2 Corinthians 4:17
A New Perspective
Woodlawn Baptist Church
July 2002
Introduction
A. During the course of the last several weeks, many of our messages have dealt with life’s problems and trials, the giants we face and how we are to deal with them. There has never been a time in history when it has been all that easy to be a Christian, though I might suggest to you that these days are comparatively easier than many times of the past. However, I might also add that if we were to take our faith as seriously as the apostle Paul did, things might not run so smoothly for many of us.
B. Paul lived in dangerous times. Life was not easy for the Corinthian Christians. Temptations and trials threatened them. Discouragement and depression were recurring problems. In the midst of all these trials, Paul stood out with a great confidence, but it was not a confidence based on who he was but on whose he was. The result of such a thinking is evident in his bold living.
C. In our message tonight, I want you to consider that God is calling us to a new perspective in our trials and problems. I know quite well that many of you are afflicted in various ways, but it is your perspective in those afflictions that determines your actions. What might this new perspective do? Can you be too otherworldly and focused too much on the future? Perhaps so, but if our minds are where they ought to be, then we can gain new insights for living here and now in this life, insights that will enable you too to live boldly and confidently in the name of Jesus.
D. Chapter 4 is devoted entirely to this theme of Paul’s confidence. There were many things in which Paul was confident: the truth of the Gospel, the results of his salvation, even the rewards of his faith. Remember, Paul’s confidence in these things made him the follower of Christ he was. They can you too if you believe and act upon them. Since it is verse 17 that we are after tonight, and since we are after a new perspective on our trials or afflictions, let’s make note of three reasons we can have this new perspective. Why can we have a new perspective in our afflictions?
I. Because they are light.
A. We need to back up a little so we can understand something about the afflictions mentioned here. In the previous verses, Paul makes clear that his life was given to making known the grace of God. Verse 15 gives us some insight. "For all things are for your sakes…" Then in verse 16, Paul says, "for which cause we faint not…" Which cause was this? It was Paul’s purpose, his ministry – that of getting the gospel to these people and helping them to grow in their faith. Paul wasn’t going to give up or loose heart in this endeavor no matter what the cost.
"Though our outward man perish" – though he was wearing his body out and pushing it to its limits, the inward man was renewed day by day."
B. When Paul was talking about affliction – he wasn’t talking about petty bellyaching and such. He was talking about the afflictions he suffered as the result of giving his life away. He was talking about the prison sentences, the constant slander, those who took advantage of him, the ones who beat and mocked him. He was talking about being an outcast among his own people – being rejected the way Christ was. He was talking about the whippings and lashings and beatings. He was talking about the stonings, the shipwrecks, the constant traveling and not having a home. He was referring to the constant threat of living in the wild, of having to go hungry because he was broke or because no one would offer to feed him. He was talking about sleeping outside in the harsh winters, going without decent clothes and shelter.
C. We talk about our afflictions – about how we can’t get a good parking place at Wal-Mart or about how it takes more than 10 minutes to get our food at the restaurant. We complain because our insurance doesn’t pick up all the tab or because the cell phones won’t reach who we’re trying to call. Afflictions? What do we really know about afflictions? If Paul endured all he did and could still call them light – then how are we to view ours?
D. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean to belittle anyone or to suggest that your afflictions aren’t real. What I am suggesting is that we get a new perspective on them. Look at verse 16 again – "For which cause we faint not." Now go to Hebrews 12:1-4 and read it with me. When you begin to be wearied and faint – when you feel like giving up and loosing heart, consider the opposition and affliction that Jesus Christ faced doing what He did for you!
E. You see, it’s all about perspective. Its not that your afflictions are greater than mine or the next guys. They probably are – but your afflictions will never compare to those that Jesus faced, and until they do – Paul says to keep on. "Though our outward man is perishing – our inward man can be renewed day by day when you remember that your afflictions are light."
II. Because our afflictions last but a moment.
A. Time flies when you’re having fun! Whether we like it or not, time flies – but it does seem to have a way of slowing down when we are in the midst of trouble. When things are fine – you’re not thinking about time, but when the bottom falls out in your life – you can’t wait for it to pass.
B. James said it best when he said that our lives are like vapors – here today and gone tomorrow. Our lives last only a brief while, and in reality our troubles pass even quicker.
C. But listen, Paul isn’t really calling on you to think about time as we know it – but rather time as it fits into the grander scale of eternity. If you were to imagine a straight line extending from this room to the most distant place you know, you’ve not even begun to imagine eternity. Now take that line – to what place does it extend? Now take a pen or pencil and make a dot on the line – what do you have? You life here on earth, with all its problems and afflictions – the good times and bad. They are but a moment.
D. Brother Kevin, that’s foolishness. Maybe so, but when we get our minds off our problems and take a more heavenly perspective on things, we’ll realize that its really our worrying and complaining that is foolishness.
E. So what did Paul say again? "Though our outward, physical man is perishing and experiencing affliction, our inward man, the spiritual man is being renewed each day as we consider that our afflictions are light and they last but a brief moment in eternity.
III. Because our afflictions work for us.
A. Paul said that our afflictions "work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." What does that mean? Let’s do a Scripture review here so you’ll see the point.
B. Why was Paul suffering affliction? It was because he was giving his life in service, seeing that people were hearing the gospel and growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Had he packed his bags and gone home everything might have been fine, but he didn’t faint, didn’t give up. He hung in there and tolerated the suffering because it light, it was temporary, and because it was working for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
C. Jesus said, "Take no thought for your life…" Don’t worry about your physical needs, God will see to them – you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and God would provide you with everything you need.
D. On another occasion He said, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
There are many believers who are only interested in themselves – they are saving their own lives, but in reality they are losing them – wasting them. In contrast, others like Paul are spending their lives, spending every spare minute, spending all their energy and effort and in some cases their very health and lives for the name of Jesus and His gospel – losing their lives, and Jesus said they were saving their lives in the process.
E. You see, for the gospel’s sake, and in order that people have the opportunity to grow in their faith, many have and still are suffering for Christ. Paul said in the Roman letter "that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." There is a glory that is going to be revealed in you one day – that day when Christ appears, when the clouds are rolled back like a scroll and Jesus appears in all His glory and majesty – it will be worth it all!
F. Now turn to 1 Peter 4:12 and following. (Paraphrase vs. 12 – "Don’t think it strange to suffer affliction for Christ)
G. Read 1 Peter 5:10-11 and make comments.
Conclusion
A. How was Paul able to live such an awesome life of faith? How was he able to endure so much, to live so boldly, to make such a difference in spite of his afflictions? He kept a right perspective.
B. That right perspective was made possible because Paul was spending his life in service to the One who had bought and called him to ministry. Not all affliction is the result of a spent life – but rather is the result of a wasted life, and some affliction has nothing to do with either, but is rather just a part of being alive.
C. I think of those who have been called but refused to obey. I am thinking of those who had opportunities to serve but turned away. It is not too late to follow Christ. In fact – it is a daily decision you make, and you can make it today. There is no comfort like that of knowing you are right where God wants you to be, and there is no torment like that of constantly wondering if your affliction is the result of being out of God’s will.
D. Tonight if you are struggling with all the questions, asking God why this and why that and your problems have you weighted down, let me encourage you to take a new perspective – a higher, heavenly, spiritual perspective on things and remember that one day it will be worth it all.
