C.J. Mahaney spoke at the third general session of our Pastors Conference on "When a Pastor Loses Heart," based on 2 Corinthians 4:1–18.

In his introduction, C.J. shows how commonly pastors get discouraged by turning to one of his favorite pastors:

I encourage you to pick up Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students and turn to the chapter "The Minister’s Fainting Fits." Spurgeon writes, "As it is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint, so may it be written of all the servants of the Lord. Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down." Then he begins working through the chapter in typical Spurgeon detail. He begins talking about how we can be unsound physically. Then he transitions to "mental maladies." This is classic Spurgeon: "As to mental maladies, is any man altogether sane? Are we not all a little off balance? Some minds appear to have a gloomy tinge essential to their very individuality."

Then at the end he says this: "The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble. Count it no strange thing, but a part of ordinary ministerial experience."

So what does a pastor do when he begins to lose heart for this role and task? Here's what we will discover this evening: there's hope for all pastors who are tempted to lose heart. [In 2 Corinthians 4:1–18] Paul is about to tell us what informs his resolve so that our resolve can be freshly informed and strengthened. We're going to consider three reasons why Paul did not lose heart...

These three reasons formed the outline for C.J.’s message:

1. The call of Christian ministry (vv. 1–6)
2. The context of Christian ministry (vv. 7–15)
3. The hope of Christian ministry (vv. 16–18)

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