Sermon for Sunday January 25, 2004

How To Keep Going When You Can’t Go On by Mike Turner

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

How To Keep Going When You Can’t Go On
2 Cor. 4:1-18
I believe my sermon title tonight would be called an oxymoron. It doesn’t hardly make sense does it.
Yet, there are times when we must keep going when we just feel like we can’t. Have you ever said, " I just don’t know how much more of this I can take." or " I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this."
Sometimes when we make those statements it may be in reference to a job, or in our marriage, or perhaps even concerning something at church. It may be said during times of trouble or sickness..........but regardless of our situation, we most all certainly feel like there are times when we just can’t go on.
I think sometimes we are mislead into believing that the people of the Bible were superhuman in some way. Yet, a closer look at the word of God will reveal to you that they were human...and that they experienced much of the same things in life as we do.
Paul is one of those guys. He knew a little bit about "how to keep going when you can’t go on". Tonight I want us to look at some things that will help us when we get to those points in our lives.

I. The Adversity & Attitude

a. He was crowded but not crushed.
V. 8 "troubled on every side, yet not distressed"
The word "troubled" means "to crowd". Paul experienced troubles, and trials to the point to where it all was closing in on him. I think we refer to this condition today as being "stressed". Yet, Paul said though I am crowded, I am not crushed !
Story: Lady in Iraq discovered after three days

b. He was doubting but not despairing. V.8
The word "perplexed" means "to have no way out".
There were times in his life when he literally felt "at a loss." Yet, Paul said, I am not in despair. Now this statement is definitely a play of words. Literally Paul is saying..."There are times when I feel "at a loss" but not "totally at a loss". He was filled with doubt about what was going to happen. He may have been full of questions, but he refused to be in despair, and despondent.

c. He was followed, but not forsaken. V.9
The word "persecuted" means "to be pursued or followed". The word "forsaken" means "to be deserted or left behind"
Every where that Paul went...it seemed that trouble followed him. He was threatened, imprisoned and faced death on several occasions, yet he said...I am not forsaken.

d. He was ditched, but not destroyed. V.9
I heard the late Dr. Jack Hyles preach on this text once, and he said that Paul was "knocked down, but not knocked out."
He had been cast down, knocked off his feet, but he had not been destroyed as a result.

Illust. Rudy

The question we all want to have answered tonight is how did Paul maintain this kind of attitude in spite of his adversity. How can we keep going when we can’t go on ?

II. The Answer

a. The Faith will keep us going when we can’t go on.
V. 13

Hymn: Have Faith In God

Illust: Our children jumping into our arms !

Leading Psych. at John Hopkins says that 70 % of people with clinical depression recover quicker, and more often if they are people of faith

b. The Facts will keep us going when we can’t go on.
2 Cor 4:14
"Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you." We know that after death Jesus is going to raise us up ! But that same resurrection power is able to lift us up now. Lift us up above sin....above our sorrows, above the shadows !

Illust.
When the armies of Napoleon swept over Europe, one of his generals made a surprise attack on the little town of Feldkirch, on the Austrian border. As Napoleon’s formidable army maneuvered on the heights above Feldkirch, a council of it citizens were hastily summoned to decide whether to surrender or attempt a defense. In this assembly the pastor of the church arose to declare: "This is Easter Day. We have been counting on our own strength, and that will fail. This is the day of our Lord’s resurrection. Let us ring the bells and have services as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands. We know only our weakness and not the power of God." The council accepted his plan, and in a few minutes the church belfry chimed the joyous bells announcing the Savior's resurrection. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night, broke up camp, and before the Easter bells had ceased, the danger had been lifted.
In all of our darkness, distress, disease, and disturbances, remember that Jesus lives ! The devil couldn’t defeat him, and the grave couldn’t hold him down or back.....and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, and we can not only live after death through him.......we have the power to live now !

c. Focus will keep us going when we can’t go on.
V16. " For this cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. "
We must make certain where our focus is. If our focus is not correct, then we will have trouble pressing on
For what cause ? V 15. "to the glory of God"

A decade ago, Quote magazine carried a story about one man’s amazing persistence. The nations of the world had gathered for the Olympic games. Athletes from around the globe had trained for years to compete in the games, and finally, the time had arrived.

The Marathon, while not always exciting to watch, is surely the most severe Olympic test of human endurance. Many runners trained extensively to compete. The race began, and eventually, the winner came running back into the Olympic Stadium, welcomed by cheers from the appreciative fans. Soon other runners arrived as well, and eventually, the race was over. Over, that is, except for one runner.

A single, lone runner was still out on the course. Other track events continued in the stadium, and an hour passed. Then two. Finally several hours later, the final runner, an athlete from Tanzania, entered the stadium. His pace was slow. His steps were wobbly. His knee was bloody and bandaged from a fall earlier in the race. He looked absolutely terrible, but as he entered the stadium, the fans realized who he was and what he was doing, and they began to cheer. As he made his way around the track and finally, painfully, across the finish line, the cheers swelled as the fans saluted the man’s determination.

Later, after the race, the runner was asked why, even though he had lost the race by several hours, he had continued running. His answer was simple: “My country did not send me 7000 miles away to start the race. They sent me 7000 miles to finish it.”

We as believers must keep our eyes upon the author and finisher of our faith ! He hasn’t saved us to quit !
He didn’t die on the cross for us to give up ! We can keep going when we feel we can’t go on if we stay focused upon the Lord Jesus, and on the prize before us !
Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half- mile in less than two minutes.
Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952.
Shelly Mann was paralyzed by polio when she was five years old, but she would not give up. She eventually claimed eight different swimming records for the U.S. and won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
In 1938, Karoly Takacs, a member of Hungary’s world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give. up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.
Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was a committed person. He became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.
At the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty- one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At forty-five, he ran for the Senate and lost. At forty-seven, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At forty-nine, he ran for Senate again and lost again. At the age of fifty-one, he was elected President of the United States. During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history--Abraham Lincoln.

d. Future will keep us going when we can’t go on.
V17. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"
Our trials are temporal. They are light in comparison to the eternal weight of glory which are not yet seen !
The child of God is going home one day. Our stay here will soon be over, and gone forever will be all the pain, pressures, and problems of this world ! There will be no more suffering, no more sin, no more pain ! Praise God we’re going home one day ! When you feel like you can’t go on, think of heaven, think of meeting Jesus....think of being reunited with your family ! Oh what a wonderful day that will be !

Despite her handicaps, Helen Keller was not only grateful; she devoted her life to assisting the deaf and the blind. She toured the world to promote the education of the persons similarly disabled. "For three things I thank God every day of my life," Helen said. "Thanks that He has [given me] knowledge of His works; deep thanks that He has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to - a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song."