For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory,For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
6 sermons cite this verse
… if you're focusing on all the problems and you can't wait to the latest news, well, no wonder. Second Corinthians chapter four, verse 16 to 18 says this, this is why we never give up. Are you listening? This is the key. This is why we never give up. Our spirits are being renewed every day. and our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce in us, for us, an immeasurably great glory that's going to last forever. The temporary problems are going to produce everlasting glory and reward forever. So, he says, we fix our eyes, that's focus, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. It's choosing what you're going to look at, choosing what you're going to focus on. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Now let's go back on that verse. He says, first, he said, you've got to look, here's why we never give up. He said, we never give up because we're not focusing on the short we're gonna keep going. …
… You see, the word that I reached for out of instinct is the next word that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 4.17. The next verse said, for momentary light affliction is, not was, but right now is producing for us an eternal, no you don't hear me, an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. is producing. Present tense. Right now. You see, the affliction isn't blocking the glory. The affliction is how the glory gets out. It's manufacturing it. You see, the pressure, the pressing down is the factory God uses in order for his glory to come out. I'll be honest with you. I still don't know why we lost the baby. There was no reason handed to me. I'm not up here to preach a testimony and bring out a baby from the back and we all shout. It's not that. I'm not preaching because the grief added up. I'm preaching unfinished as a man with the unfinished prayer. Still. You see, that's not a hole in my message. …
… and this plan would be for his glory and for their good. 2 Corinthians 4.17 tells us that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, it's just in the grand scheme. I know when you're in these seasons, I totally get it. I've gone through them too. We all have, right? It feels like it just drags and that there's no end in sight and yet the word says it's but for a moment. But it is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. God is working it out for his glory. And then Romans 8, 28, one of the most famous verses in the Bible and for good reason, says that we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. If you love God and if you are called according to his purpose tonight, then it is God's business to work whatever you're facing, to work it out for your good. …
… for greater joy to come the joy will be greater in the end because of enduring sorrows now by faith and so Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 4 17 that our slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. In this age, that mingling of joy and sorrow in the Christian life is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory and its surpassing joy. at Desiring God we have this phrase that we put with our favorite slogan about God is most glorified in us when we're most satisfied in him we add this phrase especially in suffering we don't say even in suffering we could say that that's true even in suffering but more than just even, we say, especially in suffering. For now, willingness to experience sadness and sorrow is not a concession for joy-seeking Christians, but it's an opportunity. And it's even a necessity. For now, we cannot pursue the deepest and most enduring joy without our willingness to grieve the joys that we lose. …
… It's very familiar. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory. So the weight of our glory is connected to the affliction here. Our momentary light affliction, relatively speaking, is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. So in what way are you a super-conqueror? You not only conquer by sustained love to the Lord because He sustains His love for you, but the trial works to your greater good, which instead of weakening you, makes you stronger and it increases your eternal glory. Now the Corinthians weren't. There weren't particular models of virtue or obedience. They had their issues, didn't they? But whatever victory they had over these kinds of assaults increased their strength and added to the eternal wait, waiting for them in heaven. Just an Old Testament passage comes to mind as we kind of wrap up, Isaiah 41. I have a lot more that I've been editing in my mind on the fly here tonight. But Isaiah 41, 10, Do not fear, for I am with you. …
… I want you to look in verses 17 and 18. He says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. So he's contrasting the lightness of this present affliction, the weighty glory that shall be ours. He is contrasting here pain and glory, and he's going to contrast that which can be seen and that which cannot be seen. Look in verse 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal. That means they're temporary, transitional. but the things which are not seen are eternal. So he says we are looking at things which are not seen. That sounds like double talk, but if you'll stay tuned, you'll understand it's not double talk. When I was a little boy, I heard a little poem that said something like this last night. I saw upon the stair a little man who was not there. …