Comfort in Affliction

The Gospel Invitation and the Comfort of the Passage

Well, good morning It's good to be back with All of you here anyone that hasn't met me yet. This is my Second time preaching here, but I've visited the church Number of times and I've been friends with Joe for over a decade now and several of the others now.

And so I am happy to be here to open the word. May I may I ask where the was the Call to worship and the confession was that all designed to go along with the really Because I thought that was really well done.

And so we'll give all glory to God for that one. We don't get any credit because I Probably couldn't have picked better Accommodating passages of scripture to go along with what I will preach about today, which is 2nd Corinthians 4 16 through 18 you can turn in your Bibles to that passage if you're going to read along with me, I will say by way of introduction that You know first Thessalonians 5 14 says we urge you brothers to admonish the unruly encourage the faint-hearted and help the weak be patient with everyone and There is a sense that when you're preaching the Word of God there There's a little bit of all of that that may or may not come out and a lot of preaching ends up being For lack of a better phrase just shouting at people how terrible they are And and in trying to exalt the Lord in that sense, but today's sermon this passage is really about Encouraging the faint-hearted and so the passage itself is for believers to understand What God wants you to know and so that you might be comforted in the midst of your affliction.

And so if you do not know The Lord already if you are not already a Christian, maybe you're a visitor here today. Maybe you're just Investigating it a lot of this message doesn't apply to you at the moment.

And so what I would exhort you to is to still listen. But I'd like you to understand that there is a God of this universe He's gonna judge all people that have ever lived.

And.

Each and every one of us has fallen short of his perfect standard, which is holy Holiness righteousness justice and we cannot obey his law and in our sinful states. We cannot even come to him and Be near him and yet he and his love sent his son Jesus Christ into the world to become a man.

The second person of the Trinity took on human flesh Lived in this world where we live had the same kind of state. We have this human state with all the miseries of this world and all the difficulties and yet he chose on every single occasion of his life to do nothing but the will of God and to obey God's law perfectly and he did that in the place of Those who could not and then when he died on the cross He died in the place of those who deserve to die because of their sin against God and He rose again from the grave three days later and promises That he will resurrect all those who trust in him to new life one day and he will forgive your sins right now.

And that's what Eric was just talking about that justification that we have at the moment. Where you can be seen as righteous by God in Jesus Christ and not because of anything that you do. But because of a crisis on so that is something that we all would like everyone in this room to trust by faith that Christ Died in your place and live the life that you could not live.

So that you could be treated as if you lived the life that he lived. Now let me read From the passage 2nd Corinthians 4. I'll just read the three verses At the end of the chapter 16 through 18. I'm reading from the legacy standard Bible.

So if it sounds different to you, that's why if you don't have that one. Therefore we do not lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying yet. Our inner man is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

While we look not at the things which are seen But at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal. That was the Word of God.

Let me pray father in heaven. We ask that you would bless The study of your word today bless the preaching of your word. That your Holy Spirit would be active in all of our hearts piercing us. Even to deeper levels than we knew existed that we might truly trust what you have written in Christ's name.

I pray Amen, I don't think that it would be Too small a thing if I said to you that these verses here could be construed in a sense as a simple thesis of the Christian life. I would say that not because I think this passage is utterly special but because in fact Any one of you that knows your Bible well right now can probably think of half a dozen passages that say virtually the same thing We already saw today and we'll say accidentally but providentially that multiple people have gotten up here to say something about the Bible and From different passages than I chose to even use to support what I'm going to teach from this text said the same things I could say.

And even when Joe said, how do we confront anxiety? You know, how do we battle this this thing? How do we avoid the sinful anxiety. My first thought was we set our minds on things above us and that's from Colossians chapter 3.

And that's not in my notes and it wasn't in Joe's, you know, so that the whole Bible tells the story of Jesus Christ. But somewhat secondarily to that but very closely related to it. Is that the Bible tells us how it is that we are supposed to live the Bible tells us what it means that as Christians?

We aren't to lose heart. That's verse 16. The Bible tells us that we are going to be afflicted but that there's glory to come later. That is better than that affliction. Which is why we willingly suffer.

And the Bible reminds us over and over verse 18 to have faith. Which is what it means to say we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. And so you will leave here today.

Very likely thinking of hopefully you will think of a number of passages that you thought. Oh, he could have used that passage or he could have used that passage. It's this theme is throughout the Bible.

Why do the righteous suffer right? That was Job's question. That is the question that Jesus answers for us at the cross and we have comfort because of that the Heidelberg Catechism begins with a question.

What is your only comfort in life and death? And the answer is that I with body and soul. Both in life and in death am NOT my own but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. Who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins and redeemed me from all the power of the devil.

So we kind of the gospel there. We believe the gospel. That's one of our comforts, but then it adds and so preserves me. That without the will of my father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head. Indeed that all things must work together for my salvation.

Wherefore by his Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him. And so I was not here when you began The book of 2nd Corinthians. I was here when we were very close to the end of 1st Corinthians.

And so I don't know everything that has been taught up to this point exactly. But what I do know is that you're going verse by verse through the Bible here and the reason that Your elders have chosen to do that is that they understand that the context of each passage is important to understanding the passage.

And so I can't get up here and just randomly teach you what these three verses mean apart from all of the verses surrounding them in fact the converses before them and after them are important and What we know from the book of 2nd Corinthians If you start at the beginning is that this book was written for the comfort of God's people.

The Corinthian Church was a church that most of us wouldn't attend if it was down the street from here. Let's Be clear about that. Okay, and yet believers in the first century were expected to be there.

They were expected to be worshiping with the other believers there and they were expected to love them Despite the fact that there was a pile of correction necessary for that church, right? That's instructive in and of itself, but I have to get to chapter 4 in my context summary here but what we know is that they get to the third chapter and Paul is trying to make a number of arguments throughout this book and Paul does a very good job of stating something.

Often restating it in different ways and Then Paul also does a very good job of of following what seems to be a really clear outline if you choose to break it down that way and Sometimes Paul will say something.

Go down a little trail to describe it further and then he'll say the same thing again. But in different words, and I think that we have an example of that.

In.

Paul’s Repeated Call Not to Lose Heart

Chapter 3 and chapter 4 where it's it's really one Larger argument Paul's making it doesn't even end at 4 or 5 continues the argument I believe all the way to the end of that chapter, but In verse 16, we'll look at these verses.

Paul says therefore we do not lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying yet. Our inner man is being renewed day by day. Losing heart is one of the primary concerns of Paul when he's writing to the people.

The book of Corinthians I said was written for the comfort of God's people and so It's comforting someone is in a sense the opposite of them losing heart. You want to help people to be bold. If you look at Chapter 3 you'll remember that in verse 12 Paul says therefore having such a hope we use great boldness.

Boldness would be the opposite of losing heart. He says in verse 4 of chapter 3 and such confidence we have through Christ toward God. This Section of Scripture if you look in verse 5. Well verse 1 of chapter 4 therefore since we have this ministry every as we receive mercy.

We do not lose heart. In chapter 5 Paul says in Verse 6 therefore being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body were absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith not by sight.

We are of good courage. And so Paul's Emphasizing over and over the good courage they have that they don't lose heart. They don't faint or grow weary in this difficult day. That could be very difficult To do but God promises that he will help us with that if you turn to Isaiah 40 some of you have this section memorized.

It's a good passage to remember in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 28 Isaiah writes do you not know have you not heard? The everlasting God Yahweh the creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.

So we have this great statement about who God is and what God is like Isaiah continues his understanding is unsearchable, but then this God who doesn't grow weary or tired rather than that simply being Written for contrast for you so you can feel small which it should make you feel pretty small.

I mean most of us couldn't go. Most of us can't go a day without sleeping, but if you had to you could go a couple days. You wouldn't function very well though, right? That's that's how they train some of these Navy SEAL guys and what not 90 of them drop out anyway, right?

It's a very small fraction of people that don't need a lot of rest but what God says in verse 29 is he gives power to the weary and. And to him who lacks vigor he increases might though youths grow weary and tired so even though young people are going to be wearing tired he says and Choice young men stumble badly.

Those who hope in Yahweh will gain new power. They will mount up with wings like Eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary. The idea here is is that God is able to sustain his people and you although you will.

Be faint on your own.

Although you will tire out on your own and to use the phrase from 2nd Corinthians 4 you will lose heart on your own. God who is the God of the universe the one who called light out of darkness. We saw that earlier in chapter 4 the God who created the heavens and the earth.

He also has the power to help you through the difficulties that you face. You have to believe that Paul continues in verse 16. I'm back in 2nd Corinthians 4. He says though our outer man is decaying yet.

Our inner man is being renewed day by day. There's a distinction here that that can be made that you could make a whole Sunday school and out of if you wanted that we have a body and a soul. We saw that in the Heidelberg Catechism.

Question that I read question one that I with body and soul Belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. You are a body and a soul. Do you realize if you deny that? You're either uneducated and ignorant or you're a heretic we cannot Deny that fact you have a body you have a soul.

There are people it's my it maybe sounds weird to you if you haven't studied this. But there's people that have denied one or the other of those. Or there's people who have overemphasized one or the other to the point where it's a functional denial of one.

Where they think Jesus is the Savior of the soul, but not the body. Let me tell you something if Jesus doesn't save your body. If he doesn't make you what no passe. Whatever. I don't remember the Latin Non passe Picard if he doesn't make you unable to sin someday.

You that's that's not hope living in this body for eternity would be miserable. Part of the point of this passage is to teach you that it's really miserable for just 70 years. But compared to eternity it's not you have a body and a soul.

And so we are we're not materialists. We don't believe that there's nothing but the physical world around us. We believe there's more to it. We believe when a person dies that Their soul lives on that.

There's something that is happening with that soul that is different from the experience of being in this body, but it's important and It's actually part of who you are but we also believe your physical experience is Vital to your existence and it's part of who you are and and Jesus validated this without question in the Incarnation.

And so I don't even need to go into that. But it is important to know that there are people who will deny these kinds of things. Your inner man is your spirit your outer man is your body in this passage right here and the inner man is spiritual.

And.

Your outer man is.

Dead.

Now the passage says Though our outer man is decaying our inner man is being renewed day by day. I Would submit to you that things that are alive aren't decaying in reality. That it's actually this is Paul's way of reminding us that you are carrying a dead flesh.

So you were once dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the prince of the power of the air Satan right. And that says in Ephesians 2 and then Paul says but you've been quickened or made alive in Christ.

By grace, we are saved through faith. That's that's Paul talking about your spiritual self being saved and you've been justified. And so when we talk about salvation, we talk about multiple facets and you need to understand that enough so that you don't Confuse the category.

So one you have to be justified. There's a few steps before this and God does all these things, but you have to be justified. So you're you have to be looked at by God as if you have not sinned and as if you have lived the perfect Righteousness that Christ lived that's called the active Imputation of the obedience of Christ to your account.

So God looks at you and instead of seeing all the bad stuff You've done and every time you failed God looks at you and all he sees is the perfect righteousness of his son. And he can't be more pleased than we he is with his son.

But there's a lot of implications to that. Okay, but just the idea that you realize God can't love you any more than he ever has. You know that you can't make him love you more. And what's really nice?

You can't make him love you less either.

Right.

You can't you can't do it. It's not about you. He sees his son when he looks at you and so. Then after you're justified you have to be sanctified. Sanctification is that process where by God's grace you're actually made more practically in this world like Christ.

Eric talked about that today, too. Okay, so that's when you look back on your life and you realize wow, I don't do some of this stuff I used to do that was bad or I have more affection for God now than I did before.

It doesn't mean you're somehow closer to God all of a sudden again God can't love you any more than he did ever. He's perfect. He doesn't change. You enjoy your life a little more the closer you get to him.

You're a little more prepared for the things that come up and then one day you'll be glorified. That's when God takes your body that right now is decaying. It's decomposing. It's it's dead it's just a pile of flesh that is Completely and utterly depraved because of sin and it's that's the thing that's actually constantly pulling you towards sin.

And.

It's that spiritual battle that you're in where you're already saved in God's eyes. You've been seated in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus and yet Simultaneously justified and sinner right. And you are now in Actuality in a battle and there's a spiritual war going on between your body and your flesh where you're grappling with the sins of the flesh because your flesh will not quit trying to pull itself in that direction and Your spirit is supposed to be trying to pull you in the other direction.

And God promises some power when you get weary and weak in that situation. And so you don't lose heart even though your outer man's decaying so even though you're constantly delivered over to death Paul said earlier, right?

Even though.

What does he say in every way afflicted verse 8 perplexed verse 9 persecuted? Struck down always caring about in the body the dying of Jesus. Says in verse 11 for we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus's sake.

So death works in us. Even though you're constantly Under the pains of death in this world. You're surrounded by either someone else's death the reality of your own the fear of it and on top of death and Even just the annoyance of that.

You have the fact that your flesh wants to sin. You can wake up in the morning. You can have a nice thought about God. You can get on your knees and pray and say God help me to have a great Day today.

To obey you to love you to serve you to obey your commands. You can review the Ten Commandments if that helps you whatever it is that you want to do and everything's great. And then At some point something happens some circumstance occurs.

Or maybe there's no circumstance at some point you just you fail. You sin and that's your flesh. And that's what we're longing for is the deliverance from that. That's what Paul said when he said Oh who will deliver me from this body of death?

Paul who arguably is the greatest Christian man who ever lived in theory. Maybe one of the most mature and sanctified Believers that ever lived could not wait to be delivered from the body of sin that he was in.

He didn't he didn't cry about the Shipwrecks he didn't complain about being starved and hungry and naked and persecuted and in famine. He didn't cry about those things. He didn't ask God for deliverance and any of the prayers that I can remember you can correct me if I'm wrong.

But what he wanted was to be delivered from the body that brought him into sin. Even if it was only in his mind and heart sometimes that's what he hated the most. So Paul says don't lose heart. One of the reasons you cannot lose heart is because of verse 14.

Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you. Jesus's resurrection and I'll add his ascension are essential. If Jesus didn't raise from the dead you really don't have any hope.

If Jesus didn't ascend into heaven we don't have any hope either. These are things that promise us something better than what we have now. So don't lose heart because your inner man's being renewed day by day.

So the The hope is that while you're suffering from the flesh. While your flesh is if you're like most people there, you know, it's not a it's not a perfect linear curve but if you're like most people there comes a point in your life when you go from I'm growing and I'm getting stronger and I'm looking young and healthy and and I can do things and there comes a point where you're basically you're you know.

We would he called over the hill where it's like you're on the way you're on the way down. Okay, you're not looking forward to more vigor in your flesh. Okay, you might be able to work out lose weight do some things but but there comes a point where everybody is just Headed toward the grave.

All right. And what Paul's saying is that while you're watching that process and this is this is hard I think for younger people to understand. Okay, I see some young guys in here I bet you you could go outside we could beat you with a sledgehammer and you'd probably get up and and just run around no Problem, right?

There's there's some of us who like we're hoping we don't trip over the carpet. All right but as you're heading in that direction and Everything's dying and everything's hurting and things are starting to be harder to do God's promising that your inner man's being renewed day by day.

What I would hope to see is that as you're getting grayer as You're getting wrinklier as everything's starting to fall apart as there's more doctor's appointment more medicines more vitamins essential eyes, whatever you do.

Long as you don't force me to mask like do what you want, right but different topic. But there's a point where what you hope to be seeing is that in your own life you're starting to know the Lord better.

You're being sanctified.

That you are.

Practically able to say that you know that in some way you're sinning less than you did before I get that. There's this idea that we're always sinful and we're depraved in our flesh, but I think we can see growth.

I think you should be able to see measured growth in your life. Now you may still battle that thoughts come in your mind and and Satan attacks us in all sorts of ways. Where he tries to get us to do things and to think things.

But some of our outward sins in particular we should start to see more self-control over and things like that so in verse 17 Paul Continues the argument that I believe he actually started in chapter 3 at the very least.

He says for our momentary light affliction is Working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Now this is just like one of these phrases where with where I I'm excited to learn Greek one day I know Joe was talking about today because when I looked at the people that talked about this verse.

So so there's a Greek word that we get a word from and it's hyperbole most of you know, what hyperbole is and Hyperbole is when we say something that goes above and beyond what it really means. So it's when you say I've told you a thousand times, you know, but but the toilet seat down or whatever, right?

Paul saying this is like The hyperbole of hyperboles to even consider comparing your affliction to the weight of glory that's coming so briefly. Go back to chapter 3 in verse 7. Paul's talking about the law right the Ten Commandments written in stone.

He says but if the ministry of death, which is interesting. He calls the Ten Commandments the ministry of death. So if somehow you think that Ten Commandments is the covenant of grace I don't get that but so he says that the ministry of death in letters having been engraved on stones came with glory.

So he's saying the law came with glory, right? He's not saying it didn't he said it had glory, right? So that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face.

Which was being brought to an end. How will the ministry of the Spirit not be even more in glory? So he's saying that you know, Moses had this shining face. It was so shiny. They had to cover him up. They couldn't look at him.

That happens in Christians. Sometimes there's some Christians that you can't be around. It's not because Something wrong with them. It's because there's something wrong with you. And you don't like being around that guy because he actually makes you feel kind of dirty.

Because he's actually living a holy life and he refuses to participate in things that maybe you happily Participate in and so there's a little bit of that that can happen, but He says there's a glory that came from the law it was on Moses's face people couldn't look at it, right?

And then he says in verse 9 if the ministry of condemnation has glory. So again, he says it has glory. Much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. So now he's saying that that our ministry of righteousness we has has much more glory than the law.

But then listen to what he says in verse 10. He says for indeed what has been glorious what had been glorious In this case has no glory. Because of the glory that surpasses it. Paul wasn't an idiot. And the Holy Spirit who wrote this behind Paul, right?

He just said there was glory in two verses of the Old Covenant of the law. So much that it made a guy's face shine and people couldn't look at it and then his next verse he says Yeah, in this case, it has no glory.

I Think he's making the same kind of comparison. He's making in verse 17 of chapter 4 but the idea is is that Once you understand the glory of the New Covenant that Paul's revealing to the Corinthians and reminding them about Reminding them because what were they doing?

They had a guy in their church that they should have been dealing with in his sin, right? Back in chapter 5 of the first Letter that's scripture. There was a apparently I think four letters to the Corinthians, but in the first letter we have in Scripture There's a guy they should have been dealing with and they weren't dealing with it, right?

And then they dealt with it and then it sounds like that guy or maybe it was a different guy. Repented and they're still bludgeoning for it they're still punishing him for his sin and he's trying to say this glory of the New Covenant of the forgiveness that we have in sin is so much greater and He says it's so great that the glory.

I just described for you That was actually physically manifested in Moses his face isn't even glory at all. So now look at verse 17 of chapter 4 Paul says we have a momentary light affliction. That's working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

What he's saying in summary is that Whatever affliction you're enduring now keep in mind Paul is listed more afflictions that he's written in the books to the letters. In the letters that are in the books to the Corinthians than anyone in this room likely would ever suffer.

Okay? So Paul isn't just like a He's not he's not sitting in a seminary somewhere telling people that are actually doing ministry, you know Paul Paul lived it and he says that the affliction that He's facing the affliction that Christians will face is nothing.

That's what I think he's saying That it's not even worth consideration. When you consider the eternal weight of glory and that's a special phrase that the Old Testament uses a lot the weight of glory.

And I think it's that Hebrew word kavod where it's got to do with the weightiness of the glory of God.

And.

So when you are in your affliction, it has a couple properties. Those properties according to Paul are that it's light. Which is in contrast to the weight of the eternal glory that you'll experience if you know God.

And it's momentary. Which is in comparison in the same verse verse 17 to the Eternality or the eternal glory that you'll have. And so it's the idea that not that your affliction isn't real. Paul understood it.

It was real and it lasted. I'll tell you what if it's affliction. I'm gonna it's it's lasting longer than you want it to. So again, this isn't a denial of the actual physical. All right, Paul's already established.

We have an inner and outer man. We have body and soul. This is real stuff. You're going through. What Paul's trying to get you to do is change your perspective on it. So that you will see your affliction that you have now.

No matter how extreme it is and no matter how long it actually lasts Paul wants you to see it as light and momentary because not because that helps you through it but because that's the reality in comparison to what eternity really is and.

So.

Is that difficult? Yes. It's utterly impossible. Right apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ and belief in it. This isn't this isn't Paul saying hey, make sure you set your alarm for 6 a .m. And do devotions like pretty much any of us could do that, right?

You can get a non-believer to wake up at 5 a .m. And do devotions if if you motivated him for something that he'd get out of it, right? This is this is a completely different level of things and. The fear that Paul has I think and that I have is that there aren't enough Christians that are actually believing this to the point.

Where they're preparing for it and then when the difficulty comes they're not ready. I'll give you an example. You're not gonna you're not gonna get arrested and go to prison for Christ and sing hymns now.

If you don't sing or someday if you don't sing hymns now.

Right.

Some of us are gonna be sitting in that prison cell together like well, I don't I don't remember any lyrics. You know, we have to do these things in a regular basis, so I Want you to in for a moment as difficult as it is to think about?

Affliction and and and you know, I'll just use a small number compared to what it could be. Let's say you had to fight some really difficult affliction for 10 years. Which compared to some people probably in this room 10 years is nothing some people are like I've been doing with this for 60 years.

Great, but let's say you had 10 years of something. Compared to eternity. It's nothing. It's really hard to imagine when you're in it though. But reverse it in your mind for a moment. If if I told you that you were gonna spend eternity in hell and unspeakable torment.

But I'll give you 70 years of partying and fun here where you have nothing but comfort no pain. Where you just live 70 years like you're 25 in perfect health. And then you'll just you'll just go to hell and you'll spend eternity suffering.

You'd say no way. Because you know that that's 70 years of of even pain-free existence is nothing compared to. What would be waiting for you, right? So it's just flip it around. The difference is is when you're in the affliction.

That's when it's hardest, right? That's when we want out if it wasn't difficult. It wouldn't be called affliction. The pulse is it's working out for us that eternal weight of glory. So we have a hope that the affliction is actually with a purpose.

All right, so turn to Romans 8. I'll start in verse 18. I'm gonna skip a few verses that they're actually good. But but I don't want to read the whole chapter. He says for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy.

To be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. So in case you disagreed with me and thought well Paul was making a comparison he's not he doesn't think it's comparable that's his point. You can't compare what's gonna happen to what's happening now.

He says for the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. The creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. In hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now and Not only this but also we ourselves.

Having the first fruits of the Spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves. Eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons the redemption of our body. You will be glorified one day for in hope. But hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he already sees, but if we hope for what we do not see.

With perseverance we eagerly wait for it. Isn't that verse 18 of 2nd Corinthians 4 so you might ask me. Well, how do I live a life? Where I see the current affliction that's so overwhelming to me. I really don't even know how I'll get through it.

How do I live a life where I can actually endure that and treat it as if it's momentary light affliction? How could I have joy in the midst of my suffering? How can I continue to serve the Lord in the midst of my suffering?