"Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart."
This chapter (2 Cor. 4), is amazing. Any believer that has been through really hard times can gain great comfort and strength from it. Here, in v. 1, Paul edifies himself with the reminder of what God had done in him (in the past), with an encouraging assurance of what He will continue to do through him (in the future).
If we have "received mercy" from God, in the blood atonement of Jesus--received by grace through faith alone, plus nothing--THEN, but only then, we have no reason to "lose heart." If the Lord has been *that* good to us, then why should we imagine that He will come up short on any other need or issue that we will face, (cf. Rom. 8:32)? Let us trust Christ today.
[Puritan quote of the day: "It is not so much the sins we have commit-
ted that so provoke and grieve Christ as that we refuse the [medicine] of repentance which He prescribes." --Thomas Watson, in, "The Doc-
trine of Repentance"]
