How To Value The Invisible

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week? We normally thank God at Thanksgiving for the food and shelter he provides, for friends, family, faith, and country. We often thank God for those visible signs of his grace upon our lives. Today, I want us to think a little differently. I want us to thank God for the invisible realities that bless our lives.

We’ve created microscopes to see microbes and even atoms. We’ve created telescopes so we can see the galaxies and stars so far away. We like to be able to see what is invisible to the naked eye. I was in third grade when my dad gave me a microscope for my birthday. I still have it. It still works. It fascinated me that I could see things through it that were invisible to my eyes. We don’t have a scope to see invisible spiritual realities, at least not one we put up to our eyes. If we did, wouldn’t that be something? If I held it up to my eye right now, I wonder how many angels I could see? We may not have a scope to put up to our physical eyes, but God has given us tools to be able to know these invisible realities are real. We put the eyes of faith up to these tools and come to “see” and believe many things.

The best things about Christianity are invisible. In fact the most valuable things we believe are invisible. I can’t see heaven, but I value it. I can’t see Jesus, but I believe in him and put my life in his hands. I can’t see the event in history that saved my life. I can’t see angels. When I’ve watched people die, I couldn’t see them leave their bodies, but that’s what I believe happened at death. I believe that I am more than a body. I have a soul. I can’t see it. All of these invisible things, I believe and I value. I value them with my life. In fact if you were to ask me which I value more, I value the invisible realities more than the visible realities. I believe that everything I can see with my eyes is temporary, but there are permanent and eternal things that I cannot see with my eyes. Am I naļve or am I smart? You decide.

I can’t see wind, but I can see its effects.

When I was a child I had a strange theory about wind. I saw the trees moving and developed a childlike theory. I believed the wind was caused by the moving trees blowing the air like a fan. It made sense to me. In Japan, everyone fanned themselves with fans. Fans created wind. Trees were like those fans. We laugh now, but grown adults today have worse theories than that. You see, I attributed wind (something you can’t see) to its cause (something you see). People today are explaining all of creation this way. They look at the cause, and explain it only by what they see rather than by the true unseen cause. We know we can’t see wind but only its effects. So it is with God.

Maybe you have heard the story about the family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. To them, in their piano-world, came the music of the instrument, filling all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was someone who made the music--though invisible to them--above, yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned, very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths that trembled and vibrated. They must revise all their old beliefs; none but the most conservative could any longer believe in the Unseen Player. Later, another explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, numbers of hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a myth--. But the pianist continued to play.

I can’t see love, but I feel its effects. I can’t see your thoughts, except when you convey them to me. The fact of the matter is, I can’t see life, I can only see its effects. Science describes life, but it can’t create life. Oh, it created clones, but that’s life from life. Life itself is from God. We can’t quite put a handle on it. We describe it, we break it down into its essential components, but what is it. Why can’t we see it? Where does it come from?

What about thoughts? I can’t see your thoughts, but you think. I learn about your thoughts and that they exist only when you choose to reveal them to me.

I don’t know everything you believe, but I’d be surprised if any of you here only believe what you can see with your own eyes. Even from a scientific standpoint, we have come to believe there are germs that we can’t see without a scope. We have come to believe there are stars that we can’t see without a scope. It was the scopes that helped prove the existence of these invisible physical realities. There are also mysteries to life that are understood only with the help of the scope of faith, a tool combined with the scope of revelation that helps explain the invisible spiritual mysteries. Today we focus on some invisible things that have been revealed, not through physical scopes, but through supernatural revelation. The Bible is the best scope given to man, to understand spiritual invisible realities. I believe in these invisible realities, atheists don’t. An Atheist is a man without any invisible means of support.

Focus: When we develop the eyes of faith we see that what is of greatest value are things we cannot see with our physical eyes.

We value so many things. We value health, we value property, and we value relationships, just to name a few. Let’s consider the first one I mentioned, health. We rank that high on our lists. I know I do. I appreciate being able to run, laugh, smell, taste, feel, hear, and enjoy life. These little joys are more difficult to come by when health has been undermined. The strange thing about life is that eventually, everyone will struggle with health related issues, that is, if they are lucky enough to live long enough to go through the process of wasting away. I know that’s not a thought we like to think about. It is disheartening to think that the lucky ones live to old age and face declining health. The Bible tells us not to lose heart over this obviously disheartening fact that there is no way to avoid outwardly wasting away as we age.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV) ¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So 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.

I. We Are Visibly Wasting Away But Invisibly Renewed (v. 16)

2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV) ¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Isn’t aging a challenge?

Three older ladies were discussing the travails of getting older.

One said:

"Sometimes I catch myself with a jar of mayonnaise in my hand in front of the refrigerator and can't remember whether I need to put it away, or start making a sandwich."

The second lady chimed in, "Yes, sometimes I find myself on the landing of the stairs and can't remember whether I was on my way up or on my way down."

The third one responded, "Well, I'm glad I don't have that problem; knock on wood," as she rapped her knuckles on the table, then told them, "That must be the door, I'll get it!"

The process

I was born. I grew. I stopped growing. I started growing again, in places I didn’t want to grow, in the middle instead of from the ends! First I had growing pains. Then I enjoyed the pains of development as I adhered to the rules of the gym, “no pain, no gain.” I began to appreciate what muscle pain can do for you. Today, there’s another philosophy that’s sounding pretty good, that’s, “No pain, no pain.” I don’t press as hard. I’m prone to more injuries. Many of you have been kind enough to remind me it gets more exciting along the way as I get older. Oh boy! Getting old is not for cowards. But Paul tells us not to lose heart. And he tells us why. This decline does not have to happen to the permanent invisible part of us. Though our mirrors assault us with what we do see, the Bible tells us to look for something we can’t see with our eyes.

A. So Don’t Lose Heart

Underline the words in verse 16, “Therefore we do not lose heart.”

II. Our Momentary Afflictions Don’t compare to Our Eternal Glory (v. 17).

¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

A. There is a Comparison

Doesn’t it sound strange to you to call the deep and sustained suffering “momentary and light afflictions”? It sounds strange to call long lasting suffering, momentary. Pain has a way of making time slow down. What’s the longest hour? It’s the hour of greatest pain. Some pain feels like it lasts “forever.” Paul is lumping all of this together with the descriptive phrases “momentary” and “light”. How can he do this? He does this because of the tremendous truth he is teaching us about glory—something we don’t yet fully see and experience. He is comparing and contrasting that which we do experience with that which we will experience. He takes what we can see with our eyes and contrasts it with what he wants us to see with the eyes of our faith. All that pain is going to seem momentary, minor, no big deal, when we are finally experiencing the eternal glory. The afflictions we face here are temporary! We must remind ourselves of this.

I learned a child’s version of this theology when I was a child in the Japanese dentist chair. It is the “this pain won’t last” kind of theology. I would hold my mother’s hand as the Japanese dentist drilled my teeth (without Novocain—at least to my knowledge). I’d hang on tight and tell myself this was going to be over soon, and I’d get a hamburger and milkshake afterwards (this was a very rare treat in Japan in the 60’s). The “This pain won’t last” theology is part of what Paul is giving us here. Hang on; it is not going to last, and what you experience now doesn’t even compare with the glory to come!

What is momentary is being compared with what is eternal. What is light is being compared to what is weighty. A comparison is being made to show that the contrast is so great that there is no comparison. It is because of this comparison that Paul can say of any suffering here on earth that it is momentary and light affliction in comparison to the eternal and weighty glory! The eternal glory is so great it cannot be outweighed, or overshadowed by the visible afflictions we go through now. Nothing now will diminish the glory later. If anything, the glory will be greater in light of our current and momentary troubles.

We experience a little of this concept even in our earthly existence. What was the best meal you ever tasted? Many people who have experienced real hunger—I mean hunger that comes close to suffering—might refer to the small and meager meal, after a long time without food, as being the best food they ever tasted. I remember the best tasting glass of milk I ever tasted was the first glass of milk I had in the hospital after being fed intravenously for 10 days. Heaven will be that much sweeter to those who have been longing for heaven. But I think there is more to this comparison even than that.

B. There is a Correlation

There is a correlation between our momentary suffering and the weight of eternal glory! There is a thought in this sentence we better not miss. There is a connection between our faithfulness under these afflictions and the “weight” of the glory we will experience. Look at the word “achieving”.

Momentary troubles are “achieving for us an eternal glory”.

We have to be careful here with this word achieving. We have to be careful not to think that we can achieve for ourselves salvation. Scripture makes it clear that salvation is a gift to receive not something you can achieve.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

However, having received the gift of salvation by faith, that same faith will continue to express itself in faithfulness. It seems to me from this verse and others, that there are varying degrees of reward given in heaven. The expression of faith’s faithfulness through suffering will receive “weightier” glory. Those who are faithful to Christ through suffering will not go un-rewarded. There is a disproportionate reward. Little and momentary faithful suffering yields disproportionate amounts of weighty and eternal glory. The rewards of the faithful sufferer will be even greater in heaven than someone who received the gift and never suffered for it. This is not the only passage of scripture I base this on. If this is true, then . . .

· Suffering Does Not Need To Be Pointless

As we learn through our suffering, and we remain faithful through our suffering, God sees, and God will more than compensate for what we have gone through. There are important benefits that can come from our hardships. Some of these benefits we can enjoy now, and some benefits we will enjoy later.

Hardships

(1) Hardships can help us identify with Christ’s suffering for us.

(2) Hardships keep us from pride.

(3) Hardships cause us to look beyond this brief life.

(4) Hardships help us to identify with others who are experiencing hardships, so that we can more effectively minister to them, and bring the comfort to them. We comfort others with the comfort we receive from God.

(5) Hardships give us opportunities to demonstrate our faith to others.

(6) Hardships give God the opportunity to demonstrate his power.

(7) Hardships do for our spiritual muscles what a strenuous workout does for our physical muscles. We cannot see it with our eyes, but the inward man is being renewed and strengthened day by day. Day by day the “weight of glory” is being added to you. While you may be wasting away physically, you are becoming a spiritual heavy weight!

If we know these, we can see our troubles as opportunities!

I’ve run into a number of you who feel like you have very little to offer this church, yet you have lived life faithfully and have become spiritual heavy weights. You need to be affirmed today. You are just like Paul describes here, outwardly you feel like you are wasting away. You can’t do the physical labor of upkeep. You can’t keep up with any children in a classroom. But you can pray. Listen, without you heavyweights doing your job praying for God’s work to be done, this place would be falling apart. The enemy would destroy us. You keep sending up the aerial warfare from where you are and I’ll stay on the front lines. If you stop sending up the aerial warfare through your prayers, I’m dead. I believe that. Our ministry here will go only as far as our prayers will take us. Now that doesn’t mean everyone should stop working, and serving outwardly. Any suffering for the cause of Christ is worth it! It takes suffering and sacrifice to expand Christ’s Kingdom. And he has called us to the task. I thank God we have a force of spiritual heavy weights around here. Don’t sell yourself short because you don’t wear any job title, or have a ministry job description.

I believe that when hardships bring about these benefits and values to our lives now, they are also “achieving for us an eternal glory” that is to come. There is a correlation between the faithfulness of those who are suffering and the weight of glory they will experience.

There is no such compensation for suffering to those who do not know Christ. For those who do not know Christ their outward bodies are fading with age without any further consolation or compensation. More and more life is leaving them day-by-day, but there is not that corresponding inward renewal. More of life is being removed and there is nothing else better to look forward to.

For the Christian, knowing the correlation between our suffering and the disproportionate compensation we will receive motivates us to do what Paul tells us to do next.

III. We Must Fix our Eyes On What We Can’t See (v. 18).

¹⁸So 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.

A. How do we train the eyes of our heart to see what is invisible?

This life is not all there is. As beautiful as it sometimes can be, God has promised a better place. There is an eternal reality that our five senses now miss. I believe we will be given the new senses, or our senses will be improved to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste that eternal reality someday. There have been momentary glimpses that this will be true. There have been times when people have seen the normally unseen.

2 Kings 6:12 through 2 Kings 6:17 ¹²“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” ¹⁴Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.

¹⁶“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

¹⁷And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

This is not an isolated case. I hear about cases when God opens the eyes momentarily to the presence of an angel. In fact, some of you have told me about some experiences like this. But for now, even when we cannot see God’s invisible means of support, we must fix our eyes by faith on that reality which we cannot see, though we may see its effects.

LIVE FOR THE ETERNAL.

Man’s philosophy: “Seize the day”--Carpe Diem--Live in the now. This philosophy was the focus of the movie, “Dead Poet’s Society”, where Robin Williams plays the part of a teacher inspiring boys to live life to the full. This movie also accurately portrayed the down side of this philosophy. As students attempted to live out the philosophy, some expressed the philosophy in active rebellion, and immorality. Eventually, one student takes his own life. If today is all we have to live for, you can see how suicide might be a logical way to be the commander of your own destiny. Contrast this philosophy with God’s philosophy.

God’s philosophy: God doesn’t allow us to settle for merely “seizing the day”. He wants us to seize eternity! Don’t sacrifice your future on the altar of the present. Seize the day in a way that pleases eternity also! This life is temporary. Everything we see and experience here fades, but that which is eternal is the beautiful anchor of hope to which God wants us to fix our hopes and lives. This life is not the best God has for us. For the Christian, the best is yet to come.

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV) “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.”

You can train the eyes of faith. This comes by training our beliefs. The scripture tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. There is a correlation between our knowledge of scripture and our faith. The more we know about God, the easier it is for us to believe. The more we know about the Bible, the easier it is to believe. The more we think like God, the easier it is to fix our eyes on what is unseen.

When suffering hits you now, attempt to gaze above it. Your focus will take you beyond the present pain and into the future glory.

Our ultimate hope when we are experiencing terrible illness, persecution, or pain is the realization that this life is not all there is—there is life after death! Knowing that we will live forever with God in a place without sin and suffering can help us live above the pain that we face in this life. This focus helps us even during the pain now.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for giving us powerful scopes to see the invisible realities.

Thank you for revealing yourself to us in history,

and through your prophets,

and through your Son, Jesus Christ.

I thank you for the scope I hold in my hand, the Bible. Thank you for allowing the eyes of my faith to explore, to see, to know and come to understand the invisible realities.

I thank you for invisible things:

· I thank you for life.

· I thank you for heaven.

· I thank you for your spirit in my life.

· Thank you for the forgiveness that you apply to me because of what you did through the cross.

· I thank you for the angels round about me that you commission to do your work of protection, and for your warring angels that do battle against unseen evil spiritual forces around me.

We ask you to help us fix our eyes on you. Help us to fix our eyes on the invisible eternal realities. Forgive us for getting caught up in the temporary, living as if those temporary things were more important than your kingdom, and your desires. We ask you to open the eyes of our understanding as we apply ourselves in study through the scope of revelation. We want you to use us for significance. We acknowledge that the truly significant things are eternal matters. Thank you for revealing to us what we could not see with our physical eyes.

In Jesus Name, Amen!