2 Corinthians Ch4v1-6 - Don't Lose Heart

to preach this morning as we continue in our series from 2 Corinthians.

! Thanks Sam.

Good morning everybody.

If you could turn please, in God's word, to 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

And we're going to read from verses 1 to 6.

That's 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

If you're using a church Bible, that's on page 1161.

As we come to read God's word, let's pray and ask for his help to really hear it.

Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, as we come now to read your word,

help us by your Spirit to really listen.

We don't want your word to just go in one ear and out the other.

We want to hear what you have to say to us this morning.

We pray this, Lord, so that we may not lose heart,

but that we will be encouraged in the ministry that you have given to us all.

Amen.

Mary's going to read our passage.

Thank you, Mary.

Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry,

we do not lose heart.

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways.

We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.

On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly,

we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who are perishing.

The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel

that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,

and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who said,

Let light shine out of darkness,

made his light shine in our hearts

to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory

displayed in the face of Christ.

Amen.

Well, I wonder, what do you see?

I don't know if you've ever seen this picture of Ruben's vase before.

Half the room will look at this,

and they will see a vase.

The other half of the room will look and see two faces looking at each other.

I wonder which one did you see first.

I saw the vase first, not the two faces looking at each other.

Isn't it funny, though,

how two people can be looking at exactly the same thing

and yet see something completely different?

I have another example of this.

When I was 16 years old,

I became convinced that I had a future as a singer-songwriter.

I got recording software for my Christmas present.

I began writing and recording my own songs

and sharing them out to the world.

My older, wiser brother, he was coy about the whole idea.

He didn't want to crush my spirits,

but he was gently trying to help me see that singing wasn't my main gift

that the Lord had given to me.

But when I told him that I had got my first gig,

he nearly collapsed.

And he did sit me down at that point and said,

Sambo, you can't sing.

Of course, I completely ignored his advice.

And I went and I played that gig anyway.

It took me years to actually see the reality that he saw,

which is that singing isn't my main gift.

And I should leave that to others more so in a solo capacity.

We were looking at the same thing

and saw something completely different.

Have you ever had that experience?

Well, the text today tells us that the same thing happens

when we look at Jesus.

We could all be looking at Jesus

and see totally different things.

And we're going to learn today why that is.

So that's our first theme in this text.

It's seeing Jesus.

But here's the second thing.

It's sharing Jesus.

Now, all those who truly seen Jesus

and received him as God, as Savior,

they're given the ministry of sharing Jesus with others.

And it's really natural.

We want to share the good news of the Savior

who we have seen.

We share the gospel of his life, his death, his resurrection.

Now, that's the ministry we've been given.

Paul has already been talking about this ministry in chapter 3.

And now in chapter 4, he tells us this.

In verse 1, he says,

Don't lose heart in your ministry.

Don't lose heart.

Why did he feel it necessary to say that?

Why is it so important to tell us not to lose heart

when we share Jesus with others?

Well, here's what I think.

As believers, whenever we look at Jesus,

we see God the Son from eternity

who became a human being.

We see the second Adam who never failed.

We see the humble servant who made himself nothing.

We see the only substitute who could ever pay for our sin.

We see the unstoppable victor

who crushed our death when he rose from the dead.

We see the reigning king who is interceding for us,

a God's right hand in heaven right now.

We see the good shepherd,

the sovereign ruler,

the head of the church,

the king of kings,

the lord of lords,

who one day will ride out with heaven's armies,

eyes ablaze with fire.

To judge the living and the dead.

That's who we see when we see Jesus.

But they can't see him.

They can't see Jesus

for who he really is.

That's why we get disheartened.

All they see is a dead,

distant,

historical figure

with no relevance to their lives.

Or a religious joke

whose name they thrash around.

Or a cold condemner

who's just waiting for them to fail.

It's heartbreaking.

And when this happens,

we so easily lose heart

because we know they desperately need Jesus,

but they can't see him.

But look at what Paul says in verse 1.

He says,

Therefore, since through God's mercy

we have this ministry,

we do not lose heart.

Now how so, Paul?

How are we not to lose heart

when most people in Cargoline

just can't see Jesus?

And Paul's going to answer that question

in our text today.

But first,

he wants to talk about

what happens when we get disheartened.

In verse 2,

he shows us two different ways

that we can respond

whenever we lose heart.

Now here's the first response we can have.

We can distort the gospel.

We do this whenever the results aren't coming in.

Paul talks about it in verse 2.

It's like,

if we change the message about Christ slightly,

right,

presenting a less offensive,

more culturally acceptable Jesus,

more people will believe in him.

Right?

In verse 2,

Paul calls it

deception.

Often we do this

by overemphasizing

one truth about Jesus

at the expense of others.

Some examples.

We might deceive people

by presenting Jesus as life coach.

Okay?

Jesus will help you

to make big decisions,

guide you on your journey,

support you in hard times,

you know,

footsteps in the sand,

all of that.

And it's true.

God is

intimately interested in our lives,

but it's not the main truth

of the gospel,

is it?

If that's all we're telling people,

it's a deception.

Do we share

how Jesus confronted us

in our sin

and commanded us to repent?

How about his demand

that we would take up

our cross

and follow him?

We could present Jesus

just as a spiritual help

along your journey,

that he affirms

your choices as such,

but no,

the gospel presents Jesus

first and foremost

as our rescuer

from our hopeless,

sinful state,

not a life coach

who affirms our choices.

But that's not popular today,

is it?

We're tempted to distort

the message of Christ

so people will listen.

Here's another example.

Maybe we might distort the gospel

by presenting Jesus

as the ticket to heaven.

Okay?

Yes,

you should repent.

Say sorry for your sin,

accept Jesus

as your savior,

and then you'll go to heaven.

With the emphasis

all the way through being on

you'll go to heaven.

And really,

Jesus is just

the ticket machine,

right?

You insert a prayer,

out pops the ticket to heaven.

You know,

off you go.

Get back to your ordinary life

that you were living.

No change.

You just got the ticket

in your back pocket now.

And it's true,

of course,

that Christ

does give us heaven.

But that's only because

heaven is to be

with Christ.

Heaven is when

Christ is truly

and fully united

to her bride,

the church,

betrothed to her

forever.

But

my colleagues in work

don't really want to know

about that.

Or the classmates,

or family,

or neighbors.

They want heaven

without Christ.

So we begin

to subtly change

the message.

You know,

when I think about it,

I presented both

of those deceptions

before,

in sharing

what I thought

was Jesus

with other people.

I don't know

what it is for you.

How do you try

and dress Jesus up

or something

to make him easier

to believe in?

People will probably

be more keen

to listen,

yeah.

I might be more

acceptable.

But it's shameful

deception.

And it's preaching

a false Jesus.

Think about it.

He can never save.

It's not the real Jesus.

Look at what Paul says

in verse 2.

Rather,

we have renounced

secret and shameful

ways.

We do not

use deception.

Nor do we

distort

the word of God.

On the contrary,

by setting forth

the truth plainly,

we commend ourselves

to everyone's conscience

in the sight

of God.

God,

that's

the second response.

That's our only

right response

when we are

disheartened

in ministry.

We keep

declaring

the gospel

anyway.

The true message

of Christ,

the way the Bible

presents it,

we don't gloss

over the awkward

or offensive bits.

We set it forth

plainly,

genuinely,

whatever the response.

Here's a quote

from an author

called Dean Ortlund.

He says this,

the gospel

is a message

of truth,

an honest

assessment

of our sinful

condition,

and a clear

and forthright

declaration

of how freely

to be put

right with God.

That's what it

means to share

the gospel.

You know,

so when we are

disheartened

that people don't

listen to our

message about Jesus,

we don't distort

the message to try

and get them to

listen.

No,

we must keep

sharing the truth

regardless

of the response.

Paul now

turns,

though,

in the next

verse to

address a

really important

question,

and it's

why do people

reject the

gospel truth?

Why do they

reject the good

news about Jesus?

Why do so

many not see

Jesus as God

and Savior

whenever we

tell them

about him?

Why can't

they see

what we

see?

Well,

let's read

from verse

three and

find out

the reason

why.

Verse

three,

and even

if our

gospel is

veiled,

it is

veiled to

those who

are perishing.

Okay,

so we

hear that

the good

news of

the gospel

is veiled

or hidden

from those

who don't

see Jesus

as God.

The true

Christ is

veiled.

He's hidden

from them.

Why is

Jesus hidden

from them?

Verse four

tells us.

Read with

me.

The God

of this

age,

that is

Satan,

has blinded

the minds

of unbelievers

so that they

cannot see

the light

of the

gospel

that displays

the glory

of Christ

who is

the image

of God.

Well,

there's our

reason.

This is why

people don't

see Christ

as God

and all

his glory.

It's

Satan

has blinded

them.

They can't

see the

light of

the gospel.

The gospel

shines light

on Jesus,

his glory.

The gospel

illuminates

his glory

as God.

Satan

blinds them

from seeing

that light.

That's what's

happening

whenever your

colleague or

classmate or

family member

doesn't respond.

Whenever you

tell them

about Jesus

or whenever

they hear

about him

in some

other place,

they can't

see the glory

of Christ

when they've

been blinded.

Whenever I

was 18

years old,

I went to

my sixth

year,

Deb's

Ball,

with a

friend of

mine from

school.

She was

visually

impaired.

She could

only see

shadows of

light.

At this

point,

she was

almost 100%

blind.

when we

arrived at

the venue,

I was

amazed at

the glory

of the

hotel.

It was

just

wonderful.

There was

a red

carpet laid

out,

this

Georgian

architecture,

the grand

staircase,

the ornately

decorated

tables.

I was

sad that

my friend,

she couldn't

see the

glory of

that place

for herself.

She could

never express

her praise

of it as

I could.

She was

physically

blinded from

seeing that

glory.

And this

is a picture

of what is

happening

spiritually.

When people

we know

cannot see

the surpassing

glory of

Christ.

Satan has

blinded them

from seeing

Christ as

God and

the only

savior from

sin.

At best,

what they

see is

this blurry

or false

picture of

who he

is,

like a

life coach

or like a

ticket to

heaven.

They can't

see.

Now,

if that

was where

Paul left

us,

this would

be a

really

hopeless

text and

sermon,

wouldn't

it?

We might

ask,

how then,

Paul,

can anyone

believe if

Satan has

blinded

everyone?

We might

completely lose

heart and

just give up

sharing Jesus

with anyone.

I mean,

do you guys,

do you feel

the blindness

here in

Caracoline and

around?

Does it

weigh on

you?

Do you feel

disheartened

because so

many people

just can't

see Jesus

as you can?

do you

feel that?

Where is

the hope

in this

situation?

Paul begins

to give us

the answer

in verse

five.

He says

this,

for what

we preach

is not

ourselves,

but Jesus

Christ as

Lord and

ourselves as

your servants

for Jesus'

sake.

So he's

basically saying

here,

look,

all I'm

ever going

to share

with you

is Jesus.

Jesus as

Lord,

no other

message matters.

Why?

Here's the

glorious hope.

Here it is

in verse

six.

For God,

who said,

let light

shine out

of darkness,

made his

light shine

in our

hearts to

give us

the light

of the

knowledge of

God's

glory displayed

in the face

of Christ.

light.

Yes,

thank God

there is

hope for

those who

cannot yet

see,

because God

gives

spiritual

sight to

see Christ.

And here's

how he does

it.

As we

speak his

word,

he calls

forth

light.

Okay,

just as in

creation,

God

commanded

light to

come out

of darkness

and it

came

flooding

out,

so also

God

calls new

spiritual

light out

of spiritual

darkness in

people's

lives and

they can

see.

How does

he do

that?

Well,

he does

it as

we speak

God's

word into

their lives.

God makes

the light

to shine

on Christ.

That's why

it's so

important to

keep sharing

God's

word

faithfully.

Isn't that

amazing?

God's

word

creates

new

spiritual

light

in

people's

hearts.

You know

what?

Where people

could never

before see

Jesus as

God and

Savior,

now with

new

spiritual

eyes,

they can

see him.

It's a

miraculous

transformation.

It's not

something anybody

can do for

themselves.

There's no

spiritual

formula to

manufacture it.

No,

only God

can remove

the blindness

Satan has

cast on

them.

Now,

turn with

me,

if you

could,

please,

to Matthew

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16.

Matthew

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16.

And

verse 13.

And

here's another

example in

scripture of

how God

removes

spiritual

blindness.

It's

Matthew

Matthew 16:13

chapter 16

verse 13.

When Jesus

came to the

region of

Caesarea

Philippi,

he asked

his disciples,

who do

people say

the Son of

Man is?

They replied,

some say

John the

Baptist,

others say

Elijah,

and still

others,

Jeremiah,

or one of

the prophets.

But what

about you?

He asked.

Who do

you say

I am?

Simon

Peter answered,

you are the

Messiah,

the Son

of the

living

God.

Peter saw,

right?

He saw

who Jesus

really was.

Now what

does Jesus

do in

response?

Does Jesus

give him a

pat on the

back and

say,

hey,

Peter,

you're the

man.

Knew

you'd be the

first one to

see who

he truly

was.

Top

class

disciple

right here.

Everyone

give this

man a round

of applause.

Is that

what Jesus

says?

No.

No.

The answer

might surprise

us.

Verse 17,

he says

this.

Blessed

are you,

Simon,

son of

Jonah,

for this

was not

revealed to

you by

flesh and

blood,

but by

my Father

in heaven.

Our

sight is a

gift.

Peter

isn't given

an ounce of

credit for

seeing who

Jesus really

is.

God

removed

your

blindness,

Peter.

It was a

gift.

You had

nothing to

do with

it,

Jesus

says.

Now think

about your

story for

a second.

If you're a

believer in

Christ today,

there was a

time in your

life when you

couldn't see

your need of

Jesus,

right?

Just think

back to that

time now.

God.

And maybe

like me,

you had

heard the

message of

Jesus spoken

to you many,

many times

before,

maybe over

years.

But you

still couldn't

see Jesus as

God and

Savior.

You didn't

see your need

of him.

You didn't

want him.

But then,

over the

course of

time,

something

changed.

You found

yourself deeply

convicted of

your sin.

And you

saw Jesus

as dying

on the

cross for

your sin

personally.

And you

repented of

your sin and

you turned

to him in

wholehearted

trust.

You believed

that he

rose from

the dead

crushing

your death.

Is it to

your credit

or to

mine that

we saw

him?

No.

We never

wanted Jesus

until God

removed our

blindness.

And then

we saw

his glory

and believed.

Isn't that

amazing?

Reminds me

of those

famous words.

Amazing

grace,

how sweet

the sound

that saved

a wretch

like me.

I once

was lost,

but now

am found,

was

blind.

But now

I see.

That's

true.

People who

are physically

blind cannot

do anything

to give

themselves

sight.

So also,

people who

are spiritually

blind can

never make

themselves see

Christ.

There really

is all a

gift of

amazing

grace.

How does

this help

us not

lose heart

in our

ministry?

Of sharing

Jesus with

others?

How does

this help

us not

lose

heart?

Well,

here so,

we now

have hope.

Satan

may blind

people from

seeing Christ,

but God

can remove

the blindness.

God can

shine his

light in

their hearts

just as

he shone

it in

ours.

Just as

he removed

our blindness

making us

see Christ,

he's going

to do the

same for

other people

as well.

That is

our hope.

There are

neighbors,

colleagues,

classmates,

family members

who will

see him

as glorious

God and

Savior.

It just

hasn't

happened yet.

God.

Now,

if it

were up

to us

to change

people's

hearts,

we would

have every

reason to

lose heart

in ministry.

But no,

because God

is in the

business of

removing

blindness,

we don't

lose

heart.

That is

our hope.

Now,

as we

finish,

how does

knowing all

this change

the way

that we

live as

Christians?

I've got

three brief

things for

you to

consider.

Here's the

first one.

Keep sharing

the true

gospel.

Remember how

in creation

God spoke

his word

into darkness

and the

light shone?

So when

people are

saved,

it's actually

we get

to speak

God's

word into

people's

lives and

God makes

the light

shine on

Christ.

Isn't that

incredible?

And it

means very

simply that

we have

to keep

on declaring

the gospel.

We don't

distort it.

We don't

change it.

To try and

make people

believe him?

No.

To do so

is shameful

and damaging

because it

only leads

people to

a Jesus

of our

imagining,

not the

true Jesus

of the

gospel.

So that's

our first

thing.

We share

the true

message of

Christ.

And I've

been challenged

quite recently

to think

about this.

I mean,

how am I

actually sharing

the gospel?

I find

it's very

easy to,

you know,

when I'm

chatting to

someone here

in town

or wherever,

it's very

easy to

chat about

my church

and I

can tell

them lots

of great

things.

Oh, yeah,

we meet in

the community

center,

we sing

songs,

we've got

tea and

coffee after.

It's great.

A kids

program,

all of

that.

That's good,

but if that's

all I share,

they're not

hearing about

Jesus at

all.

How can

they know

about Jesus

if we don't

actually tell

them the

gospel,

what he's

done?

I think we

need to

challenge

ourselves to

just go

for it.

Be open

with the

gospel,

not in a

loud,

in-your-face

way that

clearly does

not work

in contexts

like

Carragiline,

but if we

do open

up our

lives to

people,

no one

can contest

that.

Everyone is

willing to

listen to

your life

story,

your experience,

and through

our story,

we tell of

our sinfulness

and we tell

of the

Savior who

rescued us

and who

can rescue

them too.

We open

up God's

word,

we show

them just

what it

says.

We keep

sharing the

true message

of the

gospel.

Here's a

second thing

I was thinking

about.

We should

pray more

than we

share.

If God

is the

only one

who is

able to

remove

blindness

from hearts,

as Paul

has just

told us,

prayer should

be on the

top of our

priority list.

Because when

we don't

pray, it

implies that

we think

we're the

ones who

can make

people believe

in Jesus.

You know?

How good I

am at sharing

the gospel

or something.

It's like

it's up to

us.

Prayer

changes

things because

in prayer,

we call

upon the

only one

who is

able to

remove

blindness

and give

spiritual

sight.

Now,

you might

say,

well,

God can

remove

blindness

without

anyone

praying

for it.

And it's

true.

I mean,

it's not

beyond him

at all.

God can

remove

blindness

of anyone

that he

chooses

anywhere

in this

world,

and he

has done.

But here's

the mystery

of it

all.

He wants

us to

pray for

people.

He actually

asks us

to.

He says

in Luke

13,

ask,

and it

will be

given to

you.

Seek,

and you

will find.

Knock,

and the

door will

be opened

to you.

He wants

us to

ask him

to save

other people

from their

blindness.

There are

things that

God is not

going to

do in

this world

until people

have called

on him in

prayer to

do it.

Isn't

that crazy?

I don't

understand that

fully.

It's a

mystery why

God does

it in this

way, but

it's amazing,

isn't it?

He involves

us in

his work

of saving

people.

He sure

doesn't need

our prayers,

but how

amazing that

he chooses

to use

our prayers

to involve

us in

his saving

of people.

So here's

what we do.

here's

the model.

We pray

for people

who are

on our

hearts.

We share

the gospel

with them

and then

we pray

and pray

and pray

and we

don't give

up because

we know

that God

opens

eyes.

If you

aren't doing

so already,

write some

names down

on the list.

Just get

praying for

God to

open their

eyes and

see what

he does.

Ask him

for those

opportunities

to share

the gospel

and pray

and pray

for them

and just

watch what

he does

in their

lives.

One last

thing.

Maybe you've

been sitting

listening

and you

just don't

see your

need of

Jesus.

You don't

see him

as God,

as the

king of

your life.

your heart

is not

warmed

when you

hear of

him.

The songs

that we

were singing

earlier

don't really

mean anything

to you.

We've just

read that

you are

still blind

to the

glory of

Jesus.

But here's

the good

news.

You can

see.

You can

see today.

Here's how

God's

word about

Christ.

As you

read it,

hear it,

ask God

to remove

the blindness

from your

eyes.

Just try

him.

Ask him

that you

would see

who Jesus

really is,

both God

and Savior.

And God

says in his

word that if

you seek him

with all

your heart,

you will

find him.

today is

the day

that you

can see

Christ for

the first

time and

be changed

forever.

Let's take

all that we

have heard

from God's

word and

turn to

prayer now.

Let's pray.

thank you,

Lord, that

because we

have this

ministry,

we do

not lose

heart.

We believe

your word.

You will

save people

in this

town as

we speak

your word.

the message

of Christ.

We call

on you

now for

a fresh

move of

your Holy

Spirit,

removing

blindness

and causing

light to

shine in

people's

hearts.

Save us

from

distorting

that message

to try

and garner

some fake

results.

Help us

to speak

the true

message of

Christ

clearly,

plainly.

Burgeon us

to pray

for our

friends,

family members,

colleagues,

classmates,

that they

too will be

granted sight

to see

Jesus just

as you

did for

us.

And Lord,

we are

amazed at

your amazing

grace,

how you

made us

see.

Let your

glory be

seen and

savored by

more and

more people

in

Caracaline.

we pray

this for

your great

namesake.

Amen.