I do believe that for all of us life has wonderful Rich Joyce.
I'm a very positive person. I don't have the perspective in
my mind that everything in the world is bad.
In fact, I know a whole lot of people that are in the world
that are wonderful people. And you know sometimes people
say you know the world is worse than it's ever been and that's
just not true. In fact it's not even worse than
it was in Genesis chapter 6, a long long time ago, where the
Bible says that the thoughts of man's heart was ever evil,
continually and God destroyed the World by way of a flood and
saved eight righteous Souls. So I don't believe in the
concept that everything in life is bad and everybody in life is
bad. I don't believe that at all.
All I think the world is filled with good things to it is filled
with goodness and things that we enjoy in our life.
But saying all of that. Let me also say, there is the
reality of trouble in life. There is, in fact, life comes
with those troubles and that's nothing new.
Do you remember the words of job, a long, long time ago job
said that man is born unto trouble.
Jesus himself said, in this world what are you gonna have?
You're gonna have trouble. James said we're going to fall
into various trials. So no one questions.
The fact that life can bring disappointments, it can bring
discontentment pain grief and yes even loss.
It's filled with unexpected, turns unanticipated events and
sometimes those things are debilitating and painful
experiences. And that's called life being
able to cope with all of these things really is the goal of
everyone. We live in a world that is
filled with people trying to adjust to the pain.
That sometimes comes our way trying to deal with life without
a total collapse, without a break down without a burnout
without being hopeless without fear apathy or just without the
reality of giving up, And all of that is a matter of learning how
to endure, how can we endure the Pains of Life, the great
disappointments, that come our way in Life, Broken Dreams,
broken homes, broken lives and broken relationships.
And sometimes the pain seems harder than we can bear.
How do we handle that? How can we Face the world?
And all of those things, like the Apostle Paul.
Did you remember back in the day?
Fourth chapter in the eighth. Verse of second Corinthians,
Paul said notice, we are hard pressed on every side yet not
crushed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. We are persecuted.
But not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed.
How can we do that? How can we be hard-pressed and
not crushed? How can we be perplexed and not
in despair? How can we be persecuted?
But not Forsaken and struck down and steal.
Not be destroyed. How can we do that?
You know, the Apostle Paul lets us in on a little Spiritual
Secret for endurance. I love the writings of the
Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul has chosen
vessel of Jesus Christ, he became the mouthpiece to the
Gentiles, he proclaimed the word of God throughout all areas, to
all manner of people and by divine inspiration, he wrote
over two-thirds of the New Testament.
But I love the writings of Paul because Paul often times gives
us very practical things and Practical ways practical secrets
that we can use in our life he does so here too.
He suffered so many great things in his life and yet he lived in
a triumphant manner. You know, sometimes we think
that our sufferings and our hardships and our hard times are
exclusive to our self. Have you ever said or thought?
Sure. You have because I have to Have
you ever said or thought at one point in time in your life that
nobody could possibly understand what I'm going through?
That this pain is so great that nobody could possibly understand
how I feel. You know what I have found in my
lifetime. I have found this that
regardless of what you go through, whatever magnitude that
it is. Whatever challenge suffering,
trial, whatever you want to call it, whatever you're going
through. If you are honest with yourself
and you keep your eyes open, you will find somebody close by
somebody near. That's had it worse than you.
That's fact. There's nothing new also Under
the Sun, there's nothing new. In fact, all the challenges that
come our way, there's nothing but that which is common to man.
You know what that means? That means somebody else went
through it too. But sometimes we think this just
far greater than we can bear then, nobody can identify with
it. We can identify with Paul though
because Paul triumph over all of the things which he suffered, he
suffered so great, a thing in his life, I'm going to tell you,
somebody may do this to Frank brancato frame.
Brancato may say I'm a Christian, I'm a member of the
Lord's church. I'm a preacher of the Gospel.
Therefore, this is my stand. This is the truth of the word of
God and I'm going to stand on the word of God.
You know what about the worst thing they're going to do for a
chronic Auto? Make fun of me, badmouth me, so
what that's about it? What if you were Paul?
What about what he had to give up?
What about his cost of discipleship?
Do you remember when Jesus said the masterful sermon?
When he preached a sermon on counting the cost remember that
he said there's a cost to discipleship and he said, it's
like a man that builds a tower and doesn't finish it, there's a
cost. You have to sit down and count
the cost and decide do I have enough to Finish?
Well, I be Christian for the rest of my life.
May I say, as I interject at this point right now, please
understand this, please write it down Market down.
Don't ever forget it if you want to make it to the end as a
faithful child of God, you have to make the determined resolved
in advance and daily. I'm never going to be anything
else, but a faithful member of the church.
In advance. That's what Paul did.
If he can endure the most, we can certainly and Order and do
her. The least.
And not give up and not quit. Let me remind you of some of the
things, Paul suffered. It's really amazing to me. he
said for I think that God has displayed us the apostles last
As men condemned to death for we have been made a spectacle to
the world, both to angels and demand.
He's writing to the church at Corinth and he is discussing
what the apostles had to endure compared to what they perhaps
were going through, which was nothing.
And Paul said, I think this, I thank God has displayed us
Apostles, as those that were condemned to death and those
that Spectacle to the world. What's all that mean?
Really? Briefly, the word, spectacle?
Spectacle is the word theatron and that's where we get the word
theater in the English language. What that was is in Roman times.
They would have all those at Rome, especially all those
higher ups, and they would be watching for their own personal
entertainment. Whatever spectacle was about to
happen before the climax are the spectacle, they had lying.
Owens fighting against Lions, they had Gladiators fighting
against gladiators, but there was something that came very
differently, at the end or the climax, it was the spectacle,
you know, what they would do, they would get those men
condemned to die and they would put them down there and turn the
lines loose after they strip them of all their clothes. you
know, history tells us a lot of those people that were condemned
to die. Were Christians.
And they had to die for their faith.
That was the climax that was the spectacle.
That's what he's saying. The apostles had to go through.
That's what we are. He said we are the spectacle.
Our petty, little pain seems insignificant compared to that.
I think we understand that I think we get that but there's a
very deep awareness in the heart of Paul that made him endure and
this becomes then a very practical section of scripture.
It's not hard to understand, it's very direct, it's very
straightforward, very simple. Pardon me.
Sometimes it just does that. It's the premise that gives us
the opportunity to live of triumphant life over things that
we might endure in our life. So in response to his freshly of
sufferings, it gives us three versus a real treasure.
Where we learn Heavenly reasons for Earthly endurance and
they're found in our passage. I'll now put it back Here is the
Heavenly responses or reasons for Earthly endurance and
they're very powerful. But first of all, I want to
notice in verse 16 at the very beginning, it begins with these
words, therefore we do not lose heart, you don't that means he
begins saying look, this is my response in advance Beijing to
say why? But the first thing he says, is
therefore, we do not lose heart, the phraseology, their of losing
heart is something that he actually said in the past.
He also said it. Another passage second,
Corinthians 4 verse 1. He said therefore, since we have
this ministry, as we have received Mercy, we do not lose
heart. Exact same phrase.
What's it mean to lose heart? You know what it means?
It means to be a coward. We don't do that.
Yeah, but you know what happens when you quit.
You quit? On the Lord.
Paul said, no, not me. I'm not going to lose heart.
Losing heart means to be a coward.
It means more. It means to lose your boldness
to lose your bravery to be faint-hearted, timid, weak, and
fearful to be weary and give up and quit.
You already said we are not like that.
We will not do that. We will not lose heart in light
of the Glorious eternal life. That was his.
And the spiritual blessings that he had in Christ in view of all
of that. He could never lose heart.
He could never Despair and never quit.
No matter how he is assaulted, no matter how he's in trouble,
it doesn't matter. Her, he will never lose heart.
And here are the secrets of endurance.
Number one, here it is. He's going to give us some
secrets and they're found in these passages these three
verses. You know what number one is
number one to take notes. You will be able to endure when
you value spiritual strength, over physical strength.
When spiritual strength is more important to you than physical
strength. Now, he says, he begins right
here, we do not lose heart and then he says, even though, you
know, that phrase even though actually means the better
translation is since in other words in the Greek construction
of that, he is going to say something that was assumed that
everybody knew a fact in evidence.
And he begins by saying this, therefore we do not lose heart.
We do not give up. We are not going to quit.
We're not going to be discouraged.
No, we won't since. And there it is.
Our outward man is perishing. Yet the inward man is being
renewed, day by day. This is somebody that treasured
spiritual strength, More Than Physical strength.
The first reason that he was able to endure, anything that
came to him, in the Physical Realm, was because he was more
concerned about what was happening in the spiritual
realm. Now, our outward, man, obviously
is our bodies. Certainly we get that we
understand that and it's included but there's more.
It also includes physical characteristics, it's the body.
It's all the internal parts and it's even the function of our
brain and he said, all of that. It is 2K now obviously Paul's
getting older. you know, it said, I don't know for sure but
instead, the Paul lived to be about 60 You're over 60, right?
Okay. If I were to go up to Terry and
I would say Terry Is 60 old wino.
I'm 52 in a couple days is 60 old no way you don't ever say
I'm in my Prime, it's nothing. So what's he talking about?
He is talking about something that is decaying.
When you're born into this world, you begin to die.
And it's the outward. Man, that perishes is the
outward man that were talking about in time.
It will die. But what about this idea of
getting older? Paul was relatively young at
this time. I think 60 not too old so it has
to be more than the process of Aging.
It's more than that. It's also the events that sped
up the aging process. Now, do you remember call
actually took himself and he spent himself For the cause of
Christ. We can go into all the lashings
in the beatings, in the stonings that all of that.
When I can do that now. But I want to make a point
remember when he wrote the letter to Philemon?
And you remember, when he wrote to him he said I could come to
you. As the Apostle, I could come to
you with Apostolic Authority and I can tell you to forgive that
runaway slave onesimus. I can make you do it, but I'm
not doing it. He said, I'm coming out of love
and what? Paul the agent?
Did you know that Paul and Philemon were the same age?
They were both about 60 at that time.
So why would Paul called himself the agent in means this?
It is age that is accelerated by experience.
It's kind of like this, it's not the years, it's the miles.
Have you ever known someone that lived a really hard life and
they weren't that old but man they look rough.
You know why it's the miles, it's the experiences.
I'm very thankful that I bounced back and I came back from it.
But I remember being the sickest in my life going through Cancer
Treatments. I remember being ball headed and
I look like I was about 80, I look at it, I looked at old
pictures couldn't believe that was me, you know, that was that
was me having an age accelerated by experience that happens to us
in life. So Paul says, this outer body is
decaying, he was relatively young.
I think he's young because I'm getting sick close to 60 now
really young, but he talks about it as something different.
It's not the years lived, it's the miles traveled.
It was relentless hostility and suffering that sped up the aging
process in his life. It was the beatings, the
whippings, and everything else. You remember when he said this,
he said, I bear in my body, the marks of the Lord, Jesus.
Incidentally, a little side note, can I just add a little
side note here? He had literal marks in his
body. He could literally say, I bear
in my body, the marks of the Lord Jesus and all the whippings
and everything you went through, he could take off his shirt as
it were his robe and he could demonstrate all the marks that
he had and he said, every one of them was for the cause of
Christ. What About Us?
We're going to get there in a minute.
What about us though? Do we bear in a symbolic way?
In our body, the marks of the Lord Jesus because every time
you stand for the truth and stand for what's, right?
And you have to suffer any kind of ramification for that.
That's a mark. Every time you do, what's right?
That's a Mark. We have young people here every
time if you will stand on your own two feet and tell your
friends that's wrong and I'm a Christian.
I'm not going to do that and they make fun of you and they
put you down and they want to be friends with you anymore or
maybe they bully her. Push you around.
You know what? That's a mark.
And that's a good thing. That's a good thing.
Me ask you this. What have Jesus on the day of
judgment says right? Let me see your scars.
What if what if the Lord said? I need to see your scars?
Would I have any or would I have just lived a life of compromise
that I had no scars at all? And I just was all things to all
people and whoever us with that's who I was or have I stood
for something? And do I bear in my body, the
marks of the Lord, Jesus. Paul was a man of endurance.
He says, there's something that's more important even
though the outward man is decaying or dying.
There's something about the inner, man.
What is the inner man? The inner man is the heart.
It is the soul, it is your real self.
It's the Eternal part of us and that, that which lives forever.
And you heard me very recently, say, I'll just I'll just, I'll
just say what I said. Because I love brother Everett
he's alive in my heart and then our family and his brothers and
sisters Hearts to at his funeral.
I said, brother Everett is as alive today as he ever had been,
he's just not here, you know, why?
The Inner Man? That Never Dies.
Remember that song we used to sing the soul, Never Dies.
That's the Eternal park. That's the inner part.
So we have to make the right decision so the inner part gets
to have a reward one day, that's what we do.
That's what lives on and you don't need saying, it doesn't
matter. All the persecutions to my outer
man. The inner man, because God was
doing it is being strengthened day by day, powerful stuff.
I don't care what happens to me physically.
He said, I'm concerned about what happens to me, spiritually.
And when I am physically weak, as he said before, I am
spiritually strong, our troubles in our trials and our pains in
life, they contribute to the Inner Strength, you know, why?
Because they drive you to God. And I'm going to tell you this,
too, that's not just, that's anybody.
Even people in the world. Have you ever noticed that when
something bad happens? Do you remember when 9/11 hit
You have people there, didn't even think about God, and
they're starting to think about praying.
It's a natural course of action. When you have something bad
going on, people are drawn to God.
Now when the child of God suffers he or she is also drawn
to God and God strengthens the inner part.
That's what Paul said, you want to endure, we got a value, the
spiritual rather than physical, but there's a second one,
there's a second one. The second secret of endurance.
Second, Heavenly reality is this you will endure not only when
you value the spiritual over the physical but you will endure
when you value the future over the present.
Now I know that we are people of immediate gratification people,
I know that. But Paul is going to describe.
Now wait a minute, if you want to endure you're not only have
to Value the spiritual over the physical, but you got to do
something else. You got a value the future, more
than you do the present. And here's our passage again for
our light Affliction, which is, but for a moment is working for
us far, more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory.
So he calls these things as bad as he went through light
Affliction, he said it's for a moment.
In other words, it's in the floor.
Present. It's in the present.
But it's doing something. You know, one scholar said, Paul
towered over his troubles because all of his troubles were
making him, please get this. They were making him
spiritually, strong. That's how you do it.
You Tower over your trials. When you allow the trials to
help strengthen, you spiritually, That's what he
said. We can handle it.
Oh, by the way, beatings scourgings punishments, throwing
rocks at him. Finally, cutting his head off.
He called it, light affliction. Light affliction.
He felt like they were gaining him, though greater a greater
weight of eternal glory. The more sufferings he endures
the greater the weight of Glory becomes.
They are benefiting him eternally.
He puts Affliction suffering and pain on one side of the scale.
Now, have you ever talked every are said the worst tipping the
scales, okay? It's this idea.
You got a scale every those old-fashioned scales, you can
come down here and get the things they put on there and you
weigh it out. And what they would do is they
would weigh it out. Find out how much something
would cost so forth. That's the, that's the
illustration here. Okay, so you got the trouble,
the sorrow, the the problem, the trial, the suffering.
You got it over here, right? He said that's on one side but
it is producing something that is greater on the other side, it
is called an eternal weight of Glory.
In other words, it is heavier and bigger than no problem.
I'm not finished they with me on this.
It's heavier its wings the scale we throw in a couple verses will
get right back to it though. Paul said in Romans 8:17, if
indeed we suffer with him, okay, that's on one side that we may
also be glorified together. The next one, my mother's
favorite past of scripture. When I was a kid.
For I consider that the sufferings of, this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be
revealed in us. Do you see that you've got on
one side, the sufferings, you got on the other side, the glory
You got both. Now, here's the point suffering.
Becomes trivial when compared to Future Glory.
Obviously, the Bible confirms that, we have an eternal reward
for perseverance. And by the way, that's what
patients is. We'll get to that in a minute,
but we have an eternal promise if we would, but persevere,
Revelation, 2, and 10. It says, but be thou faithful
unto death and I will give you a Crown of Life.
So we understand if we endure, we make it to the end, we get a
Crown of Life. But this passage is saying so
much more than that. It's saying something else.
It's saying something further our reward is obviously included
in the promise but Paul said, our sufferings get this
contribute to eternal glory. So what is it?
I told you what I used to think it was even a week ago.
I thought in general he was saying that I can handle the
light Affliction. I can handle the troubles in my
life. I could Inhale the sufferings in
my life because you know why? My reward is greater.
That's why I thought it was saying and that's what I
thought. It was only saying not so you
don't return a glorious. What is Glory?
It's this. It is our capacity to serves
praised and glorified God in heaven.
That's what it is. So the sufferings that I go
through in this life are preparing me to be able to
praise God. More glorify him in heaven.
One day, that's the Eternal part.
Okay. And our eternal glory is
measured out in relation to our willingness to suffer. 2nd
Timothy 3 and 12 says, all that will live Godly will suffer
persecution. Now, notice this in First Peter
chapter 1, I have a practical by the way.
A practical application here. So, hang on to that.
Just give me a minute. 1st Peter, 1 6 & 7 in this.
You greatly Rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be
you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of
your faith being much more precious than gold, that
perishes, though. It be tested by fire, may be
found to praise honor and Glory at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. You what that means In this
passage is saying this when our faith is tested by the fires of
life, and we Cave and we don't chicken out.
We don't quit, you know, what happens.
It produces what we are. And demonstrates to the world
that our faith is genuine and real and Peter said that's
better than gold and guess what? God gets the praise and the
glory and the honor. While we're still living and we
get our reward when Jesus comes back.
Okay? That's that part.
But there is a relationship between suffering and Glory.
That's exactly what Paul looked at.
Now I want to make this point to I'm not standing in front of you
and saying that pain isn't pain. I don't understand.
Is I'm not trying to pick on folks, but I don't understand
our Christian Scientists friends.
They actually say that there is no such thing as pain, they say
and believe that there's no such thing as evil, there's no such
thing as bad. They actually believe in the
doctrine of everything is just perception.
It's your perception of it. It's how you think about it,
what? Which makes it either good or
bad. I don't want to be sarcastic but
that's just absolutely ridiculous.
Pain hurts. Pain is pain, and it hurts.
I understand that sort of Paul a scar is a scar.
Defamation of character is defamation of character.
Assassination of someone's Integrity is just that pain is
real and we admit that it's real.
Absolutely. You know what Paul's saying?
He wasn't saying pain. Is it real?
You know what he's saying? Get this he was saying it
doesn't matter. That's what he said.
He said not that, it didn't exist.
He said it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
It's momentarily. It's producing for us an eternal
weight of Glory. It's having a positive effect in
our life. Our trouble.
He says, has a causal effect on our future Glory.
He's saying there's a direct correspondence between the two.
In other words, the more I suffer the greater my eternal
glory. That's right, they're connected.
And it's producing an eternal weight of glory.
And it means this, something that's heavy on the other side
of the trial that tipped the scale, The scale is tipped in
favor of that which is in the future, rather than the present.
So so what is eternal glory? I'll tell you what?
It's not. So don't be misled by this
delay. My tell you this, not true.
It doesn't mean if Terry perseveres better than I do.
He gets a better reward in heaven, that's not what that
means. That's not what that means.
We're all in it together, all get the same thing.
In fact, Jesus, dealt with that very thing.
The parable of in your Denis whether your worked all day or
one hour. Guess what?
You got the same penny So, the rewards the same, that's not
what this means, but are you starting to get the point?
He says that the sufferings are doing something for us in
connection to our eternal glory. What is our eternal glory?
Notice, we will have a greater capacity to serve praised and
glorified God for eternity. In other words, our sufferings
and large our capacity to serve and Crepes one more.
Even and connected to this life. You know what that says?
that says, if Terry Osborne has to endure something for his
faith, for his faith. And he has the suffering that
goes along with that. It's weighed on the scale and
his eternal weight of Glory, which is his capacity to praise
God and serve God increases, therefore, it's heavier than the
trial that's what that means. And by the way, you know, out
there in the religious world, people are looking for something
that they get. There's nothing about what you
get. What he's saying is.
He's not saying you keep serving me and endure the sufferings and
you're going to get something great in say that.
All he said, endure the suffering and therefore you're
going to be able to give with a greater capacity in heaven.
How about that? Don't you see, folks whether
you're living in this life or whether it's life after this one
in heaven, it is never about us. It's not even in our reward
place. It won't be about us.
It'll be about God. It'll be about praising honoring
serving worshiping God for eternity.
That's what it'll be. Kind of shed, a little light on
it. Now.
While we're living is amazing. Something else though there's
something else that's connected to this and it's patients.
Okay. So now we have sufferings and
trials but now we got we got to talk about patients because
patients is working in there too.
James 13, and for my brethren, count, it all joy, when you fall
into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith.
Produces patience, but let patience have.
It's perfect work that you may be perfect, and complete lacking
nothing. So, how does it all work?
Here it is. The trial increases your ability
to persevere, okay? Suffering increases your
capacity to serve God. Have you ever looked at
suffering like that? It's adding to your Eternal
weight of Glory. That's powerful.
Even helps you in this life. Now, I may have to clarify here
though about suffering. The only suffering that produces
a weight of Glory is suffering that honors.
Jesus Christ or his cause It doesn't mean that if I go make
bad choices not to suffer for him, suffering is not what that
means. It doesn't mean if I commit a
crime and I have to be thrown in prison and I suffer that that's
what that means. Nope, not what it means at all.
Not at all. Or if I do something wrong and I
have the ramifications of that. Okay.
And it doesn't mean it doesn't mean that somebody makes fun of
me, which has nothing to do with the cause of Christ that
suffering to that that's included in this, it's not.
It is suffering. That's in, that is exclusive.
To the cause of Christ. Your faith.
It's your it's the result of
your Christian Life, your faithfulness, your loyalty, and
your commitment to Christ. That's what gains the Eternal
weight of Glory. Well, finally, this morning,
Paul tells us another secret of endurance and that is this and
they actually this ties, the other two together, you will be
able to endure when you value Eternal realities.
Over temporal things when eternity and what is eternal is
more important to you than what is temporal.
Now, I'm going to tell you. It is all about that.
It always has been There are things in life that were allowed
to enjoy. That's great.
I enjoy life too. I enjoy life too.
I'm going to be a 52-year old sometimes immature sometimes
kid. Man, I have some fun.
Especially this side of cancer, man, I have fun.
Not sinful fun. Not that kind of fun, but things
were allowed to have. Okay, things were allowed to
have. So, I'm not saying that you
can't enjoy things in life on the physical side, not saying
that at all. What I'm saying is, you have to
look at the things that are Eternal and not the things that
are temporary by, what is the most important thing in your
life, notice while we do not, look, it's all connected.
We don't lose heart, we don't chicken out, we don't lose hope
we don't give up since that's what.
Even though mean since our outward man is perishing?
We know that yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
So I'm going to be focused on the spiritual, not the physical,
these things that I'm going through.
May be very difficult, but it's really light Affliction.
And you know what it's doing. It's actually helping me, it is
increasing my capacity to serve God in this life and in heaven,
one day, and the, here it is. while we do not look at the
things which are seen, But at the things which are not seen
for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things
which are not seen are Eternal, you know, in verse 18, He says,
while we do not look, you know, the opposite of that is the
opposite of that is when we do look.
So we're not looking at things that are temporary.
We are looking at things that are eternal You know, the Bible
talks about your eye, be single, the flip side of that would be
like a double banded. A double-minded man, unstable in
all his ways, but your eye has to be single Here's a phrase
that I tell my football teams that I've coached over the
years, and the reason that I do is because it has nothing to do
with football, even though it was Nina was on a TV show about
a football program, it's Clear Eyes.
Full Hearts. Can't lose, I believe
wholeheartedly in that and had nothing to do with football.
I researched that phrase and it said it was used by a lot of
cancer patients, and the idea is Clear Eyes.
If you have focused eyes and you're focused in this case on
the Eternal you are focused on what is right.
If you have clear eyes And a full heart.
You know what that means? That means you rid your heart of
all the negativity, all the hatred, all the bad stuff, and
you fill it with that, which is right and good, and the love of
your family and the love of the church and a love of the Lord.
And I love for The Souls of men. You cannot lose.
And it doesn't matter the score at the end of the game.
Because if you can have clear eyes and Full Hearts, you just
became the greatest version of yourself.
And that's all you can do. Starts with where you look at,
folks. Where's your eyes?
Your eyes on that, which is eternal or our eyes, by the way
of importance, on the things that are temporary is the world
more important than the church to me.
Is my priorities out of whack because I have all this stuff
going on but the Lord's church is over here.
When you think about the spiritual things you were
thinking about the things that are Eternal, you have to change
your thinking. He says, we don't look at the
things that are seen or temporary.
We look for things that are eternal.
Spiritually speaking. Let your eye be single.
Paul's concern was God. Jesus Christ.
And The Souls of men, the things that were Eternal.
So summing up. And finally, I'm going to tell
you something, folks. Get ready for it.
But suffering is going to happen in your life.
It is. You cannot handle the sufferings
of life. If you don't have the proper
perspective and your eye is not fixed and focused on that which
it should be, you know what you're going to do, you're going
to be tossed to and fro. You're going to be slung around,
you're going to be in trouble, you're going to have to need
help, and it is this and that all these things are gonna go
wrong. You're going to want to quit.
You're going to want to give up. But if your eyes fixed on that
which is eternal, and you value the spiritual, over the
physical, you value, that which is in the future, more than the
present. And that which is spiritual
rather, an eternal rather than that which is physical.
You can endure. To the end.
We have a spiritual strength, folks.
In our endurance, have you ever stopped to consider?
And I'll say this in closing. Have you ever stopped to
consider? That there may be a trial of
your faith. It's exclusive to that.
There may be a trial of your faith.
That seems so difficult. But it's adding to your capacity
to serve God later while you're still living down the road.
It's going to give you patience that you need later down the
road. And when we get to heaven, it's
going to increase our capacity to serve praised and honored God
for eternity that's pretty good stuff.
That is the Eternal weight of Glory.