Well, good morning, team.
Last time we considered together the call of Christ to Simon, to put out into the deep
how it came to him, what Simon needed to overcome to answer it, and what came of it.
And this morning we want to take up the course that this calling sets us upon.
What is its nature?
What is the shape of the path which shapes us as disciples?
And likely it's true at all times, but it seems dramatically true in our own time that
we are in need of a refresher as to our course as disciples.
Let's recognize right out of the gate, it's really hard to stay on course in our calling.
To put it another way, it is not an easy task faithfully to fulfill Christ's charge to be
in the world, but not of it.
There is such a natural inveterate tendency, I certainly find it in myself, chameleon-like,
to take on the color of my context, to conform to my surroundings, to assimilate the character
of my setting.
Now it's not typically deliberate or even conscious on my part.
I'm going to absorb a worldly perspective.
I'm going to contract a worldly character.
Here I go.
No, it's more like swimming around in the ocean.
I wonder if you've done this.
And discovering that unwittingly I have been taken quite a ways down the beach by the current.
But, Paul likens it to taking on the shape of the world's mold.
Like jello conforming to the shape of the bowl.
Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold, he exhorts in Romans 12.
And it happens to all of us.
And it was happening to the young Corinthian church.
Even on the fundamental issue of what it means to be Christ's disciple,
their culture had tugged the Corinthians quite a ways down the beach.
And Paul writes to help them find their way back to their towels.
Reminding them what it means to follow Christ.
And I find that I am just as much in need of such a reminder as the Corinthians were.
So our question for this morning, and of our text,
is what does it mean to follow Christ in terms of the course that it puts us on?
And I want to answer this critical question by turning to a text in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 4, and I'll be picking up in verse 7.
So if you have your Bibles, you might want to turn there.
I'll try to tether my remarks to the text.
Let me read the passage for us.
So 2 Corinthians 4, beginning in verse 7.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.
Perplexed, but not driven to despair.
Persecuted, but not forsaken.
Struck down, but not destroyed.
Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake,
so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So death works, is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what has been written,
I believed, and so I spoke.
We also believe, and so we also speak,
knowing that he who raised our Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and bring us with you into his presence.
For it is all for your sake,
so that as grace extends to more and more people,
it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God.
So, we do not lose heart.
Though our outer self is wasting away,
our inner self is being renewed day by day.
For this light, momentary affliction
is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison.
As we look not to the things that are seen,
but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient,
but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for your word,
your living word, Jesus Christ,
and how he is presented to us in your written word,
the scriptures here open before us.
And thank you that in searching them out to find Christ,
you have not left us to our own devices,
but has given us the very spirit of Christ
in dwelling within us,
to illuminate Christ himself,
and make him shine before us,
that we might be transformed increasingly into his image,
to your great delight and glory.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, what is the calling of the disciple?
Well, leaping right in,
I want to assert
that it is first
a call
to experience death.
A call to experience death.
And this may sound jarring,
perhaps exaggerated,
somewhat extreme,
but I assure you
it is no attempt at rhetorical inflation.
It is rather,
it seems,
the frank testimony of the apostle.
Take a look at it with me.
As he states in verse 11,
here we're in 2 Corinthians chapter 4,
okay,
that's there at verse 11.
He writes,
for we who live,
that is we who have been made spiritually alive
by Christ through the gospel,
for we who live,
have we been made spiritually alive?
Then this refers to us,
okay?
For we who live
are constantly
being delivered over to death
for Jesus' sake.
Neither is this experience of death
a fluke
or a random matter.
doesn't just happen to be the case,
coincidentally.
No, it's by design
and none other than
divine design.
Notice
what theologians call
or exegetes call
the divine passive.
Being delivered.
Indicated that it is,
indicating that it is God
who actually
delivers us
over
to death.
death.
So this is God's game plan
for the disciple.
The sovereignly appointed path
for the follower of Christ.
What is this
death
to which the disciple
is being
delivered
to?
Well,
notice
that it is something
that transpires
constantly.
Again,
verse 11.
This death
is always
happening
to the disciple.
Indeed,
to underscore
the ongoing nature
of this experience
of death,
Paul elucidates
verse 10
there
with a word
that conveys
the notion
of a perpetual
process.
Now,
not all translations
reflect this,
but we would better
have
dying.
Better reflects
the Greek here.
Dying
as distinct
from simply
death.
Caring about
in the body
the dying
of Jesus.
And again,
worth marking
always,
always.
Not occasionally
or under extreme
circumstances,
rather always.
So,
the disciple
carries about
in the body
the dying
of Jesus.
Have you
tended to think
of your life
in those terms?
So,
what do you do
if someone asks you?
I carry around
in my body
the dying
of Jesus.
Well,
what does it
mean?
What does it
mean?
Well,
what was
the dying
of Jesus?
Jesus?
Well,
not simply
his death
upon the cross,
though that was
surely the culmination
of it.
Rather,
it was
the whole
sweep of
his life
from Galilee
to Galgotha
with
Gethsemane
summing it up.
Not
my will,
but
thine.
the dying
of Jesus
was the
unrelieved
dying
to self,
the utter
and unbroken
submission
of his
will
to that
of the
Father,
and the
unabating
effect
upon body
and soul
of that
unwavering
devotion.
the hunger,
the thirst,
the weariness,
the homelessness,
the abandonment,
the betrayal,
the false
accusations,
the flung
taunts,
the torn
flesh,
and the
cry of
dereliction
from the
cross.
The
dying
of Jesus
was all
that it
cost him
to stay
the course
of the
will of
the
Father
to
and
through
the
bitter
end.
What
then
is it
for the
disciple
to carry
about in
the body
the
dying
of
Jesus?
It is
the same
unrelieved
dying
to self
to stay
the course
of the
Father's
will
and all
the cost
to body
and soul
of never
wavering.
It is
as it
was for
Jesus,
a martyrdom
not confined
to the hour
of death,
but lifelong
of spending
and being
spent,
as Paul writes
in 2 Corinthians
12,
of pouring
oneself out
as a
sacrifice,
Philippians
2.
I die
daily,
says Paul,
1 Corinthians
15.
So the
shape
of
discipleship
is
daily
dying,
the
steady
cost
of
staying
the
course.
life.
But
dying
in
the
interest
of
what?
Embracing
the
steady
cost
of
staying
which
course?
Well,
verse 12
gives us
the answer.
You see it?
So death
works in
us,
but life
in you.
The death
that is
working out
in Paul's
life
has the
correlate
of life
working in
the
Corinthians.
Well,
how is this
so?
Well,
the suffering
that Paul
has endured
has been
the hardship
of body
and soul
required to
deliver,
to declare,
and to
display the
gospel
to the
Corinthians,
which has
brought them
new life
in Christ.
So death
works in
me,
says Paul,
but life
in you.
Spiritual
life for
the
Corinthians
has had
its cost.
It has
cost the
apostle
the pouring
out of
his life.
concretely,
to take
a quick
tally,
as he
does in
chapter 11,
it has
cost
beatings
times
without
number,
thrice
39 lashes,
being stoned
and shipwrecked,
dangers
from rivers,
robbers,
and rogues,
sleepless
nights,
hunger,
thirst,
cold,
and exposure.
And that's
simply to
mention the
physical
side of
the cost,
the more
harrowing
actually being
the emotional
burden.
But as he
urged his
disciple
Timothy,
I endure
all things
for the
sake of
those who
are chosen,
that they
may obtain
the salvation
which is in
Christ Jesus,
and with it
eternal glory.
2 Timothy
2.10.
Or as he
states in our
passage,
verse 15,
for all
things are
for your
sakes.
The suffering
is simply
the cost,
as he puts it
again in
verse 15,
of grace
spreading
to more
and more
people.
And there is
often
great cost
involved
in this
great cause.
As Jesus
would put it,
unless a grain
of wheat
falls to the
ground
and dies,
it remains
alone.
But if it
dies,
it bears
much fruit.
so,
the dying
that marks
the path
of the
disciple,
the suffering
Paul is
talking about
here,
has here
an accent
that falls
upon a
specific
suffering.
We might
aptly call it
missional
sufferings,
for it is
the suffering
sustained in
the work of
witness.
To carry
about in
our bodies
the dying
of Jesus
here
involves
the
mortification
of
mission.
It is
the pain
and travail
of making
Christ
known.
It is
a call
to endure
in that
endeavor.
Now,
I believe
that the
affliction
the disciple
is called
to endure
is broader,
okay,
broader
than that
suffered in
bearing witness
to Christ,
faithfully
seeking to
bear his
image.
But this
is the
part that
the disciple
focuses upon
here.
So let's
for a moment
stick to
this passage
and this
accent.
At times,
Paul uses
what is
almost a
technical
term for
this
missional
suffering
as he
does in
chapter 1
verse 5
of this
book,
2 Corinthians,
where he
writes,
the sufferings
of Christ
or the
Messiah
are
ours in
abundance.
Now,
this notion
of the
sufferings
of the
Messiah
or the
messianic
woes,
as some
call it,
distilled
from the
Old Testament
prophets,
Isaiah,
Jeremiah,
Hosea,
and Micah,
and developed
by Jewish
teaching,
held that
the triumphal
messianic
age to
come would
be preceded
by woes
or intense
suffering,
akin to the
birth pangs
of a woman
in labor.
this
suffering,
and here's
the interesting
thing,
this suffering,
the messianic
woes,
would be
endured
not by
the Messiah
himself,
but rather
born by
those
associated
with him.
And the
New Testament
writers took
this up,
a suffering
intense,
but of
fixed duration
and even
a fixed
quantity,
that would
be the
lot of
Messiah's
people,
Christ's
disciples.
And they
held that
Christ's
death and
resurrection,
his ascension,
and then his
gifts of the
Spirit from
his ascended
right hand of
the Father
had inaugurated,
had begun,
the messianic
age.
And his
people,
living now in
the last
days,
were called
to endure
tribulation
in fulfillment
of the
scriptures and
in fulfillment
of Jesus'
own words
until the
full measure
of this
appointed
suffering was
complete
and Christ
returned.
So against
this conceptual
backdrop,
we understand
what Paul
means when
he tells
the
Colossians,
Colossians 1
24,
I do
my share
of filling
up what
is lacking
in Christ's
afflictions,
or the
Messiah's
afflictions.
He is
speaking of
these sufferings
of the
Messiah.
And notice,
fill up,
which implies
there is a
fixed amount,
a fixed
measure of
intense
suffering that
must be
endured by
Christ's
disciples
before he
returns.
What is
this sum
of suffering
to be
endured?
Well,
it is the
sum of
what it
will cost
to deliver,
declare,
and display
the gospel
through the
ends of the
earth,
both near
and far.
As Jesus
had told
his disciples,
the gospel
of the
kingdom
shall be
preached in
the whole
world for
a witness
to all
nations,
and then
the end
shall come.
And as
Paul explains
again to
the Colossians,
I fill
up what
is lacking
in Christ's
sufferings,
verse 24,
by filling
up,
or fully
carrying out,
same word,
the preaching
of the
gospel,
verse 25.
You see,
as disciples,
we enter
into a
partnership
in suffering
with our
master.
And that's
indeed what
fellowship
means.
It means
partnership
in a
cause.
The cause
is redemption.
and the
disciple
partners
with the
master
in paying
the cost.
Both
Christ
and his
disciple
suffer
to reconcile
the world
to God,
to bring
many sons
and daughters
to glory.
Now,
let me be
very careful
here,
because I
don't want
anyone to
misunderstand.
We suffer
in the
same
cause
as the
Savior,
but our
suffering is
not of the
same character.
The
suffering
that our
Lord endured
to bring
many to
glory,
none but
he could
bear.
He must
tread the
winepress
alone.
He alone
took the
cup of
the
Father's
wrath.
His
sufferings
were
propitiatory.
The
disciples
simply
propagatory.
His
the
cost
of
atoning,
ours
is but
the
cost
of
announcing.
His
the
procuring
of a
great
salvation.
Ours
merely
the
proclaiming
and
parading
that
great
salvation
to the
ends
of the
earth.
And
yet,
though ours
is the
much
smaller
part,
our
part
too
bears
a very
real
cost.
And
so
fundamental
is the
disciples'
call to
take it
up,
that Paul
can unpack
what it
means to
know
Christ
as
having
fellowship
in his
sufferings.
That I
might
know
him
Christ,
he writes
in
Philippians
3.10.
That is
the
fellowship
of his
sufferings.
This,
then,
is the
call of
the
disciple.
The
call
to
partnership
in
Christ's
sufferings.
The
call to
take up
a share
of the
messianic
woes.
The
painful
birth
pains
that are
bringing
his
return
through
helping
fully
to
carry
out
our
gospel
mission.
Now,
of course,
this
mortification
of
mission
is not
confined
to the
shores
and
sands
of
distant
lands.
We
shouldn't
just get
that
impression.
We
ought
not
to
think
that
missional
suffering
is only
about
exposure
to
malaria,
snake
bite,
and
akka
spears,
eating
strange
foods,
and
learning
hard
languages.
No.
enduring
in the
endeavor
of
gospel
witness
can
find
equal
expression
in
New
Haven,
as in
the
New
Hebrides
or New
Guinea,
among
our
neighbors
at
hand
as
much
as
among
the
strangers
across
the
sea.
Gospel
grace
needs
to
spread
not
only
to
the
next
continent,
but
also
next
door.
And
faithfulness
in
witness
at
home,
right
here
where
we
are,
has
a
price
that
needs
to
be
paid.
Even
if it's
only
in
terms
of
some
time
we
would
have
been
inclined
to
spend
to
ourselves
an
extra
effort
to
care
and
in
prayer.
more.
And
the
mission
is
not
merely
to
spread
grace
to
more
and
more
people,
but
also
and
equally
to
spread
grace
through
people
more
and
more.
It
strives
to bring
the
gospel
to
bear
intensively,
not
simply
extensively,
okay,
to reach
not only
every
person
for
Christ,
certainly
that,
but also
the
whole
person.
And
indeed
to
pervade
not
merely
all
nations,
but
also
all
human
thought
and
culture.
As
Kuyper
loved
to
pronounce,
there
is not
one
square
inch
in
the
whole
domain
of
our
human
existence
over
which
Christ,
who
is
sovereign
over
all,
does
not
cry,
mine,
mine.
Christ's
kingdom
must be
expressed
everywhere.
Art,
music,
science,
law,
politics,
medicine,
urban
planning,
recreation,
all of
these things.
And this
vital truth
is communicated
in verse
15 of
our passage
where we
discover
that the
phrase
typically
translated
grace
spreading
to
more
and more
doesn't
quite
capture
the
full
meaning
which
should
include
the
notion
of
grace
being
multiplied
through
many.
Thus,
the idea
is that
through the
disciples'
suffering,
grace
is abounding
in depth
as well
as in
extent.
we are
all called
to take
up the
cost
of what
it takes
not only
that grace
get to
others
but also
that grace
might grow
through
others.
I have
on my
desk
Botticelli's
depiction
of
Augustine
in his
study
and he
sits there
pen ready
his eyes
are closed
in
concentration
his brow
is furled
in thoughtfulness
and beneath
his desk
are a
score of
crumpled up
pieces of
paper
it's my
favorite bit
the discarded
products
of the
gestation
of his
laboring
mind.
Well this
too
for some
of you
scholars
this too
is caring
about in
the body
the dying
of Jesus
the mortification
of mission
the careful
thought to
clarify truth
to articulate
it.
So
the call
of the
disciple
is a
call
to come
and to
die
to
experience
body
and soul
as the
theater of
an ongoing
death
the cost
of the
grace of
the gospel
spreading
deep and
wide
until Christ
returns
suffering
and
ongoing
dying
is
fundamental
to the
path
of the
disciple.
But there
is another
theme
to the
passage
critical
to complete
the picture
for the
call of
the
disciple
is
simultaneously
and
paradoxically
a call
to
experience
life.
A call
to
experience
life.
Paul
has told
us
that his
dying
has produced
life in
the
Corinthians
so
death
works
in us
but
life
in
you.
But
this
is not
the only
place
that the
dying
produces
life.
The
caring
about
of the
dying
of
Jesus
also
produces
life
in
the
disciple.
Verse
10
Caring
about
the
dying
of
Jesus
that
the
life
of
Jesus
also
may
be
manifested
in
our
body.
Again
this
death
life
dynamic
is
God's
design
for
the
disciple.
Verse
11
God
is
the
one
that
delivers
over
into
death
in
order
that
the
life
of
Jesus
might
be
manifested
in
our
mortal
flesh.
So
just
as
the
great
work
of
the
spirit
was
the
incarnation
the
exhibition
of
Jesus
on
this
earth
so
the
continuation
of
the
spirit's
great
work
is
the
further
exhibition
of
Jesus
in
the
life
of
the
disciple.
How
does
the
spirit
manifest
the
life
of
Jesus
in
the
disciple?
By
sustaining
the
dying
of
Jesus
in
the
disciple.
When
the
disciple
answers
the
call
to
come
and
to
die,
when
she
takes
up
the
cross
and
begins
to
carry
about
in
her
body
the
dying
of
Jesus,
when
he,
the
disciple,
enters
into
the
fellowship
of
Christ's
sufferings.
So
costly
is
the
path
when
followed
faithfully,
so
full
of
affliction
and
challenge
that
sober-minded
assessment
would put
it beyond
our
powers
to
endure.
We
would
falter.
we
would
shrink
back.
We
would
fall
never
to
rise.
But
it
is
precisely
here
that
the
Spirit
pours
out
the
treasure
of
the
Christ
life
into
our
earthen
vessels.
Verse
seven.
That
we
might
endure
to
stay
the
course.
That
we
might
not
falter
or
shrink
back.
That
we
might
not
fall
never
to
rise.
The
Spirit
infuses
the
life
of
Christ
so
that
verses
eight
and
nine
though
afflicted
in
every
way
we
are
yet
not
crushed
though
perplexed
we're
not
despairing
though
persecuted
not
forsaken
though
struck
down
not
destroyed.
The
Spirit
is
poured
out
to
sustain
the
disciple
in
the
cause.
The
Spirit
does
not
save
the
disciple
from
suffering
he
sustains
her
in
it.
And
the
Holy
Spirit
does
so
by
manifesting
in
the
disciple
the
life
of
Jesus.
A
life
of
constant
mission
driven
mortification.
As
verse
16
expresses
that
death
life
dynamic
though
our
outer
self
is
decaying
yet
our
inner
self
is
being
renewed
day
by
day.
But
this
daily
renewal
is
more
than
simply
strengthening
us
to
sustain
the
costly
path
of
discipleship.
This
renewal
is
also
the
inward
transforming
of the
disciple
to
embrace
more
fully
this
path
of
self
giving
for the
gospel.
so
it's
not
just
giving
strength
for
the
path
but
bending
her
more
to
that
path.
The
background
and
explanation
for
this
inner
renewal
by
the
spirit
that's
here
in
verse
16
is
supplied
in the
previous
chapter
chapter 3
verse
18.
But we
all
Paul
writes
with
unveiled
face
beholding
as in
a mirror
the glory
of the
Lord
are being
transformed
into
the same
image.
The
spirit's
inner
work
upon
the
disciple
is a
transforming
work
transforming
into
the
divine
image.
Now
when we
hear
image
we ought
to
think
back
to
Genesis
and
the
debacle
of
Adam
in
the
garden
made
in
God's
image
ironically
in an
attempt
to be
more
like
God
you
remember
he
abused
and
marred
God's
image
he
became
less
like
God
through
self
grasping
in
contrast
the
one
who
is
the
perfect
image
of
God
Jesus
who
did
not
use
the
image
of
God
for
self
grasping
you
remember
2nd
Philippians
2
but for
self
emptying
self
emptying
and in
this
Jesus
manifests
the
image
of
God
fully
and we
all
following
Adam
are
naturally
self
regarding
self
grasping
but
the
spirit
comes
and
transforms
us
from
a
mockery
of
the
divine
image
into
a
manifestation
of
it
to be
renewed
is to
be
restored
according
to the
self
giving
self
emptying
divine
image
perfectly
exhibited
in
Jesus
so
this
is
what
it
means
for
the
disciple
to
have
the
life
of
Jesus
manifested
in
his
body
an
abandoned
self
giving
in the
cause
of the
gospel
so
I ask
you
do
you
want
to
know
the
flow
of
Christ's
spirit
then
take
up
the
fellowship
of
his
sufferings
give
yourself
away
in the
cause
of the
gospel
and
there
you
will
experience
the
spirit's
powerful
working
in you
rendering
gloriously
that
self
giving
life
of
Christ
in
your
mortal
flesh
so
the
call
of the
disciple
is the
call
not only
to
experience
death
but it's
the call
to
experience
life
our
body
and soul
the
theater
of the
constant
sustaining
up
welling
of the
self
emptying
self
sacrificing
life
of
Jesus
poured
out in
the
cause
of the
gospel
finally
how is
this
death
life
of
Jesus
to
which
we
are
called
how is
it
nurtured
in the
experience
of the
disciple
how do
we
continually
embrace
it
well
our
embracing
it
starts
with
conviction
that
this
is
indeed
our
calling
this
is the
life
to which
we
as
disciples
of
Jesus
are
called
this
is the
life
that we're
beckoned
to
verse
13
but
having
this
same
spirit
of
faith
according
to
what
is
written
I
believed
therefore
I
spoke
we
also
believe
therefore
also
we
speak
so
it
is
out
of
this
depth
of
conviction
this
spirit
of
faith
that
we
launch
out
into
the
deep
that
we
wade
into
the
waters
of
speaking
and
suffering
for
Christ
we
believe
therefore
we
speak
what
do
we
believe
what
are
we
convinced
of
that
so
impels
us
we
know
it
says
we
know
that
our
self
emptying
is
in
the
sovereign
hands
of
God
issuing
in
spiritual
life
our
own
he
will
raise
us
up
verse
14
and
issues
in
life
not
only
for
ourselves
but
for
countless
others
for
whom
we
have
spent
ourselves
them
he
will
raise
up
also
and
present
with
us
verse
14
because
we
know
that
our
momentary
light
affliction
is
producing
for us
both
in
us
and
all
around
us
an
eternal
weight
of
glory
beyond
all
comparison
verse
17
because
of
this
conviction
we
venture
out
and
we
venture
all
if
we
believe
it
we
cannot
remain
silent
or
still
we
will
launch
out
into
the
deep
waters
so
I
ask
you
do
you
have
this
conviction
is
this
your
world
view
is
this
the
fabric
of
your
deep
belief
if
so
what
have
you
ventured
for
Christ
and
his
gospel
what
might
you
adventure
for
him
where
might
you
launch
out
into
the
deep
we
as
disciples
of
Jesus
ought
to
be
giving
ourselves
away
with
utmost
abandon
and
not
drawback
whoever
wishes
to save
his
life
shall
lose
it
says
the
master
but
whoever
loses
his
life
for
my
sake
and
the
gospels
shall
save
it
what
kingdom
exploit
what
gospel
enterprise
can
you
take
up
that
grace
may
spread
to
and
through
more
and more
to the
glory
of our
king
we're
in the
midst
of a
great
and
needy
city
we
rub
shoulders
with
lost
people
we
are
in the
midst
of a
culture
drifting
farther
and farther
from a
knowledge
of
God
will
we
venture
nothing
will
we
not
venture
all
when
in the
19th
century
gold
was
discovered
in the
interior
of
Africa
the
mouth
of the
Zambezi
river
began
to swarm
with
prospectors
English
missionary
C.T.
Stud
lamented
how few
were willing
to endure
the challenges
of Africa
for the
gospel's
sake
when the
hope
of a
handful
of gold
seemed
sufficient
to bring
men out
in droves
are
gamblers
for gold
so many
he said
and gamblers
for God
so few
come on
let's
venture
something
for Christ
for it
is as
we launch
out
that the
spirit
wrought
life
of Jesus
comes
into
its own
and is
gloriously
displayed
do you
want the
spirit
launch
out
in
Jesus
name
so
we
nurture
this
life
of the
disciple
by
launching
out
the
venture
but
alongside
the
venture
must
come
the
view
alongside
the
launching
a
looking
a
looking
verse
18
while we
look not
at the
things
which are
seen
but at
the
things
which are
not
seen
for the
things
which are
seen
are
temporal
but the
things
which are
not
seen
are
eternal
the
word
with
which
the
verse
begins
might
be
rendered
provided
we
shall
sustain
this
life
of a
disciple
provided
or
only
as
we
keep
our
eyes
fixed
upon
the
right
things
and
not
fix
them
upon
other
things
only
then
shall
we
endure
in the
endeavor
only
then
shall
we
sustain
the
cost
of
staying
the
course
what
are
the
things
we
must
not
fix
our
gaze
upon
the
very
things
we
might
naturally
be
inclined
to be
absorbed
with
the
daily
dying
and
decay
the
pain
the
pressure
the
perplexity
the
toils
the
tears
the
travail
we
dare
not
fix
our
eyes
upon
the
steady
cost
of
staying
the
course
but
rather
remember
that
these
afflictions
that
form
so much
a part
of the
disciples
visible
life
are
but
temporary
transient
ephemeral
in the
very
process
of
fading
away
they
are
the
marks
of
this
present
passing
age
and
shall
soon
be
no
more
and
since
our
wasting
away
is
itself
fading
away
it
need
not
receive
much
attention
since
jesus
shall
so
soon
very
soon
make
all
things
new
and
wipe
away
every
tear
let's
not
fret
over
much
over
them
now
and
even
when
this
world
does
its
worst
remember
the
master's
words
in
this
world
you
shall
have
much
tribulation
matthew
adds
they
may
kill
you
but
and
isn't
it
wonderful
that
the
gospel
can
add
this
do
they
may
kill
you
but
be
of
good
cheer
but
be
of
good
cheer
I
have
overcome
the
world
thus
Paul
has
principally
in
mind
here
for
things
seen
the
sufferings
of
this
world
but
by
extension
all
that
is
as
part
of
this
present
age
passing
away
is
no
fit
object
of
the
disciples
gaze
worldly
wealth
honors
ecstasies
let's
not be
diverted
from our
path
by such
gilded
dross
and
vanishing
smoke
we
who
shall
so
soon
be
transplanted
ought not
to root
ourselves
too
firmly
in the
soil
of this
age
all
the
trees
of this
present
world
are
marked
for the
woodsman's
axe
let us
rather turn
our sights
elsewhere
and resolve
to hold
in view
things
unseen
what are
these unseen
things
not
what is
inherently
invisible
rather
presently
invisible
the
things
that will
need
that will
indeed
be
fully
visible
at the
consummation
when
Christ's
kingdom
comes
but now
are only
partially
so
the
things
that are
at home
in the
coming
age
seen
only
now
in germ
in
gestation
we
cannot
yet
see
the
full
host
around
the
throne
in
heaven
but
they
are
being
gathered
even
now
it
has
not
yet
appeared
what
shall
be
yet
we
are
now
becoming
what
we
shall
be
forever
the
unseen
things
are
the
glorious
and
everlasting
fruit
even
now
in the
bud
the
blossom
and the
bloom
of the
light
momentary
affliction
the
glory
life
that
when it
comes
in
noonday
splendor
will
have
no
end
as
we
set
and
stay
our
sight
on
these
things
the
fruit
we
shall
not
faint
in
the
fray
our
sufferings
are
but
the
birth
pangs
of
glory
however
harrowing
and
horrible
they
seem
in
themselves
however
unlight
or
unmomentary
they
seem
to
feel
at
the
present
in
comparison
to
eternity
a
whole
life
of
utter
self
sacrifice
will
seem
like
nothing
but a
sleepless
night
in
a
bad
motel
as
an
old
saint
puts
it
though
we
have
a
hard
breakfast
yet
we
shall
have
a
very
good
dinner
the
future
display
shall
be
well
worth
the
present
decay
so
let
us
resolve
to
set
our
sights
upon
things
glorious
train
our
view
to
look
on
the
things
everlasting
and
so
press
on
toward
the
upward
call
of
the
disciple
counting
all
the
cost
as
but
dust
in
the
balance
of
eternity
as
David
Livingston
near
the
end
of
his
life
he
a
life
poured
out
he
confessed
anxiety
sickness
suffering
or danger
now and
then
with
the
foregoing
of
the
common
conveniences
and
comforts
of this
life
may
make
us
pause
and
cause
the
spirit
to
waver
and
the
soul
to
sink
but
let
this
only
be
for
a
moment
all
these
are
nothing
when
compared
to
the
glory
which
shall
be
revealed
in
and
for
us
I
never
made
a
sacrifice
what
is
the
call
of
the
disciple
it
is
a
call
to
experience
death
to
make
our
body
and
soul
a
theater
of
constant
dying
for
Christ's
sake
in the
gospel
and
it
is
simultaneously
and
paradoxically
a call
to
experience
life
our
body
and
soul
the
theater
of
a
continuous
sustaining
and
upwelling
of the
self
emptying
self
sacrificing
life
of
Jesus
how
is
this
sustained
the
venture
in the
view
the
launch
and the
look
by
stepping
out
in
gospel
exploits
and
setting
our
sights
upon
eternal
realities
amen
well team
I've gone
a little
bit over
so I
fear
we won't
have time
for questions
this time
but I
will try
very hard
to allow
some time
next
time we
meet
which
in which
we will
be talking
about
the
conflicts
of the
disciple
so
we'll
see you
Lord
willing
next
week
do
dash
upstairs
we're a
little bit
we're a
little bit
late
and
sorry
for
that
thank you
we'll
call
we'll
see you
here
at
ODAR
100
I
like
showing up
at
8
and I
was like
man the
sign's out
it's like