Radiating Light (2 Corinthians 4:1-18)

We're going to be picking back up in 2 Corinthians.

If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand.

We would love to bring one to you.

We'll be teaching out of the CSP translation here this morning.

And we're going to be in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4.

We're going to be reading verses 1 through 18.

Like we've been talking about, uh, a lot of this is biographical.

We're learning a lot about Paul's personal experience and how he's applying that personal experience to the church in Corinth.

So there's some of these Sundays we're going to be taking bigger chunks.

Um, and especially like with chapter 4 here, it's really one theme that's really hard to break up into two different sermons.

So we're going to be reading through the whole chapter, chapter 4 here this morning.

So if you're able, will you please stand for the reading of God's Word?

Second Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 through 18.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

Therefore, since we have this ministry, because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.

Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth.

But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

In their case, the God of this age 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.

For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in the hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.

We are perplexed, but not in despair.

We are persecuted but not abandoned.

We are struck down but not destroyed.

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that Jesus' life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.

So then death is at work in us, but life in you.

And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak.

For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you.

Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not give up.

Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory.

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.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for the book of 2 Corinthians.

Lord, we thank you particularly for chapter 4 here today.

God, as we just read, there is so much in here that you have for us today.

So I pray that each one of us would humbly approach you today and ask that you would speak to each one of us individually, that you would continue to transform us into the image of Christ, to be more and more like you daily.

So, God, I pray that there wouldn't be any barriers, any walls that we're holding up right now that we're not going to allow you to penetrate through here today, but that we would be clean in your hands, that we would know that you are a loving, amazing God that wants what's best for us.

So, Lord, I pray that you would do what's best for us here this morning.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So, as you can probably see, the main theme in chapter 4 here is Paul encouraging this church in Corinth to not give up in the face of trials.

And the reason to not give up is because of what is waiting for us.

Paul's gonna use some personal experiences we're talking about, some biography once again to encourage this church to not give up.

Because, isn't that our tendency?

Things get hard and we just want to give up.

Or we start to doubt if we're doing the right thing as soon as we face opposition in some way.

Or maybe we even see another follower of Christ facing opposition and we start wondering if they're doing something wrong.

So Paul's message is don't give up when things get hard.

You see, this is not our home.

This world is not our home.

But what is waiting for us, as Paul says at the end of this chapter, is incomparable to anything that we're gonna go through.

Because what we're what we get to experience, what we get to look forward to, where we get to place our hope, he says, is incomparable eternal weight of glory.

That is what is waiting.

So that's really the theme of what Paul's gonna be giving the Corinthian church.

Now, last week we saw Paul once again defending his ministry, as we're gonna see a lot throughout this book, and telling the church in Corinth that they are his letters of recommendation.

They're the fruit of his ministry, the proof of his apostleship.

And then he compared the glory of the old covenant, if you remember, to the glory of the new covenant.

And how the Holy Spirit lives inside of us now, radiating that glory and changing us, transforming us into the image of God from the inside out.

So, with all of that in mind, he picks right back up here, chapter 4, verse 1, and says, Therefore, since we have this ministry, because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.

Remember how Paul started this letter in the beginning part of chapter 1, calling God the Father of mercies, right?

Because they were shown mercy by God to walk in this new covenant.

And were appointed to this ministry by God because of that.

And he says, and so because of all of that, we do not give up.

Look at verse 2.

Instead, so instead of giving up, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves because God, before God, to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth.

You know, as we've already seen a few times, Paul will commend himself and those that are with him, but never in a boastful way.

It's more of a reassurance, and he's always giving God the credit, and he's always saying it's because of God's grace and it's because of God's mercy, that if you see anything good in us, I'm giving all the credit to him.

It's nothing I can do on myself.

But again, he tells them that they have a clear conscience before God and before the church in Corinth.

They've renounced secret and shameful things, they don't act deceitfully, they don't act in a cunning way towards them, they don't distort the word of God to benefit themselves.

It's not for self-promotion.

You know, it's actually quite the opposite, as we're going to see in this chapter.

The gospel that Paul preaches, the good news of Jesus Christ, actually brings them a lot of persecution, a lot of opposition, a lot of heartache.

You know, anybody that's looking for self-promotion or a comfortable lifestyle would not choose to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

You know, if you're looking for self-promotion and riches and comfort, you'd do a lot better preaching a false gospel, you know, as many were back then and still are today.

Because the true gospel brings resistance and brings persecution.

Look at verse 3.

But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

So last week was all about the glory of God being veiled to those that were not living under the new covenant.

So Paul says, if the gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who have not accepted Jesus Christ.

We're not living under the new covenant today.

That's who's perishing right here in verse 3.

And note that it says who are perishing.

They're in the process of perishing.

So before following Jesus, we were all in the process of perishing, both spiritually and physically.

We were headed toward not only a physical death, but a spiritual death.

But after following Christ under the new covenant, we are still perishing physically, aren't we?

But we're no longer perishing spiritually.

In this case, in verse 3, he's talking about the spiritual side.

But he will address the physical side here in a little bit.

Let's look at verse 4.

In their, so those that are perishing, in their case, the God, notice that's a little g God, the God of this age 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.

Up until verse 4, Paul's been talking about the Israelites being veiled from the glory of God.

Even when reading the Old Testament, he was saying that they're still veiled from the glory of God.

Because they're stuck in that old covenant.

But now he starts using new words, notice, in verse 4.

Starting with the word unbelievers.

So now it's not just those that are stuck in the old covenant.

Now he's talking about everybody that's not a follower of Jesus.

Everybody that's perishing spiritually.

And then Paul switches from using the word veiled, notice, to blinded in verse 4 as well.

And he refers to the one doing the blinding as the God of this age.

In case you're wondering, that's Satan.

God of this age is actually unique to this chapter here in the New Testament.

But in other places we see Satan referred to as the God of this world.

Or we see him refer to it as the ruler of the power of the air.

And as long as we're on this earth, we're living behind enemy lines.

Because we're living in his kingdom.

Remember, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, Satan offers Jesus the shortcut, you know, to making this world his kingdom without having to die, without having to live sacrificially.

In Matthew 4, 8 and 9, it says, the devil took him, took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

And he said to him, I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.

And Jesus doesn't say, those aren't your kingdoms.

No, what Jesus says is, go away, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

And again, as mentioned last week, Satan doesn't have the ability to do whatever he wants.

He still has to stay within the boundaries that God has set up for him.

But I mention this because we're not living in God's kingdom as long as we are on this earth.

And everyone since Adam and Eve sinned has had the option of living for the God of this age or living for the God of all ages.

Living for the now, you know, the present, or living for eternity with God in his kingdom.

And if you choose the God of this age, living for the now, he will blind you from the truth.

He will do everything that he possibly can to keep you from the truth.

As it says in verse 4, to keep you from the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

So that's a lot about Satan's kingdom, but let's talk about God's kingdom now.

Let's define it.

You know, when we were going through the Gospel of Mark together when we first started this church, we talked a lot about God's kingdom because Jesus talks a lot about God's kingdom.

And we defined God's kingdom as this wherever God is on the throne.

Where is that currently?

So that's in heaven.

But it can also be in our hearts if we allow him to be on the throne.

It's not until the end of Revelation that Jesus establishes God's kingdom, we see, in the new heaven, the new earth, and in the new Jerusalem.

That's why this is not our home.

We're not living in God's kingdom yet.

But in the meantime, God's kingdom, please hear me in this, can live in us.

And we don't have to be a part of Satan's kingdom anymore because of Jesus.

We can be ambassadors of the kingdom of God behind enemy lines in a very dark world that we are currently in right now.

You know, Paul wrote about this to the Colossians in chapter 1, verse 12.

He said, Giving thanks to the Father who has enabled you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light.

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son, He loves.

We can be a part of God's kingdom right now.

But until we're face to face with God, we have to deal with living in the kingdom of the God of this age.

I think this is largely why Paul keeps telling the Corinthians to not give up in the face of persecution.

Because we're going to face opposition as long as we're living behind enemy lines, aren't we?

As long as we're ambassadors for the kingdom of God, we are going to face opposition.

But we have, Paul is reassuring, we have this eternal weight of glory that is waiting for us if we persevere through this current kingdom that we're living in on this world.

Verse 5.

For we are not proclaiming ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

So here Paul starts talking about this idea of light, both physical and spiritual.

So let's start with the physical.

In Genesis 1, 3, it says, Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

And then when we open up to the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

He was with God in the beginning.

All things were created through him.

That includes light, doesn't it?

And apart from him, not one thing was created that has been created.

And here's the key verse.

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

The creator of physical light is also the source of all spiritual light.

And it shines in the darkness, and it makes the blind see.

You know, one of the neat things about Jesus is he made the blind see physically and spiritually.

And then Paul writes here that God's glory, his light, is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Does anybody remember the description of Jesus in Revelation 1.16?

It says, His face was shining like the sun at full strength.

You ever tried to look into the sun on a clear day?

That's the face of Jesus Christ, shining like the sun at full strength.

That's God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

You know, that's Jesus' physical description that we don't get to look at just yet, but one day we will.

But the face of Jesus Christ can spiritually shine in our hearts, as it says right here in verse 6.

And that's what God wants to do.

He wants to shine that glory, that face of Jesus Christ in our life.

You know, I was just thinking about this this morning as I was meditating on these verses that if you do any gardening or you have flower beds or anything like that, and you go to buy, you know, some starter plants, it always says how much light the plant needs, right?

Full sun, partial shade, full shade, you know, all that kind of stuff.

And I was thinking, we're the plants that need full sun.

That's God's design and desire for us to be those plants in full sun.

And I was thinking, that's the new covenant, a plant in full sun.

And I was thinking, well, and then it's kind of like those plants that need shade, you know, that need partial shade.

That's kind of like those that are living under the old covenant.

You know, they can see some light, but they're not in that direct.

But then I was thinking, the people that are perishing, the ones that are blind, it's like trying to start seeds in the dark.

That just doesn't happen, does it?

Putting, you know, a seed in the soil and sticking it in your cupboard, you're not going to end up with a plant in the end.

But we were designed to have the face of Jesus Christ shine on us.

Now, in verse 7, Paul will mention a treasure.

And that treasure is everything that we've already been talking about.

It's Jesus, it's the gospel, it's the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ that shines in our heart.

That's the treasure.

Look at verse 7.

Now, we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

Any power that's seen in the disciples and the apostles in Paul is from God and it's from the power of the gospel.

The light of God in our heart.

In their heart, I should say, because we're just everyday run-of-the-mill clay jars.

We're not crystal, we're not porcelain, we're nothing fancy, we're just clay jars that can be worn out, that can be cracked, that can be broken, that can be chipped.

You know, you can have a clay jar in your house that holds all of your gold and jewels and money, you know, in this day, and then you can have that identical clay jar that held sewage as well.

The treasure is not the vessel, it's what's in the vessel.

So Paul's admitting that if you see anything in us that's a value, it's not us.

It's not the vessel, it's the treasure that's found within the vessel.

And I don't want us to get the idea that this is an excuse to abuse our bodies and not care for them because it's just a clay jar, right?

God tells us to be vessels of honor.

He tells us to take care of these bodies because they are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

But we also need to realize that the true treasure is not these clay jars.

The true treasure is what's on the inside.

Now, in these next verses, Paul's going to paint four dire situations, and then he's going to show how God has affected those situations, particularly in his life.

So look at verse 8.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.

By the way, when I was reading these verses earlier, did anybody get that VBS song stuck in their head?

Every time I read this verse, that song gets stuck in my head.

But anyway, verse 8.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.

We have hardship and trials, but it doesn't break us.

It doesn't ruin us because of the power of God.

He's taking care of us.

He doesn't allow more than we can handle, and then we end up crushed.

That's not how it works.

We're afflicted, but we're not crushed.

The next one he says, we're perplexed, but not in despair.

I think we can all relate to this one.

Sometimes just wondering, God, what's going on?

How can you possibly be using what I'm going through for your glory?

But I know I'm comforted to know that Paul had these same perplexing thoughts.

As he was going through things, just saying, God, I'm perplexed.

I don't know what you're doing.

I can't see that anything.

End of what's happening yet.

But he says, I'm perplexed, but I'm not in despair.

His trust, his faith is still in God.

And then in verse 9, he says, We are persecuted, but not abandoned.

You know, if anybody knew persecution, it'd be the Apostle Paul, wouldn't it?

Whipped, stoned, ridiculed.

We're going to talk a little bit more about that in a little bit, but he says, not abandoned.

Just because we suffer doesn't mean that God has left us, that he's deserted us.

If Jesus suffered as we've been saved through this whole book, we should expect the same.

And just because we suffer, it doesn't mean that God's promise to never leave or abandon us has gone away.

And then the last of the four, he says, we are struck down.

Literally, we're put in a lower place.

We're struck down, but not destroyed.

We're thrown to the ground.

We're put in a lower place, but we're not ruined.

We're not put to death.

We're not destroyed.

You know, I just imagine Paul writing all of this and then thinking about all the times that he suffered persecution.

And then thinking about all the times that God brought him through to the other side.

And as we keep this in context, it's because of Jesus and God's light and glory and power shining in his heart that led Paul to the other side of these events that he's mentioning.

Look at verse 10 with me.

We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.

Always carry the death of Jesus.

What on earth does that mean?

Well, in Romans 6, verses 5 through 8, it says, For if we have been united with him in his likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

Romans 6:5–8

For we know that our old self was crucified with him, but that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin.

Since a person who has died is freed from sin.

Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

So carrying the death of Jesus in our body means that our flesh, our old man, our old self, has been put to death.

It's been crucified with Christ.

And it's only then, when that's out of the way, the old man is out of the way, that the light of Jesus can be displayed through us.

Galatians 2.20 says, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live in the body, these clay jars, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

That's really what baptism is, right?

It's a symbol of everything we're talking about: being buried, dying with Christ, and then coming back out of that water, being resurrected into the life of Jesus Christ, living for him.

That's what he's talking about here.

Look at verse 11.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that Jesus' life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.

The question here is if Paul is speak, if Paul's speaking of always being given over to death, does he mean physically like we're actually dying, or does he mean fleshly, like the old man?

And I think the answer is yes to that question.

And here's why.

It's in the times of suffering, the times of persecution, being pressed on every side, that we get to see what part of our flesh, what part of our old man, still needs to die.

It's in those times that we say, oh, that part of my flesh is alive and kicking.

That needs to be crucified with Christ and given over to God.

You know, it was at the men's breakfast on Thursday morning, Luke shared a quote that he had heard with us, and it was very convicting.

It said, Acting like a Christian can be easy.

Reacting like a Christian is more difficult.

Isn't that the truth?

If someone wrongs us, if somebody cuts us off in traffic, somebody yells in our face, what's our reaction?

I'm gonna get that person, they're gonna regret the day that they were ever born.

You know, we could that flesh just, you know, it comes out real quick like that.

And then the Holy Spirit says, Love your enemies.

A soft answer turns away wrath.

If somebody strikes you, turn the other cheek.

When Paul was suffering through all of these persecutions and hardships that we've been discussing, not only was he facing actual physical death in these times, it was probably a really good time for him to allow his flesh, his old man, to die once again.

Paul just listed, you know, all of these dire situations that we started looking at in verse 8 and how God's power brought him through so that Jesus' life may be displayed through him.

In chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, we're gonna get to see another list that Paul makes.

And I want to read that to you.

It's 2 Corinthians chapter 11, starting verse 24.

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

And this is a list of all the things Paul suffered through.

He says, Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews.

Three times I was beaten with rods.

Once I received a stoning, three times I was shipwrecked.

I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.

On frequent journeys I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers, toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold and without clothing.

Paul says in verse 11 here of chapter 4, that he is always being given over to death.

But what does the next verse say right there in verse 11?

For Jesus' sake.

It's in persecution and the death of self that Jesus is on display.

You know, when I think about Paul's suffering, my mind always goes to Paul being shipwrecked, and then coming up on the coast of Malta, and then being worn by the fire, like we see in Acts 28.

You know, he makes it to shore, he's trying to get himself warm by the fire, and then a poisonous snake latches onto his hand.

You know, I think for me at that point, I would have just been like, really God?

With like the snake hanging around.

Seriously?

Can anything else go wrong?

But Paul allowed his flesh, you know, the part of us that cries, why me, Lord?

And he let that die.

And because Paul had allowed that flesh to die with Jesus, the life of Jesus could be on display in Malta.

And Paul was able to minister on that island in miraculous ways after all of that happened.

It's in sharing in the death of Christ that his life was being displayed.

Look at verse 12.

So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.

So Paul and those with him, their near-death experiences while ministering, those persecutions being struck down, that dying to their flesh and sharing in the death of Christ, have resulted in the Corinthians hearing the gospel of light, accepting Jesus, seeing God's glory unveiled now, and now having eternal life.

The death of the apostles' flesh has led to the Corinthians experiencing life.

Look at verse 13 with me.

And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke.

That's Psalm 116 right there.

We also believe and therefore speak.

Even though the apostles were severely oppressed, they believed and they didn't give up.

They believed the gospel in faith, and therefore they kept sharing the gospel in faith.

Verse 14.

For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you.

When this is all said and done, Corinth, no matter what we go through, persecution, pressing on all sides, being perplexed, we know.

Notice, he says, we know.

He didn't say we guess, we hope.

He says, we know that we're going to get to share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ together with you.

Paul knew that.

He was sure of that.

Verse 15.

Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.

Therefore, we do not give up.

Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

Again, don't give up.

Even though our fleshly jars of clay are getting worn out and they're getting chipped and they're getting corroded and stained, our inner person, our inner being is being renewed.

Why?

Because we have the light of Jesus.

We have the glory of God within these clay jars.

We have these treasures within clay jars.

You know, we're just temporary structures that are wasting away.

So the focus needs to be on the inner person.

The inner being becoming more like the image of God, being renewed day by day, as he says.

While our flesh, our old man, is being given over to death day by day.

You know, we easily have this tendency, I think, to put our focus on our own safety and our own comfort for these temporary structures, don't we?

So Paul says, no, focus on and invest in the inner person.

Verse 17.

For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory.

Incomparable to what?

That's my question when I read that.

To the momentary light affliction.

The eternal weight of glory won't even compare to this temporary light affliction that we're experiencing on this earth right now.

And I'm always floored when I read this, because Paul's calling his shipwrecks, his beatings, his stoning, his hunger, his night at sea, the viper bite, momentary light affliction.

Anybody else feel kind of wimpy when you read about how sold out Paul was for the Lord?

I know I do.

Paul sees this affliction not as a waste, but it's working, it's producing an eternal weight of glory.

So after all that, Paul was going to tell us how to be renewed daily here in verse 18.

He says, 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.

The flesh is temporary.

These jars of clay that we're living in.

This world, this kingdom of Satan, is temporary.

This affliction is temporary.

But our spirit, you know, our soul, the kingdom of God, the unseen, that is what is eternal.

God Himself, that is what is eternal.

So Paul says, don't focus on, don't invest in the temporary, but focus on and invest in the eternal.

Don't focus on the trials and the hardship and don't focus on the aging process and these jars of clay that we're living in.

Don't focus on the things that can harm you physically or mess up your comfort, get you out of your comfort zone.

He's saying, focus on God.

Focus on his glory, on his kingdom and eternity with him.

Scripture tells us this life is a vapor.

Here one second and it's gone the next.

So Paul's saying, don't invest everything you have into that vapor.

Invest into the eternal.

Invest into God and His kingdom.

Does anybody here, question 40, does anybody here enjoy saving for retirement?

I don't know.

I didn't expect anybody to raise their hand.

Maybe one, but oh, two people.

Oh, there are there are a few people that enjoy.

So you enjoy sacrificing now for later?

There are some.

That's great.

That's awesome.

Because that's what we should be doing.

But for most of us, saying no to things now so that we can enjoy them later is hard.

It's not our human nature to want to do those things.

And that might be a poor analogy, but I don't think it's any different.

It means saying no to this temporary jar we live in now and investing our time and our comfort and our safety and our sleep and our finances and investing all of those things into eternity.

You know, we have an amazing example that we got to witness recently in the Johnson family.

You know, they're the missionaries that we helped send off to Guatemala.

As we've known their family for over 15 years at this point, they were living in Lake Arrowhead.

They had this incredible house that we got to go down and stay at with them.

John had this great job where he was heading up this whole construction company up there on the mountain.

They drove really nice cars.

They had a boat at the lake with a dock that they were renting.

They all had mountain bikes and dirt bikes.

They had an extra vehicle just for four-wheeling.

God called them to Guatemala and they sold all of that, except a couple suitcases and then some like family heirlooms that they're storing in a shed next to one of their parents' house.

But they decided to not focus on the temporary.

They decided to focus on the eternal when God called them to do so.

And doing this doesn't mean God's going to send all of us on an international missions field.

Doesn't mean he's going to ask all of us to sell everything we own, but he might.

But we can focus on the eternal exactly where God has us right now.

We can be ambassadors for God's kingdom while behind enemy lines, anywhere we are on this earth.

Anywhere that God has called you right now, he can do that through you.

And he's calling every one of us to be those ambassadors in this dark world that we live in right now.

And no matter what you're going through right now, we can take the same encouragement that Paul is giving the Corinthians.

Don't give up.

What is waiting for us, as Paul says, is incomparable eternal weight of glory.

God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

That's when we're going to be home, is when we are spending ourselves or we are spending our eternity face to face with God.

An eternal glory with Him.

So Paul's saying right here in verse 18, just keep your focus there.

Don't get pulled off whenever something bad happens.

Don't let that pull you away.

He's encouraging them, do not give up.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you so much for this encouragement that you gave us this morning through Paul.

To not give up.

Lord, looking at all the things that he went through and to see how passionate he remained in spreading your word, sharing the gospel, ministering for you.

Lord, I just pray that he would be a great example for each one of us.

To not become discouraged, to not want to give up when things get hard, when there is oppression and hard things are popping up in our life.

And that in those times we wouldn't question you either.

But we would know that in those things, Lord, it's an opportunity for our old man, for our flesh to die, for us to surrender one more thing to you, Lord, that we might not have even known that we're holding on to.

So, Lord, help us to be transformed into your image day by day, more and more like you, and that we would see trials and opposition as opportunities to become more like you, to become renewed in you daily.

So, Lord, we pray that your glory would shine in our hearts, that it would shine through us as well, that we would be radiating light for your kingdom.

Show us how to be the best ambassadors that we can be, Lord, as we're living behind enemy lines here, just looking for and looking forward to your kingdom to come.

Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.