Things Not Seen

Life for believers is a mix of joy and sorrow, of blessing and suffering, of triumph and tragedy. For all of us the joyous times of life are tempered by the biblical truths that “man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). Trouble is to be expected as part of simply being human. Jesus warned, “In the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul and Barnabas said, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Paul reminded Pastor Timothy, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). And James wrote the verse we all struggle grasping, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2). Disappointment, discontent, discouragement, emotional pain, grief, loss, tragedy, and persecution will undoubtedly mark the believer’s life.

Turn with me in your Bible to the Book of 2nd Corinthians. I will again read a lengthier section for context before settling in on the last three verses of this passage.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Let’s pray.

To successfully cope with life’s difficulties means learning endurance and perseverance. Our passage teaches how Paul dealt with difficulty. He was “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (8–9). Those who learn endurance will experience something that is perilous while at the same time exhilarating – “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (10–11).

MacArthur writes: “The apostle Paul understood how to endure the most threatening difficulties of life. And because his suffering was so severe, Scripture has provided him as the best example from which to learn endurance. It is hard to imagine anyone suffering more constant and serious hostility than Paul suffered, so his response can take us as far as we could go in being persecuted—and far beyond where most of us ever will go.”

2 Corinthians 4:16

Paul returns to the theme that opened this chapter – “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart” (4:1). But there is greater depth to him writing this again at this stage of the Letter. It’s one thing to persevere and not lose heart in fulfilling one’s calling in ministry, but it is another thing entirely to persevere and not lose heart in the face of intense suffering and unrelenting persecution, yet Paul steadfastly maintains the same focus and attitude in either circumstance.

Hold your place in 2 Corinthians and turn with me in your Bible to the Book of Philippians.

Philippians 4:10-13

This is a familiar passage but allow me to point out a few things:

· Content (v. 11) means understanding Christ’s sufficiency in all things and that nothing else is needed.

· Humble means (v. 12) is to be brought low in any aspect, not just finances.

· Prosperity (v. 12) is having more than enough and is implied to be anything above humble means all the way to abundant wealth.

· Secret (v. 12) is having an experiential knowledge that is now reality.

· Can do (v. 13) is having the power supplied to you to do whatever you are faced with.

And please note that the oft quoted verse, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” is in the context of being content in whatever circumstances you are. In other words, the strength to do all things through Christ is the strength to be content even when there’s no money left but there’s more month left, when you are being mistreated, when you are under oppression and persecution, when tragedy strikes, when God doesn’t seem to make sense in how He is handling your life, and essentially when anything is not going as you planned. You can endure all of these things and more through Christ when you allow His supply of divine contentment to rule your emotions and attitude. This isn’t just a verse to claim when you are attempting to something great or out of the ordinary.

2 Corinthians 4:16

So, though he is afflicted and perplexedand persecuted and being struck down and carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, Paul does not lose heart and we can surmise that he is content. Paul embraces the truth that God knows what He is doing and is in complete control of every situation and circumstance that he faces. Whether Paul lives or dies, he accepts that he is an earthen vessel or clay pot (v. 7) to be used as God sees fit for as long or short as God sees fit.

And Paul knows full well that as a clay pot he is fragile and breakable and replaceable. When he writes, “Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though…”, the but though in Greek could just as easily and probably should have been translated, “since”. Since, our outer man is decaying seems to buck up against the “we do not lose heart” part of this verse. I mean, it’s easy to lose heart over our bodies breaking down, seemingly in new ways every day. And in Paul’s case, his body is breaking down in the natural process of aging but also in the beatings and abuse that he has endured time and time again.

We won’t take the time for me to depress you further concerning the reality of aging but read Ecclesiastes 12:1-7someday if you want to be reminded of how our bodies deteriorate. But do not dig too deeply on this. In using the terms outer man and inner man, Paul is not exclusively emphasizing some sort of body vs. soul dichotomy but is instead referring to the whole person. Everything about ourselves in the physical realm that is not redeemed, or as Paul refers in other Epistles as being in Adam, is the sense of the outer man, and everything about us that is redeemed, or in Christ, is the sense of the inner man.

So, when Paul does give us the compelling reason that he does not lose heart under such dire circumstances – it is because our inner man is being renewed day by day. Every aspect of who we are in Christ is being renewed, which includes more than just our soul. Our minds are being renewed even now, our hearts, thoughts, attitudes are being renewed, and even in some sense and to a limited extent, our physical bodies are even at times energized by God for the need of the moment.

There is a scene in one of the Lord of the Rings movies when King Theoden is under an evil spell and is depicted as a decrepit, tired, zombie-like creature. When the spell is broken by Gandalf, Theoden is renewed. In some small measure, this is the sense of what Paul is writing about. We are in a constant state of being renewed, invigorated, transformed, and equipped for the ministries and purposes God has for us. Yes, the old outer person is decaying, and certain aspects of our physical bodies beg us to slow down and even stop following the path God has set before us, but as we rely on the Holy Spirit and follow Christ we are being renewed and equipped every day to accomplish whatever God gives us to accomplish.

2 Corinthians 4:17

Wow! The next time you throw yourself a pity-party over any aspect of your life that is not the way you think it should be, reread this verse. Think about Paul’s life. Think about the beatings, the lashes on his back, being stoned and left for dead, being imprisoned again and again, being defamed, and having his character dragged through the mud, going hungry, being shipwrecked, being exposed to the elements, being hated, and betrayed and abandoned, yet he considers all these things momentary, light affliction.

How can he do that? It’s all a matter of where his focus lies. Whether or not you think that Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews, he understands and lives 12:1-3.

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

How do we not lose heart? How do we not grow weary in all that we must face in this sin-cursed and sin-saturated world? We fix our eyes on Jesus, we focus on the inner renewal that we can experience day by day. We live in the truth that His mercies and compassions are new every morning. And as it says in the last part of verse 17 in our passage of study, we fully apply that all of our difficulties are producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison.

One of the many reasons that you must open up your Bibles and read frequently, or daily, deeply, and desperately as I often say, is because it is the living Word of God, and it does renew your mind and your spirit, and it does energize your inner being which can even energize your outer being to some extent.

Beloved, everything about this world, everything about Satan’s world system, is designed to chip away at, damage, beat down, and render the inner person defeated, drained, and ineffective. And the only source that you have to refuel, reenergize, renew, and repair that which has been battered and bruised, is the meat of Scripture. You will get hammered and bludgeoned without it. Your mind will be confused and depressed without it, especially if you fill your mind with mainstream news and media.

Without the Word of God, you are toast, you are easy prey for the arrows of Satan. But with the Word of God, you are invincible, you are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, and you will clearly see and understand the vital difference between the temporary struggles, the momentary and light afflictions we must endure, as compared to the glories that await us and will fill our eternal future to the brim and overflowing.

2 Corinthians 4:18

This is the bedrock and the foundation of our existence as believers in Jesus – faith. This is the God-given ability to see what is not seen and to know that you know that you know that this earthly, physical, material life is temporary and is not the focus. This is the assured knowledge and resolute reality that this world is not your home, and this life is but a vapor. This is resting in the everlasting arms of God and having your heart and mind and soul infused with the truth of Scripture that you will prevail and overcome in the unlimited and infinite power of the Holy Spirit. This is seeing with spiritual eyes what the world cannot see with their blinded minds (4:4).

Beloved, we are strangers and aliens in this world. Paul writes in Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

With this truth implanted within, Paul also wrote in Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

This world and everything it contain is passing away, yet we continue to store up earthly treasures and incessantly seek more comfort, more earthly security, more possessions, more leisure, more entertainment, more temporary happiness, and more of the physical and material things of this world that will rust away, fade away, and will be left behind when we die. All the while we ignore and put off that which is eternal, that which is of true worth, and that which is genuinely important.

In other words, we are enamored with that which can be seen, and we don’t want to be bothered with that which cannot be seen – the exact opposite what will bring true and lasting joy. And beloved, the context of this passage reveals that we are filling our lives with the things that will cause us to lose heart, to be discouraged, to be crushed, despairing, forsaken, and destroyed.

The things that we can see, and touch and feel are all temporal – they do not last, and they will not benefit us in the least in our eternal state. We place so much value on trinkets and that which is trivial, simply because we can see it and hold it for a little while. We have fallen for the things that the world values and treasures. We have believed the lies that material and physical things will satisfy and fulfill and comfort and give meaning to our lives.

Only the things which cannot be seen are worth your time and passionate pursuit. Only the things that cannot be seen are eternal. True satisfaction, true joy, true fulfillment, true contentment, and true meaning to your life are only found in that which cannot be seen.

The allurements and enticements of the world were of no interest to Paul. He had no desire to amass a fortune, or have a fancy home, or a prominent career. That attitude made him seem, by worldly standards, a colossal failure, especially based on the background and upbringing he started with. But Paul recognized that “the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).

Faith is what it’s all about. And it begins with saving faith. It begins by knowing that you are a sinner in desperate need of a Savior, by repenting of your sins, by confessing with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and by faith believing that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. And most of you here today have done this, but there could be some who haven’t. If this, is you, the Bible says today is the day of salvation – don’t wait, don’t put it off.

For those who have trusted Christ and have been saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, how can you justify displaying such faith in eternal salvation, but display a lack of faith so often in your relationship with this passing world?

Some of us need to get back to living the renewed life, others need to embrace it more fully, but all of us need to make sure that we are focused on that which cannot be seen.

Let’s pray.