2 Corinthians 4:13-16

Pastor Matt explains,

In the previous verses Paul continues to defend his ministry, with all its afflictions and persecutions, instructing the Corinthians in the true nature of the Christian life—that it is marked by suffering and that Christian success looks far different from the worldly measure of success and gain. Furthermore, he expounds on a fundamental truth for all Christians—that we must suffer and carry the death of Christ in our bodies so that the life of Christ is manifested in us for the benefit of others.

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 16:24–25)

Now Paul moves to provide further defense for why he (and all Christians) can stand so boldly in unashamed proclamation of God’s Word despite his seeming weakness and afflictions, and not lose heart or be discouraged. Paul knows that the things that are seen and temporal do not provide a full picture of reality. To follow God as a believer is to walk by faith and not by sight. What is here and now and can be seen clearly with the eyes and physically touched is temporary and fleeting. What is true and eternal cannot be seen or touched because we only now see as in a mirror dimly but then we will see face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Let’s consider the text before us this morning,

2 Corinthians 4:13–16 ESV

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, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 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. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

The main idea of this text this morning is, knowledge of the resurrection produces confidence in the risen Christ which brings about thankfulness for the grace of God in Christ.

In verses 13-16 Paul provides the reason and result of his and every believers hope of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

First Paul lays out the reason for our hope, It is the,

I. Knowledge of the Resurrection of Jesus

This knowledge is brought about first of all by the,

a. Spirit of Faith in Jesus

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith

Paul makes it clear even in the midst of affliction, even as he is carrying this body of death he and all faithful followers of Christ have this same spirit of faith. We have a confident hope in the fact that Jesus although crucified was raised from the dead. Even though Jesus suffered, we know he is now seated on his throne ruling and reigning, ready to return.

This faith is given us as a gift by the Spirit of God.

Romans 8:15 ESV

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

Hebrews 10:29 ESV

How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

1 Peter 4:14 ESV

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Considering this spirit of faith Paul says “we” all have do you see how we are strengthened and sustained in the midst of gospel centered suffering?

Do you every think of the Spirit in the way he is described in these verses.

Spirit of adoption.

Spirit of wisdom.

Spirit of Grace.

Spirit of glory!

What is the result of us having this Spirit?

Paul wrote to the Romans,

Romans 8:16–17 ESV

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Therefore, even if we are afflicted, even if we are as sheep to be slaughtered we believe that we have recieved the promise of eternal life. We know our life here is but a vapor, because we no longer have a spirit of fear but a spirit of faith.

Why would we fear if we know the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God? This should help us face affliction with the glorious truth that the resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees our resurrection and is the primary reason for our confident hope.

As Paul continues, he makes it clear, our confidence is not in a blind faith, we don’t just believe in a risen Savior because of some story someone told us, our faith is a,

b. Scripture Based Belief in Jesus

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written,

The Scriptures are our assurance that we have eternal life in Christ Jesus. The Scripture from Genesis to Revelation are the reason we have this spirt of faith. The Spirit recorded the promises of God to justify, sanctify, and glorify his people who walk by faith. From the law, the prophets, the psalms, the gospels, and the epistles God’s Word walks us through His redemptive plan of salvation. He shows us his power by creating us, our sinfulness by revealing his holiness, his grace, mercy, and steadfast love by sending his Son to die for us. The good news of his gospel as he died for us, was raised for us, ascended into heaven for us, and sent his Spirit to call, comfort, and construct his church through the apostles.

His redemptive plan is an ongoing prophetic fulfillment of his Son saving, sustaining, and sanctifying a people for his own possession to proclaim the excellencies of Him!

Paul in this verse points to a specific Word that is written when he says,

“I believed, and so I spoke,”

He is quoting here from

Psalm 116:10 ESV

I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”;

To truly understand the context, turn to,

Psalm 116:1–9 ESV

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!” Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Do you hear the pain in the voice of the psalmist,

He pleas for mercy,

The snares of death encompass him,

The pangs of Sheol laid hold on me

He suffered distress and anguish,

What does he do? he calls on the LORD!

He prays for deliverance,

He was brought low and the LORD saved him,

He returns to rest,

He has been delivered from death,

His eyes have dried up from tears,

His feet have been sured up from stumbling,

He will walk in the land of the living,,,,

Then he will what?

Since the psalmist records his faith based motivation to carry on in affliction Paul follows what is written in the Scriptures,

we also believe, and so we also speak,

Paul’s ministry is not hindered by affliction instead it is affirmed by affliction. His faith and following of the Suffering Servant our Lord Jesus Christ is continued affirmation he is walking in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Another important truth here is, Paul’s preaching was not hindered by persecution. What Paul believed he spoke, he had a firm commitment to the truth of God’s word and the gospel of Christ. He was not going to stop proclaiming the truth of the gospel even if it cost him his life. He was going to preach what God had given him. He was going to be steadfast in the gospel. He didn’t water down his message in order to please men, but boldly preached the depravity of man, the sovereign grace of God in salvation, the exclusivity of the salvation through Christ, and the necessity of perseverance of the saints.

You want to see folks get stirred up and start railing against your gospel preaching pick any one of those doctrines of grace and you will begin to get a glimpse of what persecution Paul faced for speaking what he believed!

Paul not only has a spirit of faith, a Scripture based faith, but he also has a,

c. Settled Hope of Eternal Life with Jesus

Verse 14, is Paul’s main point to his argument here in chapter 4. He is about to point us to the reason he is confident in his salvation and his service to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He writes, we have this spirit of faith, this confident hope in our future, final, and full glorification,

14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus

In “Knowing Christ” Mark Jones writes, “To know in the Bible can very often mean to have a concern about something that involves the understanding of the mind, the movement of the will, and the application of the heart. ‘To know with particular interest’ or ‘to set ones affection upon’”

When we understand knowing in that manner, when Paul says,

we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, what impact should that have on our lives?

This is the reason Paul was not

crushed under affliction;

driven to despair in the midst of confusion;

knocked out when knocked down.

and willingly carried the body of the death Jesus, so that the life of Jesus was manifested in his mortal flesh!

He knew that because God resurrected the Son, God would resurrect His Son’s bride. Because God has resurrected the Son of Man, he would resurrected the sons of God. Because God had raised the Suffering Servant he would raise the suffering saints.

Paul withstanding persecution was not the only result of this knowing the truth of the resurrection. His perseverance in preaching in the midst of this persecution was empowered by the knowledge of the resurrection.

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Why would Paul be willing to preach in the midst of this persecution,

2 Timothy 4:6–8 ESV

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Paul doesn’t just rejoice in having a resurrected body, he is rejoicing in being raised to spend eternity with our Savior. Notice what he writes in 14b.

and bring us with you into his presence.

Being given new life is not better than the old one if we are not only raised to be with him but raised to be made like Him!

Romans 8:11 ESV

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 John 3:2 ESV

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

There is another important truth bound up in this verse regarding the resurrection hope of the Christian. It is the confidence that we will be raised up in community, as a family, and as a body. Notice Paul’s language is not singular, but plural.

knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. You want to know why we gather every Lord’s day together for worship? Because we are anticipating and preparing for the day when he gathers us for eternal worship!

One of the primary reasons Paul wrote to the Corinthians was to remind them this gospel isnt about you, it is about y’all!

David Garland explains, Paul’s “goal in his Corinthian correspondence is to create a sense of bonding and community. They were prone to see themselves as individuals, economically and religiously self-sufficient, and only minimally interdependent with other believers. Paul seeks to build up community. He reminds them that they share the same suffering and comfort (1:5-7), that they are each other’s boast before the Lord Jesus (1:14), that they have been established together in Christ (1:21), that they will stand together before the Lord.” (pg. 236)

Here are some questions to consider:

Do we have the spirit of faith which encourages us in the midst of affliction?

Is our faith based on what is written in the Scriptures?

Do we know that the resurrection of Christ guarantees our resurrection?

How then should we respond out of our Spirit given, Scripture based, faith in the resurrection fo the Son of God?

Paul teaches us we should give,

II. Thanksgiving for the Grace of God.

As a believer who has been called unto salvation and given the ministry of reconciliation we ought to live, work, and walk in a perpetual state of Thanksgiving. Every moment of our live is a gift from God.

Paul again writing to an over confident, individualistic, man-centered church is reminding them that this ain’t about you singular. God saved us, is sanctifying us and will raise us for a purpose. He has given Paul this ministry of the proclaiming the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ by grace. He wants the Corinthians to understand,

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, but it is not for you alone, it is for the glory of God and the good of His people (plural).

Notice first Paul explains,

a. Grace is for the good of the Church.

15 For it is all for your sake,

Paul wants the Corinthians to remember that the gospel sufferings he and his partners experienced was for their sake, for their good. It is not necessarily the individual circumstances of suffering that was for their good, but the gospel preaching that brought on the suffering that benefited the church. If Paul would have held back from preaching the gospel they would have not heard the gospel, believed the gospel, and been saved by the gospel.

Not only was his gospel preaching for them, his gospel centered shepherding was for them. There were times Paul had to rebuke, reprove, and exhort the Corinthians which at a minimum brought on verbal persecution and backbiting against Paul. But he wants them to see this as a gift of grace not as a reason for grumbling and groaning.

If they view Paul’s suffering and shepherding in gospel ministry in this manner they will understand the reason is,

so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving,

So, as Paul is persecuted in response to his preaching, and he continues to press on in light of the hope of the resurrection, more and more people will come to the saving knowledge of the gospel through the grace of God. As grace is recognized not only in salvation, but in sanctification and unification of the body of Christ what happens?

Thanksgiving increases! The more the church sees faithful suffering for the gospel the more she ought to thank God for his grace in sending and sustaining faithful gospel ministers to remain steadfast immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Now I want to stop and ask,

Do you recognize God’s grace through Christ in your life and ministry?

Do you recognize the grace of God in the gathered assembly of brothers and sisters he has established you in?

Do you and I see this grace in those around us and give thanks to God for his grace for our good?

We see the gospel suffering as a sign of God’s grace for the sake of the church, but faithful gospel suffering is primarily a demonstration of,

c. Grace for the Glory of God

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.

Paul agains say’s my apostolic ministry of the gospel is for your good, and as the gospel goes out and more and more people are saved into the body of Christ it is for their good and they ought to give thanks. But the ultimate purpose is the glory of God!

John MacArthur writes, “Paul’s goal was never his own comfort, reputation, or popularity. Nor was it ultimately the salvation of others. The final goal of Paul’s selfless, sacrificial service was that more and more voices would be added to the hallelujah chorus of praise and worship to God!. The Lord’s servants bathe their hearts and souls in the light of God’s glory reflected in the face of Jesus Christ.” (pg. 148).