CHRISTIAN PERPLEXITY

2 CORINTHIANS 4:8

A. PERPLEXITY, BUT NOT DESPAIR
  1. Definition:
    1. The word "perplexed" signifies embarrassment, difficulty, trouble, anxiety.
    2. Despair, to give up hope, and all expectations, to resign one's self, a state of hopelessness.
  2. You will notice that our text contains a twofold assertion:
    1. A positive -- perplexed.
    2. A negative -- but not in despair.
B. THE TWOFOLD EXPRESSION BY PAUL EMBODIES A TRUE REVELATION OF THE EXPERIENCE COMMON TO ALL MEN, EVEN GOD'S CHILDREN
  1. Perplexed:
    1. John the Baptist, a mighty man of God, came to a point in his life, when he was perplexed:
      1. See him in prison for reproving sin - Matt. 4:12; 14:3
      2. The night of doubt seemed to press so heavily upon the mind of this dedicated preacher that he seemed confused about the Messiah - "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" Matt. 11:3
    2. The Jews, in the days of queen Esther, were in a state of perplexity; the death sentence was hanging over them - Esth. 3:1-15
    3. God's remnant people will have to live through a period of perplexity unknown before - Dan. 12:1, 2; Rev. 12:17
    4. The whole world will, in the last days, enter into a state of perplexity - Luke 21:25
  2. Events in the last days will bring on:
    1. The night of Jacob's trouble for God's commandment keeping people - Jer. 30:7
    2. That will be the time when the people of God will have to live without an intercessor, when they will cry day and night unto God for security against their enemy; that will truly be a state of perplexity - Luke 18:7
  3. But not in despair:
    1. Job was in a state of great perplexity, but never in despair -
      1. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him."
      2. "I will maintain mine own ways before him" - Job 13:15
    2. Jeremiah was in a state of perplexity, but never in despair. There were times when he wished to die, but he continued trusting the God of Israel - Jer. 20:1-13
    3. Mordecai was perplexed at the time the death sentence hung over the Jews, but he never despaired - Esth. 4:13, 14
    4. Nehemiah was harassed by the enemy day after day; he was greatly perplexed about the work of God, but he never despaired - Neh. 6:1-12
C. THERE IS NO REASON FOR GOD'S PEOPLE TO DESPAIR AT ANY TIME
  1. God allows perplexity to come to His people, not to discourage them, but to use perplexity for our good:
    1. That is what Paul believed and taught - Rom. 8:26
    2. The Lord uses trials to correct us, and not to destroy us. Compare Heb. 12:5 with Deut. 8:5; Ps. 94:14
  2. Everything connected with our salvation remains the same:
    1. Christ is the same - Heb. 13:8
    2. God's word is the same - Matt. 24:35
    3. The love of God is the same - Jer. 31:3; John 13:1- 3
  3. The things that befall us will, in the end, produce the most salutary effects in our lives:
    1. The furnace of affliction - Isa. 48:8-10; Mal. 3:3
    2. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 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." 2 Cor. 4:17, 18


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