Sermon Tone Analysis

*Unstoppable Faith*

(You don't Have What it Takes)

2 Cor 4                                                Pastor Stan Lubeck

The LIFEhouse Church                      1~/10~/10

Today we finish our series of messages entitled "unstoppable."

What would cause you to be stopped in your tracks?

Have you known people who have given up on God or gave up on the church?

Have you known people who gave up on their marriage or their children or career because they got frustrated?

You might be a school teacher and you are struggling with whether your efforts are really making a difference, or if the students even care at all, or if your job will be replaced at the next round of budget cuts.

You are tempted to quit trying and do the minimal effort.

You might be un-employed and you have sent out so many resumes, yet you still don't have a job and you feel like giving up trying.

Maybe you have been burned in a relationship, so you have given up ever allowing anyone to get close again.

Maybe you have children who have gone off the deep end, and you have given up hope that they will ever return.

Some of you might have quit and no one knows… but you know that you are only going through the motions.

You heart isn't in it anymore.

If you have ever felt like quitting, or are facing obstacles that are insurmountable, I have good news for you, you are in the right place.

We are going to learn about an unstoppable faith that is available to us, not matter what obstacles and outward circumstances stand in our way, God is greater and his all surpassing power is available to stand strong, not lose heart and not give up.

We are going to learn from a man who had every reason to give up, quit and take the easy route, but he didn't give in and Christians around the world are better off today because he didn't.

This world is a warzone.

Have you noticed?

We shouldn't be surprised when life gets hard.

There is a roaring lion on the loose and there are mangled bodies all around.

Jesus himself faced persecution, beatings and crucifixion on a cross… that he did not deserve.

We are living in a battleground and battle fatigue is real!

But we are not victim, we are victors in this battle because Jesus won the ultimate victory on the cross.

Are we surprised to know that there is a real enemy who wants to discourage and defeat God's people?

Today we are going to walk through *2 Cor 4* as we take a behind the scenes look at a Christian, by the name of Paul who faced all kinds of opposition and remained unstoppable.

Paul had people who were saying that his teaching was weak and fading.

They accused him of being dishonest and of corrupting God's word.

People were hurtful and unappreciative and accusing Paul of lacking integrity.

They even beat him with sticks, threw rocks at him and left him for dead.

Who could blame him if he concluded, this career track isn't for me…?

What made Paul unstoppable?

Let's learn together from God's word as we read 2 Cor 4.

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I.                Unstoppable Determination (4:1)

*2 Corinthians 4:1 (NIV) "* 1Therefore, since through God’s *mercy* we have this ministry, *we do not lose heart."*

*/God's mercy!/* – unmerited favor!

Paul saw himself as "undeserving."

He is saying, "I am unworthy to do what God has called me to do.!  When a person begins to think that they */deserve/* a position or status or a ministry, that will lead to conflict and the temptation to say, "I quit!  "I quit, because *I deserve* to be treated better than this.

I quit because I am unappreciated.

I quit because I'm not getting the credit I deserve, or the pay I deserve.

Paul is saying, "I know I deserve nothing!"

Why does he feel this way?

*1 Timothy 1:12-13 (NIV) "* 12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

13Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, *I was shown mercy* because I acted in ignorance and unbelief."

*/"We do not lose heart"/*, Paul is saying, we are unstoppable, we don't quit because we know that we don’t deserve to be part of God's ministry!

It is the opposite of entitlement that things the world owes us something.

"I cannot help but serve God and love God and do whatever He wants me to do… including going through tough challenges where people oppose and criticize and attack and don't understand."

Why was Paul unstoppable?

Because he had a humble, unstoppable heart for God.

This allowed him to continue to preach and carry out his assignment in the face of brutal opposition.

God gave him his ministry and he was going to do it, no matter how sinful man responded.

Unstoppable faith means that we have unstoppable *determination*, so we don't lose heart!

Then we must have…

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II.

Unstoppable Integrity (4:2–4)

*2 Corinthians 4:2-4 (NIV) "*2Rather, 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*.

3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4The 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."

Paul performed his job God's way!

He carried out his ministry with integrity as unto God… in God's sight!

His job was the deliver God's word, accurately and clearly… and people didn't like it.

His unstoppable integrity meant that his work ethic included…

!! A.              No Deceit

Paul refused to use any underhanded or deceitful tricks to gain followers.

New Living Translation, "we don't try to trick anyone"

There were false teachers in that day who would do anything to get a following.

Paul wasn't one to tickle people's ears to make a name for himself.

He had an honest ministry where he preached the pure Word of God that changes lives.

*/"in the sight of God" – /*means that his ultimate audience was God.

Have you ever worked for a deceitful person who wants you to deceive the customer?

Why are you surprised when that boss cheats you out of your proper wages?

There were false teachers who would lie and deceive and say what people wanted to hear, just to get a following.

Honesty is still the best policy, so Paul refused to trick or deceive anyone and secondly he was committed to…

!! B.              No Confusion

*/Setting forth the truth plainly/* –  Paul presented God's truth with clarity.

He taught young Timothy to do the same…

*2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV) "*15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

Paul cut God's word straight and trusted that God would remove the veil of unbelief.

Our job is to clearly communicate God's word.

It is God's job to remove the blinders and change the heart.

There are two reasons that God's good news is misunderstood:

v Confusing teachers!

Ever had a class where you couldn't understand the teacher?

The confusion should not come from the Christian teacher…

v Confused students

Some people don't understand spiritual truths because they are spiritually blind.

It is a spiritual issue.

Paul was once spiritually blind, thinking he was serving God when He was actually persecuting Jesus and opposing everything that God was doing.

Then he was dazzled by the bright light of God's truth on the road to Damascus.

All believers were once blind!

Only God opens our eyes to see!

*Vs.

4* is saying that Satan, the god of this world blinds those who choose not to believe.

So Paul is unstoppable because he has unstoppable determination, and unstoppable integrity and now we see his …

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III.

Unstoppable Humility (4:5–7)

*2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (NIV) "*5For we do not *preach ourselves*, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6For 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.