This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - We're looking at 2 Corinthians chapter four together this week,
day three today, verses 13 to 15. We've been talking about how do you survive a
loss of heart? And in day one, we talked about your attitude towards ministry,
that when you begin to see that all ministry towards others, towards a church,
towards a school, towards your work, towards your family, all ministry is a
result of God's mercy.

You didn't earn the ability to do that ministry. God has not burdened you with
that ministry. It is a glorious gift that comes from God's mercy in your life.

When you begin to have that attitude, it begins to give you a new heart for
ministry. Helps you to survive a loss of heart. We talked yesterday about the
attitude that you have towards yourself.

You're a clay pot, but you're a clay pot to show that the power is from God and
not from you. God has a purpose in it. So don't worry about the fact that you're
not perfect.

Don't worry about the fact that you struggle or go through struggles. God's
showing his glory through it all. Now today, we talk about a third attitude and
that is your attitude towards God.

And as we walk through these verses 13 to 15 today, we want to focus on two key
words in these verses, the word no and the word overflow. These two words in
these verses are actually a description of the Christian life, the life that God
wants us to live. No and overflow.

First, the word no. You see that word talked about in verses 13 to 14. Paul
says, it is written, I believed, therefore I have spoken.

With the same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak because we
know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us
with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. Paul starts out in these
verses saying, we believe and out of that belief we speak. He goes back to the
Old Testament and he talks about this verse, I believe therefore I have spoken.

And Paul says, that's us. That's how I do it. First comes the faith and then
comes the words.

That's how it happens in my life. This is from Psalm 116 verse 10. It's a Psalm
about someone who is being afflicted and they don't know why they're being
afflicted.

They don't know why they're going through what they're going through. You know
anybody like that? Maybe you're going through that in your life right now.

And yet in the midst of that, they still trusted in God's deliverance even
before it came. I believed and therefore I have spoken and look forward to what
God's going to do. Paul declared that he was afflicted in his life.

But in that affliction, it was not doubt that came out of the affliction. It
wasn't fear that came out of the affliction. It was belief.

It was faith that he chose. He had a choice. And because Paul knew God, because
he trusted him, he was able to make that choice to believe.

Notice what he says. We believe and therefore speak. Why?

Why am I able to have that choice in difficult times in life? Because Paul says
I know where things are headed. I know that this affliction, this trouble, this
problem I'm going through, it is not the end of the story.

It's not where things are headed at all. All eternity. Where is it headed?

It's headed for verse 14. The one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will
also raise us with Jesus. Paul says I know this.

Now the word know there doesn't mean an intellectual understanding. It means a
depth of the heart, relational kind of understanding. Deeply convinced that this
was true.

Paul knew it because Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And because the
resurrection promise wasn't just for Jesus but was also given to us. So based on
the power of the resurrection, Paul knew what was going to happen in his life.

And that's what he was holding on to. And out of that, he's able to have faith
in tough times. Paul knew that the resurrection lay on the other side of
whatever he faced.

And therefore he spoke with faith. He was able to take his problems to God,
trust his problems to God because he knew the truth of the resurrection. So the
question is, do you know this?

Verse 14. Do you know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will
raise you with Jesus? And by the way, Paul says he's going to present us with you
in his presence, talking to those in Corinth.

You're going to be there too, he says. Because we know the one who raised Jesus, we
will one day be with Jesus. Because we know that Jesus was raised, we know that
we will one day be raised.

Because we know that we're going to be with Jesus, we know that those who have come
to Christ, who are our friends or family, are also going to be with Jesus. It all
starts with the power of the resurrection. We count all of human history.

Every time you write down a date, it looks back to the life of Christ. The truth
that Jesus lived and died and was resurrected in this world. If you want to live
the effect of Christian life, it begins with this word, no.

But it doesn't end with that word. Once you have that word in your life, I know
this, then a second word comes into your life. The word in verse 15.

Paul says all this is for your benefit. So that the grace that is reaching more
and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. First
you know, and then you overflow.

First you know that the resurrection power of Jesus means you're going to be
resurrected with him. And out of this, you overflow to the glory of God. And he
says specifically you overflow with what?

With thanksgiving to the glory of God. That was Paul's ultimate goal. His
ultimate goal was thanksgiving overflowing to the glory of God.

If you want to serve effectively as a servant, if you want to serve without losing
heart, you have to ask yourself from time to time, what's my goal? Not my short
term goal, what's my ultimate goal? What goal is going to satisfy you as a servant?

Measurable success of some kind? It doesn't satisfy. It's nice to have it.

It's a great thing, 'cause you didn't see God working. But it doesn't satisfy.
Personal recognition?

Feelings of fulfillment? None of those satisfy. Maybe for a moment they do, but
they don't last.

The ultimate goal, Paul says, is overflowing praise to the glory of God. That
when I serve him as a clay pot, let his glory shine through my life, that in
some way other people see it, grace is brought into their life, and they're
going to thank God forever for the way that grace was shown into their lives.
That's how you survive a loss of heart.

Now how's your heart been lately? If you don't lose heart from time to time,
you're simply not human. We all lose heart from time to time.

We get tired. We get discouraged. We feel unappreciated.

Paul has talked to us these last couple days, and he's got some more things to
say to us in the last few verses of this chapter. But he's talked to us as a
beginning point these last couple days about three important things to protect
your heart, three important things to renew your heart when you have a loss of
heart. A new attitude toward ministry, a new attitude toward yourself, a new
attitude towards God.

Let's pray together for that attitude in our hearts. Jesus, help me to have that
kind of attitude towards ministry, that it's a gift from you. Because of your
mercy, nothing more.

Help me to stop trying to earn the right to minister. Instead, help me to accept
it as a gift in my life. And Jesus, help me to have this new attitude toward
myself, that I am a jar of clay, and be okay with that, because it's about your
glory.

It's about what's in the jar, not the jar. And Jesus, help me to have this new
attitude toward God. To know, to know with a certain conviction that because of
the resurrection of Jesus, I one day will be raised with you.

One day we'll enjoy eternity with you. To know that that's not only true for me,
but also all who have accepted that same truth. And then to overflow, to realize
that as I live that kind of life, there's going to be grace that overflows to your
glory for thanksgiving, for eternity.

Jesus, I need faith to live there. So would you give me the faith to, in the
attitude of my heart, live in that place today? Oh, I know I'll be tempted to
worry.

I know I'll be tempted to focus on myself. I know I will. When I'm tempted,
Lord, help me to come back to this place, I pray.

And I pray it in Jesus' name, amen.