This exposition of 2 Corinthians 4:13-18 by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, May 20, 2018.
Intro:
It’s a basic biblical principle. One we often forget. Scripture encourages us to, lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).
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In Colossians 3:2 the apostle Paul urges us to, Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. We are to focus on heavenly things. You’ve heard the old adage, “He’s so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good.” That’s nonsense. The truth is we are so earthly minded we’re no heavenly good! As the people of God we are to be heavenly focused and kingdom oriented. Our perspective is to be an eternal perspective not an earthly perspective. Why is that? First and foremost because our citizenship is in heaven. We are pilgrims here. This is not our home. We are to long for our home in glory. But as the fallen sons and daughters of Adam we are easily captivated by this world. We are enamored with the here and now and that is harmful. Harmful because it suffocates our spiritual lives and harmful because it leads to great heartache and discouragement. That brings me to the second reason for our need to be eternally focused, because when we live for this life we live for that which will not last. To live for this life is to live for that which is doomed to perish. Now, we are to have this kingdom focus, this eternal perspective in every area of our lives. This is especially when we think about the gospel and our ministry of the gospel. Why do we, the church, do what we do? Is it to have a bunch of people to meet? Is it so we can have big, nice buildings? Is it so people can applaud the good we do? There is nothing wrong with having lots of people. Nice buildings - that’s a good thing. I like it when people appreciate what we do but what happens when the crowd is small? When the building deteriorate? When the people turn on us? What happens when we are faithful to the gospel and people are turned off, we are scorned, painful, hurtful things are said to us and about us? What do we do then? According to the Scripture we do right on doing what we’ve been called to do. We preach the gospel, the whole gospel. We continue to love people and seek to meet their needs. In other words we go right on being the church.
It’s hard to be the church in a post-Christian world. It’s hard to preach the gospel when the biblical gospel is despised. It’s hard to love when you are not loved in return. But that has always been the lot of the Church in this fallen, sinful world. We’ve just had it so good for so long. For our lifetime the Judeo-Christian worldview was in the majority. That’s no longer true. Our values were dominate now they are the minority. How are we to remain faithful to the task assigned? We keep our eyes on the prize. We keep our focus on the eternal. When I was a kid my grandparents always had a big garden. I remember going over and helping my papa when it was time to plant. He had a push plow. We would stake out the rows and he would have me plow. I wasn’t very good at it. I tried to plow by looking at my feet. He would say, “Son, you can’t plow staring at your feet. Look up. Keep your eyes on where you are going to end up. If you keep looking down you will just make a mess of things.” Faithful, effective gospel ministry demands a proper focus. Our text tonight is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Paul has just explained how his weakness was the occasion for God’s power - 4:7-12.
We have the treasure of the gospel in jars of clay - fragile, cheap, disposable containers.
We are afflicted but not crushed.
We are perplexed but not driven to despair.
We are persecuted but not forsaken.
We are struck down but not destroyed.
Now he is going to explain what sustains him in gospel ministry - 4:13-18
Thesis: In the daily grind and disappointment of ministry delivers find strength and sustaining courage by focusing on future glory.
We don’t live for today, tomorrow or the next five years but for eternity.
We don’t live for ourselves or our church but for Christ and His kingdom.
I’ve said before but I must say it again, to live for the glory of Trinity Baptist Church is too small a thing. Our lives are to be lived for the glory of God and for the advancement of His kingdom. That’s what we are reminded of in this text. Remember Paul is being attacked by folks in a church he gave a year and a half of his life for. They have questioned his integrity, his heart and his ministry.
There are two things I want to call to your attention from this text.
- We are sustained in gospel ministry by our fervent hope in the life to come. (4:13-15)
- We are sustained in gospel ministry by the transforming power of the gospel now at work in us preparing us for a glorious future. (4:16-18)
What are you living for?
Don’t waste your life.
In the daily grind and disappointment of ministry delivers find strength and sustaining courage by focusing on future glory.
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