Restricted in our service

O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.  -2 Corinthians 6:11 

Worldly affections are always going to cause us problems. It is way too easy to love the stuff of the world. The problem is that the stuff of the world is the thing that can affect our service. 

Paul writes to the Corinthians that they it was not the things he wrote that restricted their service. It is easy to think that way. If I could just do this or that and didn't have to worry about the scriptures thins would go much better. It is even possible to think that the Bible gets in the way. If we could just minister with all these Bible standards just think of what we could do. I recently heard of a church that was serving beer at their services as a way to draw people in. The world reported that the church  did this because of a drop off in numbers. 

But it is not standards  and Bible principles that hold us back. We are held back by one thing. 

'You are restricted by your affections.' 

Our affections are important. When Paul wrote to the Colossian church he told them to 'set their affections are things above and not on things here below.'  I think it is pretty obvious that if our thoughts and  affections and goals and desires are focused on what is going on down here we are not going to be able to focus on our eternal goals. If we are not focused on our eternal goals then our service for Christ is not going to be a priority. 

Let's be sure that we have our affections right. Let's not blame Bible standards  and violate them or compromise them because they just seem too strict or old fashioned. 

If we set our affections right, the rest will fall into place. 

In all things

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God:in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours  in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour  by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. - 2 Corinthians 6:4-10

Paul certainly had a way with words. Yes, I understand that the Holy Spirit breathed His word into the hearts of the writers, but we still see their ideas and personalities and vocabularies and writing styles in their writing. 

I like Paul's style. Here he is making the point that we put ourselves forth as ministers of God no matter what we face. 

I am not going to go through the whole list, but the point is clear. In everything thing we face and in every situation we just keep serving God. Paul speaks of all kinds of opposition and difficulties. 

But he also speaks of how we do it:

By purity

By knowledge

By patience

By kindness

By the Holy Spirit

By a pure life

By the word of God

By the power of God

By the armour of righteousness

God empowers us to be faithful servants in every situation. I don't need to go back and point out what Paul had been through, just look at the passage again. He certainly was qualified to make the statement that he made. 

The key is that we can't make that claim unless we are applying the truths in the list above. We can commend ourselves as servants of God, but it is important that we do it right. Otherwise we are always liable to cause offence. 

There is a way to keep going no matter what. Here it is. Will we do it?

No offence

We give no offence in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. – 2 Corinthians 6.3

Have you ever met a Christian who just always seems to delight in causing offence, and then claiming he was persecuted for the cause of Christ? I've known guys who were absolute jerks to people and then cried foul when people rejected them.

Where some people at some times have thought offensiveness meant a fervent witness, Paul simply wrote that in order to protect our ministry we cause no offence in anything we say or do.

If anything is going to give anyone any reason to reject the gospel it needs to be the message of the cross and that alone. It may cause offence to point out that all have sinned. It may cause opposition to say that there is nothing anyone can do about their sin in their own power. It may cause offence  to say that religion does no good. It may be offensive to say that all their good works mean nothing.

When we look at it is pretty obvious that the gospel is going to cause offence  It says, pretty clearly, that no matter how good a person thinks they are they are doomed and can't do anything about it.

But we as ministers of the gospel must never cause offence.

I think there are two aspects to that.

First, and most obvious, is the way we can be offensive in our witness. The gospel is never to be shared in arrogance and pride and judgement. To put it simply we can't be jerks when we share the gospel.

But I can think of another way to cause offence.

We cause offence when our actions contradict our words.

Somewhere about 1975 or so I was confronted with the reality of my life causing offence. I had been saved about 18 months. I had been fervent about sharing my faith. I was involved in Bible studies. I was faithful in church. I was active in an active campus Christian fellowship.

But I had started going slipping in my walk with the Lord. I was drinking pretty heavily again. No one would have guessed that I was a Christian. I went to a particular party one night with a couple of my friends. As we came back on the them said 'Parrow, you had better never try that Jesus but on us again, because now we'll never believe it's real.'

I guess that's what is really called 'causing offence.'

Let's be sure that we 'give no offence in anything' because when we do our ministry is surely hindered.

Now

For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. – 2 Corinthians 6.2

There is a place in the book of Acts where Paul talks to one of the judges he had to appear before. Paul clearly shares the gospel. The ruler says 'I am almost persuaded to accept Christ. 

The hymn writer P.P. Bliss took that a bit further in his hymn 'Almost Persuaded' in there  first stanza when he wrote:

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;

“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;

  Seems now some soul to say,

  “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,

  Some more convenient day

    on Thee I’ll call.”

(Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1046#ixzz2k8xscCSL)

It is that last line I want address - 'some more convenient day on thee I'll call.' One of the problems that I face when trying to share the gospel is that some people just don't think it is a big deal. They think there will be plenty of time to deal with all that God stuff later. 

And sadly, sometimes, we too can swallow that same lie. We forget about the urgency of the gospel. Jesus said the work has all been done for the acceptable time. 

But that time is now - that day is today. 

Why is it so important? Because we are never assured another day. We are never assured of another moment. We can't take tomorrow for granted. 

Now is the time. Today is the day. We must work while it is day. The day is coming when we will not have the chance to work. 

Now is the time. Let's wake up and get busy. 

Co-workers

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain – 2 Corinthians 6.1 

I have had several jobs in my lifetime. I have collected rubbish, cleaned toilets, crawled in dirty crawl spaces and hot attics, worked in sheet metal fabrication, taught school, worked in a youth centre, and even preached the gospel. I have, obviously, enjoyed some jobs more than others. My least favourite was cleaning toilets, not because of the obvious reason, but because I worked alone. 

One thing that makes jobs bearable is having the right co-workers. With good co-workers almost any task can be enjoyable. I remember many miserable days is attics or crawl spaces working with a friend named Tim Watts. The jokes and banter, and what we call craic in Ireland, made the days pass quickly.You  didn't dread the worst jobs because you were sharing it with someone. 

Well in doing God's work we have the ultimate co-worker. We are workers together with Christ. He doesn't just send us out on the job site with our tools and instructions and let us at it. He goes with us to the jobs site. 

When we get discouraged or frustrated or want to to quit when it gets tough we need to remember who we are working with. 

Sin for us

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

I am, as the vernacular puts it, totally blown away by this astounding truth. 

He made Him, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us. 

There is so much astounding truth packed away in 2 Corinthians that sometimes we can miss the astoundingness. This is one of those 

As part of God's great plan of reconciliation He made the perfect Jesus, the one who 'knew no sin,' who never sinned, not once, to become sin in our place. 

Jesus took on sin for you and me. That is almost beyond my limited comprehension. How and why would the perfect holy one become sin when. He had no sin? Why would he experience the Father turning away while He suffered on the cross carrying the guilt and shame of my sin? 

Because He loves me with that great love wherewith He loved us, and so that we might become the righteousness of God, not in ourselves, but in Him. 

Praise God that the perfect  one became sin in my place, that I might spend eternity with Him. Praise God that Jesus became sin for me. 

Ambassadors

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us:we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:20

I like Star Trek. 

There, my little secret it out. Mary and I are slowly but surely working through the the original series on Netflix. It seems like every view episodes in Star Trek history from the the earliest voyages under Captain Jonathan Archer, through the command of James T. Kirk, and on to Captain Picard the various incarnations of the Enterprise was carrying an ambassador someplace on some kind of peace mission. 

Sometimes the ambassadors where good and sometimes they we bad, but they normally reflected the planet or the system they were from. You could almost always tell the nature of a race by their ambassador.  That was, after all, their job. They were sent to represent their people on am embassage to treat for peace. 

And in that regard we are called 'ambassadors for Christ.'  We carry the message of Christ's peace to our land of sojourning. We are called to a life-long ambassadorial mission. 

We need to ask ourselves on a regular basis. Are we representing our heavenly home? What kind of ambassadors are we? If people were to judge Gd and His heaven on my representation what would they think? 

Sometimes ambassadors have to take a risk for their home country. Are we willing to take those risks in order bring the world around us to peace with our King? 

Reconciled to reconcile

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

God has reconciled to Himself. 

Wait just a second. Let's not miss that.  God, the holy, perfect, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, immortal, only wise creator and sustainer of the universe has reconciled sinful wicked men to Himself. 

Did you catch that? God has reconciled man to Himself. 

Let's look at that for a second. In the natural scheme of things there is a terrible imbalance on the books. God is love, but God is also just. That balances out, but man threw the books into inbalance when he sinned. Now the debit seems to outweigh the credit. God's love desires fellowship with creation, but his justice demands payment for sin. Something was needed to reconcile the books. 

One would think that the guilty party would be the one who would have to make the books right, but in this case the guilty party could no nothing. 

Quite a dilemma, huh? 

But not for God. He had a plan laid before the foundation of the world. 

He reconciled us to Himself by the death of His Son. As the great reconciler Jesus took the penalty that was required of balance the sin debt. 

And what does he want us to do about it? He has made us to be ministers of that reconciliation to bring his message to those around us. God took the amazing step of reconciling us to Himself through the death of his Son so that we can be used to bring others to reconciliation. 

Praise our great Reconciler! 

A new creation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. - 2 Corinthians 5.17

This is a powerful passage. There is no way we can possibly fully discuss it in one day's thoughts.  Here we have a very clear statement. No matter how we try to change it or how we try to excuse it the passage is clear and simple. 

If anyone truly is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. 

You see that that says? It says if anyone is truly saved, or truly in Christ, he is a new creation. 

To personalise that it means that if I am truly saved there is a new Roger where the old Roger used to live. Of course, it is a bit of a bother that the new Roger has to live in that same old body of flesh with all of its draws and temptations. It is always going to be a struggle, but the new Roger has, or at very least, should have a new attitude. 

Where the old Roger would give in without a bother, the new Roger sees the wrongness of sin. If he does fail he knows he has failed, confesses, and seeks to do better next time. If Roger is never bothered by his sin he had better to check on the reality of being in Christ. 

Our old man was crucified with Christ, but we have been raised to walk in newness of life. Salvation always brings about a change. We can't be in Christ and be the same we we were without Christ. 

Are we living like new creations? Do our lives evidence this reality?

Here it is in black and white. If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. If there is no evidence of a new creation then can a man really be counted as in Christ? 

Seeing with Jesus' eyes

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. - 2 Corinthians 5.16

For part of my Christian life I was a real jerk. Well, I still am capable of being quite a jerk, but hopefully I have seen some growth. I was at one time really, really bad about judging people based totally on their appearance. I saw them through my own proud and judgementally sinful eyes. My view of others was only based on the flesh. 

But Paul says that now because of what Christ has done we see no one according to the flesh. 

I like to think about this as looking at people with Jesus' eyes. I am far from perfect but I consciously strive to see people the way Jesus would. 

Our town has its share of town characters. One of them is a lady most people call 'the crazy dog lady.' She walks around town pushing a baby stroller with who knows what in it. She wears her sunglasses down around her chin. She is rough. She even spat sunflower seed shells at Mary one day. I often see her on my walks and one day got convicted about my attitude toward her. The next time I saw her I stopped and introduced myself. I have to admit it was a little scary. She seems a little strange. 

Anyway, I walked up and said hello. I introduced myself. We chatted for a bit. I told her I was a Christian. I found out that her name in Bernadette. Bernadette has changed. She still has a crowd of dogs wandering around her. She still wears strange clothes and has her sunglasses resting on her chin.  But she is not the 'crazy dog lady.' Her name is Bernadette. She has a life. She has ideas and opinions. She loves her dogs. When her little Jack Russell lost a leg she pushed him around in the baby stroller.

 I think the difference came when it hit me that Jesus died for Bernadette. When I see her now I see a person for whom Jesus went to the cross. He shed His blood for her just like He did for me. We are becoming friends and I am looking and praying for the chance to tell her what Jesus did for her. 

But it's not just the Bernadettes of this world. It the pop icons that we see on TV acting out their broken lives in ways that are shameful. It's the wicked corrupt politicians. It's the enemies who threaten our way of life and indeed our lives themselves. 

I remember seeing a late interview with Michael Jackson. I was sitting there with my arrogant self righteous attitude. But as I sat there I was reminded that Jesus died for this man. I saw him as a man who needed Christ. My heart broke as I saw a man broken by the ravages of sin. 

How about the 'crazy dog lady' or other character in your town? Are you willing to see her (or him) 'not according to the flesh?' These folks are so valuable that Jesus went to the cross for them. What are they worth to us. 

I have a good friend in prison outreach. How about the people he sees on a regular basis who, admittedly because of their own sin, are the castoffs of society? Are they really worth his time? After all, they broke the law, they are getting what they deserve! Are we willing to see them 'not according to the flesh,' but with Jesus' eyes. 

I could go on and on. I won't even mention the immigration debate. 

But let's start simple and basic. How are you going to see that town character the next time they cross your path. Will you see them according to the flesh, or will you see them with the eyes of Jesus? 

All for Jesus

and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. - 2 Corinthians 5:15

One of the many questions on we could ask ourselves on a regular basis is 'what am I living for?' 

I have mentioned before that I like me. I like to please me. I like to do things that benefit me. I like to, well, live for me. 

But I no longer have any right to live for me. Jesus died for me, so I can longer live for me. Now I must live for Him. 

That concept flies in the face of what the world says. The world says it is all about me. If I don't watch out for me no one else will. You gotta take care of number one. 

We live in a success driven society. The church is not exempt. We can accept the idea that success for a minister means he makes a name for himself. Everyone wants the big name or the famous author to pastor their church or come as a guest speaker. 

That can be tough for the vast majority of servants who struggle along and plod through their ministries and nobody even knows they are. But there is something we all need to figure out whether we serve in the biggest mega church or with a handful of believers. It is not about us. We don't live to make a name for ourselves. It makes no difference if no one ever knows our names.  

All that matters is that we serve the one who gave His life for us. 

It is not about pleasing me. It is not about having it my way. It is not about Roger. 

It is all about my Jesus. 

I think this songwriter puts it well: 

Jesus, all for Jesus,

All I am and have and ever hope to be.

Jesus, all for Jesus,

All I am and have and ever hope to be.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans

I surrender these into Your hands.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans

I surrender these into Your hands.

For it's only in Your will that I am free,

For it's only in Your will that I am free,

Jesus, all for Jesus,

All I am and have and ever hope to be.

The love of Christ compels me

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;  - 2 Corinthians 5.14

There are a lot of things that can compel us to service. There are some Christians who are motivated by competition. some are motivated by peer pressure, pastor pressure, or personal pressure. 

In the 70s and 80s the churches I was in would have been real big on pressuring folks into service. All kinds of prizes and trophies were up for offer. So and so pastor would shave his head or so and so bus director would eat a goldfish. 

Sure, rewards are nice, but that can't be our motivation. Pressure cannot be our motivation. Tricks and treats cannot be our motivation. Fear of the pastor screaming at me cannot be my motivation. The lure of success cannot be my motivation.  The desire to impress cannot be my motivation. One thing should compel me to service. 

The love of Christ compels me. The old KJV said 'the love of Christ constrains us.' 

I really like the picture of 'constrain.' I see a water line where the diameter of the pipe is constrained to force the water to move along. I don't think I am out of line to parrowphrase this 'the love of Christ pressures us.' 

It is only as we forget about all the other pressures to serve Christ and let the love of Christ pressure us that we can really truly serve Him in the right way. 

What more powerful motivation could we have than the love of Christ? His love led Him to the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. Not only that his love led him to pay the penalty for is for everyone around me. If all of us were worth that much to Him, should that not motivate me to share that love with others?

Love is the greatest motivator of all. 

The Bema seat

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. – 2 Corinthians 5.10-12

I have to admit from the very start - I don't fully understand this passage. I am not theologian enough to figure this all out. But here it is, right in the context of talking about being absent from the body and present with the Lord. We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ to receive rewards based on what we have done.  

Paul uses the same phrase in Romans 14.10 (But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ) when talking about how we deal with each other when we differ on things not covered in scripture. 

I think my confusion comes with this word 'judgement?' When Paul writes here he writes of the Bema. The Bema was a stand at the Isthmian games where the winners of their sports competition were rewarded with a laurel crown. I think the best illustration for us today would be the Olympics winner’s podium. Of purse, like any human illustration, it falls short of perfection to show a Bible truth, but bear with me. 

In the Olympics the winners are rewarded, but all the competitors are honoured. The rewards are greater for some than others. The losers are not beaten or shot or hung. 

All of the judgement for our sin was paid on the cross. We dont have to fear the wrath of a God being poured out on us. 

The previous verse talks about aiming to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. We are all going to succeed at that at various levels. Since this is the context for the Bema seat I can't help think that pleasing the Lord will be the basis of our rewards, or lack of them. But praise God we will all be there for the closing ceremony. 

I have to tell you though. I'd kinda like to think that I will be pleasing enough to him to be rewarded at the Bema. 

Now, I am not going to try and build any doctrine on this, but so far that is my take on the Bema. 

To please Him

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. - 2 Corinthians 5:9

While we by faith instead of sight we have a clear purpose laid out for us. 

It makes no difference where we are. We can be here or there. We can be alive or dead. We can be present in the body and absent from the Lord or we can be absent from the body and present with the Lord. We can be in good times or bad times. We can be in the valley or on the mountaintop. It makes no difference. 

Our aim is simple 

We make it our aim...to be well pleasing to Him. 

I think we need to ask ourselves who we are aiming to please. My biggest problem he comes in the fact that I like to please me. I enjoy pleasure. I like to have the meal I like. I like to do the things I want to do. I am, indeed, sometimes all about pleasing me. 

Paul couldn't make it any clearer could he? Our aim is to be well pleasing to Christ. 

It's not a law. It is not a regulation. It is simply a matter of pleasing the One who gave up all for us. 

This isn't real complicated. I think we need to honestly ask ourselves who we aimed to please yesterday. Even more important than that, who are we going to aim to please today? 

Faith, not sight

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5.6-8

I am always challenged by Paul's view on living here and living in heaven. In another place he says that he is caught between two choices. He wants to go to heaven and be with Christ, but he also wants to be doing the work he loves. 

And that is something of a dilemma, isn't it? Sure, we all want to go to heaven, but at the same time we kind of like being alive now. After all, going to heaven means you have to die, and most folks don't really want to do that. 

So here we are, stuck in the middle - absent from the Lord, but having to absent this body in order to be with him. 

We only have one real option. We choose to live by faith in what God says and not at what we can see. We walk by faith, not by sight. 

What does that mean? It means that we don't get bogged down in the hard times and challenges. We don't let sight control our faith. We don't take our eyes off Jesus like Peter did when he walked on the water. 

One day we are going to depart this flesh. We will vacate there flesh to be present with the Lord. That, not the desires, whims, and temptations of the flesh, should control our lives today. 

This old tent

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. – 2 Corinthians 5.1

'This world is not my home, I'm just apassing through. My treasures are laid out up there beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.' 

I am not going to vouch for all the theology in that old chorus, but there is a valid point.  There is a lot more than where we are living now. Our earthly being is just like living in a tent. One day the tent will be taken down and folded away. 

But that is when the good part starts. One of the first Bible studies I remember going to was back in about 1975. The person leading the study talked about this passage and  I still remember it. I remember thinking about the contrast between our temporary tent and the permanent home God has for us in heaven. 

I never would have even thought about forty years down the road, but here I am. I'm still living in the same old tent. It's just older and a little more worn out. 

But that doesn't change the fact that this old tent is not going to last forever. Not that I am really ready to move out yet, but know that one day the tent will be folded up and put away for good. One day I get to move into my permanent dwelling place. Jesus has gone to get it ready for me and one day I am going to get to move in. 

As I've said before, what a day that will be!

For a moment

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  - 2 Corinthians 4.17-18

Our light affliction?

Wait a second, are you kidding? Our 'light affliction?' There are times when the struggles we face seem like everything but light. Financial problems, illnesses, family problems, broken economies, loss of job, accidents, deaths, and so on are all part of what Paul calls 'light afflictions' here. 

But think about it. Paul knew what trouble was like. He had been arrested, beaten, and left for dead. The had been shipwrecked. His life was under threat. The had been stoned. He, if anyone, knew what affliction was. 

And yet he calls it light affliction. 

How can he call it light? 

Because Paul has the right focus. 

These light afflictions are only going to last a moment compared to eternity

The afflictions of today are nothing compared to the glory we are going to see one day

The stuff we see around us today is temporary

The glories we can't see today are for eternity

The problem is that we get too short sighted. We don't look way down the road. All we look at are our immediate surroundings and that gets us into big trouble. We get so consumed in the here and now that we forget what God has promised for us in the there and then. 

When things get really tough is when it is important to look at the unseen blessings of eternity. Sure, we have to endure for a while. But it is only for a moment. 

Let's just keep on keeping on. It will be worth it all one day. 

Day by day

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4.16

No matter how bad it gets, no matter how dark the night, no matter that the outward man is perishing Paul has confidence.

I don't know about you, but I can find the charge to 'not lose heart' challenging. I don't have any real valid gripes or complaints and I still am tempted to lose heart at times.

But I look around me and see Christians who are really going through it. I read Christian biographies and see what believers have endured in the past. No matter where we look it is obvious the outward man in perishing. Struggles go on. We have defeats. The battle continues.

Not only are we struggling and facing difficulties we are also, literally, dying. We started dying the day we were born. And it gets more obvious as the years go by. Though still a young guy I am becoming more and more aware that by body is ageing. My feet hurt. My knees hurt. I need varifocals. Indeed my outward man is dying. It is passing away and getting closer and closer to shut-down.

But, on the other hand, my inward man is renewed day by day. Every single day God's Holy Spirit is renewing us and preparing us for eternity with Him.

Though we are dying on the outside day by day, we are becoming more and more alive on the inside.

There is an old hymn called 'Day by Day' which captures what this day by day renewal means and how we should respond on faith.

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find, to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,

I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.

He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best—

Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,

He Whose Name is Counselor and Pow’r.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”

This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation

Offered me within Thy holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till I reach the promised land.

Believing and speaking

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.  – 2 Corinthians 4.13-15

Here Paul quotes a beautiful statement of faith from Pslam 116. The psalmist speaks of dealing with great turmoil and difficulty

  I love the LORD, because He has heard My voice and my supplications.   Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!"Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful.The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD In the land of the living. I believed, therefore I spoke, "I am greatly afflicted."

The psalmist speaks because he had confidence He decided to speak about the Lord based on who Godwas, not because of what he saw around him. He, like Paul, saw trouble and opposition. He didn't wait till things improved before he spoke out. He looked back at all that God had already done and then said, quite simply, 'I believed therefore. I spoke.' 

Paul said, 'we also believe, and so we speak.' Paul don't base his ministry on what he saw. He based his ministry on the fact that the God who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise believers from the dead. He knew that God would present believers to the Father one day. Everything that had happened had happened so that the grace of God would cause thanksgiving to abound that God would be glorified. 

Paul had eyes for eternity. His eyes were focused on the result of the preaching, not the temporary situations. 

They believed - so they spoke. 

Could it be that our lack of speaking is a result of a lack of belief? 

Our pattern

—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. – 2 Corinthians 4.10-12

So why do we not lose heart? Why do we not just lay on the mat when we are beaten? Why do we not just give in? 

Jesus didn’t quit. His obedience, even to the cross, was unabated. His death is our example. His body in an irrefutable fact that we can't deny. He was broken, but could not be beaten. It goes even further. He was dead, but. He rose again. 

Death is already at work, but we always strive the 'manifest the life of Christ' in our mortal flesh. Paul knew that they were likely to die for Christ, but he saw it a worthwhile if it his ministry would help those believers in Corinth. 

We must ask ourselves if the life of Christ is being manifest in our bodies. Do people see us and own own goals and desires and frets and concerns or do they see the life of Christ shining through? 

If we are living for Christ and remembering His example we won't quit. He went to death for us. Surely we can plod on through for Him.