2 Cor. 4:7-18

In vs. 1-6 we saw that ministry is difficult when there is a lack of response.  This unresponsiveness is caused by the wicked one who blinds men to the gospel.  But Paul does not lose heart (v1).  In today’s passage we see that ministry can be difficult when there are excessive trials.  And again, whatever Paul says, he again concludes, therefore we do not lose heart (v16).  So how can one not get discouraged when their good effort in ministry is rewarded with trials one after another?

The key to Paul’s answer is found in v7.  He understands that affliction is part and parcel of living in this world.  When one becomes a believer in Christ he can be said to have within him a real treasure.  Christ has been revealed in him (Gal. 1:16).  But this does not change the fact that he still lives in this sin-affected world.  In some ways the believer’s life is more prone to difficulty because he has sided with the Lord Jesus Christ and against the god of this age. 

Why would God entrust the ministry of Christ to those who are weak?  The answer is so that God receives the glory.  The ministry of Paul is a tribute to the excellence of God’s power.  People would know that there can be no other answer to Paul’s success than that God was at work through him. 

It is sad that so often, those in ministry affirm their success by dressing and talking and using backdrops that glorify their own power and significance.  The impression one gets is that he too can be powerful like that if he will just get on board with the minister. 

Conversely, look at Paul’s list of experiences (vs.8-12).  Remember in 1:9 when Paul said he was under the sentence of death?  He meant it!  And yet it was through these kinds of situations that the glory should all go to the God who raises the dead.  Like the Psalmist (v13 is a quote from Psalm 116:10) Paul cried out to God in his trials because he believed in God.  All this he endured for the sake of the Corinthians so that they might give abundant thanks to God (v15).

Paul should not be seen here as complaining.  He does not lose heart because day by day he is being renewed (v16). 

·        He is being renewed by having the right perspective about his trials (v17); in the eternal picture they are light affliction and they are the context in which God is bringing Paul more and more into the likeness of Christ. 

·        He is being renewed daily because his focus is on Christ (v18).  Life in this earthen vessel or jar of clay is temporary; what matters is what is eternal.

Are you losing heart because serving Christ is so difficult?  Perhaps you need to consider what Paul and the Psalmist were doing in their severe trials.  Because they believed in God they cried out to Him in their trial and then continued to be faithful, trusting that God’s mercy would be evident.  In that way we too can show the excellence of the power of God through our earthen vessel!