Looking to What is Unseen & Eternal

[This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer's 3rd Quarter Member's Meeting - Nov. 8th, 2024]

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. (Nehemiah 4:6)

Last time I addressed you all about The Glory of Church Planting. And in that, I hope I inspired you, and gave you encouragement to press on in the hard work of ministry and the Christian life. I wanted to remind you that you were part of something glorious. That it is the hard things like church planting that are truly weighty and glorious in the end.

Well, tonight I want to follow this up a little bit. Because we need more than inspiration to press on, we need faith. It takes faith to build a church. It takes faith to plant a church. It takes faith to start something that is not already there. It takes faith to press on when you do not see immediate, tangible results.

What did Paul say in the passage just read? This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

This is Christian Life 101 – walk by faith. Just a few verses later Paul says that very thing: for we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7).

One of our biggest trappings in ministry and in the Christian life is this very thing – we start looking mainly to what is seen. Membership up, membership down. Attendance up, attendance down. Giving is up, giving is down. We look at the "seen" metrics and we let them dictate our joy, our encouragement level, our peace, even our commitment to the work. We can start to wobble at our posts because things don't look so good, or so promising. Or conversely, we can be encouraged and happy simply because the numbers are looking good.

But this isn't what we should do at all. Paul gives us the path - we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

What are those unseen things? I think this could refer to many things – but clearly it refers to the hidden work of God. The things that will be revealed in eternity. The things that will last forever. One of those things is the work that God is doing in each of our hearts by the power of the gospel.

We call that sanctification.

Week by week, as we minister together and to one another, we are helping one another grow to be more Christlike. You might not see it clearly happening on the surface, but it is happening by His grace. The Word doesn't return void. He finishes what He starts in us.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6)

It's like gardening. You plant your seeds, and then you wait. Sometimes the waiting is hard. You want to see the fruit. And yet there are unseen things happening under the surface that are glorious. So, it is with you and your family. It might not be flashy – but Sunday by Sunday, day by day, God is working in the hearts of His people. The Great Day will discover just what work was done during these days, even here at Redeemer. Men, women and children are being transformed for eternity. You can't see 1% of what is actually happening. But seeds are being sown, faith, hope and love are being watered, sinful ways are being pruned, fruit is coming. Harvest is coming.

Another unseen work is how God is working through us in the world. We call this our witness in the world. God sends us out as His witnesses, His ministers. And yet, even the Word tells us that we will not always see the results we want to see.

Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

In the mystery of God's providence we see uneven, differing responses to our gospel ministry. And yet, do we quit if we see too much of the one response and not enough of the other? By no means. We do not look to what is seen, but to what is unseen. And we trust. We trust that God is at work through the proclamation of His Word. His Church out in the world, witnessing to the glory of the gospel, it will work. That is our commission, and so we trust the process. Even when it doesn't look effective.

Isaiah records this encouragement from the sovereign LORD:

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

You keep making it rain church! Keep pouring out the Word. God will make it bring forth and sprout. God will return seed and bread to you. God will accomplish His eternal purposes through your faith-filled obedience.

It is easy to lose heart, it is easy to look to what is seen. But my brothers and sisters, we've been called to walk by faith – not by sight. Eternal things are happening, even on the slowest Sunday morning. Even on the most mundane of weeks. If you are serving Christ, there will always be a return on the investment. Always.

Let our prayer therefore be, God, keep me faithful at my post. God give me joy in the work you have for me. Lord, let me abound in your work. Give me more to do for you Lord. I am your servant. Here am I, send me. Like the people in Ezra and Nehemiah's day, we want to have a mind to work.

We want to truly be engaged in His eternal work. We don't turn away from what is seen in order to content ourselves with doing nothing. No, we set our eyes on what really matters. We see the big picture. And so we labour through discouragement, through metrics that look bad, and we trust that our God is the one who gives the growth. We work for Him. We do not labour alone. We are financed by the Bank of Heaven. We are strengthened by grace. The true work of God that we put our shoulder to will never fail, for it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).

Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:17)