Don't Lose Heart | 2 Corinthians 4
Paul shares three reasons why he doesn't lose heart: (1) God's Word gives light; (2) Christ's resurrection gives power; and (3) God's promises give hope. Bryan Craddock delivered this message as part of a commissioning service for Judah Owen.
Today is like a spiritual rocket launch. Judah, we have all gathered here to fuel you up with encouragement and to send you off into your ministry with a blast of enthusiasm. Our hope is that the momentum of this day will carry you a long, long way.
But, of course, life and ministry are not easy in our fallen world. Challenges and trials inevitably come that diminish your energy and begin to drag you down. We all experience times like that in our spiritual lives, but it is particularly intense as you labor in a spiritual leadership role. So, how do we persevere and remain faithful?
Some people go through life looking for one emotional boost after another. But each high point is not as high as the last, and the lows keep getting lower. They’re like a rock skipping along the surface of a lake until it finally goes under. Others grind it out in their own strength. But that makes you rigid, legalistic, superficial, and brittle. Neither approach is spiritually healthy.
In 2 Corinthians 4, the Apostle Paul explains how he persevered. He opens up about some of his struggles, but the chapter begins and ends with him saying, “we do not lose heart.” He shares three reasons that he does not lose heart in life and ministry, and I’m convinced that these are the truths that we all need to hold onto in order to keep faithfully serving the Lord.
God’s Word Gives Light
Some of us complain about the lack of daylight during Michigan winters. But there’s even less where Judah’s heading. In a few weeks, the sun will rise after 11 a.m. and set before 5 p.m. But even though physical darkness takes a toll, it’s the spiritual darkness in people’s hearts that is the most discouraging.
I’m not just talking about Alaska. The difficulty of dealing with that darkness can warp how we interact with people. So, in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2, Paul says,
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.
Paul is committed to clearly communicating the truth of God’s word. He doesn’t water it down or add to it in any way as others might do. He trusts that God’s Word alone can overcome the darkness. In verses 3-6, he says,
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world 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 what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with 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 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Since God works through his word to open our eyes to the light of the gospel, he can do the same in anyone else. So, we must speak his word, trusting him to work in people’s lives according to his timing, and we must keep looking into the word for ourselves, trusting him to transform us into his image.
Don’t lose heart! God’s Word gives light, and secondly…
Christ’s Resurrection Gives Power
My mom loved to wrap gifts. She would get the shiniest paper and the fanciest bow. So, even if the gift was something cheap, you thought that you were getting a treasure.
God does the opposite. Think about it! He sent his only begotten Son to be born in obscurity in a cattle stall. He carries out his glorious saving work through His Son’s humiliating suffering and death. So, it should not surprise us that he also chooses to communicate the glorious, good news about salvation through weak, broken people.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, Paul explains,
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
It’s tempting to dress ourselves up and pretend that we have everything figured out and under control. But those shiny wrappings obscure the gospel. God wants people to see that the resurrection power of Christ is the only thing sustaining us. So, he allows us to experience hard times. We share in the sufferings of Christ and become like him in his death. But as we cling to him through those moments, we experience the power of his resurrection life.
Don’t lose heart! God’s word gives light, Christ’s resurrection gives power, and
God’s Promise Gives Hope
Time travel is the stuff of science fiction, but there are dramatic differences in how we experience the passage of time. It flies when you’re having fun. But when life is hard, it crawls at a snail’s pace. It’s all a matter of your outlook, and that’s good, because it means that you can change your outlook even when your circumstances are hard.
God’s promise is the key. In 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, Paul says,
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
The resurrection of Christ gives us the hope that we will one day be in the presence of God, free from all suffering. That idea is central to the gospel. We must keep believing it and speaking it to others and to ourselves. We look forward to a time of great celebration. In verses 15-16, Paul says,
For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Each day we are one step closer to that celebration. So, our hope should keep growing, changing the way we view our trials. In verses 17-18, Paul says,
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
We must use the hope of eternity to change our outlook.
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So, don’t lose heart! God’s word gives light that opens blind eyes and keeps guiding us forward. Christ’s resurrection gives power to sustain us here and now. God’s promise gives hope that enables us to see life from the standpoint of eternity.
Judah, I have been serving in vocational ministry for 30 years now, and my reliance upon this chapter and its lessons keeps growing. It has repeatedly helped me to reset my thinking in times of discouragement. I pray that it will have the same impact on you.
For all of you, the lessons here extend far beyond vocational ministry. They are essential to the gospel and the Christian life. Are they part of your life? If not, start trusting Christ! Let his word open your eyes. Believe in his resurrection and receive God’s promise of eternal life. If you want to learn more about how the gospel changes our outlook, Paul presents another powerful explanation in the third chapter of Philippians.
If you trust in Christ, do you need to change your thinking? Later in 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of taking every thought captive. We all have godless thoughts that need to be replaced with truths like those we have considered today. So, identify those false ideas. Recognize the times when they come and plan out how you can remind yourself of the truth when you encounter those circumstances in the future.
May we live for the eternal glory of God!
Reflect
Which of these reasons have you relied upon most? How so?
Which of these reasons do you most need to incorporate into your thinking? What are some practical ways to do so?
How could you use this chapter to encourage others?