Never Give Up

Wed Prayer Service

I was thinking the other day and the thought crossed my mind that the church is a lot like the body, soul and spirit.  The body is compared to the Sunday morning service; this is the large part and it has many needs.  The Sunday night congregation is like the soul; it wants to worship and be nourished and grow.  The Wednesday night group is the spirit of the church.  It is what gives the church life.  It is through the prayers of this group that the Lord gives life to the church.

Look around and see all of those missing from Sunday morning and Sunday night.  I think it would be a great idea if we said something to them about how much we miss them at other times of service.

I believe that the Sunday morning message is to be the one that will convince the sinner or lost person of their need for salvation.  Then I believe that the Sunday night message is to be one that will convict and challenge the saint to live more closely to our Lord.  And lastly, I believe the mid-week service should be one that encourages the faithful in their daily walk.

So, with that in mind, my message to the faithful is to never give up.  We find our text in 2 Corinthians 4: 1-17.

The first thing that I want to speak on tonight is our ministry; verses 1-4  “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them.”  Our first warning in our directive to never give up, is to not faint.  Do not get weary in well doing.  Galatians 6:9 tells us “let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”

Every person that has been saved by the grace of God has a ministry.  We find in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 that each person’s ministry is given by the Holy Spirit.  His or her ministry is given depending on his or her particular spiritual gift, and this gift or gifts are given without repentance; in other words, the Lord will not change His mind.

Seeing as we have been given a particular gift, it would be a sin against the Lord if we fail to use it to His glory

.We must remember that there is no place or time when we can say that we are too tired or too busy to use our gift.  We should not, we cannot faint in our ministry.  The eternal consequences are too vital to the unsaved.

We cannot faint because we would then fail to follow the example of Jesus.  We know from scripture that Jesus got tired and weary.  He often would get away for a time of refreshment and rest.  But He never fainted and He never failed in His ministry.  He said in John 8:29 “I do always those things that please Him,” meaning His Father.  To fail to do those things that please His Father would be to fail in His ministry.

The Triune God has placed you in this church, He has given you a special gift, and you have a ministry to render to God in this place; do not faint, do not give up, do not give in and do not give out.

We must not faint and fall away because when we do the body is not complete.  Believe it or not you are missed when you are not here providing your ministry.  Any function of this church is incomplete and suffers when any of its workers faints in their ministry.

We also see that we should not faint because we have received mercy (vs.1 “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not:).  

If we have experienced the mercy and grace of God, we should be diligent in our ministry because we want others to experience the same saving grace and mercy that we have.

What if the Apostle Paul had fainted in his labors for the Lord?  What if he had given up?  What if after his beatings, reviling’s, stoning’s, perils and hunger, he said, “I have had enough, I have done enough, I will retire from my ministry?” The many churches that God used him to begin may never had come into existence.  The many that were saved either directly or indirectly may not have heard the gospel. 

Then we must not falter (vs. 2 “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, not handling the Word of God deceitfully; but my manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man conscience in the sight of God.”)

Notice that is says that “we are to commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God”. We owe it to every person that we come in contact with, to be an example to them, to let them see Christ in us.  What kind of example would we be if they saw us falter in our testimony and fall into sin?  We are to commend ourselves to every man’s conscience.  In other words, we should be a good testimony to the grace of God to every person we meet.  They should not see any false testimonies in us.

That is the reason many people do not get saved.  When they see some back-sliding Christian, they tell themselves they are as good as that person.  They tell themselves that if that person is saved then they do not need it.  So, let us not falter; let us not stumble, and be a stumbling block to someone that needs Christ.

Then we must not fear (vs 4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them”).  We face a formidable foe.  He is the god of this world.  He is in control of all the worldly systems.  He is the one that causes all the discord in the world.  He is the one that is causing all the battles that we face.  We cannot defeat him on our own.  We need divine help.

Notice that it says that the god of this world “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

The Apostle John said in 1 John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”  We must not fear the Devil;  there is nothing that he can do without the permission of God, and remember that everything that God allows him to do just brings about his eventual doom.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus had this to say; “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Jesus was responding to the confession of Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  That statement was the rock that Christ was to build His church on.  But what I want you to see is that it says that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church that proclaims that gospel truth.  Now we know that we have often heard that this means that the devil cannot prevail against the local churches.  But this is not what Jesus is talking about.  We know that gates hold some people in and some people out.  The gates of hell hold people in.  Every person is born a sinner, and therefore, in a lost condition, and the gates of hell are holding them captive.  But when the gospel of Christ is taken to them, and the Holy Spirit convicts their hearts as to their lost condition, the gates of hell cannot hold them captive any longer.  They cannot prevail or hold up against the gospel of Christ.  The only way that the gates of hell can prevail against the church is if the church fails to preach and teach that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son and that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). 

There are too many churches today that have forsaken the gospel for a works salvation, or a social gospel or an entertainment style church.  So, in our ministry, we must not faint, falter or fear!

Now let us look at our mission (vs 5 “For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves the servants for Jesus sake”).  Our mission is the Great Commission, to preach and teach the gospel and baptize and disciple the ones coming to Christ.  This is what Paul is saying here, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord”.  So, we must not concede anything which belongs to God to the devil.  No lost soul is beyond the reach of the grace and mercy of God. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound     “  (Romans 5:20).   Neither is any sin of the saint beyond the grace of God; “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 

Not only are we not to concede anything to the devil but we are not to compromise anything.  Paul in his farewell address to the church at Ephesus told them, “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also, to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20-21). Paul did not compromise the gospel.  It was the same for everyone.  It was the same at all time and in all circumstances.  Any church that abandons this simple  truth, will not win souls for Christ.  Yes, they may win people to the pews but they will go away not better than they came.  Compromise is the downfall of many churches to day.  We must not compromise the gospel of Christ, the Word of God, our stand on holiness, or any of the Bible doctrines that have been passed down to us. 

Not only should we not concede or compromise but we must not complain.  We should not complain because it is not about us.  Notice in verse 5 that it says “we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord.  Is the going getting tough?  Do not complain, it is not about you.  It is about lost people being set free.  Did someone offend you?  Do not complain, the mission is bigger than you.  Notice also that verse 5 says “We are servants for Jesus’ sake.”  We are servants of Christ; good servants do not complain.

We have seen from scripture our ministry and our mission, now let us look at our motivation (vs 6 “For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”).  

Our first motivation is that we have the Light.  Jesus said that He was the Light of the world (John 8:12), “Then spake Jesus again unto them saying; I am the light of the world:  he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”.  We are no longer in the darkness.  That should give us some motivation to never give up.  We have the Living Word of God and the written Word of God.  The scriptures should motivate us.  

We have the truth for all that God has in store for us. “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us  (2 Corinthians 2:19). When God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, and hath shined in our hearts, He has replaced darkness with light.  Having the Light of the World in us and shining before us to light our way ought to motivate us. 

The last reason to never give up is that not only do we have a motivation, but we have the motivator.  When the motivation is centered on the drive to do something, the Motivator is the force behind the motivation.  It would do very little good to be wanting to do something without the energy, the actual drive to do it.  We get our inspiration and our direction from the Holy Spirit.  Look what it says here in vs 7 “But we have this treasure (the Holy Spirit) in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us”.  

In the Motivator, the Holy Spirit, we have help. Let us look at some ways the Holy Spirit helps us:

1.  He helps us in our ministry, as already noted.  He gives us our spiritual gifts.  It is by our gifts that our ministry is identified.

2.  He aids us in our spiritual growth.  He convicts and reproves us of sin.  We cannot grow spiritually without this conviction and reproof. John 16:8 “And when He is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

3.  He helps us in our prayer life.  When there are times of such confusion and distress that we do not know how or what to pray for, He makes intercession for us.  Romans 8:26-27 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” 

4.  He helps us in our ministry by teaching us the scriptures and how to apply them.  Jesus said of this Comforter that “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John14:26).

5.  The Holy Spirit helps us proclaim Christ.  John 14:26 says “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which preceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

6.  The Holy Spirit helps in times of persecution by giving us the very words to say.  Matthew 10:19-20 “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak, for it is not ye that speaketh but the Spirit of the Father which speaketh in you”.

By having the Motivator, the Holy Spirit, we can hang on.  Look at vs 8 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed”.  We will not give up, we will keep on hanging on and we will persevere through Christ.  “We are perplexed, but not in despair,” We cannot give up, we are more that conquerors through Him that loved us.  “We are cast down, but not destroyed” We cannot go back now.

Verse 11 says that “We which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh”. We have the promise of eternal life.  We have plenty of time in eternity to rest from our labors.

Many in this congregation tonight have had plenty of reason to give up and say “enough is enough, I cannot go on”.  But the Holy Spirit says I am with you, do not quit now, the race is about over.  You are more than conquerors in Him that loved you.

And lastly, we have hope; vs 14 “knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you”.

We have the promise and hope of the resurrection that comes from understanding the Word of God.  We have the renewing of the inward man every new day.  (This is also part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit).

Verse 16 “For which cause we faint not; but though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

I will close with this; it is by the Holy Spirit that we can see the eternal weight of glory waiting for us.  This puts a proper perspective on our problems.  The light afflictions; those things are just for a moment in time (vs 17 “For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”).

We will not give up, we will not give up the fight.  We dare not give up the battle because we are looking for eternal things, not temporal things.  We are looking at things that will last through the eternal ages.