Refiner – Prat 9 – The Weight of Glory
Passage:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed and so I spoke,’ we also believe and so also we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 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 us for 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 4:7-18)
Prayer:
Intro:
I think the most fitting way to close out this series is to talk about where all of this struggle is taking us.
- Of what God is creating in us as we go through these fiery trials.
The answer is hope.
- In the book of Romans – Paul puts it this way – he says – “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character; and character produces hope, and and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
- the hope that he is sustaining in all of this mess
- the hope that he is using this – even this – for his purposes –
- and the hope that he is preparing us for something far greater than we can presently see.
- as Paul unfolds this hope for us in our passage today – he shows us three things God is doing in the midst of the fire.
God Sustains us in the Fire:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us
Paul uses some poetic language to illustrate a point.
- he compares us as people – to jars of clay –
jars of clay are fragile vessels –
- and Paul’s point is that so are we.
there are many moments in this life that remind us that we are but fragile creatures.
He says we have a treasure in the jars of clay – that sustains us – and it is a testimony to the world that as we go through trials – it is not us the jars of clay that are strong – but it is Christ who is in us that makes us strong and sustains us.
- “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8)
- Paul says we were struggling so bad – beyond our strength – that we wanted to die.
the point of our trials is not to learn how strong we are – our trials are designed to teach us how strong our God is.
That’s what Paul finds – look at verse 8 –
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (7-11)
God Uses us in the Fire:
So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed and so I spoke,’ we also believe and so also we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (12-15)
He is saying that as Paul and his friends have suffered – and God has strengthened them in the midst of it and emboldened them to keep sharing the gospel and grown them and changed them –
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” (2 Cor. 1:3-7)
- One of the reasons that God gives us comfort in the midst of our trials is so that we may help others who are afflicted – with the very hope and comfort that we have been given.
as you consider it joy – and you ask God for wisdom – and you wait patiently – and you lament – and you surrender idols – and you abide – you will grow in your relationship to Christ. Your relationship will get deeper. You will be given comfort, peace, the fruit of the spirit. You will gain more knowledge of God from his word
- and as you do that – God is going to take that growth
- he will use you to give that to other people.
God Prepares Us in the Fire:
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
while our outward selves are dying – if you are a believer – your inward self is being renewed to be more and more like Jesus every single day.
- these sufferings that wear us down – are the very things God is using to make you more like His Son
God is totally committed to making you like his son. But that’s not all – Paul says that not only is God using our suffering to make us like his son in the present – he says he is preparing us for something in the future –
For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for 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.” (16-18)
- He says – all of this suffering – It’s preparing us for an eternal weight of glory
our suffering is preparing us for eternity with God