We like to buy things that can last for a long time.
• When buy plastic cups because they are unbreakable. We buy Energizer batteries because they last longer. We buy shoes that are long-lasting.
• How we wish life is just like that – that we will be able to stay physically strong and healthy for a long, long time to come. Wouldn’t that be great?
But we know this is not true. Eventually everyone will struggle with health problems.
• This is not something we like to think about, but the Bible tells us not to lose heart. Why? Because God has a greater plan for us.
• We have a great future in Christ, which is more important than what we are seeing and experiencing today.
Paul uses many contrasting words to describe this great future to us.
• He talks about our present suffering and the future glory, one that is outward, the other inward; one that is light, the other weighty; one that is momentary, the other eternal, one that is seen, the other unseen.
• The Bible tells us to look for something God has prepared for us, which we cannot see and experience at this present moment.
WE DO NOT LOSE HEART BECAUSE…
(1) We Are Inwardly Being Renewed, Although Physically Wasting Away (v.16)
“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
Focus on that which is inward, that is, our new life in Christ.
• Our lives have been changed. We are blessed to be saved and now experiencing the life that God has given us.
• We are able to experience the love, the joy, the peace, the hope that God has given us. This life is growing strong, not weaker.
Paul says earlier in verse 7 that we are like “jars of clay”, very frail and weak.
• But within this jars of clay, we have a treasure. In verse 10, Paul says this is the “life of Jesus”. We have this new life of Christ in us.
• God has given us this new life in Christ. The physical one is growing weaker but the spiritual one is growing stronger. It is being ‘renewed day by day’.
By the power and grace of God, we are experiencing a new life each day.
• We grow to be more like Christ. We know more of God and His ways. We are able to live a holy and righteous life. We grow stronger in faith, in love and in hope.
• No weaker, but stronger. In the words of Isaiah, “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isa 40:31)
The song we sing often 除你以外from Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
• That is why we treasure the blessings of elderly Christians. We ask them to pray for us. They know the Lord for many years; they have vast experiences, having trusted and served Him for a long time. We treasure their words of spiritual wisdom.
• Physically they looked frail but spiritually they are strong. Their spiritual life has been “renewed day by day” by the Lord.
WE DO NOT LOSE HEART BECAUSE…
(2) We Have an Eternal Glory that Surpasses our Momentary Troubles (v.17)
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
Focus on the future glory that awaits us, because that is more important.
• It is eternal, compared to our present afflictions, which is short.
• When we are going through pain and suffering, it sometimes feels like it lasts ‘forever’. We find it hard to endure even another day.
Paul says, look to the future because that is eternal.
• Notice the contrasts Paul uses here. What is light is being compared with what is weighty. What is momentary is being compared with what is eternal.
• These are the realities we face today. On this side of heaven, we are going to experience hardship and afflictions. But this is only a part of life, a very small part.
• God has prepared for us eternal life. He has prepared a heaven for us. That glory far outweighs what we are experiencing today – you cannot compare.
Paul takes what we can see with our eyes now and contrasts it with what he wants us to see with the eyes of faith.
• All the suffering here will seem ‘light and momentary’ when we fully comprehend the greatness of the glory God has for us.
• The contrast is so great that there is no comparison. The eternal glory is so great it cannot be outweighed or overshadowed by the visible afflictions we go through now.
• We must have such a perspective, and remind ourselves of this.
It’s like a child sitting in a dentist’s chair. It is going to be uncomfortable. The child holds tightly to his mother’s hand as the dentist drills the teeth.
The dentist keeps saying, “It’s going to be over soon, very soon. It will be done.”
And the mom will say, “Afterwards we’re going to McDonalds for the hamburger and French fries.”
The child endures the pain because he knows it will be over soon and he will have his hamburger.
Our suffering does not need to be pointless.
• Very often, God works through our trials to make us a better person.
• Paul says our troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory (v.17).
• Hardships in life keep us humble, help us lean on God, and make us wiser and stronger.
Paul says in 2 Cor 1:4, the Lord comforts us in all our troubles, “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
• Hardships do for our spiritual muscles what a workout at the gym does for our physical muscles.
• We cannot see it with our eyes, but the inward life is being renewed and strengthened day by day.
WE DO NOT LOSE HEART WHEN…
(3) We Fix our Eyes on What We Cannot See (v.18) – our Eternal Home
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 life is not all there is. As beautiful as it sometimes can be, God has promised us a better place.
• We will spend far more time on the other side of death – in eternity – than we will here.
• At most, you will live a hundred years on earth, but you will spend forever in eternity. Measured against eternity, out time on earth is just a blink of an eye.
Man has this instinct that longs for something beyond. This is because God has designed us that way.
• A fish would never be happy living on land, because it was made for water. An eagle could never feel satisfied if it wasn’t allowed to fly.
• We will never feel completely satisfied on earth, because we were made for more.
One day our heart will stop beating but it will not be the end of us. It will only be the end of this body and our time on earth, but it will not be the end of us.
• We will move from this temporary place to one which is eternal - heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. We’re just here on social visit.
No man tells us about heaven because no one has ever returned from the dead, except Jesus.
• Firstly, He came from heaven and then, He came back from the dead, to assure us of this great home we have in heaven.
• If you put your trust in Jesus Christ today, you will spend the rest of eternity with Him. He is the only Saviour God has prepared to save us and bring us home.
• You need to accept Jesus Christ as Your Saviour today, if you have not done so.
Dear brothers and sisters, this world is not our home. Be encouraged.
• (1) We are inwardly being renewed by the Lord, even though physically getting weaker. (v.16)
• (2) We have an eternal glory that far outweighs our temporary hardships. (v.17)
• (3) We fix our eyes on what we cannot see (v.18), our eternal home.
NOT HOME YET
A retiring missionary was coming home to America after many years of serving the Lord in Africa. He was on the same ship as the president of the United States. There were a cheering crowd, a military band, a red carpet, banners and the media welcoming the president. He was not able to get off the ship until the president had made his grand exit. No one pay attention to or notice the missionary.
Feeling self-pity and resentment, he began complaining to God. He has worked so hard and gone through so much, but no one gave him any words of appreciation.
Then God gently reminded him, “But my child, you’re not home yet.”
SING: This World Is Not My Home... Words and Music by Albert E. Brumley © 1965
This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Chorus: O Lord you know I have no friend like you
If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
They’re all expecting me and that’s one thing I know.
My Saviour pardoned me and now I onward go.
I know He’ll take me through, though I am weak and poor.
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
