Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our man is ... · “I am a debtor both to Greeks and...
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Transcript of Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our man is ... · “I am a debtor both to Greeks and...
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our
outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being
renewed day by day.”
2 Cor. 4:1,16
The phrase "lose heart" means to "be discouraged"
1) Consider some of the things he suffered -
cf. 2 Cor. 11:23-29
2) And yet note what he says in 2 Cor. 4:8-9
-- I.e., Paul says "we do not lose heart"!
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but
not destroyed.”
Strange,
because we do not experience near the
hardships Paul did.
Sad,
because as Paul wrote in Gal. 6:9
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for
in due season we shall reap if we do not lose
heart.”
Psa. 27:13-14
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be
dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold
you with my victorious right hand.
Therefore,
in this age of burnout and disloyalty, we need
to rediscover
Paul’s secret for remaining faithful
through all of the things he suffered for
preaching the gospel.
The word “duty” has become a nasty word in recent years.
“I quit going to church because I didn’t want to go
just out of duty.”
“I’m not going to stay in this marriage just out of a
sense of duty.”
“I quit reading the Bible and praying because I didn’t
want to do it just out of a sense of duty.”
“If it feels good, do it”
“If it doesn’t feel good, we should quit doing it.”
We think any time we go contrary to the way we feel,
we are being cheated or
we are acting hypocritical.
Everybody’s enthusiasm runs out on occasion.
The real test of your maturity is to keep going at times
even when you have lost the joy, but you do it out of a
sense of duty.
Cavitt Roberts said,
“Character is the ability to stay with a resolution
long after the mood in which the resolution was
made has left.”
“I slept and dreamed that life was beauty.
I woke and found that life was duty.”
Matt. 26:39
“And he went a little farther, and fell on his face,
and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt.”
John 9:4
“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it
is day; the night is coming when no one can work.’
Do you know where his wife
was the day he died eight
years later?
She was at the hospital out of
love, commitment, and duty.
“I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians,
both to wise and to unwise.” (Rom. 1:14)
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear
God, and keep his commandments: for this is the
whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:13)
2 Cor. 4:3-4
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those
who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age
has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine on them.”
2 Tim. 2:26
“And that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at
his will.”
Predators, like lions, usually look for and attack the
animals that are alone and have wandered away from
the flock.
We do not have to be so vulnerable!
The protection of the flock is available.
“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and
to good works: not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye
see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25)
“Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not
ignorant of his devices.” 2 Cor. 2:11
First: he distorts the truth through false teachers so
that the gospel becomes confusing.
Second: he blinds the minds of unbelievers and
Christians through pride and pleasure so they cannot
see the light of the gospel.
Third: One of the Devil's favorite tools with Christians
is DISCOURAGEMENT!
You have to FIGHT discouragement with PRAYER, the
WORD and THANKSGIVING!
Then your faith will grow, the doubts will flee, and
you'll be on the road to victory!
A young girl was once asked if Satan did not tempt her
to do wrong things and how she kept from doing them.
The answer was: "Yes, I know he wants to get me, but
when Satan knocks at the door of my heart I just say,
`Jesus, won't You go to the door?' and when Satan
sees Jesus, he runs away every time."
2 Cor. 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly
we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being
renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes NOT on what is seen,
but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen
is eternal.
“There are three types of people in the world: those
who were born with handicaps, those who have
developed handicaps through injury or aging, and
those who are temporarily living in healthy bodies.”
If your focus is on this life only, then the older you get,
the more discouraged you will be, because no matter
how well you try to eat, or how much you exercise or
jog, you will still get older.
Eugene Christian wrote a book called
“How to Live to Be One hundred”—
he died at sixty-nine.
We will not faint or lose heart because even though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day.
Death is an appointment we all shall keep (Heb. 9:27),
unless we are living when Christ returns
(I Thess. 4:17).
Death is the doorway to a life of eternal happiness
(Phil. 1:21 (gain); Rev. 14:13 (rest))
We will not fear because “our light and momentary
troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all.”
Men fear that which afflicts them and fear exaggerates
that which we perceive to be a threat to us.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out
fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one
who fears is not made perfect in love.” I John 4:18
We will be encouraged by a reward that is eternal for
“our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory”
While most people seek to gain the things which will
not last (Matt. 6:19-21), to hoard them and to look
greedily upon that;
the Christian understands the reward to be sought is
one that is eternal.
Keep in mind, that the things not seen are
reserved for those
who do not faint,
do not fear,
and do not focus on the temporal things of life.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."
"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap
corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the
Spirit reap everlasting life."
"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in
due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.“
(Gal. 6:7-9)
Do Not Lose Heart!