If this is a Miracle, How Come it’s so Hard!
Pastor Joe Fuiten,
August 13, 2006
Let me start by showing a few
pictures of
2 Corinthians 4. Therefore, since through God's mercy we have
this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 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
every man's conscience in the sight of God.
The opportunity for ministry must be viewed as the
mercy of God. I am happy to announce that Jeff Hite is the new lead Pastor at
The work of ministry is to set forth the truth. Truth is the foundation of it all. Again and again Jesus said, “I tell you the
truth…” He said it 30 times in Matthew
alone. This was important because truth
is defined as that which conforms to the mind of Christ. Jesus said he himself is the truth. God is never confused or deceived. He is not tricked by slight of hand or turn
of phrase. Truth is not what I think it
is, but what God thinks it is.
Starting this fall we are going to be having a
number of “Truth Project” home groups.
We want our church to get this idea.
It all starts with truth.
3 And even if our gospel is
veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has
blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
First, the devil does operate in the
realm of the mind. He is able to have an
impact upon the minds of unbelievers. His influence is
not limited to unbelievers, but it is his primary sphere of influence.
Second, Paul indicates that this
activity of the devil is so that people will not be able to see the light of
the gospel. They may be able to hear the
words, but in this condition they are unable to understand its significance.
Third, there are ideas we hold in
our minds that can cause us to be blinded to the Gospel. This inability to see is directly caused by
the “god of this age.” The devil
himself, along with his demons, is active in causing spiritual blindness.
In a few days we will begin our 25th
year as a school. It is not just about a
good education but about teaching the ideas that lay the foundation of
truth. Please pray for success in our
schools in
What kind of prayer should we
pray? Paul gives us a good example in
Ephesians 1: “I keep asking that the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,
may give you the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may
be enlightened, . . . ”[1]
Paul’s prayer here is a model for Christian warriors
to pray. We need to pray that the Holy
Spirit, here called the Spirit of “wisdom and revelation” would come upon
believer and unbeliever alike to reveal Jesus Christ. This prayer is consistent with what Jesus
taught when he said people would not come to God except they were drawn.[2] God has a role in the preparation FOR
Salvation as well as in the actual experience OF personal Salvation.
Jay Smith has been teaching our youth to create a
culture of invitation. Inviting people
to church is an important aspect of the spiritual life. We
need to overcome the spiritual blindness caused by the “god of this age.”
What is the message?
5 For we do not preach
ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus'
sake. 6 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 the
glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of
clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from
us.
This is a very Pauline way of saying things. Ephesians 5:8
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as
children of light”
Paul may have been thinking about the story of
Gideon when he combines the images of light and jars of clay.
Dividing the three
hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the
hands of all of them, with torches inside.
"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to
the edge of the camp do exactly as I do.
When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around
the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'" Gideon and the hundred men with him reached
the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had
changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in
their hands. The three companies blew
the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and
holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted,
"A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" Judges 7:16-20
Even if he started with Gideon, he quickly turns to
the more usual understanding. In his
previous letter to the Corinthians he said, “The first man was of the dust of
the earth, the second man from heaven.”[3]
Now the dust has become shaped into a human form. Clay emphasizes the common nature of mankind,
as opposed to the power of God.
The
Terrible struggle
8 We are hard pressed
on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in
our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in
our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for
Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then,
death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: "I
believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also
believe and therefore speak, 14 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
in his presence. 15 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. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting
away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (NIV)
It is easy to believe that if you
are serving God, everything will be great.
I listened to a missionary this week who developed Christian television
for Spanish speaking people. Someone
commented to him on the miracle of what had been created. His message was, if this is a miracle, how
come it is so hard? He talked about the
miracle of Jesus being born to Mary. It was
a miracle, but Mary had to go through rejection, criticism, pain and work to
make it happen. Bottom line, it was both
miraculous and hard.
We rightly judged that the recent DOMA
decision was a miracle. Everything I did
during the almost two years prior to that “miracle” suggests that I did not
believe we would win. We called the
church to pray, but I didn’t believe God would answer. I could have enjoyed the last two years a
whole lot more than I did if I had known what the outcome would be.
I remember when we first moved into this building back in
1987. For over two years we spent more
than we took in. Our payment was 10
times higher than it had been and we often had a hard time making that. Once we moved in, we still had a million
dollars to go to finish the building and we had no money. Even after we found that money, I did not see
how
How does Paul see those
struggles. He calls all these troubles
“light and momentary.” Easy to say,
difficult to live. When someone asks,
“How’s it going?” Just answer, “I have
some light and momentary troubles but God is at work shaping his glory inside
of me.
17
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but
on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal.