2018.08.07 Hopewell @Home ▫ 2Corinthians 4:13-18

Read 2Corinthians 4:13-18

Questions for Littles: What do those who believe do (v13)? What will He who raised up the Lord Jesus also do (v14)? Why does God save so many by grace (v15)? What do we not lose (v16)? What is perishing? What is being renewed day by day? What kind of affliction do we have (v17)? For how long? What is it working for us? How much and for how long? What do we look at (v18)? What is the difference in how long the seen lasts vs. how long the unseen lasts?

This week’s Call to Worship, Invocation, and Confession of sin came from 2Corinthians 4:13-18.

What is it that a Christian believes and says? That since his faith is into Christ, his whole future is bound up with Christ. Faith unites us to Jesus, so if Jesus was raised, we will be raised.

All things work together for Him, and so all things work together for us. And more than that, all of this produces thanksgiving unto the glory of God. So, our being raised up in glory with Christ must certainly come.

What, then, is the purpose of our troubles? Why, to work glory for us, of course! And how big are our troubles by comparison to that exceeding weight of glory? Light. And how long are our troubles by comparison to that eternal glory? But a moment.

Now, it’s well enough to know that these things are true. However, our passage tells us that we do more than just know this truth; rather, we look at this truth.

We need to be dwelling upon the fact that we are guaranteed an eternal weight of glory. It’s in dwelling upon glory that our affliction is shown to be light and short. It’s in clinging to Christ—in whom that glory is guaranteed—that we are able to be inwardly renewed day by day, even if we are outwardly wasting away.

This is why we need faith, and why we must cry out for that most precious gift of God. What we need to look at is unseen to the physical eye. We can only see it with the eye of faith. God grant us to see it!—to see Him!

If faith comes by hearing the Word of God, how do you look for it from God?

Suggested songs: ARP16B “I’ll Bless the Lord Who Counsels Me” or HB378 “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”