Are you bold? 2 Cor 4:16-5:5

I. Introduction:

A. Fallen Condition Focus: How do you remain bold in the face of affliction?

B. Main Proposition: Be bold. You have no reason not to be.

II. Main Point 1: Be bold because your affliction is temporary (4:17-18)

A. Affliction in contrast with Glory (17-18)

B. Ill: Raindrop to Ocean

C. App: Memorize, Ask, and Gather (18)

III. Main Point 2: Be bold because your new body is permanent (5:1-4)

A. Your current body is like a tent (1a, 2a, 4a)

B. Ill: Canceled Camping Trip

C. Your resurrected body is like a building (1b)

D. App: Yearn to possess your new body as your body deteriorates by meditating on eternity (2-4)

IV. Main Point 3: Be bold because your God is at work (5:5)

A. God’s down payment: The Holy Spirit (5b)

B. Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:23

C. Ill: Down payment on a car

D. App: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” William Carry

Are You Bold?

[Announce text] Please turn to 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5.

Prayer of Illumination

[Scripture Introduction] 2 Corinthians is the final letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Today’s passage is in the middle of Paul’s defense for him and his companions’ ministry. In this portion of his argument, he answers a fundamental question: What should our attitude and life style be like in the midst of affliction?

Scripture: 2 Cor. 4:16-5:5

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. 5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

[Introduction] Look at verse 16, when Paul says, “So we do not lose heart,” he is saying that he and his companions remain bold. Boldness means being confident in God and freely speaking the gospel regardless of the circumstances. Therefore, I ask you, are you bold? Paul and his companions undoubtedly faced many sufferings—their sufferings made them despair life (1:8), and he describes their ministry as one of constant suffering (4:8). Later, he writes of the many hardships he had faced up to that point in his ministry: being beaten with rods, whipped, stoned, and shipwrecked (11:24-27). Furthermore, Paul and his companions’ sufferings are clarified when he says later in verse 16 that their outer selves are wasting away. Pain is real, but for the Christian, no suffering is in vain. Actually, like Paul and his companions, the Christian is being renewed day by day. Therefore, be bold. You have no reason not to be. In today’s passage, Paul declares, and I impart to you, three reasons to be bold.

Point 1

To begin with, be bold because your affliction is temporary. Look at verse 17, the contrast between affliction and glory is at the center of this verse, and the sheer superiority of glory enables Paul and all who follow Christ to walk boldly as ministers of the New Covenant. Affliction is described as light, temporary, and fleeting in the first portion of the verse. However, in verse 18 these sufferings are described as things that are seen. When you suffer isn’t it difficult not to focus on your suffering? Such singular focus on your difficulties would make perfect sense if this life were the only one. Moreover, if all we have to look forward to as Christians is our current situation, then to lose heart and not remain bold for the sake of the gospel makes perfect sense. In fact, Paul earlier states that if there is no resurrection, then Christians are the people to be MOST pitied (1 Cor. 15:19). If there is no resurrection, you really have no reason to be in to be a Christian, for it is filled with much heart ache. Yet, there is something after this life. In fact, the sufferings you experience in this life prepare the eternal weight of glory for you.

Your suffering in God’s perfect wisdom produces the glory that awaits you in eternity. All suffering that comes your way whether large or small God purposes for your ultimate good. Look again at verse 17, the glory that is being prepared is eternal and heavy. When you put affliction next to glory, it is like comparing a raindrop to the oceans. You must be bold even though persecutions and other sufferings will come as a result because those sufferings are but a moment in the scope of the eternal glory that God is preparing for us. Paul even tells you in this passage what he does personally to endure sufferings and remain bold. He is eternity sighted.

Read verse 18, He says they look to “the things that are unseen,” instead of looking “to the things that are seen.” That is what you must also do. “It is… a contrast between what is now visible and what is yet visible but about to be revealed, that is, at the revelations of Christ and his kingdom at the second coming” (Kruse 153). You must look to the glory that awaits you instead of your temporary circumstances.

What can you do specifically to apply this idea of looking to the glory that awaits you instead of your temporary circumstances? Let me suggest to you a few habits that will assist you in doing this. Memorize 2 Corinthians 4:17 and passages like it that discuss the promises of God. Storing such promises in your heart prepares you for when the moments of difficulty arise. Ask God to help you have an eternal perspective every morning. Gather with your local church every chance you get. The Bible says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24-25). This building is not Vista Baptist Church. You, who make up its membership, are Vista Baptist Church. Come together as often as you can. Make time to gather. When you come together to encourage one another to continue to follow Christ as you by reminding each other that the day is coming when Christ will make all things new.

Point 2

Secondly, be bold because your new body is permanent. The bodily resurrection awaits all who trust in Christ. Paul describes the superiority of the resurrection body to our current body by an analogy of a building versus a tent. Read verse 1, the tent is the body that you now possess. Like a tent, it is flimsy and temporary. Your body is subject to decay and weakness. During our first year of marriage my wife and I had planned a camping trip. We canceled once we found out massive thunderstorms were forecasted. Why did we do this? Because we were going to be in a tent, a tent that would have taken me twenty minutes to build. Tents are not meant to be permanent. This is not the case with the resurrection body. It is a building, which means that unlike a tent it stands in one place, it is sturdy and durable. Also, the hands of men did not make it, but it is from God and kept in eternity. Compared to my house or any building our tent is not a formidable structure. This is especially true in light of the rain that we received. The body you will receive is described as a building. Though the buildings humans build decay, God keeps your new bodies secure for you in the heavens!

Look with me at verses 2-3, while in the temporary body the apostle and his companions groan because they long to have their resurrected body. The Christian is to be one who awaits glory with eager expectation, and excitement Paul in vs. 3 expresses both his assurance in the bodily resurrection that awaits him and his desire to receive it. Paul longs to be made like Jesus is now after His resurrection. Read the first portion of vs. 4, Paul says again that he and the servants of Christ groan. They groan because they are burdened with the calamities that come in living in a fallen world. They groan to be clothed instead of unclothed. In other words, he is referring again to the heavenly dwelling they eagerly desire to put on. Paul and companions want a more improved and immortal body (Harris 387). This talk of being clothed rather than unclothed is explained by the contrast between life and mortality (4b). What Paul is saying is that they groan eagerly awaiting to be given the immortal body that awaits them.

Therefore, like Paul you must eagerly expect the promise of bodily resurrection. The work of the disciple and we are all disciples, is one that is often taxing on the body you now have. If you find the Christian life easy, then you aren’t living the Christian life. To experience the sufferings that Paul describes we must be bold. As the culture around us moves further from Christian values persecution will increase. Are you prepared? Are you ready to speak the truth about God, man, sin, Christ, repentance, and faith? You must figure out how to cultivate a unwavering desire to have your resurrection body. It can become easy to fixate on the wear and tear that you will begin to feel if you haven’t already. You must like Paul guide your affections to cleave to and long for the new body. Do this by meditating on the promises like the ones contained in this passage. When the going gets rough remember the good ole days are nothing compared to what awaits you as a child of God. To do what is right and expected—boldly declaring the gospel and making disciples—you must first believe what is true—that your eternal welfare is secure! The promise of a new body is yours. Therefore, be bold. Be bold because your affliction is temporary and your new body is permanent.

Point 3

Lastly, be bold because God is at work. Read verse 5, Paul declares that God is the one who is orchestrating everything. He is the one who uses suffering to prepare glory and the one who has made a new body possible for Paul, his companions, and you. Also, Paul, his friends, and you have been given the Spirit as a guarantee. The word-translated guarantee conveys the idea of a deposit or down payment ensuring future full payment (Louw-Nida 57.170). The Spirit is the down payment of receiving the eternal life that God has made possible for each of us in Christ. This payment that you received when you believed the gospel ensures that there is no way that all of what Paul has said before this will not come true in yours life. When you make a down payment on a car, you are making a commitment to pay for the rest of the vehicle. Though you may fail at times to hold your end of the deal, God is faithful and will finish what He started (Phil. 1:6) If you have the Spirit then you can know that your suffering prepares you for eternal glory and that you will receive an immortal body when Jesus returns. How can you tell if you have the Holy Spirit? You know that you have the Holy Spirit if you believe the gospel and act by that belief. Another way to validate that you have the Spirit is to ask if you are growing in the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:23). Those of you who believe the gospel have the Holy Spirit and may rest assured in the fact God will not fail!

The founder of modern missions, William Carrey once said, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” As a rural church, I can imagine that there is a temptation to doubt that you can have an impact. Unfortunately, in American Christian culture that is what is communicated. However, God’s Word and the history of the Church evidence that small size does not by necessity mean you cannot make a great impact. The Church started as eleven disciples, some women, and maybe a small amount more. Yet it grew in the midst of adversity in persecution. The book of Acts explains this phenomenon in several verses, one is Acts 2:47, “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The good news is that this church’s success and impact is not rooted in your abilities, programs, or numbers, but in the sovereign God of the Bible. Therefore, be bold.

[Conclusion] Look again to verse 16, “So we do not lose heart.” As I said earlier, Paul is saying that he and his companions remain bold! That is the call that you have as well. May you like Paul say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” and “For me to live is Christ to die is gain.” The truth is that when you are bold for the sake of the gospel you will be persecuted—face physical, mental, and emotional hardship, and possibly lose your life. But the Lord said, “…Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). In Jesus’ completed work you have hope. For Christ lived the perfect life and died a sinner’s death, bearing God’s just wrath. He died the death that you deserved by your constant worship of created things. God raised him on the third day, and later he ascended to the right hand of God. When you put your faith in Him, you too will share in that marvelous resurrection, and nothing can take that hope from you. Be bold you’re your savior will return. And when He returns, “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” What was once sinful will be made perfect. What was once mortal will be made immortal. What was once temporary will be overcome by what is eternal. Therefore, be bold because your affliction is temporary, your new body is permanent, and your God is at work.