Not Losing Heart

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Tonight I want us to look at what Paul has to say to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I believe this is a very important chapter for all of us as we face this Autumn and as we face the challenges of living at this time - in history and in this country. In the Coloured Supplement this month I write about my sabbatical. I explain that I have discovered good things going on all over the world in terms of the life and health of the church. But I have to confess that the situation in the churches in Britain is depressing. There is decline and heresy. And things are depressing in the world outside the church in Britain. There is growing decadence.

This past week the Christian Institute failed to get the High Court's help in their opposition to the City Council letting the Newcastle Arena become a massive sex shop. And the latest thing we have heard is that Newcastle Social Services are advertising in the Gay press for homosexuals to adopt children - in spite of the fact that we now know that children will suffer in consequence. As you look at the world as well as at the church, you can easily get depressed. Now when so much is depressing, the temptation for Christian people is to lose heart. But what does Paul say in 2 Corinthians 4 - verse 1? Listen:

Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

That is my subject tonight - "not losing heart" and that verse is our text for tonight. I want us to think first, about THE TEMPTATION, and then secondly, about THE SOLUTION. So


first, THE TEMPTATION

It seems from this verse 1 of chapter 4 that Paul himself was tempted to lose heart. Let's not think that Paul was so different from the rest of us. But why was he tempted to lose heart? There are at least three reasons.

First, there was the church at Corinth. We know from 1 Corinthians that this was a problem church. There were divisions and sexual immorality. There was an over emphasis on signs and wonders and speaking in tongues. And there was also a watering down of the faith to fit current intellectual fashions. People, for example, were losing faith in the Resurrection of Christ. And this would have depressed Paul after all he had been trying to teach them. Then when you study this second letter to the Corinthians, you will see that Paul is personally under attack from religious people. Nor were such attacks new. In Acts 18.6 we read how Paul was verbally opposed and abused by the Jews on his first visit to Corinth. He had, therefore, to leave the synagogue where he was preaching and teaching and go next door "to the house of Titus Justus".

Today that would be called "insensitive church planting", but Paul was more concerned to preach the gospel than keep religious people happy. But he was clearly chewed up by this experience. So God spoke to him "one night ... in a vision" (Acts 18.9) and said:

"Do not be afraid - [you see Paul was no different from us. He could be afraid] - Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

As a digression, can I say that I think those words are relevant to us at Jesmond. We will be opposed for preaching the gospel. But I believe God has "many people" in this region who are open to the gospel. They are just waiting for a Christian lead and for encouragement. So Paul knew all about opposition from religious people being a reason for Christians losing heart.

Secondly, Paul would have been tempted to lose heart because people outside the church were rejecting the gospel. In verse 3 he says the "gospel is veiled ... to those who are perishing." That's an allusion back to the previous chapter. But in the next verse, verse 4, he explains what he means and what is going on. He says:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Why do you think that when you tell your friends or colleagues or members of your family about Jesus Christ, they don't want to know? Is it all because you don't know how to articulate the gospel - you haven't learnt properly the right form of words. "No!" says Paul. The underlying problem is this. There is the devil - Satan - "the god of this age". He "blinds" human minds "so that they cannot see the light of the gospel." And that is depressing. Paul is not saying it doesn't matter what you say. And he certainly is not saying that the gospel is unreasonable. Paul believed the gospel was reasonable: it could be argued for. We read about Paul arguing in the Acts of the Apostles. However, he experienced (and Christians ever since have experienced) people hearing a very clear presentation of the gospel, but then they reject God, they reject the fact that God so loved the world that he sent Christ into it; and they reject the good news that you are saved not by your good works but simply because you trust in Christ who bore your sins in your place when he died on the Cross 2000 years ago.

Who needs to have their eyes opened tonight to that simple message of the gospel? It is reasonable. It is proved true and believable by the resurrection. And it is sufficiently clear. But people reject it. And they do so because there is an evil spiritual force - the devil himself - blinding their minds. That is why we must pray for the Holy Spirit of God to be at work binding the evil one. We must preach and talk and organize, but we must never forget to pray. So Paul would have been tempted to lose heart because people were rejecting the gospel.

And the third reason why Paul would have been tempted to lose heart was his personal situation. Look at verses 8-12:

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It may have been that Paul was ill. In verse 16 he talks about "wasting away". While, on average, Christians have a better life in all sorts of ways, it is also true, paradoxically, that Christians seem to suffer more than unbelievers. Hebrews says that those the Lord loves he disciplines. Well, certainly Paul went through it. Is there anyone like that tonight - you are "hard pressed on every side"? If so, beware of the temptation "to lose heart." Well, these then are some of the reasons why Paul, like Christians today, would have been tempted to lose heart. There are the problems in the church; unbelief in the world; and then personal problems.

But before we move on, what is the exact nature of this temptation to lose heart? We've discussed the reasons for loosing heart. But what actually can happen when you lose heart? Look at verse 2:

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 every man's conscience in the sight of God.

Paul here seems to be paralleling "losing heart" with the things you "renounce" when you resist this temptation. So "not losing heart" means you aren't involved in "secret and shameful ways"; you don't "use deception" and you don't "distort the word of God." Conversely, when you lose heart you are tempted to do just those things - to be involved in "secret and shameful ways", to "use deception", and to "distort the word of God." And isn't that what you see in the church today. There is the temptation to sexual sin - that is what secret and shameful ways most likely is referring to. When some Christians lose heart, they go off the rails morally, or their marriage breaks up. Then there is the temptation to "use deception". Now the word in the original conveys the idea of manipulation or cutting corners as well as dishonesty. When some people are depressed they may not be sexually immoral, but they can give in to dishonesty and manipulation. But Paul says "No!" you must "not use deception." And then there is a very seductive temptation - it is to "distort the word of God." This is the temptation to water down God's word, to make it more acceptable. So you don't talk about sin, about judgment, about hell, and about God's wrath. Of course, none of those things by themselves are the gospel. But they are the essential context for the gospel.

The gospel is that Jesus is the deliverer from God's wrath and judgment. Christ's salvation is only meaningful if there is something to be saved from. But the temptation when you are losing heart is to try to make the gospel more acceptable by watering it down. Of course, a watered down gospel is not more acceptable: it becomes irrelevant and incoherent - such are the lies of the devil. This is the gospel, to quote Richard Niebuhr, of "a God without wrath [who] brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."

It bears no relation whatsoever to the clear teaching of Christ and the Bible. Well, those are the issues for when you lose heart - sexual immorality, dishonesty and watering down the gospel. Let's now move on to


THE SOLUTION

How did Paul not lose heart and so resist these temptations? The simple answer is that he focused on God and then on his own calling or ministry. And that is what you and I must do.

First, he focused on God. As you study 2 Corinthians you will see that Paul focuses on God's great plan of salvation past and present. In chapter 3 (the preceding chapter) you will see a kaleidoscope of allusions to Old Testament history - Moses and the Law, the promise of the new Covenant, the fulfilment in Jesus, the righteousness of God, and new life that comes through the Holy Spirit who makes us more like Jesus Christ. Paul focuses on these things - they are in his consciousness. For him they are the reality of life, whatever pagans and heretical members of the Church in Corinth may say. Paul knew that God is sovereign. Paul knew of the devil's activity. But he knew that the devil was no match for the creative power of God who shines light into the devil's darkness - verse 6:

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 the glory of God in the face of Christ.

That is exactly what Paul had experienced on the Damascus Road; and every true believer experiences that, even though in a less dramatic way. These then are the realities Paul focuses on. But he also focuses not just on what God has done in salvation history in the past and is doing in the present as people are converted through the light of the gospel; he also focuses on the future - on what God has in store for us beyond the grave. Look at verses 16-18:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This is true relativism. Not the relativism that says, "nothing is right and nothing is wrong." But the relativism that says "all the problems we are facing now - in the church, in the world and in our own circumstances - may seem pretty terrible to us. But compared with God's agenda and his great future, they are relatively trivial." From that perspective they are "light and momentary troubles". God's "eternal glory ... far outweighs them all." Isn't that the really great secret of not losing heart? It is to live by faith. It is fixing your "eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen."

So the first part of the solution is to focus on God - he is sovereign, he is in control, he knows all about your situation and the distress it is causing you, but trust him. He has good purposes for you long term. In the short term things may be hard - but relatively speaking it is very, very short term. Then the second part of Paul's solution is to focus on his calling or ministry. And that is what you also must do when you are tempted to lose heart. The details of your ministry will be different to those of Paul - he was an Apostle. But the ultimate goal will be the same. And remember every believer has some gift or ministry that God is calling them to fulfil. Paul's goal, verse 2, was to "set forth the truth plainly". And in some measure all of us should be wanting to see the truth "set forth ... plainly". We don't all have to be in pulpits but there are quieter and simple ways of leading others to Christ.

And note, Paul says in verse 5 it is "not preaching ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake." You don't put forward your views and your experiences as the centrepiece of what you are telling people. Some of your friends might find your views and experiences strange. The important thing is to tell people the facts about Jesus and the truth about "Jesus Christ as Lord".

Yes, illustrate them by your experience, but focus on the objective realities of "Jesus Christ as Lord". Jesus - the man of Nazareth who lived, worked, taught died and rose again. Christ - God's Messiah, the one who fulfilled God's plan of salvation that started from before the beginning of the universe and that will be completed when this universe winds up and is transformed when Christ returns. As Lord - God made man and the one we are to submit to and serve as our great Saviour. You say, "but I find all that so difficult - talking to others." Well, two things can be said. First, of course, you must pray. As you pray the Holy Spirit will help you talk. He will set up opportunities and then help you take them. But secondly, from a human point of view, your ability to speak to others is directly related to what you believe.

If you really believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that as a matter of fact he is alive now and by his Spirit in a remarkable way he can be (and is) present with you in the year 2000, when you meet with other believers like now and also daily when you are on your own. If you really believe that, when you have opportunity, you will speak. It is the same as if you really believe that smoking is bad for you (as I hope you do, because if any thing is certain in medicine it is that smoking damages your health). If you really know that and you've seen some of your relatives (and, in my case, parishioners) die terrible deaths from lung cancer, you will say (politely) to someone saying smoking is OK, "sorry chum, you are just wrong. The truth is otherwise." Paul says it is just like that with telling people about Christ - verses 13-15:

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.


Conclusion

I must conclude. These are difficult times. Be realistic - face the facts. But don't be pessimistic. Be optimistic - not because of "the power of positive thinking"; but because you know about God's mercy and all that means; and because you have a ministry from God. When that is in your consciousness you will be able to say with Paul,

Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
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