WEBVTT

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chapter 4, verse 16. We'll look at verses 16,

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17, and 18. And the verses we looked at last

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week, or week 4 last, Paul talked about being

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jars of clay. That us human beings are like jars

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of clay. We are weak, but we are jars that contain

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a lot of power. Even though we are weak, We have

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the power of the Lord within us, and we see the

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power of God working and transforming lives in

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the world. And so for that reason, Paul says,

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look, we're going to continue to do the work.

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We're going to continue to preach the word. We've

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received it. We're growing in it. Y 'all are

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growing in it. And therefore, even though we

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are weak, we are still going to continue to do

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the Lord's work. And that was kind of the idea

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that we saw in the verses we looked at. week

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four last. So let's pray and then we'll get started.

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God, we come to you. We thank you for these words.

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I pray that your Holy Spirit would be with us

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tonight, God, that you would help us to find

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strength and encouragement in these words, dear

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Lord, that God and our weakness, that we would

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know that we cannot get through things on our

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own, but that you are with us. So I pray, God,

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that... these words would just kind of stick

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to us tonight, dear Lord, that we would recall

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them and that we would live by them in our daily

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lives. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

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Amen. Therefore, he says in 2 Corinthians 4,

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verse 16, therefore, we do not give up. Now,

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we see therefore sometimes in the New Testament

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especially. Therefore, what was he talking about?

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He was talking about that God had been doing

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the work through them, that they were weak vessels,

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but God had been using them and God had been

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working in the lives of other people through

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them and people had come to Jesus Christ. And

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therefore, even though it's difficult to serve

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the Lord, therefore, we do not give up. Now,

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this is a good word for us to think about tonight.

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We do not give up because there are times in

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our life that we do want to give up. that life

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gets really difficult, and we are weak, and in

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our weakness, things happen to us, and whatever

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it may be, just stuff with work, or stuff with

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school, or stuff with health, or stuff with family,

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or whatever it is, and sometimes it just seems

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like one thing after another, and one blow after

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the next blow. And sometimes we just want to

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give up, and we just say, God, I've just had

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enough. I'm just tired, dear Lord. Y 'all have

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probably all experienced that. You've had a season

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in life where you're just tired. Sometimes we

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have seasons in life where in our family we have

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maybe a lot of death. Every family's kind of

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probably had that before, where it just seems

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like a lot of death's real close together, and

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that's tough on you. And it's just whatever the

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situation may be, there are days that you just

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say, God, I don't know how much more I can take.

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But on days like that, we just have to trust

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in the Lord's strength and not rely on our own

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strength and not give up. He says in verse 16,

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Therefore we do not give up even though our outer

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person is being destroyed, our inner person is

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being renewed day by day. Now Paul knew what

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it was like for the outer person to go through

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some difficult situation. He says, look, we...

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In our bodies, we're suffering. The work that

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we're doing for the kingdom of God, it is not

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easy. We are suffering. We are enduring all kind

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of pain and persecution and even Christians being

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killed. I mean, you may remember in the book

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of Acts when Stephen preached that great sermon

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to the people and then it says at the end of

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the sermon that all the people closed their ears

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and they started to holler and then they stoned

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Stephen to death. And so the audience was not

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very receptive. uh when when the the the times

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after jesus it wasn't very receptive and guess

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what there's plenty in the world that aren't

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receptive of the gospel today there are still

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christians who are being killed today so when

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paul says look our outer person is being destroyed

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he means that quite literally Quite literally,

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Paul and the other apostles were being destroyed.

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They were suffering greatly, imprisonments and

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beatings and all kind of things that they were

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struggling for. But in the midst of all that,

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they did not give up. And what does he say? Our

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outer person is being destroyed, but our inner

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person is being renewed day by day. Now, how

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is that possible? How can it ever be for us?

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that our outer person is being destroyed, but

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our inner person is being renewed. You may have

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experienced that personally. You may have seen

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that. You ever seen somebody that was just sick,

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and their body was just beat down with cancer

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or whatever it is, and they just got no quality

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of life, and they're just in pain, and yet somehow

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they praise the Lord. And it's not uncommon for

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Christians in the midst of situations like that

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to say that they're growing in their relationship

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with the Lord. How is that possible? That when

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our bodies are breaking down, whether through

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persecution or whether through sickness or whatever

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it is, how is it that when we're in our worst

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times that we draw closer to the Lord, that we

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are renewed by the Lord? Well, it's probably

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because we seek Him more in those times. When

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things are going pretty good, we may not seek

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the Lord as often as we should. But man, you

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let things start going fast, we remember the

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Lord real quick. We're quick to forget the Lord

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in the good times, but we are even quicker to

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remember the Lord in the bad times. And there's

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something about going through hardships and difficulties

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and sickness that I think it resets our focus.

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Because we realize in those days just how precious

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life is. and just how important things in this

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life are that maybe we didn't realize were important.

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Maybe how important our families are, or the

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things that we do, or the things that we don't

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do. Tragedy and hardship and sickness have a

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way of getting our attention so that we call

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out to God and we begin to seek Him in a much

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different way. And guess what? It shouldn't come

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as a surprise to us that when we seek the Lord,

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we will find Him. And when we find the Lord and

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we begin to pray to him and we begin to read

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his word and we begin to listen to him, then

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God begins to renew our inner self. And so Paul

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said, here, look, we're doing the work of the

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Lord. Our life is hard. And even though outside

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life is tough, he says we are growing in the

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Lord every day. That's a beautiful thing. When

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we have faith in the Lord and we're trusted in

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the Lord and we're doing His will and we're doing

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His work, there's a certain joy and a peace that

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is not touched by anything outside of us. No

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matter what our circumstances are, we are not

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shaken if we're trusted in the Lord. And Paul

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was there. He says, look, on the outside, look,

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we're suffering, but every day God's drawing

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us closer and closer to Him. And there was a

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certain peace and a certain joy that Paul had.

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And that's why they didn't give up. Even though

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life was hard, they didn't give up because they

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were trusting in the Lord. Verse 17. For our

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momentary light affliction is producing for us

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an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of

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glory. So what he says is, what we're experiencing

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now, as bad as it is, Once we are in the glory

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and the presence of God, that is going to surpass

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our hardships more than we could ever imagine.

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And so that was his encouragement to continue

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going. But listen to what he says. For our momentary

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light affliction. Our momentary light affliction.

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Okay, so things aren't too bad for Paul. I'm

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going through a few little difficult things,

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but they're not that bad. Well, flip to 2 Corinthians

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chapter 11. And I want to read to y 'all some

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of these light afflictions that Paul was enduring.

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2 Corinthians chapter 11. We won't look too much

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at the context of it. We'll get there in a few

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weeks when we get to chapter 11. But just toward

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the end of the chapter, 2 Corinthians chapter

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11, verse 21, the end of verse 21, end of verse

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22, and we're going to read that. 2 Corinthians

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chapter 11, about the halfway point through verse

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21 is where we will start. Now... There had been

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some people that had been coming to Corinth and

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they were not good teachers. They weren't teaching

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the people right. They weren't leading the people

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right. And they really were putting a lot of

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burden on the people. And Paul is saying, look,

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you listen to all these people. You listen to

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the foolishness that they say. Would you just

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listen to me? I've been a good example. I've

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taught you and I've led you and I've taught you

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right. I haven't deceived you or put burden on

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you. And you listen to these other folks that

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come in and their foolishness. And he says, would

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you listen to me and my foolishness? He says,

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if you want to listen to them boast about all

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the things that they can do, then let me boast

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to you for a minute. And he says in verse 21,

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But in whatever anyone dares to boast, I am talking

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foolishly, I also dare. Are they Hebrews? So

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am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they

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the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants

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of Christ? I'm talking like a madman. I'm a better

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one. With far more labors, with many more imprisonments,

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far worse beatings, near death many times. Five

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times I received 39 lashes from the Jews. Three

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times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once

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I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was

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shipwrecked. I have spent night and day in the

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open sea. On frequent journeys, I face dangers

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from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from

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my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers

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in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers

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on the sea, and danger among false brothers.

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Labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger

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and thirst, often without food, coal, and lacking

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clothing. These are the light afflictions that

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Paul went through. Look at this list of stuff.

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Imprisoned and beaten, hungry, stuck at sea,

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shipwrecked, all of these things. And yet how

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does Paul refer to these things that he goes

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to in chapter 4? He refers to these things as

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light afflictions. Isn't that interesting? It's

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all about our perspective, I believe. Now we

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may say, oh, my life is so hard. And maybe it

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is. I'm not saying your life is not hard. But

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I'm saying Paul's life was hard too, maybe in

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different ways than our life is hard. We're probably

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not experiencing persecution. We probably aren't

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seeing our brothers and sisters in Christ, at

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least people we know being stoned. There are

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brothers and sisters in Christ being stoned or

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killed in some way, shape, or another in our

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world today. So maybe we're not experiencing

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the same hardships as Paul, but we're experiencing

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hardships. But the question is, how do we deal

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with those things? How do we stay encouraged

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in those things? How do we have the ability and

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the power like Paul to say, but I will not give

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up? Well, he wouldn't give up because he was

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seeking his power from the Lord. And in the midst

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of all of it, he didn't quit seeking the Lord,

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he didn't quit serving the Lord, and he was being

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renewed. And for that reason, he could say, look,

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what I'm going through, it's just light affliction,

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beatings, all these 39 lashes I've taken multiple

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times. This is nothing. This is just lightweight

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stuff. And he says, look, as bad as this is,

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he says, I keep my eyes on the future. Because

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as bad as life is here, I'm looking for the glory

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that is to come. And it's going to be so much

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better, millions of times better, infinitely

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better than the worst sufferings that I've experienced.

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The glory of God is going to be better than I

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could ever imagine. So Paul says, I'm only here

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for a little while. These things, they're nothing

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because I trust in the Lord. Listen to what he

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says in verse 18. So we do not focus on what

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is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen

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is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

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That's good advice for us. We do not focus on

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what is seen. Now, what we see is chaos. What

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we see sometimes in our world, in our lives,

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in the lives of people we know, it doesn't make

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sense, it doesn't seem fair, and what we see,

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it just doesn't look good. And if we focus on

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that, and it's easy for us to do, we probably

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fall into that trap. If we focus on that, all

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we see is chaos, and we can't make sense of it.

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I don't know if y 'all remember. Back in probably

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the 90s, this was a big deal. These things called

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magic eye. You probably had a book on your coffee

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table. And it looked something like this. Does

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that look familiar to anybody? Do y 'all remember

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those things when they were real popular? And

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that looks like a bunch of nothing. It just looks

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like nothing. It's just chaos. Just colors and

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random shapes and things all over. Can anybody

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tell me what that is? I'll give you a second

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to look at it. Tell me what that image is in

00:14:12.269 --> 00:14:21.399
that magic eye. I couldn't either. You may not

00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:25.840
can see it from that far. Well, some people have

00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.460
to. Some people can just look and see them in

00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:30.700
an instant. But this image, if we just look at

00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:33.220
this, where we're sitting right now, that doesn't

00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:36.179
look like anything to us. If I told you to focus

00:14:36.179 --> 00:14:40.019
on that, there's nothing there. And that's how

00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:42.500
it is for us in the world. If we look at the

00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:44.600
world, all we see is chaos. We've really got

00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:47.220
to take our time, and we've really got to focus

00:14:47.220 --> 00:14:49.639
and look past that. Now, the way these magic

00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:52.740
eyes work is your eyes kind of focus on different

00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:55.019
things, and it kind of blurs, and it pulls together.

00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:57.620
And all of this stuff you see actually makes

00:14:57.620 --> 00:15:00.200
an image. And if you're able to see it, that's

00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.379
the image that you should have seen. And you

00:15:03.379 --> 00:15:05.120
say, well, I didn't see that. How do you get

00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:08.820
that from that? Right? Well, Paul says here we

00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:10.860
don't focus on what is seen. We have to look

00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:14.259
deeper to what is unseen because God is there.

00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.460
Whether we see it, whether we recognize it, there

00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.100
may be chaos all around us, but if we really

00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:23.340
look hard, we will see God. Now, praise the Lord,

00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:25.320
God's not like the magic eye. Some people just

00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.080
can't see Him because of their eyes, different

00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:29.159
depth perception. Some people just physically

00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:31.860
aren't able to do it. But praise the Lord, we

00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:34.559
are all able to see God if we would just seek

00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.720
Him. If we would just look through the chaos,

00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:39.259
Paul says, look, my life is full of hardship

00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:41.899
and pain and suffering, but I'm going to look

00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:45.299
past all that. I'm going to look past the chaos.

00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:47.940
I'm going to look past the pain because I know

00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:51.320
that God is there and my focus is not on what's

00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.419
in front of me. My focus is, or excuse me, not

00:15:54.419 --> 00:15:57.799
directly in front of me. My focus is on the future.

00:15:58.350 --> 00:16:01.210
What is ahead of me in the kingdom of God. So

00:16:01.210 --> 00:16:04.330
we do not focus on what is seen, but what is

00:16:04.330 --> 00:16:09.029
unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what

00:16:09.029 --> 00:16:12.429
is unseen is eternal. That's good news. Now I

00:16:12.429 --> 00:16:14.809
see sometimes, I was listening to a show a while

00:16:14.809 --> 00:16:19.250
back, and this guy on this show, he was attempting

00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:23.289
to, he didn't say live forever, he just wanted

00:16:23.289 --> 00:16:26.559
to live as long as he possibly could. And maybe

00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.480
it would be forever, and maybe it wouldn't. And

00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.759
this guy, he's a millionaire, and he's got all,

00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:33.059
I forgot, like 50 -something doctors maybe that

00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:35.559
just work for him all the time, always checking

00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:37.919
his blood, always telling him exactly what amount

00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:39.779
of this and what amount of that that he needs

00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.679
in his life. And getting blood infusions from

00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:44.820
younger people to have certain things is going

00:16:44.820 --> 00:16:47.379
to make him live longer and got the strictest

00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:50.600
exercise regimen and all these things so he can

00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:54.379
live as long as he can. Now, I don't know about

00:16:54.379 --> 00:16:57.399
you guys. I enjoy living here, and I love y 'all,

00:16:57.559 --> 00:16:59.600
and there's a lot of good things in this world,

00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:01.820
but I don't want to live here forever because

00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:05.140
this old world is not getting any better, and

00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:07.960
I've got bad news for you. It's not going to

00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.180
get any better. Maybe for a season it will. You

00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:11.960
look at the history of the world. It goes from

00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.640
bad to good to bad to good to bad to good, but

00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:17.460
it's just bad. There's always going to be sickness

00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:20.220
and death and dying and killing and evil people.

00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.740
And life is just hard. You've got to get out

00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:25.460
and work and cut the grass. And none of that's

00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:29.140
fun. But praise the Lord here, Paul says these

00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:32.619
things are temporary. Now, I don't know about

00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.400
this guy that's trying to live forever. I don't

00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:36.319
know what he sees or what he thinks the future's

00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:39.920
going to be like. But he don't know that there's

00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:41.500
something bigger and better than what there is

00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:44.400
here. Or else he wouldn't be trying so hard to

00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.839
live forever. But we know by the word of God

00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:50.259
that there is something better. That this old

00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:53.220
world is going to serve its purpose, but it's

00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:57.000
a temporary purpose. But what awaits us is eternal.

00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:01.220
What awaits us if we trust in Jesus Christ is

00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:05.400
an eternity in the glory of God. And this is

00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:08.299
what keeps Paul going. This is his motivation.

00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.079
This is his encouragement. This is why he can

00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:14.410
say, I don't give up. Because I know I'm only

00:18:14.410 --> 00:18:17.049
here for a little while. Now I know that in our

00:18:17.049 --> 00:18:19.769
life, especially when we're younger, it feels

00:18:19.769 --> 00:18:22.430
like that 80 years or however many years that

00:18:22.430 --> 00:18:25.250
we're going to live on this earth is an eternity.

00:18:26.250 --> 00:18:28.630
But you talk to any person that's a little older

00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:31.109
and they'll almost all tell you the same thing.

00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.690
Man, my life has gone by so quick. Where did

00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:37.569
the years go? And all of a sudden we've lived

00:18:37.569 --> 00:18:39.930
our few little 80 years that we thought was going

00:18:39.930 --> 00:18:44.130
to take forever and it's gone in a flash. And

00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:47.670
Paul says, look, this life's tough, but it's

00:18:47.670 --> 00:18:50.109
not going to last very long. And so I'm going

00:18:50.109 --> 00:18:52.250
to keep on trucking. I'm going to keep on doing

00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:54.630
the Lord's work. I'm not going to look on what's

00:18:54.630 --> 00:18:57.069
in front of me because that's so depressing.

00:18:57.809 --> 00:19:00.470
I'm just going to look toward Jesus Christ because

00:19:00.470 --> 00:19:02.450
he's going to be victorious over all these things.

00:19:02.529 --> 00:19:05.329
I'm not going to focus on what I see, but I'm

00:19:05.329 --> 00:19:07.789
going to focus on what I haven't seen yet. And

00:19:07.789 --> 00:19:10.170
eternity with God, the glory of God. And I look

00:19:10.170 --> 00:19:14.009
forward to that day. So may that be our encouragement

00:19:14.009 --> 00:19:18.230
for us so that we can say we will not give up.

00:19:18.309 --> 00:19:21.910
Let's pray. God, we thank you for these good

00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:23.910
words and I pray that we would trust in them

00:19:23.910 --> 00:19:25.890
and find some strength in them, dear Lord. Maybe

00:19:25.890 --> 00:19:28.190
there are some that are here tonight or listening

00:19:28.190 --> 00:19:31.549
online and their outer person is being destroyed,

00:19:31.710 --> 00:19:33.710
dear Lord. Their life is tough and it's full

00:19:33.710 --> 00:19:37.049
of stress and suffering in a variety of ways,

00:19:37.150 --> 00:19:39.069
dear Lord. There are so many ways in which life

00:19:39.069 --> 00:19:42.279
is just tough. But I pray, God, that if anybody

00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:45.279
is being destroyed outwardly, that they would

00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.460
find hope in Jesus Christ tonight. That you would

00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:50.980
renew them inwardly, God. That they would seek

00:19:50.980 --> 00:19:53.539
you and call upon you and trust in you and let

00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:56.759
you be their strength, dear Lord. That you would

00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:00.160
renew them in their inner self, God. That we

00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.180
would know that no matter how serious our afflictions

00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:05.859
may be in this world, God, that you'll give us

00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:08.480
the strength to get through. We are only here

00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.920
for a little while. And God, it's still tough

00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.359
in the moment when we are going through these

00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:16.579
things. But I pray, dear Lord, that you help

00:20:16.579 --> 00:20:20.440
us not to lose focus of the bigger picture. And

00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:23.380
that is eternity with you. That is deliverance

00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:25.920
from all the pain and the sickness and the death

00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.519
and all the tough stuff that we go through here,

00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:30.819
dear Lord. I pray that we would not be overwhelmed

00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:34.099
by what is seen, but that we would be renewed

00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:37.000
by what is unseen. And I ask these things in

00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:38.619
Jesus' name. Amen.