suffering on other people.
Paul is not blaming his suffering on God.
Paul is naming his suffering, so that he he can learn how to trust God in it and how to RELY on GOD and not Himself.
We can practice this too.
For example,
Pain: Do we feel crushed?
Paul was tempted to feel crushed. He named it.
This is a word that can mean to be confined or “restricted.”
Do we feel, that we are hemmed in, limited in what we are able to do, restricted?
Why might that be?
Paul names it —
He says “we are afflicted in every way.”
We are “pressed upon” in every way.
There are pressures all around!
If we feel this way, we may be afflicted like Paul.
Having named our problem, we can now go to God’s word and find God’s promise —
For example,
7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
God may not grant us relief today, but GOD WILL grant us relief in THAT DAY when the Lord Jesus returns.
This can comfort us, and keep us taking another step with Jesus.
Pain: Do we feel driven to despair?
Paul did. He opens this letter saying that they despaired of life itself!
But now he writes that we are NOT driven to despair.
What changed?
Well, Paul learned something.
Perplexity causes despair.
Anxiety causes despair.
Uncertainty causes despair.
He names his problem and his pressure, and then he is able to know God’ s promise.
He says of God, having relied on Him and Him alone —
10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
God WILL deliver from despair!
Pain: Do we feel forsaken?
Pressure: We may be persecuted
But what is God’s promise for those who feel forsaken?
5 …“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Pain: Do we feel destroyed?
We may, in fact, be struck down.
But what is our gospel hope? Jesus says —
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Thank God, our hope is NOT in what we feel!
Thank God, our hope is NOT in what pressures us!
Thank God for His promises that keep us walking with Jesus!
When we gave up living by sight, that never means that we are not going to experience sufferings in life.
We will — it’s a guarantee!
All who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted!
All of us will suffer while we are in the flesh, we will be tempted by the devil, we will tempted by the world — for this world does not follow God and this world is not our home.
We are like fish out of water as Christians in the world.
But we DO NOT lose heart because we are suffering.
We do not lose heart … because by God’s grace, we are enduring!
And this PATTERN of life — of suffering and enduring, of dying and living, has a function for believers, for ministers, for Gospel Vessels —
Through this pattern, we are REVEALING what’s within us.
We are manifesting the GOSPEL of Jesus and making it VISIBLE.
Look what Paul says in verses 10-11:
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
“WE DO NOT LOSE HEART”
2. Because WE ARE … (v.8-12)
A. Suffering
B. Enduring
C. Revealing
Now, Paul is specifically talking as a minister of the Gospel.
And especially as ministers of the Gospel, we are called to live a cruciform life — that is a life by which we die, so others might live.
But brothers and sisters, this cruciform life is the life of discipleship, too.
The life by which we are called to die to ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow Jesus.
THE VISIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FUNCTION.
Through our sufferings, through our enduring, as weak vessels, we make visible — we manifest, we reveal the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — which is the Gospel and the power of God by which we are saved.
And just as we could look to Jesus to understand our role as VESSELS, we can also look to Jesus to understand our role of VISIBILITY, by considering Jesus’s crucifixion.
THE VISIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FUNCTION.
Consider Jesus’s CRUCIFIXION.
Jesus took on human flesh, so that He could take our place, the place of sinners, and die as an offering for sin in our place.
On the cross —
Jesus understood what it meant to be crushed.
Jesus understood what it meant to feel forsaken.
Jesus understood what it mean to despair and be struck down.
And UNLIKE us, Jesus didn’t have sin deserving of this.
But he obeyed to accomplish His Father’s loving will.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
This is why Paul will say:
12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Christians give their lives, so that others might live.
What we learn with Jesus’ crucifixion is that it is necessary if there is ever to be a resurrection!
What is to be raised, must first die.
Jesus knew this. And the Bible tells what Jesus did about it —
2 … who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus endured suffering … Jesus endured the cross.
Because it was through the suffering, it was through the cross, that the glory and power of God would be revealed when Jesus was raised from the dead!
The question for us, as disciples of Jesus is are we enduring?
THE VISIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FUNCTION.
Consider Jesus’s CRUCIFIXION.
Am I following Jesus who ENDURED?
Paul did this. Paul endured.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, Paul lists out the terrible things he suffered.
And as we have seen, suffering is not only physical, but it affects every area of our lives.
We all will experience different sufferings.
Some will seem greater than others, but we all will suffer.
Will we all endure?
If you are a Christian, it is not a question.
Christians obey, and Christians endure.
And in this we are revealing God’s saving power available to us, and to the world, that saves from sin, death and the grave.
Let’s be encouraged to suffer well, to not give up, and to take another step with Jesus — enduring as He did.
So how can we LOOK then at what is unseen, when it comes to the hope of the resurrection?
The answer, just as with those who make VISIBLE the Gospel, is to look to Jesus — and to look —
LOOKING AT THE UNSEEN …
Look INWARD for the Spirit’s POWER.
Look BACKWARD for Jesus’s PATTERN.
To remember that if we are united in the suffering and death of Jesus, we will also be united in His resurrection too!
We Have …this treasure in jars of clay.
Vessels of the Gospel.
We Are … suffering, enduring, and revealing.
The VISIBILITY of the Gospel.
Next,
1.) The VESSELS of the Gospel
2.) The VISIBILITY of the Gospel
3.) The VALUE of the Gospel
Let’s look at our text, verses 13-15:
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,
14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
What kept Paul from losing heart?
It was His BELIEF that God would not let his ministry and labor be in vain.
That God did not let Jesus’s body stay in the grave.
THE VALUE OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FUTURE.
And this is a future guaranteed not by Paul’s own efforts, but by GOD’s promises and work!
Paul’s belief…the VALUE of the Gospel, was in what GOD WILL do.
And that is seen most not in Jesus’ crucifixion, but in the power of Jesus’s resurrection.
THE VALUE OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FUTURE.
Consider Jesus’s RESURRECTION.
Just as God raised Jesus, so too, God WILL raise us with Him.
And not just us, but God WILL raise up believers, among whom Paul is laboring, among whom we are laboring, and join all believers together in Jesus’s presence.
That promise is worth more than anything this world has to offer.
One of the great promises of the Bible is found in Revelation where it says of believers: “They will see his face.”
Brothers and sisters, we endure sufferings, because we believe that God will deliver us one day, and even in in death, God will not leave us nor forsake us in the grave.
As Jesus is, so we will be. We will see Him as He is. Our life is hid with Christ in God.
Through this ministry, grace is extending to many.
“WE DO NOT LOSE HEART”
3. Because WE BELIEVE … (v.13-15)
A. He Will Raise Us
B. Grace Will Extend
Grace is what God gives that we do not deserve.
And as people encounter the grace of God, who chooses to perfect His power in human weaknesses, then more and more people give thanksgiving to God, and that brings God more and more glory.
Well how does this grace extend? How do more people give thanks to God?
It is by disciples doing what Jesus did.
They confess.
Look at what Jesus said:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Knowing that He is the resurrection and the life, Jesus confessed this.
He spoke it with words.
And he invited a response that is also spoken with words.
He said “Do you believe this.”
THE VALUE OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FUTURE.
Consider Jesus’s RESURRECTION.
Am I following Jesus who CONFESSED?
Following Jesus means obeying as He obeyed, Enduring as He endured, and Confessing as He confessed!
This confession is not a confession of sin, but for us it is a confession of FAITH!
It is saying the same thing about Jesus as He says about Himself!
It is a sad thing if we minimize the importance of confessing Jesus as Lord for salvation.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
A follower of Jesus will confess with their mouth that Jesus — HE is the resurrection and the life.
Believing that God raised Him from the dead and will also raise us!
When our faith needs strengthened, we can look at the things unseen by —
LOOKING AT THE UNSEEN …
Look INWARD for the Spirit’s POWER.
Look BACKWARD for Jesus’s PATTERN.
Look UPWARD for God’s PROVISION.
All of this — God raising us up, in His presence, grace and glory — is God’s from God.
And we are taking part in God’s work as He uses us as Vessels, making Visible the Gospel, clinging to the VALUE of the Gospel.
Lastly,
We can understand the —
1.) The VESSELS of the Gospel
2.) The VISIBILITY of the Gospel
3.) The VALUE of the Gospel
4.) The VICTORY of the Gospel
Look with me at verses 16-18. This is where Paul brings his message full-circle, and repeats his statement with CONVICTION —
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
The Victory of the Gospel is what we SEE — in the face of Jesus Christ.
THE VICTORY OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FAITH.
Imagine with me an investor looking to buy a house in another state.
On a map, finds an incredible property, in the best of locations.
And so he makes a purchase without ever looking at it.
He makes a purchase - “sight unseen.”
Why might that investor do that?
It’s not because the property is in bad shape, that the roof is caving in, that the siding is falling off and the yard is an unmanaged mess — that doesn’t matter for him.
He bought that property anyway, sight unseen, because in his mind’s eye, he SAW NOT what that property was now, but what IT WOULD BE.
He knows what He HAS.
He’ll endure whatever state it is in and whatever the cost to repair it.
He’ll believe in this project because he KNOWS what is possible.
What does he know?
He knows by faith that this project will produce a reward.
The Bible says of faith:
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
The Victory of the Gospel describes our faith — because it causes us to consider Jesus’s REWARD.
THE VICTORY OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FAITH.
Consider Jesus’s REWARD.
Following Jesus guarantees us victory — eventually — over ever suffering, every affliction, every wrong.
But it’s not that we have nothing from Jesus until we arrive in glory.
Jesus HIMSELF rewards us even now with something that kept Paul taking another step with Jesus, and us taking another step with Jesus too.
Jesus said:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus says “In ME you will have peace.”
Paul spends a great deal of time, especially the opening chapter of this letter, talking about the comfort God gives.
Christians experience a peace in Jesus that SURPASSES all understanding.
It’s a mark of what it means to be in Christ.
Because it’s our reward for walking with Him.
In following Jesus’ example, we can ask:
THE VICTORY OF THE GOSPEL
Describes our FAITH.
Consider Jesus’s REWARD.
Am I following Jesus, our PEACE?
Paul did. He knew God’s comfort, and he knew the Spirit’s peace, that was a glimpse to the eternal peace that he would one day experience in the presence of Jesus in glory.
ANd for Paul — he could say with conviction — we do not lose heart.
Look INWARD for the Spirit’s POWER.
Look BACKWARD for Jesus’s PATTERN.
Look UPWARD for God’s PROVISION.
Look ONWARD for God’s PROMISE.
We can’t see these things according to the flesh, but we can see them by faith when we look at Jesus.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
With faith, Christians persevere, looking to Jesus who lives within, is our example, is our confession, and is our reward.
