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Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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   You Are Here: Bridge / Galley / Pastor's Pen / Pathways Through Paul
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Pathways Through Paul Daily Devotional
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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional

November 2
Click on verses for Full Scripture
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Today's Pathway:


 II Corinthians 4:17-18
  1. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
  2. 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.

His Majesty's Service

 Yesterday we saw from verse 16 that Paul was able to press forward in his service to the Lord because his spirit was being renewed by God on a daily basis. In today's passage he shares some of the principles and truths that encouraged him. In verse 17 he refers to his problems as "light afflictions" which endure only for "a moment". We have already seen Paul's descriptions of the trials he has faced, and probably none of us would consider them to be "light". We also know that Paul faced these difficulties from very shortly after his conversion (Acts 9:23) until his martyrdom. In light of these facts, how can he make such a statement? It is because Paul is doing a comparison between his current situation on earth and his future situation in Heaven. Paul has the assurance from the Scriptures that his eternal home will be a place of glory and bliss, and thus he is able to remind himself that the struggles of this life are very insignificant compared to what lies ahead. In Romans 8:18 Paul wrote,

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
The 17th century Puritan pastor Thomas Watson put it this way,
"Affliction may be lasting, but it is not everlasting."

 The afflictions of this life will eventually disappear, but in the meantime our willingness to endure them through the renewing of our spirit will bring to us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory". Paul is using the idea of a balance scale to illustrate his meaning. The weights are placed on either side of the scale. On one side are the sufferings of this life, on the other side are the blessings of eternity. The side we are currently living on is called "light and momentary", while the side we will be living on is called "far more exceeding and eternal". "Far more exceeding" is a translation of the Greek word from which we get our English word "hyperbole". It means "abundance" or "beyond measure". Heaven is so far beyond measure that the Greek text includes the word twice. It is a "hyperbole of a hyperbole"; it is an abundance of abundance. Robert Morgan stated,

"When we fail to renew ourselves we tend to forget about the glory side of the scales and we focus on our afflictions, and they seem very heavy. Our hearts grow heavy and we lose our joy. But Paul is saying here that when we are being daily renewed in the inner man and when we are refreshing ourselves daily with the perspective of Scripture, we begin to see things more as God does. And when we see things as God does, our afflictions in this world seem to "weigh" a lot less. In fact, they are light. They're light because they are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The heavy, solid side of the scales is our eternal glory. Eternal life. Our eternal home. Our eternal rewards. Paul wants us to look at our temporal heartaches in the light of our eternal hope, and the ability to do that is a product of the constant renewal of our minds and hearts."

 Having told his readers that the physical and temporal can not be compared with the spiritual and eternal, Paul says that his focus is not on what is happening to him today, but what will be happening in eternity. When we look at the world around us and the oppositions that we face, it is easy to give up. However, when we look through the eyes of faith at that which is yet to come, we can never stop serving our Lord. Every problem we have today will someday be over, and we will be with the One Who loved us and saved us. Jesus told his disciples that when they were persecuted they should,

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven".
We must do the same.

 What are you looking at: today's problems or eternity's blessings?

Pastor Mark J Montgomery

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His Majesty's Service
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1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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