 There's a pastor in Georgia, and his name is Jay, and he writes on the website that is called pastoralburnout.com. He says, I was raised in the home of a pastor. My dad has been very successful everywhere he has served, although I knew someone about the hardships of ministry. He and my mother did a very good job of trying to cover my brother and I from the pain of ministry. I myself have been full-time ministry for six years, had the opportunity a couple years back to join the staff. What started out as joy has become a breaking point for he and I both. We both are questioning and quitting. He's doing so after 25 years of full-time ministry. A prominent family of our community joined the church. He has been over for a decade, about six years ago, and they seem to have brought death with them. They have money and they use that for selfish gain. They have manipulated people and they are vicious with their secret gossip and attacks. The combined with the lack of appreciation and lack of respect for our hard work and our production have sent us reeling in pain. And to hear my father say, son, there are those like them everywhere, even in our past and growth there. That's just people. If that's people, I think I'm putting myself on a sacrificial altar to be killed by people. I need prayer and guidance. I'm about to give up, guys. It's entitled, I'm about to quit. Now that story is common for pastors, but it's also common for people in the church. You don't have to be a pastor to know about hardship in the ministry. Some of the statistics on this site, 70% of pastors say they don't have close friends. 75% say they report stress, causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear and alienation. 80% say that they have an insufficient amount of time with their spouse. 80% say they believe the pastoral ministry affects their families negatively. 90% feel unqualified and poorly prepared for ministry. 90% work more than 50 hours a week. 94% say they are under pressure to have the perfect family. 1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month, not each year, but each month due to burnout, conflict and moral failure. And like I said, what's same in the pulpit is same in the pew. People get tired and burnt out for following the Lord. Now if you were to take Jay from Georgia, this pastor, and you were to sit him down with the Apostle Paul, what would Paul say to the person who is feeling tired, burnt out, feeling like I'm about to quit? What would the Apostle Paul say? Well, he would say, 2 Corinthians 4, 1-7. This is what he says to himself, is what he'll say to you today. Let's begin to read. 2 Corinthians 4, 1. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. Okay, so when we're reading chapters 3 and 4 to introduce, like what Jerome was reading, we're seeing the background and the theme. What are some of the words that came up in the text as we read? Some words that came up continually in chapters 3 and 4. One of them is minister. You see that in chapter 3-3, ministered. Chapter 3-6, minister. Chapter 3-7, the ministry of death. Look in chapter 3, verse 8. How will the ministry of the spirit? And then he brings it up again in chapter 4, since we have this ministry. As we received mercy, we do not lose heart. Look at some of the other words that are repeated. In ministry, we also have glory. Glory. Look at chapter 3-7, glorious. At the end of chapter 3, verse 7, because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away. Verse 8, the spirit, not be more glorious. Verse 9, condemnation had glory. The ministry of righteousness exceeds much more glory. Look in verse 10, for even what was made glorious had no glory. In this respect, because of the glory that excels. Or verse 11, twice more, for what is passing away was glorious. What remains is much more glorious. Look at chapter 3-18. With all an unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory. And in our text, chapter 4, verse 4, the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. In verse 6, it ends with to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So why is Paul not discouraged? Why does Paul not lose heart? Because of the glory of the ministry. The glory of the ministry. So let's think about what he says here. First off, therefore, since we have this ministry, since you've been given this service of the Lord, what kind of service is he talking about? What's the therefore therefore, right? Let's go back. Think about what he says in chapter 3. What kind of ministry? And he's saying in verse 7, if the ministry of death, written and graved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily in the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away. How much, how will the ministry of the Spirit be more glorious? Okay, so we have a contrast here. We have a contrast here between a ministry that Moses had in the Old Covenant and we have a ministry in the New Covenant. And he says, he calls the Old Ministry a ministry engraved on stones. What kind of stones? The Ten Commandments, right? Okay, so if this Old Ministry, the Old Covenant, there was glorious, isn't the New Covenant? How much more, by the Spirit, the ministry of the Spirit, more glorious? Verse 9, there is a ministry of condemnation, how the Old Covenant condemns. But the ministry of righteousness, that new ministry, exceeds much more in glory. For what was made glorious had no glory in this respect in verse 10, because the glory that excels for what was passing away was glorious. The Old Covenant passing away was glorious. What remains is much more glorious. And he goes on to describe how in the Old Covenant, in the time of Moses, he put a veil over his face so the children of Israel could not, like, steadily, at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. So let's understand what he's talking about here by the glory of the Old Covenant. Let's look back in Exodus, okay? Turned into Exodus, Exodus 32. Picking up in Exodus. God has redeemed his people from slavery. He's brought them out to Sinai to worship him. And they come to Sinai to receive the law, to receive the worship of the Lord. They come to Sinai and the mountain, God descends upon the mountain, Sinai. And it becomes a mountain filled with smoke and fire. And God begins to give his law in a cloud of fire that consumes Sinai. And while he gives his law, Moses goes up onto Sinai and receives the law for 40 days. And in that time, the people of Israel say, where's Moses? Where's he gone to? Let's begin to worship the Lord in our own way, and they make a golden calf in order to worship the Lord. And chapter 32 is with a golden calf. Moses comes down, God tells Moses to go down, and he throws down the commandments, the Ten Commandments, breaks them. And he comes to the people, and he calls all the people who are true to him and Levites come, and he says, okay, who is true to the Lord? Get a sword on your side, and go out and kill your brother, your companion, your neighbor. And about 3,000 men fell that day. And the Lord responds in judgment, saying, you can go up, I'm going to destroy the people of Israel. And Moses pleads on behalf of the people that they wouldn't be destroyed because of their idolatry, but have mercy. And he pleads with God saying that your name would be remembered. So that your name would be remembered in mercy. People are going to say, you took the Israelites out to the wilderness just to destroy them. So instead, that your name would be remembered in mercy, please don't destroy them. So the Lord agrees not to destroy them. And instead, he says, you go up to the, you people go up to the land of Canaan, but I won't go. So this time is a kind of sorrow, of death, of destruction, of anguish, of sin. And Moses goes up in chapter 33, verse 7. Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called the Tabernacle meeting. And he came to pass as he sought the Lord, who sought the Lord, went out to the Tabernacle meeting. It was outside the camp. So it was whenever Moses went out of the Tabernacle, all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent and watched Moses till he'd gone to the Tabernacle. So you get this picture of the nation of Israel, when Moses goes out to set up a particular tent to meet with the Lord and to plead with him that he would remain with them, that his glory would remain with them. And what happens is the people, when Moses goes to walk out, the people get up and they watch him go. They watch him go with the anticipation of, is the Lord going to be merciful? Will the Lord remain with us? And Moses meets with God as a man were to meet with another, face to face. And he pleads with them that his presence in verse 14, that his presence will go with you, go. And in verse 15 he says, if your presence doesn't go with us, do not bring us up from here. How will it then be known to your people that I've found grace in your sight, except that you go with us. So we shall be separate, your people and I, and from all the people upon the face of the earth. Here he said, the Lord says to Moses, I will also do this thing that you've spoken, for you've found grace in my sight and I know you by name. And he says here, please show me your glory. Do you want to understand the glory of God? In order to understand perseverance, you've got to understand glory. In order to understand glory, you've got to understand this glory background. Okay? What is the glory of God? What does he want to see? Does he want to see the heavens opened up? Does he want to see light? Does he want to see God himself? What is he going to see? Have you ever wondered that? What is it like to see glory? The glory of God. When glory is in the Scripture, broadly, I'll give you like four different categories. There is the shining forth of the radiance of the glory of God in light, blinding where his attributes are on display. This is the primary understanding of the glory of God reveal. Two, when the Bible talks about the glory of God, it speaks of how it's revealed to us and how we reflect that glory. Like when Pastor Mark, he had a message on Friday night and he talked about how we are like the moon and God is like the sun. And the moon doesn't have its own light, but it reflects the light off of the sun. And that's how we reflect glory. So the glory of God is something we reflect, like a mirror, like a moon. The glory of God is something that shines forth from God himself. The glory of God is something that we speak of that we will one day go to glory. That we will one day go to glory where we reflect this glory, where we will see this glory. And fourthly and finally, the glory of God is revealed in that we give him glory. Okay, so he shines forth glory. We reflect glory. We give him glory with praise and one day we'll be in glory where all those things will come to fruition. All those things will combine. Okay? You exist for the glory of God. This is not a side topic. This is why you exist. This is main thing, okay? You've got to understand this concept. That God is the one who shines forth His radiance of His perfections. You're to reflect that. You're to give him praise for that and one day we're headed for that in fruition. You need to understand what it means, what the glory of God is. And here Moses cries out, show me your glory. Show me your glory. And God tells him to prepare. To prepare himself. And then in chapter 34, the glory of God comes. What does it look like? Chapter 34 verse 4, so he cut two tablets of stone like the first one. Moses rose early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai. As Moses commanded him and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. Now the Lord descended. Here it is. Here's what it looks like. See the glory of God now with your ears. See the glory of God now with your ears. Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious along suffering and abounding in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin by no means clearing the guilty. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head towards the earth and worshiped. Can you see the glory of God with your ears right now? Hold up your ears to the Bible. Incline your ear now to what I'm saying and see glory with your ears. What is it like to see the glory of God? It's to know that he is merciful and gracious. That he's long-suffering. That he abounds in being good to sinners. And he is the one who gives ultimate truth. He gives mercy for thousands. He forgives your sin. But he will by no means clear the guilty. You want to hear the glory of God? You want to see it with your ears? Know that who God is revealed in all his perfections. And you will reflect him. You will give him praise and you will long to be with him in glory and have all these things. When Paul thinks about the ministry of glory he says seeing God on Sinai in this glory. That's the ministry of condemnation. That's not the glory as glorious as what Paul gets to see with his ears. That's not as glorious. Think about it. Right now if you were to be able to go to a mountain and meet with God himself if God were to come down in that mountain you would tremble with fear. You would tremble with fear. We tremble with fear in Florida with lightning, right? You're out in lightning in your hope. I hope I'm not the tallest person out here today. And you hope there's somebody taller somebody who conducts better, right? You're in with a crowd and the lightning's coming. Well, lightning causes us to fear but the one who has made the heavens and the earth will cause you to tremble so much more. If you can meet with God face to face it would not be more glorious than what we have in the new covenant. What we have with what you can see with your ears. That is an amazing thing is what Paul is saying. That is an amazing thing. In chapter 34 verses 29 to 35 Moses continues to meet with the Lord and when he comes back in verse 30 so when Moses and all the children of Israel saw Moses behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him. You see this idea of reflecting the glory of God that Moses called to them and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him and Moses talked with him afterward all the children of Israel came near and he gave them the commandments of all the Lord had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and when Moses had finished speaking with him he put a veil on his face but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him he would take the veil off until he came out and he would come out and speak to the children whatever he had commanded and whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses the skin of Moses' face shone then Moses would put the veil on his face again until he would went out and speak with him so Moses comes out and he's got this spooky, scary reflection where he has been spending time so close to the glory of God that it comes out on his skin you know when you get in the sun and you get a tan this is not a tan this is not a tan this is literal light shining off of him this is someone who knows the glory of God God answered Moses' prayer to see his glory now look back in 2 Corinthians and understand the ministry of glory in chapter 3 13 he says unlike Moses Moses put a veil over his face so the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end which was passing away but their minds were blinded they saw glory with their eyes they didn't see it with their heart they saw glory with their eyes they didn't see it with their ears but their minds were blinded until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ so when a Jewish person still continues to look for the Messiah they have the veil the veil has been taken off of Moses' face Paul says and the veil is over their eyes verse 15 but even this day when Moses is read a veil lies on their heart it's over their eyes it's over their heart verse 16 nevertheless when one turns to the Lord the veil is taken away now contrasting contrasting now the Lord is the Spirit where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty so in this ministry of the Spirit contrasting but we all with unveiled face we don't have to put a veil like on Moses with an unveiled face we see it we see it not like a veil over our heart not like a veil over our eyes like someone who's unconverted as Christians we behold as in a mirror it says we all Moses but we all all Christians Paul is calling not just apostolic ministry but here but all Christians will behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and are being transformed in the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord so this happens we behold the glory of God with our ears as we hear the gospel being told and read about Jesus Christ and when we behold glory we're transformed into his likeness just like when Moses was near the glory of God as he beheld it so he reflected it in the same way when we look at the glory of Jesus Christ and the salvation and the forgiveness that he's been given we have this ministry the service to him we get changed to be more like him you know how when you see someone who's like Christ it's been because they've seen glory not with their eyes but with their ears in these pages of scripture they behold the glory of the Lord in the new covenant in the ministry of forgiveness so now in chapter 4 that background since we have this ministry the ministry is the one of the new covenant the ministry of to speak about the glory of Jesus Christ as we receive mercy we do not lose heart Paul sees the service of God the service of the ministry as one where he's received it by mercy but he is tempted to lose heart do you remember second Corinthians in the background in the context of who he's writing to and what's happening here but he is calling a church that he started and a church that he loves with many problems to repent and he is losing heart the apostle Paul is losing heart and so he writes these reasons why he's not to lose heart remember in Corinth how they allowed sexual immorality in the church remember in Corinth how Paul is discouraged by how they take each other to court remember how Paul is discouraged because the church he loves is confused about singleness and marriage they're arrogant about their freedom about how they're selfish in the Lord's supper about how they're confused and abused spiritual gifts remember how he visits them to urge them to repent but it's been very painful for them for him remember how he's nearly died in this time remember how there are false teachers in the church who call themselves super apostles remember how there is a man who opposed him to his face in the church and insulted him and how the people in the church didn't call the man to repent right away and later on we learn in chapter 2 of this book they did remember how his trials how they attack his character how they imply he's in the ministry for money how they imply he's in the ministry for women they say Paul tells lies about his conversions they say he has no authority from Jerusalem he's not like the apostles in Jerusalem he has a secret life he's a deceiver his personal presence is contemptible and he really can't preach all that well anyway Paul is tempted to be discouraged when he's trying to serve to a church who is saying all these things to him he is on the verge of losing heart but he says he will not lose heart we do not lose heart but he says we've received the mercy of this ministry the old ministry revealed with Moses revealed God's justice when he sends a plague on the people God's glory is revealed in his grace and that he doesn't destroy them ultimately with Moses God's glory is revealed in his justice God's glory was revealed in his grace and he revealed himself to Moses in his sovereignty when he says to Moses I'll have mercy upon whom I'll have mercy God's glory in his holiness was revealed and that Moses couldn't see his face God's holiness was revealed in giving the Ten Commandments in his law God's glory was revealed in that his attributes he declared his attributes God's promises were revealed to Moses and affirmed to Moses God's jealousy was revealed to Moses God's holy law was revealed to Moses God's glory was nothing compared to the glory that was revealed in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ has infinite highness in exaltation but he has infinite humbling of himself lowering himself he deserves the glories of heaven but he comes and receives the spit on his face he has infinite justice but he has infinite grace shown in how he comes and dies on the cross he has infinite glory revealed when he opens himself up on the mountain transfiguration and yet he lowers himself to humility he has infinite majesty he is the ultimate king of kings and yet he has a transcendent meekness and yet he holds a baby he has deepest Jesus has deepest reverence he is the father and yet he is equal with the father he has a worth that is beyond all description and he has but yet greatest patience in suffering evil the glory of God is revealing Jesus Christ in that he has the exceeding spirit of obedience but he has the dominion over heaven and earth Jesus Christ has absolute sovereignty there is not an atom gone astray and yet he has perfect trusting perfect resignation to the will of God he has perfect self sufficiency he doesn't depend on anyone and yet he puts himself in a trust to the father the glory of God is revealed in the salvation of sinners do you remember the people that he heals the blind man that he gives sight to do you remember the man who is lowered through the roof and how he heals him and gives him forgiveness of sins do you remember how in Lazarus he purposely allows Lazarus to die for the purpose of revealing his glory his dear friend and then when he goes there Mary and Martha say Lord if you have been here my brother wouldn't have died and he says to them he says to them didn't I tell you if you trust me you'd see the glory of God and then his glory is revealed as he calls Lazarus out from the tomb and he's shown to be the resurrection in life he's revealed in how he turns water to wine how he heals the blind how he saves the sinner how the prostitutes come to him to be saved his glory is revealed like no other and do you see that glory now do you see it with your ears do you see that glory with your ears where he is revealed to be the one who has majesty perfection grace glory and justice the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ and he is revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ there where Jesus dies on Calvary where he suffers the wrath of God is where it's Exodus 34 6 to 7 where the glory of God passes before Moses and it's revealed and he says who he is all of those attributes are most clearly revealed in the cross in the cross of Jesus Christ Paul says this ministry to be able to know this message and be able to say this message to serve in this way is much more glorious than what Moses got to see and because of that he will not be discouraged it is sinful it is sinful to be discouraged to the point of quitting that is a lack of faith there's a lack of faith and beloved as the years go by you will be tempted more and more to have this you will see others rise up in the church speak wonderful things about Jesus Christ point to him and then you will see them in the years to come you'll see them fall you'll see them fall and you'll see what happened here this person was such a bright star and now they're a black hole how did this happen and you'll be tempted to be discouraged you'll be tempted to be discouraged in yourself you will receive accusation some of it true and some of it not true you'll be discouraged when you hear accusation that is true and you'll be depressed and say I am such a filthy person how can I ever be used by God and then when you receive accusation that's not true you say I was genuine I have been serving the Lord with a clear conscience and I receive this just like the pastor Jay from Georgia where he has this idea of these accusations coming they're not true what I'm saying to you is you will experience this you may be experiencing this depression now you may experience it in the years to come but mark it down you will receive a temptation to lose heart and what I'm saying to you is do not give in do not give in to lose heart because Christ has given you mercy to see this message to see this glory with your ears and you can see it in a clear way that Moses did do not lose heart in Galatians 6 19 he says Paul says don't grow weary and well doing in Ephesians 3 13 he says don't lose heart over tribulations in 2 Thessalonians 3 13 he says don't grow weary and doing good serving the Lord is hard do not lose heart looking verse 2 we've received we don't lose heart in the ministry point number 2 in your outline we have a clear conscience in the ministry how do you not lose heart you understand the glory of God in the ministry verse 1 the ministry 2 how do you not lose heart have a clear conscience verse 2 says but we have renounced the hidden things of shame not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God you don't lose heart by having a clear conscience first Paul says we've renounced we've disowned we've disowned the hidden things of shame he says that he refuses to be associated with shameful hidden things he has a fervent hatred for what can come up in his heart for secret sin he will not conduct himself in a clandestine way he is not going to put on Christian camouflage a fake smile and hold up that fake smile on the end of a stick and hold it up where behind that mask he has got a frown that is down but he's got a plastic smile over the front he is not going to be that way he's not going to be someone who has secret sin in order to do this in order to live your life this way you have to deal with your sin all the time you have to address it you have to encourage others to point it out you have to be humble this is the the mark of a Christian where they are going to disown hidden things of shame this has to happen in your personal life before God it has to happen by the grace of God where you are willing to live in a house with no walls it's an old African phrase willing to live in a house without walls and it applies here Paul is willing to do that because he lives before God that way so he can live before others that way because God is the one who is going to judge and he lives to please him that's how he lives if somebody else shows up at Paul's house unexpected is Paul going to be doing some dirty work no he's going to be pleasing to the Lord whether somebody is watching or not because of that he doesn't lose heart next he doesn't walk in craftiness or cunning he's not shrewd, crafty in Luke 20 people come up to Jesus pretending to be righteous and they question Jesus about the tribute of money and they basically ask him do you give money to the government taxes or do you give money to the church and the text in Luke 20 says Jesus perceived their craftiness and he says why do you test me in 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says God catches the wise in their own craftiness in 2 Corinthians 11 Paul is afraid that the Corinthians will be deceived like Eve was deceived by the craftiness of Satan in order to do this you have to trust God you have to trust God to go by the word of God someone who doesn't trust the word of God and the sufficiency of the word of God in order to get good accomplished they rely on craftiness they rely on cunning they rely on deceit they rely on influencing people in any way they possibly can okay if Paul is saying here he does not walk in craftiness he doesn't walk in cunning instead what's he gonna do he's gonna trust the Bible someone who's tempted to think well if I just explain the Bible that's not gonna bring about the results it's gonna happen instead I gotta I gotta think of some way to get the music to influence people to be emotional to respond to God in some way I gotta think about the way that I speak that it's relying upon that I gotta think about methods and extra things that God doesn't talk about in his word to influence people instead Paul here he says he doesn't walk in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully he's not using the Bible as a hobby horse to get across what idea he wants to communicate he's not just giving good morals that everybody could agree upon he's not removing the Bible from its context instead how does Paul have a continue and not lose heart he in verse 2 he gives by manifestation of the truth he's gonna trust the Bible in Timothy Paul says to Timothy you gotta cut the word straight and you gotta give it straight you have to be willing to say the Bible and know the Bible in such a way that you're unashamed of how people respond to you you wanna not lose heart trust the Bible so much that you're willing to say the Bible plainly and not worry about how people respond that's how you live and not lose heart because you trust the Bible so much and because of that Paul says here that he can commend himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God Paul saying I have a clean conscience commending myself to your conscience because my conscience is clean and I can do that I don't lose heart because I'm not perfect but because I deal with my own sin I deal with my own sin on a regular basis and as far as I know I don't have continued sin in my life okay so how do you not be discouraged one know the ministry of glory that you have you don't lose heart in the ministry you've received two you don't lose heart because of the clear conscience that you can have four on your outline verses three to four we don't lose heart because the Gospel is veiled to some in the ministry verse three Paul says but even if our Gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing whose mind the God of this age has blinded of the Gospel of the glory of Christ whose image of God should shine on them here Paul is calling to remembrance the veil the veil that Moses wore and he says that veil has been given that veil is over the eyes over the heart of those who read the Bible and they don't see it they don't understand and he says I know that the Gospel that this glory is veiled to some is veiled to those that are perishing there's the accusation that here in the context that Paul is a failure Paul is a failure because he has he's one who is discouraged he's one who doesn't have many converts he is one whose presence and preaching are weak and they say look at his his results his results are not what they should be that's the accusation and Paul is not discouraged because he knows the Gospel is veiled to some and it's veiled to some because the their minds have been blinded by the God of this age they've been blinded so that they don't believe here the Bible will talk about how people are blinded by their own sin in chapter 316 it talks about how the responsibility of one when one turns to the Lord the veil is taken away emphasis on their own responsibility here the emphasis is on Satan is the one who blinds in other places in the Scripture it speaks of the Lord is the one who hides these things like in John chapter 12 here the responsibility is on Satan Satan is the one who blinds when you read that when you think about that that should grieve you that many are blinded by Satan it should anger you at the work of Satan his deception imagine seeing a large crowd that is listening to Adolf Hitler speak and he is going out you know how he would go on like this and he would go on and say things in German with great fervency and then you see the people cheer like this with the old video it makes the people's movement look like all jumpy and the people are cheering and cheering and cheering and he is speaking like a fervent preacher Abraham Lincoln said preachers should act like they are fighting a nest of bees they should go like this as they preach that is how the preacher should be but Adolf Hitler is that way fervent thousands cheering imagine the sorrow of seeing thousands cheering the evil that he is saying should when that grieve your heart to be in a crowd like that doesn't it grieve your heart to think about the satanic deception the satanic deception to those who are perishing and it happens and it happens because the work of satan he says here he is blinded them who don't believe and they don't see the glory with their ears they don't see the glory with their ears when John Calvin talks about how they are blinded and they don't see glory what he talks about is how a blind person when they go out to the sun the sun continues to shine right and it's continuing to radiate its heat but the blind person doesn't see it the glory of the sun is not any less because the person is blind and it's the same with the glory of God is not any less because the person is blind to see it now this is going to happen when you preach the gospel in a very clear way like last night I heard Brent preaching the gospel to a man and when we come up to this man and meet him we ask him how will you go to heaven when you die and he says well I gotta read the bible more I gotta be a better person etc and so Brent explains the gospel to him very clearly and the glory of Christ is able to I'm seeing it with my ears I'm seeing it as Brent says it with my ears and then I say to the man okay from what Brent said he says I gotta read my bible I gotta be a better person the truth and the glory of Christ was not any less brilliant because of his blindness but he's been deceived and you've done this many times before too haven't you beloved haven't you explained the gospel as clearly as you can and labored and then you ask the person what are you gonna do and they say and they act like they've heard you have this hope they're gonna say I need a savior but instead they say I'll save myself they're blinded blinded and Paul knows that this is going to happen because it's going to happen he is not discouraged because it's a reality that he knows is a reality of life and it's settled in his mind when he sees it happen he knows and God said this would happen God said this would happen by people sin God knows that this would happen by Satan God said that this would happen by his own judgment he would do that to some so Paul doesn't get discouraged because he knows it's gonna happen and Satan is doing it so that in verse 4 lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God should shine on them so they would know that Christ is very God of very God that he has God himself so Paul is not discouraged because in point 1 he receives a ministry of glory he doesn't lose heart Paul is not discouraged because he has a clear conscience point 3 Paul is not discouraged because the gospel is veiled to some and he knows it's gonna happen and finally Paul is not discouraged because we preach the glory Christ's glory in the ministry he says in verse 5 for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your bond servants for Jesus' sake Paul is encouraged because he doesn't preach about himself what a hopeless message right what a hopeless message to preach about yourself imagine that's the gospel you got to go and tell I used to be a bad person and now I'm a better person what a hopeless message Paul says he doesn't preach about himself but instead he's all about Christ Jesus the Lord he is about Christ he's about how Jesus is the Messiah the one who has come and humbled himself Jesus the one who is the savior of many sinners he is the one who talks about the Lord Jesus Christ he knows he is a master and he's saying I am going to be a slave what does he say here a slave of Jesus he doesn't even say a slave of Jesus here he says a slave of them for Jesus' sake if you're a slave to those in the church you are gonna get hurt you are going to be hurt if you're ready to serve others people are gonna take your heart and they're gonna stomp on it whether you're dear friends people you look up to or people you're trying to help your heart is gonna get stomped on and Paul here is saying he's ready to do that he's ready to be a slave not just of Jesus I'm ready to be your slave why for Jesus' sake he trust in the master so he's ready to suffer do you see that he trusts in his master so he's ready to suffer at this point you know in Corinth Paul is not getting a lot of likes on facebook he's not getting he's getting he's getting fewer and fewer facebook friends each day that he looks on his facebook his number dwindles and he tries to figure out where the other people disappear to he doesn't care because he serves in his mind he knows he has a clearing conscience he knows he has a ministry that can't be shaken he knows that it's gonna be veiled to some and he knows that he doesn't preach himself but he preaches Christ think about the levels of the gospel here that Paul has talked about Paul has talked about the gospel and the purpose of the gospel to reveal the glory of Christ the good news of the gospel he is speaking he's spoken of this this mighty ocean to those who play in a mud puddle and he's saying come see the glory of God this ocean and stop taking joy in a mud puddle he's speaking of the glory of God and the joys of knowing Lord in the purpose of the gospel he has spoken he is speaking now here about details about Christ that he preaches Christ Jesus the Lord and like I said about how he's revealed Christ, he's revealed as Christ as the Messiah he's revealed as the Savior Jesus he's revealed as Lord he is giving details even in the name of Jesus of the gospel truths nobody gets saved by a vanilla vague religious platitudes that are spoken okay if you go to a political dinner political dinner with a whole bunch of politicians and you say oh okay angel you're you know Lord let's come up and pray for us and if a brother comes up and prays and says God I thank you for our country God I thank you for the many good gifts that you give praise be your name God is he going to receive any persecution no what if he comes up to a political dinner and then he says Jesus Christ the one who has come and died on the cross our Savior the only Savior there is no hope in anyone else you alone our Lord there is no hope in any other religion Jesus Christ you alone our God we worship you we don't deserve this food we don't deserve to be able to eat now we don't deserve to be able to live in a country where we have any freedoms Jesus Christ you alone our God is he going to receive persecution you better believe it you better believe it no one is saved by a vanilla vague religious speech by truths and details of justification your sins have been taken away you have been declared righteous you have had a righteousness of Christ imputed to your account your sins have been imputed to him you have been adopted into the family of God Jesus the son of God has now adopted you Christian you are being sanctified by this likeness these truths these truths these details are what Paul preaches and he is not ashamed of them he is not ashamed of the gospel in verse 6 he says it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness and has shown in the hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ here he says this is how we see the glory with our ears the God who said, who commanded it let there be light and there was light that is how the gospel comes God says let this person see glory and he regenerates them he gives them life and they see glory they see glory in the knowledge they know details facts about Jesus Christ his death his burial his resurrection and they see it in the face of Jesus Christ this is how glory is seen and known and shown and what is Paul saying in verse 7 this glory this diamond that has the beauty above all else this diamond this treasure is in earth and vessels that the excellence power of God may not be of God and not of us Paul is saying this treasure this treasure this word is used for the treasures like for example the treasures that the wise men brought to Jesus gold, frankincense, myrrh same word for treasure here the gold of the glory of God is in a clay pot it is literally here in dirt baked heart to the Corinthians they had many clay pots around their house it was a common thing it's kind of like a plastic bin you got a plastic bin in your house lots of plastic bins how much they cost at Walmart do you cry when one gets a hole in it when one gets cracked now you throw it out and you get another common, cheap frail in 2 Timothy 2 Paul talks about how there are some there's different kinds of vessels some are gold and silver you keep nice things in them and he said there are other there are wood and clay and you keep refuse in them he's saying that there are some the common things the wood and pails or the clay pots were used to hold the trash they were used to hold and Paul is saying your toilet but he got a diamond inside Paul is not discouraged because he says I'm just a toilet we are toilets but oh what a diamond oh what a treasure of the glory of God has been revealed to us that we have this service to the Lord Paul is not discouraged because he knows and sees the ministry of glory that he's received by mercy Paul is not discouraged because he has a clean conscience Paul is not discouraged because he knows the gospels veiled the psalm Paul is not discouraged because he knows that the gospel comes and is revealed by God regenerating glory and Paul is not discouraged because he knows he's a toilet but he's got a diamond inside he's a clay pot with a treasure if you understand this and you believe this do you know how to apply it you know how to apply the sermon today you know how to apply the sermon today don't be discouraged don't be discouraged but be encouraged by these truths and when you're that way look at what Paul says here in the rest of the chapter in verse 8 you'll be hard pressed but you won't be crushed you'll be perplexed but you won't despair you'll get persecuted but you won't be forsaken you'll get struck down but you will know what you won't be destroyed you will see in verses 10 to 12 that you will die by day but as you die you will cause life to go in others the more you suffer the more Christ will be glorified the more you die the more others live and you will see in verses 13 and 14 you'll believe it and so you'll be forced to speak it that's what Paul says here he says I believe it do you believe this message today do you believe the glory of God revealed to you not by your eyes but by your ears then if you believe it you must speak it and so Paul says the affliction, the trouble that you have is momentary light it's creating an exceeding weight of glory beloved when you have a family member die and you love your child and your child dies and people see you respond in such a way that gives glory and honor to the Christ in the gospel when you see, when others see you slandered and false things are said about you and you return with kindness when people see you suffer you know there's a reward coming there's a reward coming in glory that is so much greater than any suffering that you experience here they cannot be compared you will wish that you suffered more so you could have more glory in that day I'm telling you it is worth it it is worth it how could you give up how could you give up or lose heart let the world go away from Christ and you, if you believe all these truths the entire world could go away and you would still believe you would still follow and every persecution that came you would rejoice in it knowing they were creating a greater weight of glory do you believe this chapter if you do you will not lose heart but you will love the glory of Christ you will reflect the glory of Christ you will look forward to glory in which you will be able to glorify Him all the more let not death nor famine or persecution or pain none of these things can separate you from the love of God, Christian so do not lose heart you know there's a one more pastor I want to quote to you about to close at the end of his ministry he says for I'm already poured out as a drink offering and the time my departure is at hand I fought the good fight I finished the race I've kept the faith finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give me on that day and not only to me only but also to all who have love disappearing I long to see that crown of righteousness given to you beloved I long for you not to lose heart but to long and love is appearing let's pray do your Lord please forgive us for our selfishness that we would lose heart and think we deserve better please forgive us for our pride to think that we are a golden vessel that please forgive us for losing heart becoming depressed and discouraged at different times Lord in our lives instead help us to trust in you help us to rejoice in what you've given us help us to rejoice in your glory reveal that we get to see it help us to rejoice that we get to spread it to others where we worship you with all of our hearts please help us to worship you in good times or in bad Amen