The Many Reasons Not to Lose Heart
February 15, 2026
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
Discussion Questions
What seasons have you been discouraged and lost heart? Why?
Why does the context of 2 Corinthians make Paul’s comments in chapter 4 about not losing heart even more significant?
In what ways do you sometimes find yourself trying to be Lord and savior when you should really be servant? How would that make your life and ministry not only more biblical but better?
Look back over the five reasons. Which speaks most to you and why? Which one might encourage someone else around you, and how might you share that truth with them?
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray one more time for the Lord’s help.
“Dear Heavenly Father . . .”
Think with me for a moment about how encouragements work. Think with me about how warnings work. When do we need specific encouragements? When do we need specific warnings? We need specific warnings and specific encouragements when there is a specific temptation that corresponds to each.
Look at it like this. You’re walking in a wide-open hallway. The hallway flooring is newly installed tile and smooth—no bumps, no cracks. And in this hallway, there are no steps to climb up or steps to climb down. There are no parts of the hallway with objects in the center of the hallway, like a park bench or a decorative fountain. The hallway has no curves; you can see straight ahead with no obstacles.
In this situation, you do not see a sign on a wall that says, “Please watch your step.” You won’t see that encouragement and warning to watch your step because you don’t need to watch your step. It’s wide open. The specific temptation to trip and fall has a low probability, so you don’t warn people about it.
If, however, you’re not in a hallway but a hiking trail with steep cliffs on the edge of the trail—or, if you’re on a cobblestone road, or if you’re in a place where the curb is not the standard height, or if there are steep steps up or down, or if a park bench sits in the path—then you’ll probably read a sign that says, “Watch your step” because specific encouragements correspond to specific temptations.
If you look at v. 1 and v. 16 you’ll see the same phrase. The same phrase comes in the first words of the first paragraph of the chapter and the last paragraph of the chapter. So, the start and end the same. This is Paul’s way of telling us his main theme for chapter 2. Paul hangs a sign, if you will. In v. 1 and v. 16 we read the phrase: “do not lose heart.”
What does this repetition mean for how we understand following Jesus? What kind of path does Paul understand the Christian life to be? A wide open, smooth path without cracks, without hills, without danger? No. He tells this church, and he tells you and me, not to lose heart in Christian ministry because the temptation to lose heart is real. “Watch your step,” he says. “Don’t lose heart,” he says.
Losing heart is a dangerous situation. If you’re coaching a team, it doesn’t matter how skilled your athletes become at their craft. You can’t win games with a disheartened team. In a war, you can’t win with soldiers who have lost heart. Losing heart in a marriage is super dangerous. Losing heart in Christian ministry is super dangerous. This is why the book of Proverbs warns us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23 NIV).
This chapter in 2 Corinthians 4 is all about not losing heart. Indeed, as Paul writes this letter, an extended discussion of discouragement in ministry had to come up soon. The kind of ministry Paul keeps talking about can produce discouragement. Perhaps you’ll remember what he said back in chapter 1 about his ministry trials. I’ll read it for you.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. . . . (1 Cor. 1:8–9)
Ministry was, Paul says, so hard that he despaired of life itself. I don’t know if that means, in our language, he experienced intrusive thoughts, perhaps even suicidal ideation. I don’t know if he would use that clinical language. I just know it was hard.
Paul said he felt this way in what he calls Asia, which we call Turkey. He’s writing to a church in a city called Corinth, which is near the bottom of Greece. (I used my hands to depict this other sermon.) And over here in Asia (or Turkey), he has a difficult experience to say the least. Part of the difficulty that made him despair of life was not merely what was going on in Turkey, but the burden his love bore for those in Corinth. In another place in this letter, which we’ll get to after Easter, he says, “There is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” Then he asks, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?” (2 Cor. 11:28–29).
So, coming back to Paul’s theme in v. 1, he writes, “we do not lose heart.” With this background in mind, we know that when he writes that, he means something like, “Nevertheless, we do not lose heart.” “Yes,” he says, “following Jesus needs the sign ‘Watch your step, but, nevertheless, we don’t give up.”
In the rest of the sermon we’ll explore the five reasons he gives us not to lose heart.
1. The ministry we have comes through mercy.
The first reason Paul gives that Christians need not lose heart is because… well, I won’t give it away yet. Let me read v. 1, and you’ll see it right away. Paul begins,
“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart” (2 Cor. 4:1).
And don’t get hung up on the word ministry. Ministry is not only for those on the stage or in a Sunday school classroom or those who get a paycheck. It is those things. Ministry is everything we do in this life as a response to what God has done for us. Ministry is serving others in the power of the Spirit. It’s for all Christians.
So, back to Paul’s point. We have this life-changing ministry, he says, by the mercy of God, and therefore, we do not lose heart. What does that mean? I think Paul wants you and me, if you’ve become a Christian, to never cease to be astonished that we’ve become Christians. It can be easy in those early years of following Jesus to be aware of just how wonderful it is that Jesus has loved you, forgiven you, and is changing you. The contrast between an adult’s previous life and becoming a believer is so stark that all the new hopes, desires, loves, joys, and ministry opportunities to share Christ with others actually feel new—because they are new. So, when a person is a new Christian, it can be easy to remain astonished by the mercy of God and that God would love you.
Paul didn’t lose heart because he never lost the astonishment of God’s mercy. In the years before Paul’s death, he wrote to a young pastor highlighting God’s mercy and his astonishment. He writes, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord . . . though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.” Then he says, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim. 1:12–17).
It sounds like the end of the letter, but it’s just the opening. We call what he wrote a doxology, a moment when an author breaks into praise to God. When Paul, as an old man, remembers how crazy it was that God would save such a terrible sinner, he remembers the mercy of God twice. Looking back he can’t hardly believe that though he deserved death and hell, he got mercy and ministry and heaven and Christ.
I think sometimes this perspective on Christ in old age bubbles up. It’s the joy of looking back over the years and knowing that God, by his mercy and kindness, carried you and led you to accomplish so much more than you could have ever imagined.
But those middle years of walking with Jesus, they can be hard. And I don’t mean the middle years merely in age. But those years where Jesus isn’t new or fresh anymore. But at the same time, Jesus hasn’t worked over decades and decades and decades, and all you’re doing, it seems, is putting your head down and grinding in life and ministry. It can be hard to remember in the grind and remain astonished by mercy.
Which is why, back to the point, the first reason Paul gives that Christians need not lose heart is that everything we have comes from mercy. Dear Christian, never cease to be astounded that God would love you. If that means taking time to think about where you were before the mercy of Christ, do that. If that means taking time to imagine where you would be without the mercy of Christ, do that to not lose heart.
2. The word of God “as is” does the work of God.
The second reason we need not lose heart is that the word of God “as is” does the work of God. This will need a bit of explaining. But I bet it will encourage you. Look with me at v. 2.
2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
Paul says, we do not lose heart and then he says that even though others tamper with the Bible to change the Bible, we don’t. What’s going there? What is the logic?
Well, if you’ve been following Paul’s logic for the last few sermons, you’d remember that he’s saying ministry is hard. Ministry that’s shaped by the cross ain’t easy and gets uneven results. So, the temptation would be to change the word to get better results.
This is why I worded it the way I did: We need not lose heart because the word of God “as is” does the work of God. We’re most familiar with the phrase “as is” from housing. Sometimes, the one selling the house will say the house is “as-is.” That means, when you buy it, you can’t go to the seller and say, “Well, I’ll buy it that price, but you need to fix the crack in the basement first.” To that, the seller says, “No, I’m selling it as is.”
Paul tells Christians, do not lose heart. You don’t have to tamper with the word to get results. You don’t have to ignore sin. You don’t have to ignore hell. And you don’t have to change those doctrines to make them sound better. You don’t have to do that. The word of God as is will do the work of God.
This is so encouraging to me. I can’t say I’ve been in ministry forever, but I have been in ministry long enough to see fads come and go. I was working out this week listening to a sermon on this very passage from Alistair Begg. The sermon was almost twenty years old. When Begg was preaching to pastors and discussed using video clips in his sermons, and I just smiled. There was, for a time, a huge fad to do that. We’ve done it a few times, but the thinking went for a time (and still exists elsewhere), that the Bible and good preaching are not interesting enough by themselves, so we need to add more engaging elements to the service and to preaching to keep people coming. In the last twenty years, there have been like ten other fads.
Which is why I love this passage. When I think a fad is dumb, or when I think a fad might be a good idea but I’m not smart and clever enough to pull it off or I don’t have the resources to make it happen, I read passages like this and don’t lose heart.
We don’t have to be more clever than the Bible, more clever than God. Sure, we should try to serve the food of God’s word to others in an artful and yummy way, if we can. God’s word shouldn’t taste like chalk. The Bible describes knowing God in the gospel as rich food and well-aged wine. So we should present it that way. But it’s the word of God as is that tastes this way and smells this way to those being saved.
3. The unbelief of others is not always (and never completely) our fault.
So we don’t lose heart because our ministry comes from mercy, and the word of God does the work of God. Paul gives three more reasons. I’ll be more brief.
Christian do need not lose heart because the unbelief of others is not always our fault, and the unbelief of others is never completely our fault. It will make more sense after I read the verses again. Look at vv. 3–4.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
I’ll say it again. Christian do need not lose heart because the unbelief of others is not always our fault, and the unbelief of others is never completely our fault.
You can present the gospel with great clarity and art. You can take the food of God’s word from the chief and serve it to the table perfectly. The food is still hot; the drinks are perfect. Your serving ministry is critical. But that doesn’t mean everyone will enjoy the meal. The enjoyment of the meal of Jesus doesn’t fully and finally depend upon you.
I know, some here of need to fire of urgency placed before you. We can become so beholden to the idol of comfort and apathy that we need warnings about apathy and comfort. But I know many of you. You’re engaged in what seems like impossible situations with friends and family, and God wants you not to lose heart because the unbelief of others is not always our fault, and the unbelief of others is never completely our fault. There is such a thing as spiritual blindness and spiritual warfare.
We had a thirty-minute conversation about this topic at the last pastor-elder meeting. I told the guys I have no ability to discern perfectly how much or little we’re being attacked in any situation, but if I did have the ability to discern that, my sense would be that these last few months, from a personal and church perspective, would rank in the top five most challenging seasons since I’ve been here, seasons for potentially losing heart because of strange, befuddling experiences and discouragement. So I try to rest here, where Paul rests. There are dangers and blindness not fully in our control.
Not only can you rest in that truth. But you can have more compassion for outsiders. The great enemy of those people who seem to be your enemy is also your enemy. I’ll say that again. The great enemy of those who seem to be your enemy is also your enemy. Satan doesn’t love you. He doesn’t love others. So don’t lose heart for God, heart for ministry, and heart for outsiders because more is happening than we can see.
4. We don’t have to preach our perfect selves as saviors but Jesus as Lord and us as servants.
There are two more. This next one is a mouthful. We don’t have to lose heart, because we don’t have to preach our perfect selves as saviors, but Jesus as Lord and us as servants. It will make sense after I read the verse. Look at v. 5.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
If Satan is really an enemy who blinds eyes to the beauty of the gospel, what a dumb and deflating thing it would be to preach ourselves as the solution to the problem. We don’t have to be the savior because Christ is our Lord and Savior. When Paul says, “We preach Jesus Christ as Lord,” that is his gospel shorthand. At times, it may not seem like Christ is on the throne, but he is. He is risen from the dead and he is Lord. And every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. And when we preach him that way, we put him in his rightful place, then we keep ourselves in the right place.
When I think of burnout in life and ministry, there are legitimate, non-sinful reasons someone might become burned out. Ministry, even when done rightly, is really hard. Paul would echo that. I would too. Ministry, even when done rightly, is really hard.
But so much burnout has at its roots us putting ourselves and preaching ourselves as the savior. Moms who have to be everything for everyone or the universe will fall apart. That is a kind of preaching ourselves. And men, when you think, you have to do everything right, or the universe will fall apart, that is a kind of preaching yourself. Pastors and parents, when you think you have to do everything right, or the universe falls apart, that is a kind of preaching yourself as Lord and not Jesus as Lord.
When you have friends who are deconstructing in their faith, when you drive by homeless people, and when there’s an abortion clinic down the road that weighs on you, and when friends are getting a divorce, and when the deadlines at your job keep piling up, and when the political climate is a dumpster fire, and when the character of our leaders is so depressing, and when you have to have the perfect Christian take on the Super Bowl halftime show, and you when have to solve the immigration issues, and when you’re so busy loving those around you that you don’t even know or care what is in the Epstein files but you had to Google it and then you realize you shouldn’t have done that, and your medical bills are too big, and you’re just a hot mess . . . preach Jesus as Lord and you as the servant of people. Paul says, Preach Christ as Lord to your heart, and you won’t lose heart.
5. The work that God did in creation, he can do (and does do) in new creation.
We come to the final one. We’ve said that Christians do not need to lose heart because of God’s mercy, because the word of God is able to do the work of God, because the unbelief of others isn’t always our fault, and because Jesus is Lord, not us.
Finally, we see that we need not lose heart because the work that God did in creation, he can do (and does do) in new creation: God lets light shine into darkness and chaos and the formless and void. This finally one is an example of the word of God doing the work of God. It comes from v. 6. Look at it now.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
In chapter 5, Paul will make the wording of “new creation” more explicit. But he’s whispering and foreshadowing that theme and wording here. Paul takes the Genesis creation language (and Isa. 9:2) and applies this “speaking-light power” to conversion. And that brings great hope. It means that no one you’ve ever told about Jesus and pointed to the truth is outside of the ability of God to change their heart. God lets light shine into darkness and chaos and the formless and void.
I’ll just close by saying how encouraging this is to us. I mentioned our pastor-elder meeting. In the midst of some details about a thing in the future, some people got mentioned. And one pastor-elder just said, “Hey, stop for a minute. Let’s not leap over the fact that just a few short years ago, the people we’re talking about, the people currently leading ministries at our church, were lost. They were “good people” in a secular way. They didn’t know they needed forgiveness. They didn’t see their sin. They didn’t see the need for Jesus. And God let light shine into darkness and chaos and the formless and void. And he’s changed them before our very eyes.
And many such stories could we tell you. So don’t lose heart.
We have this ministry by mercy. Don’t lose heart. The word of God does the work of God, so we don’t lose heart. The enemy of God and his people is real, but God is greater and Jesus is Lord and light can shine in the darkest of places. So we don’t lose heart.
Let’s pray and prepare to share in the Lord’s Supper together.
“Dear Heavenly Father…”
