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Faith to Keep Fighting
Fighting to Keep the Faith
2 Corinthians 4:6-8
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
I. Realizing the Treasure that lives within you (vs. 6-7)
II. Realizing Your Strength in the Midst of Trouble (vs. 8-9)
III. Realizing Your Reward When You Keep Fighting (vs. 10)
One night a house caught on fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flames, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy kept protesting, "Daddy, I can't see you."
The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings, called to the silhouette of his son, "But I can see you. Jump!" The boy finally jumped because he trusted his father.
Let’s face it. Many of you can agree with me this morning that life is tough. Over the last few weeks, or the last few months, or the last few years, you have been like that little boy. You have been in some fiery situations and you thought the flames of life were going to consume you. You knew God was still there because you could still hear his voice; however, you could not see Him. And because you could not see Him, you were fearful, doubtful, and faithless. You were saying to yourself, God where are you?
The message this morning is meant to encourage us Fight to Keep the Faith and Keep the Faith to Keep Fighting. The Christian faith enables us to face life, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen by the Father.
Life is a struggle. It’s a fight. It’s like being in a Heavy Weight Boxing Match with Mike Tyson, Lenox Lewis, Muhammad Ali, and George Foreman. You are receiving blows to the body, upper cuts to the chin, and sucker punches below the belt. You keep waiting for the ref to ring the bell to signal that the round is over, but it never comes. You spend the entire fight contemplating giving up.
I am not trying to depress anyone this morning, but the truth is, life is hard. We get knocked down, tripped up, tossed aside, stabbed in the back, and beat up all throughout life. I am looking for some believers this morning who are keeping it real. Yeah, you may have a smile on your face, but truth be told, deep down inside you are hurting.
But regardless of how tough the fight may seem, you’ve got to keep the faith to keep fighting and you’ve got the keep fighting to keep the faith.
Paul was going through some tough times while traveling through Corinth. He was on a mission to spread the Good News of the Gospel and establish as many churches as possible. But while he was trying to build up the kingdom of God, his haters were trying to defame his character and raise up false teachers.
This was a full fledge assault against every thing about him.
His haters insulted, criticized, and demeaned everything about him.
Biblical commentated John MacArthur says, “In order to do that they needed to discredit him and so they started a full-blown character assassination effort against him.
He was attacked as being inept, plain, common, weak, unimpressive, and he had no persona
They said he had no personal attractiveness; he was not charming, in fact, downright ugly, blemished.
They said his speech was contemptible, he was not clever, and he had no oratorical talent to win the masses to the gospel.
The attack, of course, was part of an all-out effort to destroy the confidence of the Corinthians in him so they would then turn the false teachers and listen to their demonic doctrines.
They wanted Paul to stop preaching, pack up his bags, and go back home.
What do you do when it seems like the world is against you?
What do you do when every area of your life seems chaotic?
Paul gives us courage to have Faith to Keep Fighting and have to Keep Fighting to Keep the Faith
I. Realizing the Treasure that Lives Within You (vs. 6-7)
When you feel like the world is too much, you have to stop focusing on what is on the outside and focus on what God has placed on the inside of you.
The earthen vessel is the outward body. It is weak, frail, perishable, and able to die. It feels pain, can be damaged, cut, wounded, crushed, and destroyed. It is exposed to every outward extremity imaginable. If I live my life focused on the outward man, I am doomed to failure. So I have to look inward and rely on my faith to keep fighting.
Inwardly is where my treasure from God lies. My faith, His Word, His love, peace, joy, patience, gentleness, and kindness all lives within me.
When I buy a car, it doesn’t matter what the body of the car looks like, it is what is under the hood that matters. It’s all about the engine or the heart of the car.
When I bake a cake, it doesn’t matter, how much frosting I put on top of the cake, it’s about the ingredients that I put inside of the cake.
When I buy I house, I don’t just focus on the paint colors and façade on the outside of the house. I need to know that the foundation and structure of the house is secure.
Outward appearances are great, but it what is on the inside that counts.
2 Corinthians 4:7 says that we are like clay jars in which the treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us.
God says I gave you a treasure: I put some good stuff inside of you and I expect you to use it to serve me.
Many people try to solve their problems with outward amenities
You may have the money to take a vacation, but when you get back, the problems are still there
You may have the ability to take a day off, but when you get back, the problems are still there
You have the inclination to go to a bar, but when the liquor wares off the problems are still there
You may have a doctor who can prescribe a narcotic, but when the pill wares off…
You may know a spa that eases the pain with a massage, but when the effects off …
God wants you to rely on His inner strength that doesn’t focus on fixing the problem from the outside, but fixing you on the inside.
On the inside I have to have character like David: He had two opportunities to kill Saul and become king, but he remained faithful to God’s timing and waited 17 years before he became king.
On the inside, I have to have patience like Sarah she didn’t have her son until she was 90.
On the inside, I have to have faith like Peter and believe that I can walk on water.
God puts His power on the inside of us. What is His power? Vs. 6 says, "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The Light: What is the Light? The Bible says Jesus is the Light, which means if I have the light I have Jesus. Light shuns darkness, light reveals the truth, light chases away fears, light removes all doubt, light brings healing, lights helps me to see my way clearly. Every time I go through something, I have to tell myself, I have to get the light. If I already have the light, I have to tell my self, I have to turn the light back on. If the light bulb is burned out, then I have to replace the light. If the light is not shinning brightly, then I have to make sure the power cord is plugged in all the way.
Church just because you are here this morning doesn’t mean that your light is working.
Tell your neighbor, I am here this morning because I want my light turned back on.
Every time I go through something, I have to tell myself, I can’t let me light burn out.
I can turn on my light by turning on the power of Jesus in my life.
II. Realizing Your Strength in the Midst of Trouble
(8)We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; (9) Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
In the midst of trouble, I have to call on the power of the Lord and not try to operate in my own strength.
Growing up, our parents spend so much time telling us to get an education so we can have mental strength.
Eat right so we can have physical strength.
Read a book so we can have intellectual strength.
But how much time did they spend telling us to read our Bible so we can have spiritual strength.
We spent so much time feeding our intellect, our mind, and our body, but we forgot to feed our spirit. We are spiritually anorexic
If the truth be told, most of us are tired. We have been trying to conquer the world; instead the world is conquering us because we are trying to fight the world in our own strength.
When you use your own strength, you get tired and you get frustrated,
My strength says attack my enemies, but God’s strength says I will make your enemies your foot stool
My strength says seek revenge, but God’s strength says, I will fight your battles
My strength says confront those who try to harm me, but God’s strength says no weapon from against me shall prosper
When I use my own strength, I may get in trouble, get fired, get fined, or get into a fight
However, God’s strength is so much better.
Nehemiah told his people that the “Joy of the Lord is your strength.” I compare God’s strength to a bouquet of flowers. Flowers appear fragile and powerless, but actually they have much power.
They have the power to bring a smile to someone’s face
Mend a broken relationship
Congratulate a recent accomplishment
Celebrate an anniversary or birthday
Flowers have so much power. But in order to get the benefits of the flowers, you have to invest in the purchase. You have to actually go to the store, pick the perfect flowers, purchase them, and deliver them.
It’s the same with God. We have to invest in His word in order to gain His strength.
When I try to use my own strength to force my way, the results are disastrous. Every time I barge in, exert my authority, control the situation, be demanding instead of loving, push others to the side, over step my bounds, or walk over someone, I succeed in getting by way, but I fail in being a true child of God.
But using God’s strength brings so much more.
It brings favor with man and God.
It brings prosperity and peace.
It brings wealth, but not as the expense of your health.
God’s strength is renewable, for God says I will renew your strength
God’s strength is powerful, for God is my rock, fortress, and my strong tower
God’s strength is everlasting, for God is with us always even unto the end of the earth
I have Faith to Keep Fighting and I keep fighting to have faith when I know have the strength of God in my life.
Life is not always fair and bad things happen to good people.
Sometimes Christians have financial problems; sometimes Christians get sick; sometimes Christians fight personal battles in their marriage, in their minds, even in their flesh, or their appetites.
But when I have faith in God, I can honestly say
I don’t focus on the trouble on every side, I don’t focus on being perplexed, I don’t focus on being persecuted, and I don’t even focus on being knocked down.
I focus on the part of the scripture that says not distressed, not in despair, not forsaken, not destroyed.
I came to tell somebody today: That it does not matter what the enemy is working against you, or what you’re struggling because the Bible says: No weapon that is formed against you shall be able to prosper.
The Bible did not say that Satan would not form weapons against you, or that he would not launch them at you, or that they would not touch you. But what the Bible does say is: It shall not prosper; it shall not accomplish its intended purpose.
As a matter of fact: The Bible teaches us that all things, work together for good to them who love the Lord and are the called according to his purpose.
Focus on God’s promises to bring you strength.
Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.
God has given me the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall be able to destroy me
III. Realizing Your Reward When You Keep Fighting (vs. 10)
I want to talk to somebody today who has been knocked down; life has thrown you an unexpected curve. Divorce, sickness, financial disaster, child is on drugs, company down sized and they let you go, dreams of starting your own business have been crushed, hurt by someone in the church. Where are you this morning?
It can be a thousand different things, but the bottom line is: You didn’t expect it and it hurt.
It knocked the breath out of you.
There was a story of a kid who was jumping in the bed when suddenly his grandmother called his name. Not wanting to get caught jumping in the bed, the boy quickly jumped out of the bed. However, he didn’t land on his feet; he landed on his stomach and it knocked the breath out of him. For a seconds, which seemed like minutes, the boy could not breathe, and he began to panic because he thought he was about to die. Finally, his grandmother came in and was able to help him, and the boy was alright.
Church some of us are like that little boy. In this old Christian journey, we have had the wind knocked out of us far too often. Each time, it seems like it is even harder to breath than the last time. But guess what? You are still here.
You made it the last time and you can make it again.
But you are still here; it didn’t kill you. It may have knocked you off your feet, it may have slowed you down, and it may have tripped you up, but you are still here.
That’s the greatest weakness of the devil.
He can attack us, but he can’t kill.
He can harass us, but he can’t hinder us.
He can trouble us, but he can’t triumph over us.
When Christians are knocked off their feet, they fall to their knees, and when they fall to their knees, they bow down to God, and when they bow down to God, they humble themselves, and when they humble themselves, God steps in like a super hero on steroids and saves the day.
I came here to tell somebody: You may have lost a round, but you are still in the fight.
Sometimes God allows us to be knocked down. Being knocked down is an opportunity to bow down.
The Bible tells us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. He searches our heart when we don’t know what to say. He finds the words when we are too hurt to pray. He intercedes on our behalf. That’s how we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. That’s how we know that if God be for us, who can be against us. That’s how we know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
Shall tribulation, no
Shall distress, no
Shall persecution, no
Shall famine, no
Shall nakedness, no
Shall peril or sword, no
Though I may be killed all the day long for Christ’ sake and accounted as sheep for the slaughter
In all things I can say that I am more than a conqueror through Him that loves me.
And I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
It’s Christ Jesus who died for me.
It’s Christ Jesus who hung on the cross for my sins
It’s Christ Jesus who took my punishment of death
It’s Christ Jesus who became the payment for my sins
Every time I think about what He has done for me, I gain the faith to keep fighting and I keep fighting to have faith. I know that I can’t give up, I can’t throw in the towel, I can’t quit.