Our Goal to Please Him

2 Corinthians 4:1-5:10

Key Verse 5:9

“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”

Good morning! Happy new year! I don’t remember that Sunday falls on the first day of a year. But this year is very special because we start the new year with worshiping together. Again, happy new year! The title of today’s message is “Our goal to please him”. The key verse comes from chapter 5 verse 9. May we read this verse together? Ready, go. “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” Let’s pray.

Whenever new year comes we make our goals. We want to achieve something in the new year. God gave us today’s passage to help us to find our goals and achieve it in the coming year. Spiritually we all want to be very  successful. A few years ago, about 7 years ago, I happened to read an article from one person. This man is a scholar, and he claims that every successful man on earth throughout human history has two common denominators. He says there is no exceptions. Every successful man. Guess what are these two common denominators. Number one. To have a goal. We have to have a goal. We need to know what we really want. In the Bible Jesus asks people, “What do you want?” A blind man came to him, and still Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” So we need to know what we really want to do this year. We need to have our goal. The second factor is ‘we need to focus on our goal’. We need to use all our resources on the goal. When we think about it, this is pretty simple and common sense, you know. Who will not be successful if he knows what he really wants to do and focus on his goal using all his resources? In today’s passage we see Apostle Paul. He is arguably the most successful person in Christian history. And in today’s passage we see his goal and how he focused on his goal. So we also want to learn what should be our goal and how we can focus on our goal through today’s passage. The first part, chapter 4, deals with how we can overcome all troubles and focus on our goal. And part 5 deals with our goal and Apostle Paul’s goal.

 

Part I. But we have this treasure in jars of clay. (4:1-18)

 

Let’s read verses 1 through 6 responsively.

1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Here Paul talked about ‘we’, meaning Apostle Paul and his spiritual coworkers, gospel preachers like Timothy. The church of Corinth was born during the Paul’s second world mission journey. (Showing Paul’s second world mission journey on the power point) This picture shows the churches Paul pioneered during his world mission journey, and Corinth was one of them. (Showing Corinth in power point), present day Greece. When Paul went to Corinth and preached the Lord Jesus people began to believe in him and the church of Corinth was born. But after he left Corinth false apostles and false teachers came to Corinth. And they boasted about themselves. And they used deceptions. They even distorted the word of God for their benefit. And they mad the gospel very complicated. What is worse they discredited Apostle Paul and his integrity and his gospel message. Being spiritually young the Corinthians ended up believing what they had said and doubted the gospel. To Paul their doubt was a serious problem because they would lose their salvation if they doubted the gospel Paul had preached. So Paul had to defend himself and his message. That is why he wrote 2 Corinthians. In today’s passage he also defended himself and his gospel message.

 

Verse 1 starts with “Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart”. Paul had many reasons to lose his heart. But he did not lose heart. Why? Because the ministry was given to him through God’s mercy. ‘God’s mercy’ refers to God’s forgiveness of all men’s sin through Jesus’ sacrifice. God forgave all of men’s sins including Apostle Paul and Corinthian believers. That is how the ministry was born. Whenever Paul thought about God’s mercy upon them he could not lose heart.

 

Compared to false apostles he said, “We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. We completely repented our secret sinful ways and we presented the gospel in a very plain way.” But even if he did still there were people who did not believe in the gospel. And he said it was not his fault. The veiling of the gospel is for those who are perishing and behind their unbelief there is the work of Satan which is called as ‘god of this age.’ Through God’s mercy Paul was able to see the light of the gospel. The gospel reveals the glory of Jesus. And Jesus represents God the most being the image of God.

 

Now when we set up our goals in this year we want to focus on our goal and be successful at the end of the year. Who does not want to focus on his goal and be successful? But when we look back our past years sometimes and even many times we end up giving up our goal. We just give it up. Why? Because there are so many difficulties. Paul also had so many difficulties. But he was able to focus on his goal, and we want to know the secret of his focusing from these verses.

 

Let’s read verses 7-12.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

The secret that Paul was able to focus on his goal is ‘this treasure.’ ‘This treasure’ refers to the glory and the power of the risen Lord. The risen Lord comes with all surpassing power. But God gave this treasure, and Paul claimed, “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” Jars of clay refers to Paul’s body and believers’ body. A jar of clay does not have much value, and it is very fragile and it is easily broken. So people usually do not put their treasure in jars of clay. Their treasure can be damaged when jars of clay are broken. So they put their treasure at least in some of jars of bronze or iron. But God combined this treasure in jars of clay. And because of this mysterious combination there are many interesting things happen. Because they are jars of clay they are pressed on every side. They were perplexed. Many times they did not know what to do. And they were persecuted from their close coworkers and unbelievers. They were struck down. They were beaten by everyone and from every side. But mysteriously they were not crushed. They were in despair. They were not abandoned. They were not destroyed. Can you see there is some kind of mysterious power working in them? It is the power of the risen Lord and it is called ‘all surpassing power’. Because of this power Paul was able to overcome all troubles and difficulties in his life and focus on his goal which is to preach the Lord Jesus. Paul was even welcoming these troubles in the course of preaching the Lord Jesus because he wanted to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

 

Let’s read Philippians 3:10-11 together. Ready, go.

10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

So Paul welcomes these sufferings. In 1Corinthians 15:31 he says “I die everyday.” Everyday he participated in the suffering of Jesus to the point of death. Then the resurrection power of Jesus was working mightily through him. In today’s passage he says, “10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.” When Paul struggled this way what happened to Corinthians? He says, “12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” They were saved. They were changed.

When Paul preached the gospel he preached and spoke by faith.

Let us read verses 13-18 responsively.

13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 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.

Here Paul explains there is another reason why he does not lose his heart. “The grace”, “the grace of Jesus” is reaching more and more people. When they are saved they are so thankful. So they praised God and offered their thanks prayer. And in turn it all reveals the glory of God. Therefore Paul does not lose his heart even though he went through so many troubles. And when he preached the gospel he preached and spoke by faith. He said, “13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak”. When you try to speak gospel messages by sight you may not be able to speak. I go to a campus and try to invite students looking at their eyes and faces I will never be able to speak because everyone looks like turning down my offer. So Paul said, “with the same spirit of faith we believe and therefore we speak.” We need to deliver the gospel message by faith. When we do it we need to do it because we do not want to lose any opportunity to speak the gospel truth. There is one story that shows why we should speak the gospel by faith all the time not losing even one possibility.

There is one legendary businessman in Korea. He is the founder of “Samsung” group. And his name is Byung Chul Lee. He died at the age of 77 after two years of fight against lung cancer. He died in 1987. Just one month before he died he raised 24 questions. And amazingly none of his questions had anything to do with money or business at all. He kept these questions for 77 years and just before one month before he died he wrote these questions and sent it to a priest. And his questions are like “Can you prove God’s existence? Why doesn’t reveal himself to us? If God loves why does he allow us sufferings and pain? The Bible says ‘It is so hard for rich men to enter the kingdom of God. Are rich men evil?” (including me) So the priest prepared all the questions and set up a date to meet him. But his health became deteriorated at that day. So the appointment date was postponed. Finally the date was set up for him to read the answer. But just one day before the appointment time he died. So this man never had a chance to hear the gospel because no one spoke the gospel by faith during his 77 years. No one ever dared to preach the gospel and spoke to him by faith. If some had done it he could have been saved.

Living in Los Angeles we also have many troubles to overcome ourselves and focus on our goal. Los Angeles and Corinth have many similarities. Corinth was famous for wealth and immorality, not immortality but immorality. There was a famous adulterous temple of an idol. Los Angles? (Showing LA in a map in power point) Hollywood! It should be Holywood but Hollywood. It is famous for adulterous business. And both cities had ports. And both cities has many cultures and many ethnic groups. So it is multi cultural background and melting pots. So we need to wage spiritual battles in order to resist against adulterous environment. We need to study hard at school. We have to maintain our jobs in this poor economy. We have to raise up our children in a godly way. In addition, in evening we go to campus and invite students to bible stud and raise up disciples from each campus. It is a very challenging task! How can we overcome all these troubles and focus on our goal and be successful? The answer is ‘to believe that we have this treasure. We have this all surpassing power in us.’ So Paul said, “But we have this treasure”. Can you think of a man? Suppose there is a man who has a million dollar cash in his bank account. But he does not know he has it. So he doesn’t use it and he dies. How can we call him? We call him, “fool”. We have this treasure, we have all this surpassing power that can help us to focus on our goal and make us successful. If we don’t do it and live as a failure how would we call ourselves? We are ‘fools’.

Of course to believe we have this treasure and all surpassing power does not come automatically. It comes through spiritual battles, battles to overcome doubts and negative ideas. The founder of the world’s largest church and the pastor of the world’s largest church also had same struggles when he was young. He is still alive and his name is David Cho like missionary David Cho. He started his ministry in a tent with two grandmas. He is still alive and his church became like 600,000 members or 700,000 members. I even do not know. But he has only one lung because he had to cut one lung because pneumonia (I found correct info is tuberculosis). Because of this whenever he is tired he thinks, “Oh, I am tired because I have only one lung.” And because of this one lung all kinds of negative ideas, (came into his heart) “David Cho, you cannot do that. Take rest.” So what did he do? He put a mirror in front of him and looking at himself in the mirror he shouted, “David Cho, you are not weak. You are strong! You can do everything through Jesus who gives you strength”. He kept shouting until faith arose in his heart. This is how he overcame doubt and experienced all surpassing power of the risen Lord. God blessed his struggle and gave him the world’s largest church.

Part II. So we make it our goal to please him (5:1-10)

 

In this part we will see what was apostle Paul’s goal and why he chose this goal.

Let’s read verses 1-8 responsively.

 

1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

When we stand before God we do not want to feel ashamed or condemned. In the sight of God we want to be spotless, blameless, perfect, without any sense of shame and condemnation. And it is described as ‘being clothed with heavenly dwelling.’ And the opposite is ‘unclothed’ and ‘being naked.’ To guarantee this to come for believers God gave the Holy Spirit as a deposit.

Now let’s read verses 9 and 10 together.

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Paul made his goal to please the Lord. How can a mere men please God? Let’s read Hebrew 11:6 together. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

We can please God through faith. Faith to believe his existence and his fair reward.

Paul chose his goal to please the Lord Jesus because Jesus is the Judge. Let’s read 2Co 5:10 once more.

“10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. While we are in this body we can refuse Jesus. When Jesus calls we can say, “No, thank you”. But the time comes we cannot do that. Even if we are in our graves we will appear and stand before the judgment seat of Christ and hear his sentence. No exceptions! And each will receive what is due him, not even together with wife and husband. Each one. Whatever you do for the Lord you do for the Lord and you will receive reward from him. And the Lord Jesus is the perfect judge. In our human life there is no perfect judge because no one knows everything. I read a story of man named “Ray Towler” from Readers Digest in October issue. He was imprisoned for 29 years for the crime he never committed, from the age of 24 to the age of 53, from the year of 1981 to the year of 2010. He was released because of DNA evidence. It shows no one is perfect judge. But Jesus is the perfect judge. He knows everything. He knows what is going on in our hearts. He knows our deep motives. He knows whether we want to please him or please ourselves. He even knows the direction of our inner deep thoughts. And he rewards us accordingly. Each will receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or bad. If he did a good he will receive his reward. If he did a poor job he will lose the reward. And the perfect Judge, Jesus, will reward each of us accordingly.

The Bible says if we give a cup of water to someone in Jesus’ name because of Jesus we will not lose our reward. Then how much more will he reward us when we give our hearts, when we really want to please him from the bottom of our hearts? He will surely reward us beyond our imaginations. In fact the Bible says he will reward us 100 times.

Let’s read Matthew 19:27-30.

27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" 28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Jesus says, “but many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” If we think we pleased the Lord in the past we need to keep up doing it. But we need to remember ‘many who are first will be last.’ If we think we did poor job in pleasing Jesus we should not lose heart. We should remember, “many who are last will be first.” Therefore we need to renounce our secret and shameful ways and give our hearts to please Jesus.

 

In conclusion, we learned what should be our goal and how we can focus on the goal. We should please the Lord with our whole heart and we can focus on it through his all surpassing power.

 

One word: our goal to please him.

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