Let's get after it. We got a doozy of a verse today, or three verses, actually, some of my favorite passages in all of Scripture, and I have a lot of favorites. It seems like whatever one we're preaching on, that's my new favorite. But this one has kind of been on the radar for a while in my life, on a lot of people's life. It's just a powerful passage. These three verses that we're going to look at have the ability to give you just the biggest punch in the gutter and the biggest hug at the same time. So both are important. But let me just give you the first six verses of our text to kind of let you know where we're going. This is what he says. So we do not lose heart now. Just that opening kind of draws us in because we all kind of wrestle with this temptation to lose heart just to like, I've had enough. I'm done. I'm tired of this. I don't want to do it anymore. To just kind of fall into discouragement. Because here's what's true for all of us, whether you believe in Christ or not. Maybe you're here because a friend invited you, but this is what's true for all of us. Life is hard. It's difficult. We're surrounded by brokenness. We have brokenness within us. There's sickness, there's death, there's sin. It's just, life is hard. And then you add, following Christ or trying to follow Christ in this world. On top of that, the Christian life is hard. Like Jesus calls us to the narrow road. He calls us to die, to ourselves. He calls us to live not for ourselves, but for him, and to stand for truth in a. In a world that doesn' to be a Christian has its challenges. In fact, I'm not going to read it to you, but I would love for you to write it down. Psalm 73 sometime today. Go back and read Psalm 73. But in Psalm 73, the Psalmist has this just really moment of honesty, of saying, hey, I find myself envying wicked people. Like, there's some jealousy that I have because I look at their life and it looks like they're having more fun than I am. It looks like they're getting away with it. Looks like they're getting to do everything that they want to do. And I'm trying to live for God, and I feel like it's not benefiting me, or I'm just kind of trapped in that, and it's all in vain. And he kind of has this envy towards wicked people. He's really discouraged. You might even say he's losing heart. And I want to ask ourselves, like, well, how do we not do that? How do we not lose heart? How do we not fall into just being overwhelmed with discouragement? And here's what's true for all of us, that if you're going to be serious about following Christ in this world, you're going to struggle, you're going to feel lonely, there's going to be hardship. In fact, Paul tells Timothy in second Timothy 3:12 that everyone who desires to live a godly life will be persecuted. Like, if you're going to be committed, like, you have this desire, I want to honor Christ in everything we do. He's like, we'll expect some opposition then. Like, don't expect that to just go smoothly. So how do we not lose heart? And this is kind of a theme or a big deal in chapter four of second Corinthians, because this is the second time that Paul says this statement. In fact, he starts out the chapter saying this. Therefore, having this ministry, by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. So this is the first time he says it. This one's not up on screen. This is for free. We do not lose heart. Then he says this. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. So what Paul is saying is like, we don't lose heart, but yet we don't tamper with God's word. Because one temptation to kind of give in to discouragement as a Christian is to change what God's word says. Because there's a. There's a struggle standing for truth. It's like going against the grain or going against the current. And it can just get exhausting. Like, when you're saying things people don' Want to hear, it just gets tiresome sometimes. And you'd be like, okay, well, I don't want to lose heart, so I'll just change what it says. It doesn't really say that about gender, and it doesn't really say that about sexuality. Or it doesn't really say that about money, or it doesn't really say that about service. Like, you want to say things people want to hear. And he's like, that's one way people try to avoid discouragement or losing heart. Paul's saying, I'm not doing that. I'm not tampering with God's word, but I'm also not losing heart. So if that's what you're not doing. What are you. What, what is it that you are doing that's kind of fortified your heart from this discouragement? And really, this is going to be a two week theme because we're going to get into chapter five next week. And Paul introduces some similar language, like, we're always of good courage or we're always of good cheer. So we're diving into this like, okay, how do we not lose heart? How do we kind of fortify our heart from discouragement? When I say how do we not lose heart, I don't mean how do we keep living the Christian life, but our heart's not in it. Like, I'm doing the right thing because it's the right thing. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying, like, how do we do the Christian life wholeheartedly? Like, how, despite the hardships and difficulty, do we maintain a passion and a zeal for what Christ has called us to? So that's where we're going. Second Corinthians, chapter four. We got three verses to look at, but we're going to get a running start into it. We're going to start in fact with verse seven and run all the way into verse 16. So that's a long Runway. You guys ready? All right. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken, Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you, since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written. I believed and so I spoke. We also believe and so we also speak, Knowing this is awesome. Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake. So that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God, so we do not lose heart. So you get this kind of Runway into the statement of, again of like, we don't lose heart. He's like, yeah, despite our persecution, we're not destroyed. And despite our oppositions, like, we're not completely struck down. Like, we don't driven to despair. Yeah, life is hard, but. But we have this kind of unshakable life. And through this, we're seeing more and more people come to faith. We're seeing grace extend to more and more people. We're seeing thanksgiving extend to more and more people. We're seeing the God glory extend to more and more people. Like, this is why we're not losing heart. And then he's about to go even deeper into this perspective that he. That he has, that has fortified his heart, kind of protecting him from falling into despair or protecting him from being overwhelmed with discouragement. And he's about to give us kind of the secret to the how do we not lose heart? So let's, let's look at our verses, verses 16, 17, and 18. But before we do that, let's pray together as a church family. And I don't. I don't mean like, listen to me pray. I want us all to pray that God would kind of use this text to shape us. So let's pray together. Father, your word is alive. It's active. And we don't want to gather this morning just to read it or just to talk about it. We truly want to be changed by it, changed by you through your word. So I pray, I pray that a lot of people in this room are praying this give us understanding in a way that changes, changes our hearts, changes our minds, changes our lives. For your glory, pray this in your name. All God's people said. All right, let's get after this three verses. I'm going to read them all and then we'll go back, we'll go slower so we can really understand it. Verse 16. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Now, what you're going to notice in just three verses is that Paul's making a lot of comparisons. He's comparing the outer self with the inner self. He's comparing light with weighty. He's comparing momentary with eternal. He's comparing seen with unseen. He's comparing transient with eternal. Like it's three verses. There's a lot of comparisons that he's making. And he's making this on purpose because ultimately he's comparing his lifestyle to their lifestyle or his values to the culture of Corinth and their values. He's saying, I know you value the outer self and I know you value kind of the temporary life. I'm calling you to value the inner self. I'm calling you to value eternal life like I'm calling you. Don't get wrapped up in the values of the world. Join me in a sacrificial, cross bearing, self denying, narrow road traveling Christianity and the Corinthians might look at him and be like, I see all your suffering. I don't know if I want to join in on that. So if you get that and it's kind of like, wow, man, doing that's going to be hard doing that. Like, Paul's not denying that, but what's the incentive to that? Why would he invite them into something so hard and so difficult? Because he's saying, yeah, I do that, but I don't lose heart. Like, I'm doing the hard things. But my heart is so protected, my joy, my contentment, my peace is so guarded. He's inviting them in to do this. So how do you do this but not lose heart? And here's the answer to that question. Well, your values have to change. Like, you can't continue to value what the world values and live like I live. You have to embrace my values to embrace my lifestyle. But if you continue to value what the world values, then you're going to live like the world lives. So you need to have a value switch. And in these verses, he kind of makes a case to value what we ought to value. More specifically, we need to have a value or we need to value spiritual over physical and we need to value the eternal over the momentary. So you got that? I'll break that down. The spiritual over the physical and the eternal over the momentary. So let's take a look at each one of these. Let's go back to verse 16. Feel free to amen anytime you see or hear something great. The third service, when we're rocking. All right, here's what he says. So we do not lose heart. Though the outer self is wasting away, Our inner self is being renewed day by day. So in this case of like, we don't lose heart, he's going to go right into this argument of, okay, I'm going to be honest with you. We don't lose heart, but here's what's happening. The outer self is wasting away. He makes that statement right away. Now, how many have experienced the reality of the outer self wasting away? I'm kidding. A lot of hands. It's been very enthusiastic response all morning about the outer self wasting away. Like, we all feel that, like, even at a young age, you go to the eye doctor and it's like, oh, my prescription got worse. Like, my eyes are getting worse. Like, we see this constantly. We feel this in our life. In fact, a few weeks ago, we went as a family to watch my nephew play football. And after the game was over and we were sitting in the bleachers for the game, and we got down, we started to walk to the car. And I have this problem. Like, I walk in front of my family often, and I try to slow down, but anytime I slow down, it feels like they slow down. It's another topic. But we're walking and I'm out in front, and I hear one of my kids ask my wife, ask Marcy, like, is dad hurt? Why is he limping? And she knew the answer right away. No, he's not limping. He's just been sitting for a while. Like, you don't get up from a bed and just walk upright right away. Like, takes at least 100 yards to kind of. Does anybody know what I'm saying here? You gotta feel that, right? Like, what I meant. Like, our bodies, they break down. And he said, you know this. Like, our outer selves are wasting away, but the inner self is being renewed day by day. Is anybody experiencing that? Because hear me now, it's easy to get frustrated with the outer self wasting away when you're not experiencing the inner self being renewed day by day. And Paul's saying, like, I get it. Like, these ailments, these bruises, these trials, this body that's dying, I get it, and I get that's what you see. But here's what's going on. I'm being renewed internally, day by day. I'm having a harvest of the fruit of the spirit in my life. I'm growing in love, and I'm growing in patience, and I'm growing in kindness, and I'm growing in contentment. I'm growing in joy. Like, this is all happening in the inner man. So Paul's making this case, which makes me want to kind of pose a question to us, because we have a culture much like Corinth. I want to pose a culture to us, to kind of, in your own mind, be honest with yourself. Do we really value the inner self more than the outer self? Or let me personalize it. Do you think you really value the inner self more than the outer self? Which do you think you care about more? What do you think you're more passionate about? Which one do you think you give more time and attention to young people looking for a spouse? Which one do you think is more important to you? Because I'm telling you, you don't marry a body, you marry a person. And that body will waste away day by day, and you're going to be left with a person. If you had the choice, if somebody said you could have the outer self of your dreams, snap a finger, you get it? Or you could have Christ dwell more richly in you, which one would you want? Like, honestly, which one would you desire more? And here's the thing. Listen to me now. I'm not saying they both don't have value, right? Because I know you can think that you're like, Jake, you're up there talking about food all the time and you're fat. So obviously you don't care about it, which is really hurtful that you would think that. In fact, I can't even believe you said that. But you look and be like, yeah, you kind of downplay this. No, they both have value. Paul says that. In fact, this is 1 Timothy 4, 8. He says this, for while bodily training is of some value, Godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise to the present life and also for the life to come, right? So I'm not saying it, Paul saying it right there, bodily training, outer. It has some value, right? Does everybody hear me? It has some value. Eat your vegetables, do a workout, work, do some cardio, take care of yourself, live a long, healthy life, like, you know, live to hold your grandkids. I'm saying, yes, it has value. But what Paul is saying in the statement is. He's saying it has value, but godliness has so much more value. And we've flipped it in our society where we treasure the physical health and kind of downplayed the spiritual health church. We are obsessed with the outer self, and we give far little attention to the inner self. We are obsessed with the outer self and we give far too little attention to the inner self. And listen to me, if you take the opposite logical conclusion here, then what Paul is saying is, let me tell you how to lose heart, which by the way, is rampant in our society with discouragement and depression and anxiety. And Paul, Paul would be saying, let me tell you how to lose heart. This is the way you do it. You value things or overvalue things that are wasting away, right? You put all your chips in that basket. You treasure those things, like you just crave them. And they're going to fade away. Like, we live in a culture that loves us some outer self, don't we? Like the amount of money we spend on health and appearance and clothes and creams to get little wrinkles. And Botox. I heard the other day there's something called Bro Talks. It's when guys are getting Botox. Let that settle a little bit, right? But Paul's saying, like, let me tell you how to lose heart. Love things that are dying, care way too much about things that are dying. You get so passionate about trying to get rid of all your wrinkles, only the next day to find a new wrinkle, right? And you're deficit because you're just caring so much about things that are fleeting. And so the Corinthians, who look at Paul's outer self, which is not impressive. In fact, in Galatians 4, you can kind of make some conclusions that Paul had a condition that probably aided to not an impressive external appearance. And Paul's like, I get it. I mean, I'm coming to Corinth. Corinth. Everybody's beautiful and impressive in Corinth. Everybody's rich and important in Corinth. And I'd show up, and I'm not much to look at. I'm not very impressive. I'm not very wealthy. I'm covered in bruises, and I have a life of suffering. I get it. But what you don't get is I don't care that much about what's going on out here, but I love what's going on in here. And if all you see is what's going on out here, then you're missing it. But if you could see what's going on in my heart, then you would probably treasure my life, too. And he's calling them to have different values. It's what people should notice about us, not what you wear, how you look. They should notice your character, your godliness, your patience, your contentment, your joy. You look at the Amish, they dress just plainly, just kind of the same thing all the time. Just kind of a. Just plain clothes. Because they're trying not to draw attention to themselves. In fact, the Puritans did the same thing. The Puritans were known for swearing plain clothes because it's like, I'm not trying to just draw attention to myself. I'm trying to live out my character. In fact, if we kind of voted on church uniforms, I'd be all for it. Like, let's do it. Let's do that. And I know you're thinking like, how can he say that? It looks so dapper up there, but I'm not holding my breath like that's gonna happen. But what I'm saying is we have to become a people who value the inner self more than the outer self. And I know we live in this culture of, like, self expression. And I wanna express myself. I'm all for that. Express your inner self. Don't distract from your inner self with your outer self. Like, help people see your godliness. Help them see your joy, help them see your kindness, help them see your godliness, your contentment in this world. Show them your generosity, show them your inner self, your spirit. Like, that's true beauty for all of us. That's a men and a women thing. But we have to place a higher value on the inner self. And you can get as mad as you want at society for valuing those things. But it's got to start personally, like, what do you value? What do you. And there's two ditches to fall in here. You could be somebody who makes your life ambition about driving the nicest and living in the coolest and looking the best, or you can just despise everybody that does those things. Both are examples of treasuring the wrong thing too much. Like Paul says, it's the love of money that's the root of all kind. Not just the having of money, but this treasuring of it. And there's different ways to show that you treasure it. So look at me, church. I want you as one of your pastors, I want you to hear this. When it comes to the outer self and the craziness in our world, let it go. Let it go. So you got a new wrinkle. Your whole body's going to be dead soon, right? Let it go. Treasure something greater. And get this. Not only is Paul calling us to care more about the inner self than the outer self, he is saying in a way that implies you're an idiot if you don't like. You get that? He's telling you your body, your outer self, is wasting away. It is dying. It's a terrible investment. But your inner self is being renewed day by day. So how foolish is it to put all your chips in something that's dying and neglect something that's being raised to life? We gotta have a value switch. Which brings us to our next point of valuing eternal things over the momentary things. Look at verse 17. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So Paul's like, yeah, My life is hard. You know that. I'm not trying to hide it. It's full of affliction and suffering. In fact, Second Corinthians may be the most defensive and biographical letter that Paul writes. And then chapter 11. I'm gonna start in the middle of verse 23. It's not up there, but if you have your Bibles, you can. You can see it. But it's in. It's in chapter 11. He starts with saying this. It's like I'm talking like a madman. With fear, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. He's got. The amount of times he's been beaten with rods. That's crazy. Once I was stoned. Biblically, not contemporary. Three times I was shipwrecked. Can you imagine? Like to be in a shipwreck three different times. Three times he was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, dangers from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Like, this is Paul's life. I've been in shipwrecked, I've been beaten, I've been whipped 39 times. I've been beaten with rods three times. I've been adrift overnight on sea, I've been lost in the woods, I've been hungry. Like, this is his life. And for context, this is what he considers light. Right? And I'm not trying to make light of any suffering here, and Paul's not trying to make light of his suffering. But I'm just saying he's got some credentials when he talks about suffering. This is what he considers light. And for clarity, what he considers momentary is a lifetime. Like all it can last is a lifetime. Then it's over. It's over forever. But Paul is saying, I'm not trying to live my best life now. I'm not trying to fulfill all my hopes and dreams in this life. What is he living for eternity? Or. I love how he puts it. The eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Now, the only way to know that it's beyond all comparison is to compare it. Like he looked at his life and his sufferings and the promises of God. He held them both up. And he made a comparison and in comparison he made the conclusions. Oh well, it's light. Yeah, Getting beat with rods and shipwrecked and whipped and thrown into prison, that's light compared to an eternal weight of glory. I love some translations. An eternal tonness of glory, like it's just a ton of glory. And in light of all that glory that I'll receive through Christ Jesus as my Savior, these sufferings are considered light in comparison. And in comparison it's momentary. Like for Paul it's like these are decades, like this is his life of suffering. But in comparison it's like, oh, it's gonna be over like that. And then I'm with my savior forever. Like how many of you guys remember the house you lived in when you were six months old, right? It's like it's gone, it seems like forever ago. Do you think you're going to remember the car you drove, the house you lived in, how much you weighed a million years from now? Especially a million years from now when you're dealing with a tonnage of glory. Paul has this perspective. He's like, yeah, it's hard, but not compared to what's waiting for me. Yeah, it's long, but not compared to what's waiting for me. Listen to me, Church. If you have a big view of glory, you're going to have greater stamina for suffering. If you have a big view of glory, you're going to have a greater stamina for suffering. And Paul had a stamina for suffering like he could endure it. And you know why? Because he had a big view of glory. He was so excited about what was waiting for him. Don't let anyone tell you that you are too heavily minded to be of any earthly good. The problem is we are not heavily minded enough. We're not captivated enough, we're not excited enough about the promises of God, about what's waiting for us. And notice the word Paul uses here because this is a game changer. He says, for this light, momentary affliction is. What's that next word? Is what? Preparing. Preparing. For us, it's preparing. Or the word could mean producing or causing or bringing about. And what he's saying is our suffering has purpose, there's meaning to our suffering. It's not meaningless. When you go through hardships and difficulties in life, it's not meaningless. And worldly people can look at the bad things that happen in this world and the only conclusion is that's rough, that's bad, that's unfortunate. But Paul looks at These afflictions he goes through and has this attitude that's helpful, that's, that has purpose. Like, what makes him think that way? Like, how does he have that perspective? I want to point out kind of three thoughts to why suffering or affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory. The first one, suffering highlights the wasting away of the outer self. Suffering highlights the wasting away of the outer self. Like it shines this big spotlight on, yeah, this stuff's breaking down. It's not going to last. And it serves as kind of a financial advisor. Like, this is a terrible investment to put all your chips in this basket and be so passionate about things that won't last. You know, Christians in rough conditions, if you ever have the blessing to just interact with dear brothers and sisters in Christ that are in some really tough conditions, they talk often of heaven. They talk with an excitement and a passion for the return of Jesus. But Christians in affluent conditions with multiple cars and automatic garage door openers and garbage disposals, they don't talk as much about the return of Christ. Not against it, they're for it. Come, Lord Jesus. But if you could wait till after spring break because we've been really saving for this cruise and we can't wait to take it. Like, there's other things that are kind of preoccupying them. And suffering has this ability to break this love affair with this life. And two, affliction also prepares us as a means of our inner self renewal. It's a means of this day by day renewal of the inner self. So just like if you were going to work out physically, you make your muscles suffer in a workout, you tear them down, you make your lungs suffer to be in better shape while suffering through life grows us spiritually. And Paul, who values the inner life, embraces the opportunity to grow it. He's like, I didn't choose this. I didn't choose to be shipwrecked. But man, my prayer life is going to grow. I didn't choose imprisonments, but boy, this is going to help me learn contentment. I didn't choose rejection, I didn't choose to be beat with rods. But man, this is going to help me rely on my Savior. Like he's treasuring, growing and being more shaped like the image of Christ, suffering grows the inner self. And number three, hardship creates hunger. Hardship creates hunger. What he's saying is it's preparing us for this eternal weight of glory. Or in other words, all this affliction, all this suffering, all this hardship is increasing our hunger. For eternity. It's increasing our hunger for eternity. I think I've shared this with you before, but in college workouts, we did workouts in the. In the winter, if you. In Phoenix, if you want to call it winter. But we had to be on the field at 5am if you missed, if it was 501 gate was locked and they wouldn't let you in. You just had to be there. 4:00am the next morning, you just don't miss. You don't. You don't miss. So 5am it's dark out, and for an hour on the field, you get screamed at and you yell and you puke. That's just what's going to happen. All right? Every morning, 5am screamed at, yell, puke, and just do it. And when the workout was over was when the sun rose. So everybody knew where east was during the workout. And you would just work out and you would always look kind of the horizon because as soon as it started to get a little light, you knew, like, oh, we're almost done, we're almost done. Like, keep going. And never in my life have I ever been more happy to see the sunrise than at Matt Drill workouts in college because of all the suffering and hardship you're doing in that workout. And then to see, like, the sun rising as an indicator, it's over, it's done. And when Christians live a life fully devoted to Christ, embracing the hardship, following the narrow road, dying to self, there's this eager anticipation for the sun to rise, for the sun to return. And you have such great anticipation and excitement for it. And we would all do better with a greater hunger for the return of Christ. So the call is to value the inner self more than the outer self, to value the eternal more than the temporary. And the reason why are pretty clear. It's like, well, the outer self is wasting away. It's dying. It's here and it's gone. But the more important question, I think, is not necessarily the why, but the how, or the more helpful question is the how. Because if I say, hey, we should value the inner self more than the outer self, I don't think a lot of you are going to argue with that. Or we should value the eternal more than the momentary. I don't think a lot of you are going to argue with that. But the question is, how do we do that? How do you actually practically value the inner self more than the outer self and value the eternal more than the temporary? You guys ask great questions. Let's look at verse 16 through 18 again, we're going to run into verse 18 so we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look. That's the call to action, or that's what he's saying is the kind of key to this happening as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. So this inner self being renewed day by day and this affliction that's actually preparing us for this eternal way to glory happens as we look. So this work in us is happening as we're doing this, as we're looking not to the things that are unseen, but to the or to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. This is the ongoing action that contributes to not losing heart in the face of hardship in our life. And Paul's talking about what we focus on, what we give our attention to, because here's what we need to know. What you focus on shapes who you are. What you focus on shapes who you are. I'll put it this way. What you focus on reveals what you value. And you can say you value whatever you want to say, but it's like, boy, it seems like you're always talking about this and you're always bringing this up and you always kind of. It's like, yeah, it's because it's what you value in your heart. That's why it's so frequently coming out of your mouth. And maybe you believe in Jesus, but you're giving so much focus to how you look, what you make, what you drive, where you live, what other people think about you. You're consumed on social media, on the likes you're getting or not getting. You're consumed with what other people think of you. You're consumed with your status. You're consumed with your appearance. And you wonder why you're so discouraged. You wonder why you're losing heart. And you wonder why you're so full of anxiety. And you wonder why you're so quick to anger. Because you're investing in things that are perishing. Like that's the recipe for discouragement. I'm just trying to stay young as long as possible. That's a failing effort. Why would you ever make that your ambition in life? You will lose that fight and you'll just be full of discouragement. I'm just trying to get as rich as possible. You can't take it with you. You'll lose it all. That is stupid living. Yeah, but everybody's doing it. I know it's the broad road. Paul's calling us to the narrow road. And it's just this recipe for discouragement. To care so much about things that don't matter, to be so passionate about things that you that are just dying and wasting and fleeting. And our hearts are off because our focus is off. And we have to more proactively give our attention or our focus to the inner self and to eternal things. So here's the call to action. On one level, he's challenging our values. You need to value the inner self more than the outer self. You need to value the eternal more than the temporary. But on another level, to do that, you got to give more attention to the inner self than the outer self. You've got to give more focus to the eternal more than the temporal. And as much as you may profess, oh yeah, I value that. I value that. If you are going to continue to struggle with discouragement, as long as you are practically valuing lesser things, as long as you are practically making your life about outer self stuff, as long as you continue to make your life about momentary stuff, it's going to end in discouragement. It's going to lead to discouragement. And notice this, there are two directives here. This is important to see. There are two directives here. He says, as we look, not to the things that are seen, but you could add in there as we look, which is implied, to the things that are unseen. So we're being told not to do something, and we're being told to do something. You're saying, don't look at this, look at this. Right? So here's some questions. Let's get a little practical for a moment here. What are the things you need to stop looking to? What are the things you need to stop looking to? How do you need to reduce your focus on the scene world? Maybe you spend far too much time on social media and it just kind of reinforces worldliness. It reinforces an outer self overvaluing. Maybe the shows you watch, maybe they're not bad, but they just reinforce outer self value. They reinforce worldliness. Maybe you're in a job that's just got you on this climb the corporate ladder. Make more, do more, be more important. And what practical changes do you really need to make? Maybe you need to set some time limits for yourself and your phone. Maybe there's some shows or some books or magazines that you say, I need to be reading these, watching These. It's just making me value the wrong things. And you're like, well, I like it. I enjoy it. I know. And alcoholics love alcohol. Paul's talking about, you want to care about your joy. You want to fortify your heart from discouragement. It does come down to what you focus on and what you don't focus on. It does come down to what you look at and what you don't look at. It does come down to what you give attention to and what you don't give attention to. So what are the things you need to stop looking to? And the second question, what are the things you need to be looking more to? How do you need to increase your focus on what is unseen? And you might wonder, like, well, how do I look at something that's unseen? Like, that's an interesting question. And we'll actually get into that next week. When Paul, in verse seven of chapter five, when he says, we walk by faith, not by sight. So here, when he's calling us to look at what can't be seen, he's saying, like, I want you to look at what you believe. I want you to give focus and attention to the promises that you've embraced. I want you to give attention to these glorious things. And here's the good news. Don't miss the good news. Christ has given us something unseen to look at. He's given us something unseen to look towards, an eternal weight of glory, a tonnage of glory. And it's beyond all comparison. There's nothing in this life better than the glory Christ has for us. There's no suffering that we wouldn't consider light in light of the glory that is waiting for us in Christ Jesus. So give attention to that. Give focus to it. Think about it, dwell on it. Let it shape your life, your joy, your ambition, your values. So, Church, I want to sum this up, and I really want you to get these three verses, because it's important. Here's the what of these three verses. The what is? You need to value your inner life more than your outer life. You need to value eternal things more than more than momentary things. Here's the how. You need to focus on your inner life more than your outer life. You need to give more attention to eternal things than momentary things. But he's going to come back and reinforce the why at the end. Here's what he says. Let's read of all verse 18. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal. This word transient, it's the only time Paul uses this word. But the word does get used elsewhere in Scripture. And one of the places it gets used is in Jesus telling the parable of the sower. You guys remember that parable where you got a sower casting seeds and it lands on different soil, kind of representing different. How different people receive the word of God? Well, this word gets used in that parable when talking about the seed that lands on the rocky soil and what happens there. It springs up immediately, but then the sun comes out and it squelches and it's gone. So it's describing, like, it was there not long and it's gone. So that's the imagery that Paul's given here. Like, yeah, it's here. You could look at it, but it's going to be gone quick. Like your house, it's here, it'll be gone, right? Your bank account is going to be gone. Your body, it's going to be gone. Your treasures, it's going to be gone. So why would you give so much value to it? It's going to be gone like that. Rather focus on what's eternal, what's going to last forever. So here's what we need to remember. Church. Don't lose heart living for Christ by focusing on being like Christ. And with Christ. I want you to understand what I'm saying here. Don't lose heart living for Christ, because that can happen. It can be challenging in this world. But the way that you not lose heart living for Christ is by focusing on being like Christ. And with Christ, knowing that all the afflictions, all the hardships, it's just going to conform me more into the image of the Son. It's just going to teach me to pray more, to trust more, to be more content. It's just going to shape me. Like, I love that. Like, just passionately want to be like Christ. You'll embrace everything that comes your way because it has meaning in shaping you to be more like Christ. So treasure being like Christ and treasure being with Christ, because anything that you go through, it can only last a lifetime and it's over. And then you can be with him forever in an eternal tonnage of glory. Be passionate about that and it'll shape the way you live. You put it this way, don't lose heart in this life by focusing on the next. And you know what? That's exactly what the psalmist did in Psalm 73. So you're gonna. I trust you. You're Gonna read that psalm later today. And you got this psalmist confessing. And I got jealous about wicked people. I looked at their life, and it looked like they were having all the fun, and I wanted to be them. But then in the middle of the psalm, he says this. But then I went into the sanctuary of God and I discerned their end. And then he's like, oh, I don't want to be like them at all. Like, when I'm just looking at this momentary life. Yeah, I want what they have, I want what they do. But if I step back and look at the big, the eternal picture, I don't want to be them at all. And Paul's like saying, you're just caught up in this Corinthian culture where you value the wrong things and you're so into your looks and you're so into your money and you're so into your status and you're so into your. And you are so lost. But if you could step back and look at all of eternity, you would embrace my values. You would embrace my values, the inner self, the eternal things. And when you embrace my values, you would embrace my lifestyle, Even though from your vantage point, it doesn't look that attractive. As church, let's not have misplaced values. Don't love the wrong things. Don't love fleeting things that are here today and gone tomorrow. Don't be obsessed with the outer self. But to do that, you're going to have to be proactive in what you focus on, what you give your attention to. And it would be so sweet if we just had a greater hunger for the return of Christ, a greater passion to be conformed in the image of Christ, and a greater anticipation to be with Christ. And if we did, it would fortify your heart. You would be guarded from losing heart, being overwhelmed with discouragement and church. Our greatest apologetic to this world should be our ability not to lose heart. It doesn't matter who's president. It doesn't matter what the medical diagnosis is. It doesn't matter what's in my bank account. It's all just preparing me for an eternal way to glory that is beyond all comparison. And when people look at us, would they see people who are not so wrapped up in momentary fleeting things, but have our eyes and hearts set on Christ and being like Christ and being with Christ forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, I know saying a lot of these things is a lot different than living them out. I pray that by the power of your spirit, which is the only thing that can do this? Would you break our love affair with this world? Would you help us not care so much about what we look like, what other people think of us, how much money we're making? And would you captivate our hearts with just being more like you and being with you? Will you turn us into a church that just treasures being more like you and being with you? And would we not be known for what we look like or what we make or what we do? Would we be known by the joy you've put in us, by the contentment we have because of the gospel, by the kindness we have because of the kindness you showed us, by the forgiveness we offer because of the forgiveness we've received? And would we show other people what it looks like to not lose heart? But more importantly, would we glorify you by being people who don't lose heart because we have you and you are the prize. We pray this in your name. Amen