Peter Tan-Chi - Do Not Lose Heart
The topic today, I feel, is so important. The title is very simple. Everybody, let’s read together. What’s the title? «Do Not Lose Heart, Press On Joyfully». Don’t give up. You know why? The Bible tells us, in Galatians 6:9, let’s read this together, «Let us not lose heart in doing good». Don’t lose heart in doing good. Many of you are doing good, don’t lose heart. The reason is simple, «…for in due time, we will reap if we do not grow weary». In due time. It has to do with your perspective. How do you not lose heart? I’m going to give you a simple word picture. Simple four words that will help you to not lose heart, not give up on your marriage, not give up on your problems, not give up on yourself.
Some people lose heart with themselves. You’re tired of yourself. Sawang-sawa na sa sarili mo. Well, don’t lose heart. Some of you have lost heart with God. You don’t feel like praying anymore. You feel like nothing is happening or with your church, or the leadership. Don’t do that. I want to share with you four important words. What are the four important words? Notice, first word is Perspective. I want to talk to you about the importance of Perspective. Second is Accountability. The next word is Love, and the next word is Mission. You will see all of these in the Book of 2 Corinthians 4 and 5, when Paul talks about not losing heart. Now, why do I use the acronym P.A.L.M.? Because we are really in God’s hand.
If ever there is somebody who encountered serious problems, it is the Apostle Paul. You may have no idea of what Paul went through. For example, I want to share with you what he went through in 2 Corinthians. Let’s read chapter 11. This is what Paul went through. Before I tell you the principles he discovered. Maybe you can empathize with him. Maybe you can say, «You know what? yeah, he went through a lot». He’s qualified to teach us how not to lose heart. Paul, his own experience, everybody read, «in far more… imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes». You look at the back of the Apostle Paul, it’s full of scars. «Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep».
Look at the next verse, «I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers… from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethen;» In short, if ever there is somebody who can be discouraged, is that Paul? Yes or no? Yes. What about you? Have you encountered some of those problems? How many of you have been beaten three times? How many of you have been in jail? How many of you have been shipwrecked? How many of you, in other words, I’m trying to tell you something very crucial. What made Paul so different? Perspective. First word is Perspective, how he sees problems.
All right. Why is Perspective so important? Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 4:16. «Therefore», together now, «we do not lose heart». What was Paul’s secret? Look at his perspective. «…but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day». Paul is very realistic. Our outer man is decaying. With all the pains of Paul, all the sufferings, all that they did to him, of course, his body will experience pain. Now, those of you who are 50 years old and up, 50, 60, 70, do you understand the meaning of pain here, pain there? Do you understand what I’m talking about? Is your body decaying? Sometimes you lose heart. Paul is saying, «even though the outer man (my body’s) decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed», look at his perspective, he does not just see life with a physical body. Paul says, «The real me is being renewed».
Next. Look at his perspective, «For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,» He’s not denying there is pain but look at his perspective, he calls pain «momentary». He described affliction as «light,» compared to what? «…beyond all comparison». Compared to «the eternal weight of glory». You see, for the Apostle Paul, his perspective is very simple. When you do something for Jesus, when you live for God and you suffer, it is going to produce an amazing weight of glory. In other words, living for Jesus is never a waste. It will produce what? Eternal weight of glory. God knows. God is a score keeper. And then look at the next verse. This is amazing.
Paul is saying, «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». Do you understand the perspective of Paul? He is now telling us, «My perspective is different from most people. I do not just look at things that are seen, but the things which are not seen». He’s now saying there is such a thing as a temporal world, and a spiritual world that is eternal. You see my friend, our problem is our perspective, sometimes, is too narrow. How many of you have heard of this company called Kodak? Raise your hand. You have heard of Kodak. Even the young ones, you still remember Kodak? Wow!
You know, Kodak… have you heard of the «Kodak moment»? They controlled the film industry. Wow. 90% in the '70s, they were so successful, okay, in the film industry. It was their own staff, their own technician, their own scientists that invented digital technology. But because they were so successful with their film, with their Kodak camera, when their own scientist presented to them the first digital camera was invented by Kodak, you know what the top management said? «It’s good but let’s keep this a secret because it will cannibalize our business». Their very success blinded them to the future of digital cameras. They had no idea, that eventually digital cameras, your cell phone, the transfer of one picture to the next person that is capable of being done because of digitalization, their very success blinded them.
And I realize there are many people, today, your very success is going to blind you to see the big picture. Many of us don’t see the future. You know why? You are so happy now with your life. You don’t see eternity. You don’t see the reality that there is life after death. So everything you see is «now». Everything you want is «now». There’s nothing wrong but you’ve got to have a big picture. You have to understand, perspective is crucial. Look at Paul’s perspective when it comes to death. All right. Look at the next verse I want to share with you. In 2 Corinthians 5, look at his perspective. Most important issue about life: where will you go after you die? For Paul (vv.1-2), «For we know if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens».
Paul described his body life, his physical life, as living in a tent. He calls it «earthly tent». Remember, Paul was a tent maker. He was a self-supporting pastor, like many of us. But for Paul, he says, «When my body is torn down», when I die, what will happen to me? «…we have a building», he uses another word. He used the word «building,» a permanent structure, a super body. And he’s saying that this body is, «from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens». Then, he’s very realistic, «in this house (in this body of mine) we groan». How many of you have experienced pain in your body? You have rheumatitis, you have gout, you have pain? Paul is saying: I groan, «longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven».
Look at this perspective about life. Look at the next verse, He talks about while in this body (vv.4-5), «while in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life». You see, Paul is so sure of his future. «That when this body passes away, I will be swallowed up by a new super body». It’s immortal. Paul is giving an amazing reality of what will happen to your body. Now, I added these verses because this is very real in my life, when my mother was bedridden for 20 years, she was amputated, she lost her eyesight because of diabetes. She had a mild stroke. She had a hard time seeing, she can hardly see. She had a hard time speaking. I use these verses to comfort my mother.
I told my mother [2 Cor. 15:53-54], «For this perishable must put on imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable (my body) will have put on imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'» What the Bible is saying is this, ladies and gentlemen: Your perspective will impact the way you react to problems, the way you react to fear. For example, for the Apostle Paul, he does not mind pain because he knows someday God will reward him. He knows about the reality of a super body.
Now, how many of you are looking forward to a super body? You know, you will not appreciate this until you are with loved ones. You know, I cried when I talked to my mother. I said, «Mommy, it’s okay. God will give you a new body». When I talked to my brother-in-law, who suffered from pancreatic cancer, I said, «Brother, God will give you a new body». My sister-in-law, who recently passed away. Cancer. I saw how her body was devastated by cancer. But I praise God for my brother, he understood, and she understood, she wasn’t afraid of dying. She said, «I’m looking forward to be with Jesus». It’s all about perspective. Next. What does it mean to have Accountability?
You see, for Paul, look at the next word. Look at the next verse. Okay, I want to go to 2 Corinthians 5 (vv.9-10), «Therefore we also have as our ambition», notice his ambition, «whether at home or absent to be pleasing to Him». Huh! How come for the Apostle Paul, the most important ambition in life is to please Him? I do not know what is your ambition. For some people, their ambition is to be powerful, to be rich, to be famous. I don’t know what’s your ambition. Nothing is wrong with those, but I’m afraid you are going to miss out on the most important ambition you must have. Your ambition must be to, everybody read, «we also have our ambition». What should be your ambition? Everybody, «to be pleasing to God». What does that mean?
A friend of mine shared a real story, how he was in the airplane and how people were so nasty. This is in the USA. Because the plane was delayed, you got to know in the States, when there’s a delay, people are not happy. But he was amazed at this stewardess. The stewardess was so nice, so kind, always trying to make the passenger happy. He cannot help but speak to the stewardess. He said, «I cannot help but notice that you are smiling. You are always doing your best to make us happy. What is it about»? She said, «Sir, I am serving the Lord». «What do you mean»? She said, «Every morning, when I leave the house, my husband and I will pray that today, I will do my best to honor the name of Jesus and to serve Jesus, and that’s why, sir, I am acting this way».
You see, once you realize who you are serving, if you are serving the Lord, you will not grow weary. You will not lose heart. Even if the passengers are obnoxious. Because you are not serving people, you are serving who? The Lord. So my friend, who are you serving? If all of you, even the policemen, even government officials, all the business people here, managers, if you are committed to make God happy, you will act differently. You know why? He tells you why. Everybody read, «For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done». In other words, Paul was very sure that one day, all of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Paul is saying, «Someday, I’m accountable». You see, many powerful people, many rich people, are not accountable to anybody. You know why? They think they’re above the law. When the Bible is telling us, that there’s no such thing. Because one day, notice the grammar, everybody read one more time. One day, everybody read, «For we must all (you and me, all) appear before the judgment seat of Christ». That’s why you hear the word «bema». It’s an elevated platform, from which the Roman emperor and the Roman judge will stand high up. But the point is this, everybody read, «…each one may be recompensed». My wife loves this word 'recompensed, each one. The word «recompense» means what? To be reimbursed. God will reimburse you.
You see, sometimes we are discouraged because people don’t recognize you. You are so faithful in church ministry but people don’t even thank you, they don’t even realize it is you. But Paul is saying, it’s okay, because God, Jesus is going to be the one to recompense me. You see that word? «Recompensed for his deeds in the body». Now some of you may be confused, «Peter, I thought salvation is by grace, it’s free»? We are now talking about judgement. Well, let me show you a chart, so you’ll understand the difference between Salvation and Rewards. Salvation is by grace. Reward is by works. Salvation is a free gift. It’s paid for by Jesus, what Christ did for you on the cross. You cannot earn Salvation, it’s given by grace. Your part is to believe, accept it.
Reward is earned, by what you do with your life. Reward is what we do for Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is what Christ did for us, you cannot earn Salvation. But can you earn Rewards? Yes, these are not the same. Salvation is now. You are saved now and for all eternity. Rewards are future. Salvation is the same for everybody in Christ. If you are in Jesus, you are all saved. However, Rewards are different. Not all believers will have the same rewards and that’s what most Christians don’t understand. Let me give you examples of some verses. In Matthew chapter 25, all right, here’s the story of Jesus. On Judgment Day, according to Jesus, (v.21) «His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will now put you in charge of many things», see?
That’s the Reward. Faithful now, whoever you are, you’re faithful now, and Jesus tells us, «I’ll put you in charge of many things». Look at the next verse. In Luke, (v.16) «The first appeared, saying, 'Master, your mina has made ten minas…'» Mina is a sum of money. It’s a lot of money. (v.17-19) «And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because, you have been faithful in a very little [thing], you are to be in authority over ten cities.' The second came, 'Your mina, master, has made five minas.' And the master said, 'you are to be over five cities.'» Do you see what the Bible saying? Rewards are different. For the Apostle Paul, «I don’t lose heart. Because I’m accountable to God, and God, made Himself accountable to us».
Do you know, God does not have, Jesus does not have to reward us? But He made Himself accountable. Jesus is saying, «You know what? I will not forget your good works». In Tagalog, Jesus is saying, «Ako bahala sa 'yo». He does not have to reward me. He died for me. But He said, «Ako bahala sa 'yo. Just be faithful». My friend, are you willing to walk from here to Baguio when it’s raining? Just walk. No riding. Are you willing to walk from here to Baguio? How many of you are willing to walk from here to Baguio? Just walk. Raise your hand. You know why you are not? Because you’re normal people. Now, how many of you are willing to walk, even when it’s raining or when it’s hot, if somebody offered you 1 million pesos? How many of you are willing to walk? Sa inyo, kulang pa 'yan eh.
All right. What about $1 million? Raise your hand. Suddenly, you have the energy. Why? Because for you, it’s $1 million. What about if Bill Gates will say, «I’ll give you $100 million». Are you willing to walk? You walk from here to the city hall, and the mayor will have the money ready, and you are sure it’ll happen. Are you willing to walk? You see? Perspective. Accountability. God tells us whatever you do now, you will be rewarded. If you say «No» to sin, God knows. If you say «No» to graft and corruption, God knows. What is your perspective in life? Myopic? Just now, «I just look at life now,» or do you see the big picture?
The next word is what? L is Love. What do I mean by Love? Let’s look at this verse, you know what Paul is saying, [2 Corinthians 5:14-15] «For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf». You know what Paul is saying? Paul is saying, «I am compelled, I am controlled by the love of Christ». Paul does not lose heart. My friend, do not lose heart, press on joyfully. You know why? You press on because of the love of Christ. Are you motivated by the love of Christ? You see, friends, the strongest motivation in life is really love. And Paul is saying the love of Christ controls us. He said, «and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves». Si Paul, may utang na loob.
Paul is a man of gratitude. He knew what Christ did. My wife gave me a story last night. I do not know if this story is true or not. It does not matter whether it’s true or not. But it’s a nice story. It talks about a girl that was blind and her boyfriend wanted to marry her. This girl said, «I will not marry you until I can see again». This boy did something, spent money for the operation and the girl was able to see. When the girl was able to see, the boy was proposing marriage. The girl said, «Now that I can see, I realize you are blind. I will not marry you». The boy was devastated. You know why he was devastated? He wrote on a piece of paper, to her, «Darling, please take care of my eyes».
Darling, take care of my eyes. That boy gave up his eyes, so the girlfriend could see. In a similar fashion, you may ask, why did the girl do that? I do not know. Perhaps some of you do not know what Christ did for you. You do not know He gave up His life for you. So you are not motivated to love Him. You are not motivated to serve Him. Can I tell you something, why you need to be motivated by love? You see, don’t lose heart. You’ve got to press on with joy because of love. When Peter the Apostle turned away from Jesus, remember? He denied Jesus, how many times? Three times. How did Jesus restore Peter? Remember when Jesus rose again from the dead, the first thing He did with Peter, if you recall, after Jesus died and rose again, remember, Peter went back fishing. He probably was losing heart. He prepared breakfast for Peter, and the first thing he said to Peter, «Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me»?
Three times. Why? Because the only way you will not lose heart and press on is when you love Jesus. And you will only love Jesus when you realize He loves you. This week, I asked myself couple of months, from time-to-time, I ask myself, «Peter, why are you doing what you are doing? Why do I teach Bible? Why do I serve»? I told Jesus, «Jesus, I love you». Do you love Jesus? Do you? Well, if you love Jesus, praise God! Serve Him. Don’t lose heart. And lastly, you know why you are not supposed to lose heart? Because according to the Apostle Paul, not only was he motivated by the «perspective» of eternity, not only was he motivated by the reality that he will stand before God, «accountable» to Him. Not only because of the «love» of Jesus for him, but the «mission» given to him.
What do I mean by «mission»? Look at 2 Corinthians 5, as we close, (v.20) «Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ…» See, Paul understood this, «we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God». You must understand, Paul was given an assignment. His assignment was to be God’s ambassador. Do you know, you and I are ambassadors? Everybody, read this together, «Therefore», everybody, «we are ambassadors for Christ». What is the meaning of the word 'ambassador'? Ambassador is the highest political position you can ever have in a foreign country. You represent the king, you represent the president. You have one duty, primary duty: represent the country, represent the president, represent the king properly. You deliver His message and the message is very simple.
The message that God wants you to deliver is this, «we beg you on behalf of Christ,» everybody, «be reconciled to God». You see, God is telling us that you have a big mission and your mission is to tell the whole world, «be reconciled to God». My friend, many years ago, Kublai Khan wrote a letter to Pope Gregory X. In that letter, Kublai Khan told the Pope, «Send me 100 Bible teachers. If you can convince my lords, if you can convince me that Christianity is better, my leaders, my barons, myself, we will be baptized and we will follow you and will become Christians. And the people under us will all become Christians».
What did the Pope do? He never understood the seriousness of sharing the gospel to these people. At that time, Kublai Khan controlled one-fifth of the entire geography of the whole world, from part of China, all the way to Europe, all the way to India. Kublai Khan was powerful. How many did they send? Only two, and the two priests did not even make it. They did not make it to Mongolia. Guess who went to Mongolia to preach? The Buddhists. Kublai Khan made the Buddhist Monk the chief teacher of the Mongolian Empire. His title is the «Preacher of the State».
Today, the Mongolians are mostly Buddhists. Why? The greatest mistake of Christianity, we failed to deliver the amazing Gospel of Jesus, that God loves them, that there is forgiveness of sin! Why? We never understood. You and I are ambassadors. You are very important. Let me ask you a question: Have you been reconciled to the Lord? You see the message is very clear, «Be reconciled to the Lord». Can I tell you why it is so important? I want to give you a bonus verse, 1 Corinthians 2:9. Do you know, if you come to Jesus, this is the promise? Then, I’ll give you the bad news. First, the good news. The good news, if you are reconciled to God, this is the good news: 1 Corinthians 2, everybody read, (v.9) «But as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man…' everybody, 'All that God has prepared for those who love Him.'»
If you love Jesus, because you know Him, you are reconciled, your future is amazing. The certainty of the amazing future you and I will have. However, if you are not reconciled to God and you have not surrendered your life, what will happen to you? Well, let’s look at this verse. Look at 2 Thessalonians 1, everybody read, (vv. 7-9) «when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, dealing out retribution», that’s the word for justice, dealing out justice, «to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus». What will happen? «These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…»
Do you notice the consequence of not being reconciled to God? You will pay the penalty of, everybody read, «eternal destruction» The word 'destruction' does not mean annihilation. In the Greek, the word 'destruction' is loss of well-being, not annihilation. It’s a bad place. Look at what it says «away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power». But to you, to those of you who know Jesus, what is the promise? (v.10) «When He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed».
You see, there’s going to be a difference between God’s people and those who don’t know Jesus. My friend, how are you reconciled to God? Very simple. In the time of the Apostle Paul, the Roman Empire will send an ambassador. And the ambassador will go to a country that has been conquered, and offer them a peace treaty, the term of peace for reconciliation. They will adapt you in the Roman Empire, provided you accept the term. And that term is called the Term of Surrender. If you want to be reconciled to God, you do not dictate to God your term. You accept the term that God is giving us. And the term God is giving us is very simple, «Will you surrender the rebelliousness of your heart? You have been rebelling against Me».
Will you surrender and come to Jesus, and recognize Him as your King, the King of kings. And that, my friend, is the good news! If you surrender, and you come to the King of kings, what is His promise? You are reconciled! And when you are reconciled, your future is amazing! Hallelujah! Praise God! Now question, as we finish: Are you reconciled to God? If not, I’ll pray for you.
Lord Jesus, I admit I’ve been in rebellion. I have not been reconciled to you. Today, I surrender my life to You. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I surrender my all to You. I now recognize You as my Lord, as my King. I recognize You, as my leader, as my Lord. I accept Your gift of forgiveness. I accept Your gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. And Amen.
God bless you! And I want to commission you now, ambassadors of Jesus Christ! What is your main job? Number one: Deliver the message, clearly. Number two: Don’t bring shame to the country you represent the Kingdom of Heaven, you represent the Lord. So act in such a way that you attract people to the Kingdom of God. Amen? So fellow ambassadors, turn to your neighbor, tell their neighbor, «Ambassador for Christ, God bless you»!