HOW TO KEEP FROM QUITTING (Part 3)

Earlier this week we discovered two secrets for Paul’s lifetime commitment to sharing the gospel: He had a life-transforming ministry (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:1) and a valuable treasure in the gospel (4:7). As chapter 4 closes, Paul shares a third secret for his longevity in Christian service: We have an eternal perspective (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

Paul accepted that our outward man is perishing. When we read a text like 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, we understand the physical and emotional effect the ministry had on Paul:

“Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”

We know that the ministry takes its toll on our bodies and emotions. But it doesn’t end there. Paul had a renewal secret.

Paul asserted that our inner man can be renewed daily. He practiced the spiritual disciplines: He was a keen student of the Scripture. And he practiced fasting, went on spiritual retreats, and prayed with spiritual depth (Eph. 3:14-19). The result of spiritual renewal is described by George Duncan in his book Pastor and People as follows: “The Christian keeps on growing in his experience of God’s ways, in his knowledge of God’s Word, in his likeness to God’s Son, in his usefulness in God’s work, and in his conformity to God’s will.”

Paul underscored his eternal perspective on ministry with a series of contrasts:

• the outward man and the inner man 
• the temporal and the eternal
• the seen and the unseen
• light affliction and eternal glory

It is this final contrast that I personally find remarkable. When I consider a passage like 2 Corinthians 11, where Paul writes of his beatings, stonings, and shipwrecks in the context of “light afflictions,” I discover the heart of this soldier of the cross. In comparison, all I have suffered are some personal confrontations and a few sleepless nights after a bad board meeting. Paul had his mind and heart focused on something greater: An “eternal weight of glory” (4:17). “There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all those who have loved His appearing!” (2 Tim. 4:8).

I encourage you to keep pressing on. Though your earthen vessel may be weak, God has entrusted you with the gospel, a valuable treasure He has called you to share with others. Your crown is waiting!