Therefore we are comforted.
    And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.—2 Corinthians 7:13–16 

Introduction 

Next week we begin a sermon series that excites me more than any series I have ever preached. It is a four-part sermon series on spreading Jesus’ name. The church exists for the sake of spreading. The mission statement of our church is “to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” Yes! Through Jesus, by the Spirit, God’s glory will fill the earth (spreading) to overflowing. That series will take us right to the doorstep of Global Focus, a two-week period of devoting ourselves to the rallying cry of reaching the unreached. 

This weekend the focus is on small groups, and the theme is horizontal Christian hedonism. What is that? I thought I actually came up with the phrase. It had a nice ring to it as I was reading 2 Corinthians 7:4–16. But I was in for a surprise. I turned to the book Desiring God to see what Pastor John said about loving each other in relation to Christian hedonism, and this is what I read in the second paragraph of the chapter:

The only way to glorify the all-sufficiency of God in worship is to come to Him because “in [His] presence there is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). This has been the main point so far, and we could call it vertical Christian Hedonism. Between man and God, on the vertical axis of life, the pursuit of pleasure is not just tolerable; it is mandatory: “Delight yourself in the LORD!” (Psalm 37:4). The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

But now what about horizontal Christian Hedonism?—John Piper, Desiring God, p. 111

We owe so much to those who have influenced us. I don’t know if that phrase was just stuck in the recesses of my mind and came popping back in, or if John has just influenced me so much that we think on the same wave length, but either way I just stop right here and publicly thank God for John Piper. I am not worshipping him—we worship God alone—but the God we worship says that it is right to remember people he has used to bless us. “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God” (Hebrews 13:7).

The chapter on horizontal Christian hedonism riveted me; I read it like I was reading it for the first time. I rejoiced to see how many times 2 Corinthians was mentioned in it. 2 Corinthians 2, 8, and 9 each had their own section, but 2 Corinthians 7 was not mentioned. You can’t say everything in single chapter or a single book, after all. Therefore, this sermon and exposition of 2 Corinthians 7 can help further fill out the features of horizontal Christian hedonism.

Let me briefly walk through an overview of 2 Corinthians 7:4–16 so that the structure can guide us in seeing this horizontal Christian hedonism. 

First, don’t miss the bookends of 2 Corinthians 7:4 and 7:16. Paul has a statement of confidence and joy, then a three-fold summary of joy, and then a final statement of confidence and joy.

The first statement of confidence and joy is clear in verse 4. “I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (2 Corinthians 7:4). In this verse, the word “pride” is actually the same word as “boasting” in verse 14.

Then there is a three-fold summary of joy in 2 Corinthians 7:5–15 (summary adapted from Paul Barnett, 2 Corinthians, p. 386). First Paul is filled with joy because of Titus’ arrival and report (vv. 5–7). Then he is filled with joy because of the Corinthians’ repentance (vv. 8–12) and thirdly, he is joyful in Titus’s joy (vv. 13–15).

Last, Paul makes another statement of confidence and joy saying, “I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you” (2 Corinthians 7:16). This is the other bookend. 

The main point of this whole section is the combined confidence, comfort, and joy that Paul has in the Corinthians. In our passage for today, the first three verses (13–15) zero in on the specific joy Paul has in Titus’ joy (the joy that Titus has in the Corinthians). Then verse 16 takes us back to the overall point of verses 4–16 that I have been reviewing with you, where Paul expresses his combined confidence, comfort, and joy in the Corinthians. He writes about the joy he has because of his confidence in them.

So here is the way that I would summarize the emphasis of this whole passage: Seeing God as the source of all joy sets us free to enjoy the joy of another as our own. You should ask where I am getting that, and I want to show you. This is the point that I’m going to unpack in the rest of this message and apply to our life together in small groups (and beyond).

I’m going to structure this message like a painting. Often, upon a first glance at a painting, a certain scene catches your eye, and you stare at it. Then you look at it in the light of the whole painting. The scene and the rest of the painting come together, making even more sense, and you enjoy it more. 

In this message, the scene I want to look at with you is Paul’s joy in Titus’ joy in the Corinthians (vv. 13b-16a). Paul takes these three verses to unpack his joy in Titus’ joy in the Corinthians. Then I want to look at that scene within the context of the bigger picture, namely Paul’s confident joy in the Corinthians (v. 16b). In this last verse, he summarizes his joy in the Corinthians and how it is based on his complete confidence in them. 

The Smaller Scene: Paul’s Joy in Titus’ Joy in the Corinthians 

Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.—2 Corinthians 13b-16a

Remember the baton of comfort in this passage. Paul suffered severe emotional affliction in having to write and send the painful letter to the unrepentant Corinthian church. He sent the letter with a faith-based boast that the Spirit’s work was real among the Corinthians. He felt confident that they would heed the warning, repent, and be restored when Titus delivered it to them.

Titus evidently had some reluctance to go, but Paul reassured Titus with his confidence and boasting about what to expect (maybe as an encouragement to go). Then God moved the hearts of the Corinthians through Paul’s letter, and they responded with repentance and zeal for restoration.

This is clear as you look at verses 13–16a. First, Paul rejoices more in Titus’ joy (v. 13b). Then the text mentions how Titus’ spirit is refreshed (v. 13c), and it recalls Paul’s boast and prediction about the Corinthians (v. 14). Then Titus remembers and replays the Corinthians’ response (v. 15a). Finally we hear the specifics of the Corinthians’ response (v. 15b). Let me unpack each of those sections.

First, Paul rejoices in Titus’ joy. Paul’s own joy in the Corinthians is doubled because it is now shared with Titus. “And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because . . . ” of the next four points (v. 13b).

Second, Titus’ spirit is refreshed. Paul rejoiced more at the joy of Titus “because his spirit has been refreshed” (v. 13c). This refreshment was remarkable because Titus had a long journey back to Paul after seeing the Corinthians. His body may have been weary, but his spirit was surging with joy.

Isn’t it true that there are totally different experiences in taking a long bus ride after your football or basketball game, depending on the outcome of the game? If you lost the game, you sink deeper into the weariness of your body; the physical weariness is exacerbated by the emotional heaviness. But if you won the game, you replay the events of it in your mind, and it just charges you up. Your body is tired with exertion, but inside you are surging with excitement and joy. In that case, the trip seems to go fast. 

That was Titus’ experience; his spirit had just been very refreshed, like he’d drank from a cool, refreshing spring.

Third, Paul writes about how he and Titus recalled his boast and prediction. Titus was so encouraged because the Corinthians’ response was right in line with what Paul had boasted about. Titus saw the symmetry between what Paul said would happen and what did indeed happen. Paul’s boasts and their coming true was part of the reason that Titus’ spirit was so refreshed. So Paul writes, “for whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true” (v. 14b).

This verse (14) is a negative/positive formulation. Paul emphasizes the negative by saying, “I was not put to shame in the boasts I made to Titus about you.” But then he says positively, “our boasting proved true.”

Paul can’t help but use this situation to prove a bigger point. He is saying, “Look, I speak the truth; what I say proves true.” He is defending his ministry as a whole. He is saying, “I don’t peddle the word of God for a profit. I speak the truth.” Now he says it again: “Everything we said to you was true” (v. 14). What Paul said to Titus is just one more example of illustrating the pattern of truthful speech. Paul is more able to rhetorically ask, “How much evidence do you need?”

Fourth, Titus’ joy increases as he remembers and replays the Corinthians’ response. Paul is referencing Titus’ report, and he is sharing what he sees as Titus gives the report and recalls it for Paul. Paul observes that “his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all” (v. 15a-b).

Titus kept rewinding and replaying the event of their obedience. Do you see what is happening? Titus is now boasting about the Corinthians back to Paul. Titus is a first-hand believer in what God is doing among the Corinthians as he sees how Paul’s boast in the Corinthians came true.

Fifth, the Corinthians’ response included them receiving Titus and obeying Paul. Paul reminds the Corinthians of their response by saying, “as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling” (v. 15b-c).

The phrase “fear and trembling” is important. It means they did not arrogantly receive Titus, thinking of him as a mere man, but they humbly received him, thinking of him as a messenger of God to them. What made them humble? They regarded Titus, his visit, and Paul’s letter as God’s work and hand in their lives.

This was the same humble response that Paul displayed the first time the Corinthians saw him preaching. Paul preached to the Corinthians “in weakness, fear, and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). Why?

To understand “fear and trembling” you have to contrast it with its opposite. Oratory, especially at that time, was not supposed to have weakness, fear, and trembling. Out of worldly wisdom, people measured speaking in three categories: the response, the audience, and the message. Eloquent orators would start with the response they wanted, then study the audience, and then they would craft a message that was guaranteed to produce the response they wanted. So, as an orator, you started with what you knew was fixed, identifying the response you wanted and the audience, and then went to the variable, crafting the message to get the audience to have the response that you wanted. It was an exercise of eloquence in order to influence the hearers.

With that context in mind, do you see what is different about Paul’s preaching? The orators believed that the response and audience were fixed, and the only variable was the message. But Paul believed that the message was the one thing that was fixed; it could not be changed under any circumstances. He said, “for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). 

His message was fixed, (“Christ and him crucified”) and, though the audience varied over the course of Paul’s ministry, in this case, it was fixed in that he was speaking to the Corinthians. The variable was the response, which was all up to God. Do you see how different it was for Paul to have this mindset?

Fear and trembling is not stage fright; in Paul’s case, it is not a response that is man-oriented at all. It is a response of humility to God. It is a result of Paul’s humble recognition of dependence upon God to produce a response. 

The Corinthians heard Paul preach the gospel of “Christ and him crucified.” God created the response of belief and reception in them. Their faith wasn’t produced by or resting on the wisdom of men (Paul’s oratory skills and eloquence) but on the power of God.

Now, in our text “fear and trembling” shows up once again in order to point out that the Corinthians now had the same humble dependence upon God that Paul did in chapter 2. They were not prideful and independent, but they depended on God, and he produced a response of repentance.

I want to apply these verses quickly before moving on to verse 16. Let me ask you this: How do these verses demonstrate that you can enjoy the joy of another person as your own? Let me ask it in a different way: How can you enjoy someone else’s joy as your own instead of envying their joy and considering it as separate from your own?

Maybe an illustration will help. Cyrus was the king of the Medes and the Persians. He wanted to expand his empire, so he took over Asia Minor, defeating King Croesus, the richest king in the world, who had more gold than anyone else. A history book I use tells the story this way:

He captured Croesus and made him stand up on the walls of his city and watch as Persian soldiers looted it. The soldiers went all through the city, carrying away armloads of treasures, gold coins, and jewelry. But Croeseus just watched, calmly. Finally, Cyrus said, “How can you be so calm? They are robbing you of all your gold!” “No they aren’t,” Croesus said. “The city belongs to you now. So they are actually stealing from you.” When Cyrus heard this, he stopped the soldiers at once and took all the gold back.—Susan Wise Bauer, The Story of the World, vol. 1, p. 159–160

Cyrus thought of the gold as still belonging to Croesus. He didn’t see it as his gold, though it was. He saw their stories as disjointed rather than joined together.

Isn’t that how we normally see each other’s stories and joy? But horizontal Christian hedonism views Christians as joined at the hip. We have joint joy because our stories are connected. We do need to speak of your joy or my joy, but our joy. Joint joy does not see the joy of others as disconnected; it does not give us room to be detached or disinterested or only care because it is the benevolent thing to do for others. Joint joy views the joy of another person as part of our own story; it is joined and shared, not disconnected or disjointed. Why do we view it this way? God, the great author, has authored a story that causes our lives to intersect and intertwine. He has connected us by putting us both within his larger story, and we intersect in his story on purpose, not on accident. We are not two ships passing in the night, but our meeting together is truly a divine appointment.

Now you may have some objections. I can think of a couple of objections worth asking about. Let me address those.

One might object by saying that someone who loves does think about their own gain. Doesn’t the Bible say that love does not its own way (1 Corinthians 13:5)? It also says we should not seek to please ourselves, but please our neighbor for their good (Romans 15:2). 

Isn’t it wrong to seek your own joy in someone else? Shouldn’t you do something because you want to make them joyful? Or at least do it because it is the right thing to do—you should be nice—not to make yourself happy. Stop playing Candy Crush and give someone a hand already.

But that’s not what Paul is saying. He is making the point that there are more-superior joys and less-superior joys. Though Candy Crush is enjoyable, helping someone and giving of my time is a superior joy. It is not just that helping another towards joy is the right thing to do; it is the more joyful thing to do.

Paul does not mean we shouldn’t seek the joy of edifying others, but that we should let this joy free us from bondage to private pleasures that make us indifferent to the good of others. Love does not seek its own private, limited joy, but instead seeks its own joy in the good—the salvation and edification—of others.—John Piper, Desiring God, p. 116

Another objection might be that 2 Corinthians has a happy ending. What about all the stories that aren’t so happy? Some may hear this good news about joy and say that it all sounds so simple. But we all know that people don’t just bring joy—they also bring pain. Yes, Paul has talked a lot about the pain that he and the Corinthians have experienced in their relationship. It has not always been pretty. However, it has a good ending. You may wonder what I would say to stories that have not had a good ending. The Corinthians repented and returned, but what about when the rebellious child doesn’t change? What do you do when the good endings you pray for do not happen? What do you do when the marriage is still strained, when the longings are not only unmet but also increasing? That is a fair question worth a good answer.

Let’s use the same three categories we used in the example of preaching: response, audience, and message. You look at a child, spouse or a friend (audience), and you desire a specific ending (or response) from them. What do you do?

You look at what God says to do and humbly depend on him so that he can help you be careful not to drive off the road into either of two ditches.

The first ditch we might fall into is thinking that the task at hand is pretty easy. We hope in and depend on ourselves, we act arrogantly, and we naïvely think that success is inevitable. 

Or we can drive off into the other ditch, thinking that the task at hand is just too hard. We are hopeless because we look at ourselves and see that we don’t have what it takes. That produces a fear of moving forward, and we are paralyzed rather than taking action. We hopelessly think that failure is inevitable.

But the path of truth is neither of these. God says that we can admit that the task at hand is in fact too hard for us. But we don’t need to let this paralyze us because it is not too hard for him; it is easy for him. When we think this way, we are moved to hope in and depend on God rather than on ourselves (either arrogantly or hopelessly). Out of that dependence, we act with fear and trembling, and we wait for the outcome that God will bring, whether success or failure. 

It is a beautiful thing when we pursue something that we desire using the means that God prescribes. When we get the outcome we hope for, it is then that we can be in danger of taking our eyes off God and putting them on the process. We almost begin to think in terms of entitlement or guaranteed results. “If I do things this way, then God will bring the ending or response I desire.” 

However, thinking this way is a subtle dependence upon ourselves. It is a more hidden version of the first ditch, and it sets us up for severe disappointment when what we desire does not happen. Often, when that disappointment comes, we swerve over into the other ditch. We get cynical, hopeless, and stop believing anything will ever happen. 

Let me suggest again the path of truth: When we pursue something we desire using the means God prescribes, and we get the response we hoped for, we remember that God created the response, not us. We do not start depending on the process and ourselves to complete it. This helps us interpret our joy, knowing it is a gift of God, given through Christ. Rather than self-exalting joy, we have Christ-exalting joy.

Self-centered optimism tries to use self-exalting arrogance to speed up the expected, inevitable success. Self-centered pessimism refuses to act because it hopelessly believes that no one can prevent the expected, inevitable failure. But God-centered faith humbly moves forward because of the belief that God is able to do what he has promised through means he has prescribed. God-centered faith waits for God to act according to his wisdom and good pleasure. We may have a season of grief, followed by a season of happiness, but we can know a deeper joy that is not dependent upon the seasons we’re walking through or the responses of man (even our own responses) because of the gospel.

Recently, my wife and I were discussing a certain situation and were asking what should we do. I shared with her the paradigm I just shared with you. She said, “Oh no. You are just telling me to hope in God again.” I know I’ve thought the same thing before. What is it in us that doesn’t like that answer?

We don’t like it because we want results. We don’t want to leave the ending up to God. The reason we sometimes don’t want the answer, “trust in God,” is because it leaves the ending outside of our control. We want guaranteed results. It reminds us that we are not God; we are not the Creator. We are not makers in the sense that we cannot make something happen that we want to happen.

So what should you do when you are experiencing some tragedy? Mourn for what has been taken. But don’t keep replaying it, unless you bring it to mind in order to more fully or more continually give it to God in prayer. It is too heavy for you to carry on your own. Don’t let it lead to self-pity; hope in God. Paul was boasting in the Corinthians at the bottom of the roller coaster, not while he was riding at the top. It is easy to boast in yourself when you are at the top of the roller coaster. Paul believed while the he and the Corinthians were at the bottom. At the bottom of the roller coaster, keep replaying the gospel. In the same moment that you mourn for what has been taken, replay in your mind what can’t be taken: his love for you in Christ.

What should you do when you do get something you have been praying for and pursuing? Rejoice in what is given. Replay what has been given, but see God as the source of it. Give him the credit. Don’t let it lead to pride in self; let it lead you to boast in God.

To summarize, rejoice in what is given (temporary joy), mourn what has been taken (temporary pain), and in both, find comfort in what can’t be taken (ultimate joy in the gospel).

Fear and trembling acknowledges that God is in control and he is not done yet. It is always arrogant to believe that what you see is all there is. You might search high and low, past and present, but you can’t see the future. (We so easily say, “Tomorrow I will go and do such and such,” but we are a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. High expectations are arrogant.) The future that is seen with eyes of faith in God’s promises is incredibly bright and defies imagination.

That brings us to the basis of horizontal Christian hedonism. Do you remember the main point of this message? Let me remind you: Seeing God as the source of all joy sets us free to enjoy the joy of another as our own. I said you should ask where I am getting the God as the source of all joy part. The bigger picture of Paul and the Corinthians (v. 16b) forces us see God as the source.

The Bigger Picture: Paul’s Confident Joy in the Corinthians

I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.—2 Corinthians 7:16b

Paul’s joy rests on something. It is not a restless, temporary, up-and-down kind of joy. It is not shaky; it sits on a solid foundation. What does it rest on? What is the answer to having an unshakable joy? In our text, Paul says his joy rests on his “complete confidence” in the Corinthians (v. 16).

This answer surprised me at first. I thought he was going to say something more like “my complete confidence in God.” But the more I read the passage and this whole letter, the more I realized that Paul has been explaining his confidence all the way through the letter.

Paul’s boldness and confidence have always rested in what God chooses to do, not in what he has done or what the Corinthians have done. I will highlight five clues in chapter 7 that lead us to this conclusion.

First, Paul boasts in the Corinthians' response of repentance because it came from God.

In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul makes this clear by saying, “For godly grief [grief given by God] produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.”

Second, God was the source of all of Paul and Titus’ comfort and joy that flowed from the Corinthians’ response. Paul acknowledges this in verse 6 when he says, “But God . . . comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.”

Third, God was the source of salvation, and he was at work in the Corinthians long before Paul came to preach to them. 2 Corinthians 5:17–19 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” 

Fourth, God has prepared and guaranteed the glorious future of all who believe. Just a few chapters before our text for today, Paul writes, “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 5:5).

Fifth, Paul constantly calls to mind God’s work and this glorious future in order to motivate action. He says, “I know where we are going because I know what God is doing. You need to share this boast of joint joy.” You can see this in multiple verses in 2 Corinthians:

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 the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.—2 Corinthians 4:13–14

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand—just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.—2 Corinthians 1:12–14

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.—2 Corinthians 1:3–7

Application

Don’t Ignore God

Don’t ignore God, but rather see him as the Supreme Source. It would be wrong to delight in people as idols and ignore God as the supreme source. Jonathan Edwards is so helpful here as we look at the vertical angle. 

God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.—Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 17: Sermons and Discourses, p. 1730–1733.

Don’t Ignore the People of God

We also need to look at the horizontal angle. It would be idolatrous to ignore God (as the sun in Edward’s analogy), but it would also be foolish and harmful to our joy to ignore the people of God (the scattered beams). We delight in both but not in the same way. We want to see both the scattered beams and the sun, but one leads to the other; one is greater than the other though both are to be enjoyed.

Can you imagine someone feeling the warmth of the sun and saying, “Don’t enjoy the sunbeams; enjoy the sun itself!” You would look at them like they were crazy. You might say, “I am enjoying the sun; I am enjoying the sun by enjoying the sunbeams that bring me warmth.”

That is the view of God and his people that I am describing. When someone says, “Don’t enjoy those Christians; enjoy Christ," horizontal Christian hedonism says, “I am enjoying Christ. I am enjoying him by enjoying the people who are his.”

Just don’t confuse the two. Just as there is a very big distinction between scattered beams and the sun, there is a very big distinction between the people of God and God himself. The people of God are shadows of God, who is the Substance. The people of God are the result of God, who is the Source.

So don’t ignore the scattered sunbeams, but let them point you to the sun. That is why I think everyone who loves delighting in Christ should look at the scattered beams around them. How? Join a small group. Small groups are a place to intentionally see the scattered beams and let them come together to point you to God. A small group is a place where you can intentionally pursue your enjoyment of the people of God and in doing so see more of God himself.

When a person delights in the display of the glorious grace of God, that person will want to see as many displays of it as possible in other people.—John Piper, Desiring God, p. 141

Small groups show that the joy of another is our own joy and that our joint joy is rooted in the shared confidence that God is for us. I almost said, “It is rooted in the confidence that God is for them.” But based on our text today and this whole message, that would be wrong. It is not “God is for me” or “God is for them” but rather “God is for us.” He is for us! And if our God is for us, then who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

Conclusion

Fear and Trembling for the Future

Let me exhort you to face the future with fear and trembling and not with arrogance or despair. I want to repeat that it is always arrogant to believe that what you see is all there is to see. And it is self-centered to look at yourself and despair because you don’t have what it takes. 

Fear and trembling knows that we can’t do it but that there is much we can’t see. God is not done yet, and with belief in God’s promises, we can use our eyes of faith to see a future that is incredibly bright and defies imagination.

If there is something difficult going on in your life, weeping, sorrow, and grief are all appropriate. Do not heap guilt on yourself for failing to snap out of it, but notice that sorrow is different than despair. Despair says, “I have lost something so important for my joy that my future is nothing but dark.” Unbelievers are the only ones that should respond with despair as they face their future.

Unbeliever, all you have is eternal despair apart from Christ because the future is worse than you can imagine. Believe in Christ and your future will be better than anything you can imagine.

Believers, we never have reason to despair, because we cannot lose the most important thing for our joy; we cannot lose God. If you have Christ, the future is better than you can imagine. I heard someone say that for unbelievers, the good things in this life are as close to heaven as they can get. But for believers, the hard things in this life are as close to hell as we will get.

 

Application Questions:

1. Are you more prone to optimism, realism, or pessimism?
2. When have you experienced joy in the joy of another? Explain.