HOW TO NOT LOSE HEART

I can hardly read Paul without a sense of wonder and awe at this man’s devotion. How did Paul manage to come to the end of his life and say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:8)?

I love 2 Corinthians 4:1, where Paul said, “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” The phrase that I have really anchored myself on is, “We do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1,16). The Greek term is ekkakeo, which contains the root kak, always a reference to evil, sin, and fallenness. This is more than just not getting discouraged or burned out; it is a commitment not to defect spiritually, whether through cowardice, laziness, immorality, indifference, or abandonment of calling and duty. But how do we do it?

First, we do not lose heart because of the preciousness and worth of the ministry that God had given us: “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1). The ministry he was referring to is described in the previous chapter as “the ministry of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:8) and “the ministry of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 3:9), in contrast to the “ministry of condemnation.” It is the ministry of the new covenant, which the Old Testament predicted: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31–33).

To know the gospel, to believe it with all your heart, and to be called to proclaim it is the most noble and exalted privilege any person could ever have! That led Paul to write: Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14–16). Who is sufficient for these things? Amazing! Paul was stunned by the divine privilege of ministry and never lost sight of it. I must always remind myself that ministry is a privilege not a perk. It is a wonderful sacred trust given to me by God of the most incredible gospel treasure.

Secondly, we do not lose heart because of the reality that all ministry is a mercy, which is grace bestowed upon the undeserving. “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1)

The fact is that all ministry is nothing but a privilege that comes to us solely by grace, kindness, mercy, and goodness. All ministry is undeserved! The godly response is deep gratitude, as we see from Paul’s words to Timothy: “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:12-15).

I don’t know how many times I have felt lofty expectations of return for what I do for Jesus. I have often complained and whined to God, “My church isn’t treating me well. I deserve to be treated better!” I will say “my church should be much bigger. More people should be hearing my teaching. I deserve more success for my efforts.” Paul says that my salvation is a mercy. The fact that I’m not in hell is a mercy. My ministry itself is a mercy. C.J. Mahaney says that the fact is, once you understand who you are and who God is, you are always doing better than you deserve!

Much discouragement in my life is connected to unrealistic expectations based upon a sense of entitlement. If you realize, however, that you deserve nothing and that everything good in your life is a mercy from God, you will be free to accept whatever God chooses to grace you with in your ministry whether little or large.

John MacArthur says, As a pastor sometimes I wallow in self-pity and say, “Those people don’t appreciate me. I’m not going to take this!” and then go home to complain to my wife. The right response is, “I don’t deserve to stand up and teach any of these people. If they all walked out next Sunday, I’d be getting what I deserve.” It is a mercy I have not so affected my wife that she walked out. It is a mercy I have not somehow disappointed my children and made them turn away from Christ. It is a mercy I haven’t stood in the pulpit and said such stupid things that my congregation ran me out of town!’

Thirdly, we do not lose heart because of the reality of our own insignificance.
A few verses later we see the proper view of ourselves that helps us to not lose heart. “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” ( 2 Corinthians 4:7). Oh how amazing is the mercy and grace of God! You cannot explain the impact of the gospel message by looking at those whom God has called as preachers. What a contrast Paul makes: There is a treasure (the massive, blazing, shining, glorious gospel) in earthen vessels or clay pots (things that are cheap, common, breakable, and replaceable)! The power of the glorious gospel is not the product of human talent, ability, genius, or technique. We are weak and common, plain and fragile, breakable and disposable, but that does not prove fatal to the work of God. On the contrary, in our weaknesses we demonstrate that God must be at work, for that is the only logical explanation!

I pray all of the time that God would do a work in me utterly disproportionate to who I am! I pray that God would take my little life and little ministry and little abilities and utter weakness and do something so great in this clay pot that all would say, "The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes!" When Paul looked at his own life, he thought of himself not only as a mere clay pot but also as a battered one: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). These four contrasts all say the same thing, which is that Paul experienced severe trials in his ministry, but none of them prevailed.

One of the greatest trials Paul experienced was his thorn in the flesh. Do you remember what Paul learned from God’s own lips about that trial? The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul got the message, for he responded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Finally, we do not lose heart because we live with eternity in view, not earthly comfort, popularity, or success in this life.
Paul concludes: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

Those are staggering thoughts that put all our struggles into perspective. We don’t lose heart in the end because we have an eternal perspective. In view of Christ and eternity his motto was, “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). His focus was always on heaven, preferring the spiritual over the physical (2 Corinthians 4:16), the future over the present (verse 17), and the invisible over the visible (verse 18). He kept his eye on the prize, which is an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison (verse 17). Nothing that can come our way in this world can compare with the magnificence of the glory that will be granted to us in the presence of our Lord someday.

STRIVING TO FIGHT THE FIGHT, FINISH THE RACE, KEEP THE FAITH, AND TO NOT LOSE HEART,
Pastor Bill