Don't Give Up!

chapter 4, verse 16. We'll look at verses 16,

17, and 18. And the verses we looked at last

week, or week 4 last, Paul talked about being

jars of clay. That us human beings are like jars

of clay. We are weak, but we are jars that contain

a lot of power. Even though we are weak, We have

the power of the Lord within us, and we see the

power of God working and transforming lives in

the world. And so for that reason, Paul says,

look, we're going to continue to do the work.

We're going to continue to preach the word. We've

received it. We're growing in it. Y 'all are

growing in it. And therefore, even though we

are weak, we are still going to continue to do

the Lord's work. And that was kind of the idea

that we saw in the verses we looked at. week

four last. So let's pray and then we'll get started.

God, we come to you. We thank you for these words.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would be with us

tonight, God, that you would help us to find

strength and encouragement in these words, dear

Lord, that God and our weakness, that we would

know that we cannot get through things on our

own, but that you are with us. So I pray, God,

that... these words would just kind of stick

to us tonight, dear Lord, that we would recall

them and that we would live by them in our daily

lives. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Therefore, he says in 2 Corinthians 4,

2 Corinthians 4:16

verse 16, therefore, we do not give up. Now,

we see therefore sometimes in the New Testament

especially. Therefore, what was he talking about?

He was talking about that God had been doing

the work through them, that they were weak vessels,

but God had been using them and God had been

working in the lives of other people through

them and people had come to Jesus Christ. And

therefore, even though it's difficult to serve

the Lord, therefore, we do not give up. Now,

this is a good word for us to think about tonight.

We do not give up because there are times in

our life that we do want to give up. that life

gets really difficult, and we are weak, and in

our weakness, things happen to us, and whatever

it may be, just stuff with work, or stuff with

school, or stuff with health, or stuff with family,

or whatever it is, and sometimes it just seems

like one thing after another, and one blow after

the next blow. And sometimes we just want to

give up, and we just say, God, I've just had

enough. I'm just tired, dear Lord. Y 'all have

probably all experienced that. You've had a season

in life where you're just tired. Sometimes we

have seasons in life where in our family we have

maybe a lot of death. Every family's kind of

probably had that before, where it just seems

like a lot of death's real close together, and

that's tough on you. And it's just whatever the

situation may be, there are days that you just

say, God, I don't know how much more I can take.

But on days like that, we just have to trust

in the Lord's strength and not rely on our own

strength and not give up. He says in verse 16,

Therefore we do not give up even though our outer

person is being destroyed, our inner person is

being renewed day by day. Now Paul knew what

it was like for the outer person to go through

some difficult situation. He says, look, we...

In our bodies, we're suffering. The work that

we're doing for the kingdom of God, it is not

easy. We are suffering. We are enduring all kind

of pain and persecution and even Christians being

killed. I mean, you may remember in the book

of Acts when Stephen preached that great sermon

to the people and then it says at the end of

the sermon that all the people closed their ears

and they started to holler and then they stoned

Stephen to death. And so the audience was not

very receptive. uh when when the the the times

after jesus it wasn't very receptive and guess

what there's plenty in the world that aren't

receptive of the gospel today there are still

christians who are being killed today so when

paul says look our outer person is being destroyed

he means that quite literally Quite literally,

Paul and the other apostles were being destroyed.

They were suffering greatly, imprisonments and

beatings and all kind of things that they were

struggling for. But in the midst of all that,

they did not give up. And what does he say? Our

outer person is being destroyed, but our inner

person is being renewed day by day. Now, how

is that possible? How can it ever be for us?

that our outer person is being destroyed, but

our inner person is being renewed. You may have

experienced that personally. You may have seen

that. You ever seen somebody that was just sick,

and their body was just beat down with cancer

or whatever it is, and they just got no quality

of life, and they're just in pain, and yet somehow

they praise the Lord. And it's not uncommon for

Christians in the midst of situations like that

to say that they're growing in their relationship

with the Lord. How is that possible? That when

our bodies are breaking down, whether through

persecution or whether through sickness or whatever

it is, how is it that when we're in our worst

times that we draw closer to the Lord, that we

are renewed by the Lord? Well, it's probably

because we seek Him more in those times. When

things are going pretty good, we may not seek

the Lord as often as we should. But man, you

let things start going fast, we remember the

Lord real quick. We're quick to forget the Lord

in the good times, but we are even quicker to

remember the Lord in the bad times. And there's

something about going through hardships and difficulties

and sickness that I think it resets our focus.

Because we realize in those days just how precious

life is. and just how important things in this

life are that maybe we didn't realize were important.

Maybe how important our families are, or the

things that we do, or the things that we don't

do. Tragedy and hardship and sickness have a

way of getting our attention so that we call

out to God and we begin to seek Him in a much

different way. And guess what? It shouldn't come

as a surprise to us that when we seek the Lord,

we will find Him. And when we find the Lord and

we begin to pray to him and we begin to read

his word and we begin to listen to him, then

God begins to renew our inner self. And so Paul

said, here, look, we're doing the work of the

Lord. Our life is hard. And even though outside

life is tough, he says we are growing in the

Lord every day. That's a beautiful thing. When

we have faith in the Lord and we're trusted in

the Lord and we're doing His will and we're doing

His work, there's a certain joy and a peace that

is not touched by anything outside of us. No

matter what our circumstances are, we are not

shaken if we're trusted in the Lord. And Paul

was there. He says, look, on the outside, look,

we're suffering, but every day God's drawing

us closer and closer to Him. And there was a

certain peace and a certain joy that Paul had.

And that's why they didn't give up. Even though

life was hard, they didn't give up because they

were trusting in the Lord. Verse 17. For our

momentary light affliction is producing for us

an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of

glory. So what he says is, what we're experiencing

now, as bad as it is, Once we are in the glory

and the presence of God, that is going to surpass

our hardships more than we could ever imagine.

And so that was his encouragement to continue

going. But listen to what he says. For our momentary

light affliction. Our momentary light affliction.

Okay, so things aren't too bad for Paul. I'm

going through a few little difficult things,

but they're not that bad. Well, flip to 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11. And I want to read to y 'all some

of these light afflictions that Paul was enduring.

2 Corinthians chapter 11. We won't look too much

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

at the context of it. We'll get there in a few

weeks when we get to chapter 11. But just toward

the end of the chapter, 2 Corinthians chapter

2 Corinthians 11:21

11, verse 21, the end of verse 21, end of verse

22, and we're going to read that. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11, about the halfway point through verse

21 is where we will start. Now... There had been

some people that had been coming to Corinth and

they were not good teachers. They weren't teaching

the people right. They weren't leading the people

right. And they really were putting a lot of

burden on the people. And Paul is saying, look,

you listen to all these people. You listen to

the foolishness that they say. Would you just

listen to me? I've been a good example. I've

taught you and I've led you and I've taught you

right. I haven't deceived you or put burden on

you. And you listen to these other folks that

come in and their foolishness. And he says, would

you listen to me and my foolishness? He says,

if you want to listen to them boast about all

the things that they can do, then let me boast

to you for a minute. And he says in verse 21,

But in whatever anyone dares to boast, I am talking

foolishly, I also dare. Are they Hebrews? So

am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they

the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants

of Christ? I'm talking like a madman. I'm a better

one. With far more labors, with many more imprisonments,

far worse beatings, near death many times. Five

times I received 39 lashes from the Jews. Three

times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once

I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was

shipwrecked. I have spent night and day in the

open sea. On frequent journeys, I face dangers

from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from

my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers

in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers

on the sea, and danger among false brothers.

Labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger

and thirst, often without food, coal, and lacking

clothing. These are the light afflictions that

Paul went through. Look at this list of stuff.

Imprisoned and beaten, hungry, stuck at sea,

shipwrecked, all of these things. And yet how

does Paul refer to these things that he goes

to in chapter 4? He refers to these things as

light afflictions. Isn't that interesting? It's

all about our perspective, I believe. Now we

may say, oh, my life is so hard. And maybe it

is. I'm not saying your life is not hard. But

I'm saying Paul's life was hard too, maybe in

different ways than our life is hard. We're probably

not experiencing persecution. We probably aren't

seeing our brothers and sisters in Christ, at

least people we know being stoned. There are

brothers and sisters in Christ being stoned or

killed in some way, shape, or another in our

world today. So maybe we're not experiencing

the same hardships as Paul, but we're experiencing

hardships. But the question is, how do we deal

with those things? How do we stay encouraged

in those things? How do we have the ability and

the power like Paul to say, but I will not give

up? Well, he wouldn't give up because he was

seeking his power from the Lord. And in the midst

of all of it, he didn't quit seeking the Lord,

he didn't quit serving the Lord, and he was being

renewed. And for that reason, he could say, look,

what I'm going through, it's just light affliction,

beatings, all these 39 lashes I've taken multiple

times. This is nothing. This is just lightweight

stuff. And he says, look, as bad as this is,

he says, I keep my eyes on the future. Because

as bad as life is here, I'm looking for the glory

that is to come. And it's going to be so much

better, millions of times better, infinitely

better than the worst sufferings that I've experienced.

The glory of God is going to be better than I

could ever imagine. So Paul says, I'm only here

for a little while. These things, they're nothing

because I trust in the Lord. Listen to what he

says in verse 18. So we do not focus on what

is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen

is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

That's good advice for us. We do not focus on

what is seen. Now, what we see is chaos. What

we see sometimes in our world, in our lives,

in the lives of people we know, it doesn't make

sense, it doesn't seem fair, and what we see,

it just doesn't look good. And if we focus on

that, and it's easy for us to do, we probably

fall into that trap. If we focus on that, all

we see is chaos, and we can't make sense of it.

I don't know if y 'all remember. Back in probably

the 90s, this was a big deal. These things called

magic eye. You probably had a book on your coffee

table. And it looked something like this. Does

that look familiar to anybody? Do y 'all remember

those things when they were real popular? And

that looks like a bunch of nothing. It just looks

like nothing. It's just chaos. Just colors and

random shapes and things all over. Can anybody

tell me what that is? I'll give you a second

to look at it. Tell me what that image is in

that magic eye. I couldn't either. You may not

can see it from that far. Well, some people have

to. Some people can just look and see them in

an instant. But this image, if we just look at

this, where we're sitting right now, that doesn't

look like anything to us. If I told you to focus

on that, there's nothing there. And that's how

it is for us in the world. If we look at the

world, all we see is chaos. We've really got

to take our time, and we've really got to focus

and look past that. Now, the way these magic

eyes work is your eyes kind of focus on different

things, and it kind of blurs, and it pulls together.

And all of this stuff you see actually makes

an image. And if you're able to see it, that's

the image that you should have seen. And you

say, well, I didn't see that. How do you get

that from that? Right? Well, Paul says here we

don't focus on what is seen. We have to look

deeper to what is unseen because God is there.

Whether we see it, whether we recognize it, there

may be chaos all around us, but if we really

look hard, we will see God. Now, praise the Lord,

God's not like the magic eye. Some people just

can't see Him because of their eyes, different

depth perception. Some people just physically

aren't able to do it. But praise the Lord, we

are all able to see God if we would just seek

Him. If we would just look through the chaos,

Paul says, look, my life is full of hardship

and pain and suffering, but I'm going to look

past all that. I'm going to look past the chaos.

I'm going to look past the pain because I know

that God is there and my focus is not on what's

in front of me. My focus is, or excuse me, not

directly in front of me. My focus is on the future.

What is ahead of me in the kingdom of God. So

we do not focus on what is seen, but what is

unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what

is unseen is eternal. That's good news. Now I

see sometimes, I was listening to a show a while

back, and this guy on this show, he was attempting

to, he didn't say live forever, he just wanted

to live as long as he possibly could. And maybe

it would be forever, and maybe it wouldn't. And

this guy, he's a millionaire, and he's got all,

I forgot, like 50 -something doctors maybe that

just work for him all the time, always checking

his blood, always telling him exactly what amount

of this and what amount of that that he needs

in his life. And getting blood infusions from

younger people to have certain things is going

to make him live longer and got the strictest

exercise regimen and all these things so he can

live as long as he can. Now, I don't know about

you guys. I enjoy living here, and I love y 'all,

and there's a lot of good things in this world,

but I don't want to live here forever because

this old world is not getting any better, and

I've got bad news for you. It's not going to

get any better. Maybe for a season it will. You

look at the history of the world. It goes from

bad to good to bad to good to bad to good, but

it's just bad. There's always going to be sickness

and death and dying and killing and evil people.

And life is just hard. You've got to get out

and work and cut the grass. And none of that's

fun. But praise the Lord here, Paul says these

things are temporary. Now, I don't know about

this guy that's trying to live forever. I don't

know what he sees or what he thinks the future's

going to be like. But he don't know that there's

something bigger and better than what there is

here. Or else he wouldn't be trying so hard to

live forever. But we know by the word of God

that there is something better. That this old

world is going to serve its purpose, but it's

a temporary purpose. But what awaits us is eternal.

What awaits us if we trust in Jesus Christ is

an eternity in the glory of God. And this is

what keeps Paul going. This is his motivation.

This is his encouragement. This is why he can

say, I don't give up. Because I know I'm only

here for a little while. Now I know that in our

life, especially when we're younger, it feels

like that 80 years or however many years that

we're going to live on this earth is an eternity.

But you talk to any person that's a little older

and they'll almost all tell you the same thing.

Man, my life has gone by so quick. Where did

the years go? And all of a sudden we've lived

our few little 80 years that we thought was going

to take forever and it's gone in a flash. And

Paul says, look, this life's tough, but it's

not going to last very long. And so I'm going

to keep on trucking. I'm going to keep on doing

the Lord's work. I'm not going to look on what's

in front of me because that's so depressing.

I'm just going to look toward Jesus Christ because

he's going to be victorious over all these things.

I'm not going to focus on what I see, but I'm

going to focus on what I haven't seen yet. And

eternity with God, the glory of God. And I look

forward to that day. So may that be our encouragement

for us so that we can say we will not give up.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for these good

words and I pray that we would trust in them

and find some strength in them, dear Lord. Maybe

there are some that are here tonight or listening

online and their outer person is being destroyed,

dear Lord. Their life is tough and it's full

of stress and suffering in a variety of ways,

dear Lord. There are so many ways in which life

is just tough. But I pray, God, that if anybody

is being destroyed outwardly, that they would

find hope in Jesus Christ tonight. That you would

renew them inwardly, God. That they would seek

you and call upon you and trust in you and let

you be their strength, dear Lord. That you would

renew them in their inner self, God. That we

would know that no matter how serious our afflictions

may be in this world, God, that you'll give us

the strength to get through. We are only here

for a little while. And God, it's still tough

in the moment when we are going through these

things. But I pray, dear Lord, that you help

us not to lose focus of the bigger picture. And

that is eternity with you. That is deliverance

from all the pain and the sickness and the death

and all the tough stuff that we go through here,

dear Lord. I pray that we would not be overwhelmed

by what is seen, but that we would be renewed

by what is unseen. And I ask these things in

Jesus' name. Amen.