In his book, the Roots of Endurance, John Piper, shared some of the challenges facing Charles Simeon (1759-1836).
He was the pastor of Trinity Church in Cambridge, England. I heard that he stayed in the same church as pastor for fifty-four years and that in the first twelve years there was so much opposition from his congregation that “pewholders” locked their pews, stayed away, and forced him to preach to a standing congregation who fit in the building where they could. …So I confess at the outset that I have a spiritual and pastoral aim in this chapter, as in the whole book. I want to encourage you—as I pursue this myself—to receive and obey Romans 12:12, “Be patient in tribulation.” May Simeon’s life and ministry help us see persecution, opposition, slander, misunderstanding, disappointment, self-recrimination, weakness, and danger as the normal portion of faithful Christian living and ministry. I want us to see a beleaguered triumph in the life of a man who was a sinner like us and who, year after year, in his trials, “grew downward” in humility and upward in adoration of Christ and who did not yield to bitterness or to the temptation to leave his charge—for fifty-four years. …I need this inspiration from another century, because I know that I am, in great measure, a child of my times. And one of the pervasive marks of our times is emotional fragility. It hangs in the air that we breathe. We are easily hurt. We pout and mope easily. We blame easily. We break easily. Our marriages break easily. Our faith breaks easily. Our happiness breaks easily. And our commitment to the church breaks easily. We are easily disheartened, and it seems we have little capacity for surviving and thriving in the face of criticism and opposition.[i]
What we are about to discover is finding the means to not only survive, but how to thrive in difficult times and situations. We need to discover how to have joy in life’s most challenging moments as James explains in his letter.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.[ii]
In 2 Corinthians, Paul is under great pressure, scrutiny, and criticism in which he now explains the very nature of Christian life and ministry. It is a life where despite hardships, transformation in our character may occur as we look to Jesus for wisdom and strength to persevere. Here is where we see God’s manifested glory most evident in our lives. There are three elements to God’s work of glory revealing itself through a transforming life and ministry.
THE FIRST ELEMENT OF GOD’S GLORY REVEALING ITSELF THROUGH US IS REALIZING THE ORIGIN OF A TRANSFORMED LIFE AND MINISTRY
When we realize all that God has done for us, we are able to embrace what God wants to do through us.
- The first thing we realize because we are changed by God’s grace is that it strengthens us.
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:1).”
Paul realizes that God’s mercy gave him his ministry. This is not something he achieved but was a gift from God. With God’s gifts and freedoms come responsibilities. He realized that he needed to communicate the gospel even at personal expense to himself. He also was aware that it was a ministry that was superior to what Moses received because of its transforming power. He begins explaining some of the challenges that also accompany this ministry, though he is not losing heart. The literal word in the Greek means to not give in and thereby act badly.
The Greek verb means “to act badly” in the face of difficulties; “to give up” or “grow weary” while pursuing a worthwhile goal. Paul, however, would not allow any obstacles inside or outside the church to pressure him into abandoning his ministry. Instead of giving in to discouragement, he deliberately and categorically “renounces” the kind of behavior that characterized much of the itinerant speaking of his day. He describes this behavior as secret and shameful (v. 2).[iii]
- The second thing we realize because we are changed by God’s grace is it helps us move away from falsehood and deceptive practices.
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.[iv]
These secret and shameful actions are described here as deceptive, in order to lead others astray. How they went about deceiving people was by distorting God’s word. Paul contrasts his approach in handling God’s word by setting forth the truth plainly and boldly, while these false teachers are concealing their true intentions, which is to exploit the believers at Corinth.
What was the rationale for distortion in handling the word of God by these false teachers?
The verb distort (doloō) is commonly employed of adulterating merchandise for profit. Paul refused to follow in the footsteps of others who tamper with God’s word in order to make it more palatable to the listener or more lucrative for themselves. …Paul does not seek to commend himself to a person’s ego or intellect but appeals to their capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. Nor does he simply trust human judgment but commends himself in the sight of God. He is aware that what he does is done under the perpetually watchful eye of the Lord.[v]
A preacher must continually guard against pandering to the crowd. Believers also must be careful not to compromise the gospel message to make it more attractive to the natural or unregenerated person, for then it would lose its effectiveness in bringing conviction, repentance, and ultimately transformation in that person’s life. Paul reminded the church in Rome:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jews, then to the Gentile.[vi]
- The third thing we must realize is that we are changed by God’s grace.
We need to realize that people who do not respond to the good news of eternal life, it is because of spiritual blindness.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.[vii]
The gospel confronts us with a crisis of decision. If we do not choose to submit to God, we remain in a state of spiritual blindness under the rule of the kingdom of darkness, the ‘god of this age’, which is Satan. Here Paul explains why people “cannot see the light of the gospel.” The reason given is that Satan is blinding their minds. But how does Satan go about that? It has to do with the condition of our heart. The biblical understanding of the heart is the essence of our being: our intellect, emotions, and will. These are the elements that shape the image of God within us, and it is sin that diminishes that image in our lives. The Psalmist warns us that if we refuse to respond to God’s voice as here expressed in God’s word, our hearts become hardened.
Today, if only you would hear his voice, ‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’[viii]
Once we experience the gospel, we see the glory of Christ, the veil is removed from our hearts, and we now see God’s glory in Christ.
- The fourth thing we realize because we are changed by God’s grace is the message we communicate is the Lordship of Jesus.
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.[ix]
Here Paul is reminding us of the created word that formed the universe. God bring light out of the darkness in Genesis 1:3. This same light is what illuminates and enlightens our hearts, our minds.
David Garland points out the transformation that happened to Paul on that Damascus road. Only after Christ captured him (2:17; Phil 3:12) did he submit to God’s righteousness and recognize God’s glory in Christ. When the divine light was caused to shine in his heart, he saw the crucified Jesus as one who died for him because of his sin. All pride and boasting vanished. In his profound humiliation and shame, he could see God’s compelling glory in Christ. By identifying with this humble Messiah who endured the humiliation of death on the cross, Paul’s pride and boast was abolished and so was the veil of obduracy that hid God’s glory in Christ.[x]
- The fifth thing we realize because we are changed by God’s grace is the focus on Jesus not ourselves.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.[xi]
How does this apply to us? If we live simply for ourselves and the few that we love it leaves us unchanged.
Those who look through the glass of a me-first culture can see no glory or power in giving one’s life for others. The gospel Paul proclaims does promise glory, but not through the acquisition of worldly power. It comes instead through unconditional surrender of one’s power to God. This divine paradigm so conflicts with human ways of thinking and acting that few ever recognize it for the truth that it is.[xii]
So, we see that this transformed life originates with God and is mediated to us in Christ.
THE SECOND ELEMENT OF GOD’S GLORY REVEALING ITSELF THROUGH US IS THE CHALLENGES OF A TRANSFORMED LIFE AND MINISTRY
Living the Christian life poses unique challenges and difficulties but also amazing blessings that extend beyond this earthly life. It brings meaning and significance to our lives as we live to bring glory to God. So, what are the challenges and how do we overcome them.
- Paul explains that God sustains us in the most challenging moments of our lives and uses them to develop strength and godly character.
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.[xiii]
Paul is illustrating God’s power to sustain him, and his team which is expressed through human weakness. Paul is not only identifying with the resurrection power to sustain him but also the sufferings of Christ. They were hard pressed but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned by God; struck down but not destroyed.
Paul speaks of the faith by which he meets his testing, faith that prepares him to die, if need be, without fear.[xiv]
These statements in the Greek language have a rhyme to them that are not quite picked up in translation. Kent Hughes relates it this way:
“Struck down” means struck down by a weapon— “whacked” as we might say. But Paul was not destroyed. Rather he was quickly back on his feet. We know of one of these events in Lystra when Paul was hunted down and ritually stoned (a ghastly, cruel event), capped by his body being dragged outside the city to rot. But to the astonishment of his disciples, Paul popped open an eye and led them back into Lystra (cf. Acts 14:19, 20)! Again Tenney’s rendering catches the idea: “knocked down, but not knocked out.” Incredible strength in the midst of total weakness.[xv]
It reminds us of those who are boxers. Tyson Fury was knocked down six times in his professional boxing career in which he fought 37 times, with 34 wins, 2 losses and a draw. In his first fight with Deontay Wilder in 2018, he was knocked down hard in both the 9th and 12th rounds but rose to battle to a split decision. However, in the next two fights Fury beat Wilder both times. Here was a man who was knocked down but not out. This is a picture of the challenges we face as believers. We are in a battle not only for our souls but also for the souls of others.
What Paul is telling us is that though they, in their ministry, were knocked down, they were never knocked out. We need to understand that the things in our lives that cause us to die to ourselves are also the very things that are giving life through us to those around us. It is a dying to self, so that Christ can reign through us. This happens because the life of Christ is being manifested through us.
For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.[xvi]
Now we come to the crux or challenged answered by Paul. How can his weaknesses reveal God’s power and glory?
Paul’s acknowledgment that he always is given over to death gets at the core of the confusion and complaints about his apostolic ministry. How does the unsurpassed glory of the ministry of the Spirit harmonize with unrelenting death? How can such wonderful treasure be properly exhibited in such a lowly clay pot? Paul cannot cover up his tribulations and does not wish to do so. Instead, he exults in them and explains why the divine glory must be contained in the earthen vessel of his frail, pummeled body. It shows that his extraordinary apostolic power can only come from God and not himself. Rather than discrediting his apostolic ministry, Paul’s hardships point to the all-transcending power of God working in and through him. This explanation gets at the heart of the gospel. The glory of the ministry must be seen in terms of both cross and resurrection.[xvii]
Epictetus, the Greek stoic philosopher, who died in 135 A.D. believed that hardships revealed the nature of men, “their grit and moral constancy.” David Garland contrasts that view with Paul’s understanding: “For Paul, hardships do not disclose what humans are made of but what God’s power is like.”[xviii]
THE THIRD ELEMENT OF GOD’S GLORY REVEALING ITSELF THROUGH US IS THE CULMINATION OR END OF A TRANSFORMED LIFE AND MINISTRY
Every visible thing that we see, including our earthly bodies, will waste away. Sorry, that is the bad news. However, the good news is that something eternal and more significant is at work within us that is eternal in nature. God is transforming our hearts, the essence of who we are, and making us like Himself. God also promises us new and eternal bodies. We are being inwardly renewed and all of life’s troubles, which are described as momentary, will also disappear and are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them.
It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ Since we have that 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 to himself. 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. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.[xix]
Now, as a result of what Christ has done by conquering death, as we place our trust in Him, we will also rise with Him. For this reason, we are not to lose heart. We need to remember that what is happening in this earthly pilgrimage is not the final destination. We have an eternal future with God.
For many Christians, the reality of a future resurrection is not the driving force of their lives. So, what is driving our lives? Kent Hughes challenges us here in our affluent society.
How, and in what terms, we conceive of the future is a decisive question. For most Christians, the contemplation of retirement trumps the contemplation of their ultimate destiny. For most, eschatology (i.e., the study of the last things) is defined by a single word—retirement. Far more energy and thought is given to enhancing the health and wealth of the final twenty years of earthly existence than to eternal existence. Clearly, we are called to focus on future resurrection and exaltation if we have any desire to live as we ought.[xx]
Paul goes on to state that “outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” It sounds like our physical nature is being eroded while our inner man is being renewed, but Kent Hughes challenges that view. His understanding brings great hope and encouragement as we battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
But Paul isn’t describing physical decay as such. “Outer nature” (literally, “outer man”) does not refer to the body, and “inner nature” (literally, “inner man”) does not refer to the soul. There is no body/soul dichotomy here. Both “outer man” and “inner man” refer to the whole person. “Outer man” refers to our status in Adam as part of this present age; “inner man” refers to our status in the last Adam, Christ. Therefore, Paul is saying that the old sinful man is “wasting away” (being deconstructed!), while our new self in Christ is “being renewed” (reconstructed!) “day by day.[xxi]
Let me close with this word of encouragement in the challenges that we are currently experiencing in this life. Let us gain a biblical vision of what is really happening.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.[xxii]
“Affliction for Jesus’ sake, however crushing it may seem, is in fact light, a weightless trifle, when weighed against the mass of that glory.”[xxiii]
This is theological reality for all those who through grace have become children of God. When the apostle suffered affliction, he did not focus his thoughts on how heavy the affliction was but on how heavy the glory would be because of the affliction. If we, in the midst of our affliction, will see it as it is, we will find our voices again and sing songs in the night.[xxiv]
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[i] John Piper, The Roots of Endurance, (Wheaton, Il: Crossway Books, 2002), 77-79.
[ii] James 1:2-4, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[iii] Linda Belleville, 2 Corinthians, TheIVP New Testament Commentary Series, Vol. 8, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 2 Cor. 4:1-6.
[iv] 2 Corinthians 4:2.
[v] Linda Belleville, 2 Corinthians, 2 Cor. 4:1-6.
[vi] Romans 1:16.
[vii] 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.
[viii] Psalm 95:7-10.
[ix] 2 Corinthians 4:5-6.
[x] David Garland, 2 Corinthians, The New American Commentary, Vol. 29, (Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1999), 209.
[xi] 2 Corinthians 4:7.
[xii] David Garland, 2 Corinthians, 209.
[xiii] 2 Corinthians 4:8-10.
[xiv] Craig Keener, 1-2 Corinthians, The New Cambridge Bible Commentary, Ed. B. Witherington III, (Cambridge University Press, 2005), 175.
[xv] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, (Crossway Books, 2006), 92.
[xvi] 2 Corinthians 4:11-12.
[xvii] David Garland, 2 Corinthians, 219.
[xviii] Ibid, 229.
[xix] 2 Corinthians 4:13-16.
[xx] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, 97.
[xxi] Ibid, 99.
[xxii] 2 Corinthians 4:17-18.
[xxiii] Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962), 157.
[xxiv] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, 100.
