Sunday School Lessons

JANUARY 2, 2022

PAUL’S DEFENSE AGAINST THE CHARGE OF SELF-COMMENDATION

INTRODUCTION:

1. Paul was very aware that some at Corinth (false teachers particularly) were accusing him of self-commendation. He took up this issue back in Chapter 3:1-3, where he asserted that he needed not to commend himself, because his success among them was all of the commendation he needed. He said that they were living letters, written not with his hand, but by the Holy Spirit Himself; not on tables of stone, but in their hearts. In other words the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit through his ministry was sufficient recommendation. He again addresses the subject in Chapter 4:1, 2, where he declared that it was his faithful ministry of the Word that commended him to the conscience of every man.
2. Now, here in our present passage, as he speaks of his actions, he is not commending himself, but rather declaring his sense of responsibility to God.

I. THE APOSTLE SPEAKS OF THE REASON FOR HIS ZEAL AND DILIGENCE, WHICH WAS NOT SELF- COMMENDATION. (VERSES 11-15)

A. HE DECLARES THAT HE ACTED UNDER A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD. (VERSE 11)

1. This verse is an inference from what precedes it, as indicated by the word “therefore.” Paul had asserted his earnest desire to be acceptable to the Lord, and “therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord…”
a) “The fear of the Lord” is most likely what is meant. This is that reverence which the Lord excites, or of which He is the object.
b) This expression if often used in Scripture to stand for true religion. (Prov. 9:10; Acts 9:31; Rom. 3:18;
Eph. 5:21)
c) Paul therefore, having a pious reverence for Christ, acted under the influence of that sentiment, and not from selfish unworthy motives.

2. Another understanding is that knowing the terror of the Lord, i.e. the terror that belongs to the Lord (how terrible He is in His judgment) Paul persuaded men to repent and turn to Christ.

B. HIS OBJECT WAS NOT SELF-PRAISE BUT RATHER TO AFFORD THEM THE MEANS OF VINDICATING HIS CHARACTER. (VERSES 12, 13)

1. In speaking of his fidelity and diligence in the former verses, it was not to commend himself. (Verse 12a)
2. The true reason was this, to put an argument in their mouths wherewith to answer his accusers, who made vain boasts, and gloried in appearances only. (Verse 12b)
3. Whether his way of speaking of himself was extravagant or moderate, sane or insane, his motive was a sincere regard to the glory of God and the good of the church. (Verse 13)

C. THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINED HIM TO LIVE NOT FOR HIMSELF, BUT FOR CHRIST WHO DIED AND ROSE AGAIN FOR HIM. (VERSE 14, 15)

1. The love of Christ here means Christ’s love for us, not the love of which He is the object. This is clear from the fact that he goes on to illustrate the greatness of that love. (Compare Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:35; Eph. 3:19)
2. The greatness of Christ’s love for us constrains us. It coerces, or better still, presses us in. It is the governing influence which controls the believer’s life.
3. The reason why the love of Christ has such constraining power is because we thus judge that His dying for us obligates us to live for Him.
4. The phrase died for all may be understood in a general sense, (for the benefit of), or the stricter sense (in the place and stead of). The context will indicate which it is. When the idea is substitution, as it is here, the stricter sense is meant. (See Verse 20; Philemon 13; Eph. 6:20; Rom. 5:6; 7:8; 14:15; I Thess. 5:10; Heb. 2:9, etc.)

II. THE APOSTLE MENTIONS TWO THINGS THAT WERE NECESSARY TO THIS LIVING UNTO CHRIST. (VERSES 16-18) These two essentials are first regeneration, and second reconciliation. The same two things are a necessity for all who will live for Christ.

A. PAUL WAS MADE A NEW CREATURE BY VIRTUE OF HIS UNION WITH CHRIST. (VERSES 16, 17)

1. Regeneration consists, for one thing, in a change which causes one to no longer see or judge of things according to the flesh. (Verse 16)
a) Paul speaks this of himself, as a part of his self-vindication. He was acting from a pure motive. For a sense of the love of Christ constrained him not to live for himself but for Christ, and therefore he no longer judged of persons or things as he was before accustomed to do.
b) Paul’s experience, however, was his experience as a Christian, and therefore not peculiar to himself. It is true of every regenerate soul that he does not estimate, judge, or feel in reference to any man according to the flesh.
(1) Either he does not judge according to outward circumstance, such as one’s birth, station, nationality, etc.
(2) Or he may mean that he does not make determinations by carnal or selfish considerations. Paul was not led to approve or disapprove any man from selfish corrupt motives.

c) Paul speaks of having known Christ after the flesh. Before he became a new creature, he only knew Christ as one who claimed to be Messiah, but he denied that He was so. Now, however, he knows Him, not after the flesh, but by revelation, and by union with Him, and by a personal relationship. The love of Christ now governs his whole life.
2. Regeneration also consists in a thorough change of the heart and being of a person. (Verse 17)
a) What was true of Paul must be true of all who are truly regenerate. “If any man be in Christ, he is anew creature.”
b) To be in Christ is a common scriptural phrase to express the saving union between Christ and His people. They are in Him by covenant, as all men were in Adam; they are in Him by faith which lays hold and appropriates Him as the life and portion of the soul. (Rom. 8:1, 9; Gal. 5:6)
c) So great is the change the grace of God makes in the soul that “old things are passed away, and all things are become new.” The renewed soul acts from new principles by new rules with new ends and in new company. Regenerating grace creates a new world in the soul.

B. PAUL HAD BEEN RECONCILED TO GOD BY CHRIST JESUS. (VERSE 18)

1. “All things are of God.” By this Paul means all things pertaining to the change of which he had been speaking. Regeneration is God’s work. (I Pet. 1:3) He said before, “He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God.” (Verse 5a) It is God alone Who can give us new birth and new nature. The new life we now have by the Holy Spirit is the earnest of that which is to come. (Verse 5b)
2. Paul, who had been an avowed enemy of Christ was in fact at enmity with God, as all men are who have not believed on Christ. (I John 2:23) But, he was now reconciled. To reconcile is to remove enmity between parties. In this case God is the reconciler.
3. Now seeing that in all of his former zeal for God he was actually fighting against God, Paul is now giving himself without reserve to the work of God. He is now engaged in the ministry of reconciliation which God had entrusted to him. (Verse 18b)

III. THE APOSTLE WAS GIVEN BY GOD THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. (VERSES 19-21)

A. THE WORK OF RECONCILIATION GOD HAS FINISHED THROUGH THE ATONING SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. (VERSE 19)

1. “To wit,” i.e. seeing that, or because. Because God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, he has committed unto us the WORD of reconciliation.
a) The Word of reconciliation and the ministry of reconciliation (Verse 18b) are the same thing. It is the Gospel ministry.
b) Had not God in Christ accomplished the work of reconciliation, we would have no Word to proclaim.

2. Christ accomplished the necessary requirements for reconciliation by substituting Himself for the sinners. He took our sins upon Himself so that they should not be imputed to us. “Not imputing their trespasses unto them.” The only way this could be, is that our trespasses had to be imputed to Him. (Isa. 53:6) Then, the other side of that matter is that His righteousness would be imputed to the sinners for whom He became the substitute.
(Rom. 4:6)
3. This Word, God had committed to i.e. had deposited in the Apostle.

B. THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION WAS COMMITTED TO PAUL AS AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST. (VERSE 20)

1. Since God in Christ is reconciled, and seeing that He had commissioned Paul to make it known, that made him, as are all preachers of the Gospel, an ambassador of Christ.
2. All true ministers of the Gospel go forth “in Christ’s stead.” As Christ’s ambassadors, they go forth as His substitute and representatives to speak for Him in an official capacity. They go forth in His Name, to deliver His message. (Ch. 4:5)
3. When they preach the Word of reconciliation, it is as though God Himself were beseeching by them, i.e. beseeching sinners to be reconciled to God.

C. AN ABUNDANT AND TRUSTWORTHY PROVISION HAS BEEN MADE FOR RECONCILIATION. (VERSE 21)

1. See here the truth of substitution. Christ was made sin for us.
2. The doctrine of imputation is here seen. “Not imputing their trespasses to them.” (Verse 19) “That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (Verse 21b) Our sins are laid on Christ so that He became the sinner. (Isa. 53:6) His righteousness is imputed to us, i.e. put on our account, so that we are made righteousness itself in the sight of God.
3. There is probably no passage in the Scriptures in which the doctrine of justification is more concisely or clearly stated than this.

CONCLUSION:

1. Reconciliation is presented as a wonderful privilege. The sinner is totally to blame for the enmity between himself and his God. He has waged a war the outcome of which can only mean his complete and eternal destruction. Yet, it is the offended Majesty of Heaven, Who has nothing to gain, Who has initiated a settlement. It is He Who has made the unspeakably gracious arrangements for reconciliation. It is He Who sends forth ambassadors of peace to plead on His behalf.
2. Reconciliation is presented as our indispensable duty. It is the great end and design of the Gospel. That word of reconciliation prevails upon sinners to lay aside their enmity, and be reconciled to God.

December 19, 2021

THE BELIEVER’S HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS

INTRODUCTION:

1. Severe as the trials and afflictions were which Paul had endured for sake of the Gospel, he nevertheless counted them as “light afflictions” compared to the glory that should surely be his. He also looked upon them as only momentary in light of the eternal nature of that glory. (Ch. 4:17; Rom. 8:18)
2. The confidence expressed in the preceding chapter is here justified by showing that the Apostle was assured of a habitation in heaven, even if his earthly house (his physical body) should be destroyed. Jesus acknowledged that the enemy had power to destroy this mortal body, but that his power was limited to the physical body only. (Luke 12:4)
3. The Apostle rightly judged that should the enemies of the Gospel succeed and putting him to death, they would unwittingly be instrumental in bringing about his greatest advancement and blessing. (Phil. 1:21)

I. THE BELIEVER’S EXPECTATION, AND HIS DESIRE, AND HIS ASSURANCE IS THAT DEATH FOR HIM IS GREAT GAIN. (VERSES 1-5)

A. THE BELIEVER’S EXPECTATION OF ETERNAL HAPPINESS AFTER DEATH. (VERSE 1) This is his sure hope. He does not doubt for a moment that there is another and a happy life after the present life is ended. He through grace has solid assurance of his interest in that eternal blessedness. Though hidden from the natural sight, the eye of faith sees it quite clearly. (Heb. 11:1, 13-16) Paul says, “We know that…we have a building of God.”

1. What heaven is in the eyes and hope of the believer is here presented as a “house,” or a habitation, a dwelling place, a resting place.

a) It is our Father’s house, where there are many mansions (John 14:2)
b) It is our everlasting home, a habitation in the heavens, in that high and holy place which as far excels all the palaces of this earth as the heavens are high above the earth.
c) It is a “building of God,” whose builder and maker is God. The happiness of the future state is what God has prepared for those that love Him. (Heb. 11:10; I Cor. 2:9)
d) This glorious eternal building is infinitely superior to the poor cottages of clay in which our souls now dwell.

2. This blissful habitation will be ours to enjoy immediately after death, so soon as “our house of this tabernacle is dissolved.”

a) Our body, this earthly house, is but a tabernacle (a tent), a temporary house, meant to be taken down. Tents are not thought of as permanent dwellings. (See also II Pet. 1:13, 14) The Jewish tabernacle was a temporary and portable house of worship until the permanent house (temple) was built.
b) Soon the pins will be pulled, and the chords will be loosed, and our body will return to the dust. When this happens, then the house not made with hands will become our new and everlasting dwelling place. The spirit returns to God who gave it, so that those who are God’s shall dwell with him forever.

B. THE BELIEVER’S EARNEST DESIRE AFTER THIS FUTURE BLESSEDNESS. (VERSES 2-4)

1. This longing is expressed by the phrase, “we groan.” This groaning (sighing) is for two reasons. (Verses 2-4)

a) First, we groan because we are in this tabernacle. (Verse 4a)

(1) This body of flesh is a heavy load to bear. It is subject to pain and suffering. It suffers many infirmities. It grows weak and feeble as it is headed for the grave.
(2) Believers groan because burdened with a body of sin, and the many corruptions that are still remaining. (Rom. 7:24)

b) Second, we groan with desire after the happiness of our eternal home. “Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” (Verse 2)

2. This longing is not for death itself, i.e. the separation of the soul and body. (Verse 3, 4b) Death so considered, is not to be desired, but rather dreaded. However, considered as a passage to glory, the believer is “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” If this change should occur without dying, it would be most desirable. This will be the happy experience of those believers who are alive at the time of Christ’s second coming. (I Cor. 15:51)

a) Death will strip us of the clothing of flesh. Naked we came into this world, and naked shall we go out of it.
b) The souls of believers, however, are not found naked. They are immediately with the Lord in the other world, and closed upon with garments of praise and robes of righteousness. They are closed upon with their house from heaven.

C. THE BELIEVER’S ASSURANCE OF HIS INTEREST IN THIS FUTURE BLESSEDNESS. (VERSE 5)

1. God, by His grace, has prepared him for this blessedness. “He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.”
a) All who are designed for heaven hereafter are prepared for heaven while they are here.
b) He who has so fashioned us is God. Nothing less than divine power can make souls ready for heaven.

2. The Holy Spirit is already to every believer the earnest of the everlasting grace and comfort of heaven. (See 
 Eph. 1:13, 14; Rom 8:19-23)

II. THE BELIEVER POSSESSES THE BEST POSSIBLE COMFORT FOR HIS PRESENT STATE AND CONDITION. (VERSES 6-8)

A. CONFIDENCE IS THE BLESSED CONSEQUENCE OF WHAT IMMEDIATELY PRECEDES. (VS. 6a) “Therefore, we are always confident.” Because God has wrought us for our heavenly home, and because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are confident.

1. The confidence here intended is the assurance that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (Verse 8) The sentence begun in Verse 6 is completed in Verse 8.
2. He is confident even while dwelling in this body. “Whilst we are at home in the body.”
3. He is confident even though for the present he is “absent from the Lord.”
4. His confidence is the same confidence of faith that the patriarchs knew. (Verse 7; Heb. 11:13)

B. THE BELIEVER’S CONFIDENCE IS ALSO HIS CHOICE HOPE. (VERSE 8)

1. The sentence begun and left incomplete in Verse 6 is here resumed and carried out.
2. Not only should believers not be desponding, but rather so confident as to prefer to be absent from the body.
3. Death for Paul was not an object of dread, but desire. (Phil. 1:23)

III. THE APOSTLE FOUND THIS BLESSED TRUTH TO BE A REAL ENCOURAGEMENT TO DUTY. (VERSES 9, 10)

A. WHAT IT WAS THAT STIRRED PAUL UP TO DILIGENCE. “Wherefore.”

1. Because of his well-grounded hope of heaven, and of seeing the Lord, he was moved to action.
2. Far from giving the least encouragement to ease and slothful security, just the opposite ought to be the case. Because we hope to be present with the Lord, let us labor; let us be ambitious, as the word means.
(Luke 19:12, 13)

B. WHAT IT WAS THAT PAUL WAS THUS AMBITIONS OF. “that…we may be accepted of Him.” (See Heb. 10:23-25)

1. This was his goal whether present in the body, or absent from the body, i.e. whether living or dying.
(Rom. 14:8; I Thess. 5:10)
2. This was his desire whether present with the Lord, or absent from the Lord. This expresses the same idea in a different form.
3. The thing desired is that we may be pleasing to Christ whether in this world or the next.

C. WHAT FURTHER MOTIVE FOR DILIGENCE COMES FROM THE CONSIDERATION OF THE COMING JUDGMENT. (VERSE 10)

1. “We must all appear.”

a) Paul said that he strived to be acceptable before the Lord, “for we must ALL appear” (all believers, and even all men).
b) All must APPEAR before the Judge. We must all stand revealed in our true character before the judgment seat of Christ. (I Cor. 4:5; Col. 3:4)
c) Since there can be no disguise, no deception before the Omniscient Judge, Paul was assiduous in his efforts to be prepared to stand the scrutiny of the all-seeing eye.

2. “The judgment seat of Christ.” (bema seat) The Roman magistrates sat upon a raised platform or seat
(bema = step) to administer justice. It was an object of reverence and fear to all the people. As Christ is to be the Judge of all men, to judge the secrets of the heart, it is obvious that He must be a divine person.
3. “That every one may receive…” That everyone may receive what is his due. (Col. 3:24, 25; II Pet. 2:13)
4. “The things done in the body, whether good or evil.” All acts are treasures laid up for the future, whether treasures of wrath, or treasures in heaven, and these we receive back.
5. That we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ is a certainty for which we must all prepare while we are in the body, i.e. while we are now alive.

a) The first essential preparation is to repent of our sins and believe on Christ.
b) Following this, the next essential preparation is to do like Paul, and labor for Christ, and strive to be accepted of Him. However, no amount of labor can gain His acceptance, if we have not truly believed on Him. (Eph. 2:8-10)

DECEMBER 5, 2021

SUFFERING FOR SAKE OF THE GOSPEL

INTRODUCTION:

1. Paul was made a minister of the New Covenant, and thus entrusted with the ministration of righteousness, of life, of power, and of glory. Such a ministry produces a most astounding effect. It frees from the curse and power of sin; it transforms into the image of Christ; it delivers from the power of the god of this world, and makes us partakers of eternal life. These effects infinitely transcend all human power to produce. Only the God of creation, Who commanded, “let there be light,” can shine into the human heart so that it sees His own glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Clearly, the gospel is indeed “the power of God unto salvation.” (Rom. 1:16)
2. This mighty Gospel, this marvelous treasure, God has put into earthen vessels; into fragile, uncomely clay pots. That is, He has placed this priceless treasure into the hands of weak, suffering, perishing men. This being so, the amazing success of the Gospel cannot be attributed to those who are made stewards of it. Whenever and wherever hearts are changed and lives are transformed, the power has to be of God, and not of man.
3. The truth of this claim is demonstrated in our present passage. In spite of the ministers’ exposure to persecution, suffering, and death, the life of Jesus was manifested, which worked for the benefit of the Corinthians.

I. PAUL’S PERSONAL WEAKNESS AND SUFFERING SERVED TO REVEAL MORE CLEARLY THE POWER OF GOD. (VERSES 7-15)

A. ALL MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL ARE BUT EARTHEN VESSELS INTO WHOSE TRUST THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN PLACED. (VERSE 7)

1. By treasure, the Apostle means either his ministry, which was more glorious than that of the Law; or else, that light of the knowledge of the glory of God.
2. By the earthen vessel, he means human ministers. Although the Gospel ministry is a holy calling of high honor, the vessels themselves are but clay pots, as it were, made of earth.
3. The glorious light which we have to show to the world is, like Gideon’s torches, carried in earthen pitchers. (Judges 7:16ff) As Paul will here show, when the vessel is broken, not only is the light not extinguished, it shines forth. Thus, the excellency of the power is of God, and not of us.

B. GOD SO ORDERED THE EVENTS OF HIS MINISTERS’ TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS AS TO MAKE HIS POWER APPARENT IN THEIR PRESERVATION AND EFFECTIVENESS. (VERSES 8-12)

1. He describes the continuous oppressions and extreme trials that he and those who labored with him faced on a daily basis. (Verses 8, 9)

a) “Troubled on every side.” Afflicted, or as in Ch. 1:4 suffering tribulation. They were being afflicted from every quarter, or in everything. Yet, they were “not in distress.” They were not “straitened in spirit.”
b) “Perplexed, but not in despair.” They were at a loss (perplexed), but not utterly at a loss (in despair). They were often at a loss of what to do, or which way to turn. Their human resources were overmatched. However, they were never utterly in despair, because God was their very present help. (Example of King Jehoshaphat.
II Chron. 20:12)
c) “Persecuted, but not forsaken.” Although God allowed men to persecute Paul, and to seek to destroy his life and usefulness, yet He never deserted him to his foes. (Heb. 13:5, 6)
d) “Cast down, but not destroyed.” Paul had been on occasion cast to the ground quite literally, but he had not been killed. He had figuratively been cast down, as in some lost battle, yet he had not been doomed to perishing. (Psa. 37:24)

2. In Paul’s sufferings, and his being exposed to death, the sufferings and death of Christ were constantly being reproduced. (Verse 10) “The death of Jesus” does not mean death on His account, but rather, such death as He suffered. (Compare Ch. 1:5)

a) It is not only the sufferings, but even the dying of Christ, of which His true followers partake. (Rom 8:36;
I Cor. 15:31; etc.)
b) Paul, who was “in deaths oft” (Ch. 11:23) was thus being made conformable unto Christ’s death. (Phil 11:10)

3. The design of God in allowing Paul to suffer, and bear in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus was, “that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest.” (Verse 10b)

a) Paul’s deliverances and the effects of them made it evident that Jesus lives.
b) The life of every believer is a manifestation of the life of Christ. (Gal. 2:20)
c) It seems from Verse 14 that Paul also includes the resurrection in the manifestation of the life of Jesus, of which he here speaks. (Rom.8:17; II Tim. 2:11; I Pet. 4:13, 14)

4. The Apostle confirms and explains what he just said. (Verse 11)

a) Though living, “we die daily.” Paul was always expecting death. (Ch. 1:9)
b) These words mark the peculiarity of Paul’s condition as living, although constantly delivered to death.

5. Of this daily dying on the part of the Apostle, they (the Corinthians) were the beneficiaries. (Verse 12)
a) In Paul’s constant dying the life of Christ was manifested which brought good to them.
b) Through his physical suffering, the divine life (spiritual life) was made known to them.

C. THAT WHICH SUSTAINED PAUL IN HIS LIFE OF SUFFERING AND DYING WAS HIS FIRM FAITH AND THE HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION, (VERSES 13, 14)

1. He was not discouraged, but having the same spirit of faith which of old animated the Psalmist, he also as David did, proclaimed his confidence in God. (Verse 13; Psa. 116:10)

a) Hodge asserts that by “the spirit,” Paul means not merely David’s believing spirit, but the Holy Spirit. As He is the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29), He is also the Spirit of faith.
b) The psalmist was greatly afflicted; the sorrows of death compassed him, etc. but he did not despair. David’s faith was of the same source as Paul’s was, that is, it was of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it did not fail. (See
Psa. 116:1-11)
c) As Paul’s faith was the same, so its effect was the same. As David’s faith made proclamation of the goodness of God, so Paul’s faith, in spite of his afflictions, emboldened him to proclaim the Gospel with full assurance of its truth, and of his own participation in its benefits.

2. That which enabled Paul to challenge death itself every day was his firm belief in the resurrection. (Verse 14)

a) We need not, as believers, to fear him who can destroy the physical body, but can do nothing beyond that. (Luke 12:4, 5)
b) Knowing that Christ is risen as the pledge of our resurrection, we can be bold, even in the face of death, knowing that He Who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies. (Rom. 8:11;
I Cor. 6:14; 15:19-22)

D. PAUL’S SUFFERING FOR THE GOSPEL’S SAKE WOULD RESULT IN A GREATER CHORUS OF PRAISES TO GOD. (VERSE 15)

1. All of the aforementioned sufferings were for their sakes.

a) Through his dying the life of Christ was manifested, as we have seen.
b) Also, because he was not prevented by persecution, they benefitted by receiving the Gospel.

2. They, therefore, must praise God for two reasons. One, because of the overcoming grace given to Paul so that he did not faint; and two, because of the grace of God which brought salvation to them through the Gospel that he preached.
3. “The abundant grace” is God’s doing, and therefore must redound to His glory.

a) The earthen vessel is not to receive the glory.
b) The believing soul is not to be praised.
c) God alone is to be glorified both for the means of grace, and for the grace itself.

II. PAUL GIVES THE REASONS WHY HE DID NOT FAINT UNDER SUCH TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES. (VERSES 16-18)

A. FIRST, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF BODILY SUFFERINGS, HE WAS BEING STRENGTHENED IN THE INNER MAN. (VERSE 16; EPH. 3:16; COL. 1:11)

1. “The outward man,” life in its human and corporeal state is subject to pain and death, whether by natural or unnatural causes. However, “the inward man,” the new man, the moral and spiritual being was being rejuvenated, i.e. “renewed after the image of him that created him.” (Col. 3:10)
2. Paul’s persecutors, in their efforts to hinder him, unwittingly became contributors to his increased strength.
(Ch. 12:9, 10; Isa. 40:29-31)

B. SECONDLY, HE KEPT HIS EYE ON THE ETERNAL PRIZE, WHICH BY COMPARISON MADE HIS SUFFERINGS SEEM MOMENTARY AND LIGHT. (VSE. 17; MATT. 5:11, 12; I PET. 5:10; ROM. 8:18)

1. Even though Paul’s sufferings were severe (Ch. 1:8), compared to the “weight of glory,” they were “lightness.” The word for glory in Hebrew is weight, thus the expression is very emphatic.
2. The fact that the weight of glory is eternal makes this present time of persecution and affliction seem very brief. The word “eternal” is the antithesis of “for a moment.”

C. THIRDLY, HE FIXED HIS GAZE ON THINGS UNSEEN, WHICH ARE ETERNAL, AND NOT ON THE THINGS OF THIS EARTH, WHICH ARE PASSING AWAY. (VERSE 18)

1. This means that he walked by faith, and not by sight. The eyes of faith can see things unseen, which are eternal. (Heb. 11:1) Faith particularly focuses on “He who is invisible.” (Heb. 11:27) This is especially true in times of affliction. (Acts 7:55)
2. There is a vast difference between seen things which are temporal, and unseen things which are eternal. By faith, we not only discern this great difference, but by it we also take our aim at the unseen things, and chiefly regard them.
3. Paul would not escape present evils in order to obtain present good, both of which are temporal and transitory. He would rather escape future evil, and obtain future good things, which, though unseen, are real and certain and eternal.

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

A FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE NEW COVENANT

INTRODUCTION:

1. The Apostle had in the preceding chapter declared that he was made a minister of the New Testament, or Covenant. This office he magnified because of the excellent glory of the New Covenant (the Gospel) over the Old Covenant (the Law.)
2. In this chapter he resumes the theme of Ch. 3:12:”Seeing then we have such hope.” Verse 1 of Chapter 4 opens with words which are essentially the same: “Therefore seeing we have this ministry.” Having digressed briefly in order to discuss the wondrous liberty and the glorious change experienced by those who are turned to Christ by the Gospel, (Vrs. 13-18) he now comes back on point.
3. In this passage Paul first declares his faithfulness as a minister of the New Covenant, which in the sight of God and before the conscience of men, he was above reproach. (Verses 1, 2) We see, secondly, what under so faithful a ministry accounts for those who remain in their unbelief. (Verses 3, 4) Thirdly, we are shown in what the true Gospel message consists, and how it is made effectual. (Verses 5, 6) Fourthly, we see why this priceless treasure is entrusted to human ministers.

I. IN PAUL WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF A FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE NEW COVENANT. (VERSES 1, 2)

A. FIRST, THE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL IS A SACRED TRUST. (VERSE 1a) “Therefore, seeing we have this ministry.”

1. The Gospel ministry is a gift and a calling. (Rom. 11:29; Ch. 3:3-6; I Tim. 1:11, 12; II Tim. 1:10, 11)
a) The Gospel ministry is a most sacred trust.
b) It is a bestowment of God’s mercy. “As we have received mercy.” Paul so many times referred to his calling as a signal manifestation of the mercy and grace of God. (Rom. 15:15, 16; I Cor. 15:9, 10; Eph. 3:8)

2. “Therefore seeing we have this ministry,” i.e. “because we have it,” that is, as seen in the previous chapter, a ministry that is exceedingly glorious, because it convey righteousness and life, rather than condemnation and death. (Ch. 3:7-9)
3. So glorious a Gospel requires that those stewards into whose hands it is placed, be found faithful. (I Cor. 4:1, 2)

B. SECOND, THE POSSESSION OF SUCH AN OFFICE CALLS FOR PERSEVERANCE. (VERSE 1b) “As we received mercy, we faint not.”

1. “We faint not,” that is; we do not fail in the constant discharge of our duty through weariness or cowardice.
2. “As we received mercy.” This phrase most likely, as before noted, should be connected to the former clause, “seeing we have this ministry.” However, it is also God’s mercy that keeps us from fainting. (Lam. 3:22, 23)
3. Yet, the point here is that having been entrusted with so glorious a Gospel, we must not allow any adversary to cause us to faint, or literally, to turn out bad, that is, fail in our duty.

C. THIRD, MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL MUST NOT DISGRACE IT WITH SHAMEFUL PRACTICES. (VSE. 2a)

1. “Having denounced the hidden works of dishonesty,” i.e. anything shameful, disgraceful, or scandalous; any course of conduct which men would conceal for fear of being disgraces. This seem to be the primary meaning of the phrase, but also in the preceding context, he had spoken of his openness, and plainness of speech, as opposed to the secretiveness of false teachers.
2. “Not walking in craftiness.” This is an amplification of what precedes. Craftiness (panourgeia) comes from a work which means a doer of deeds that are clever, cunning, or deceitful. (See Luke 20:23)
a) The Gospel is to be ministered plainly and forthrightly by honest men of integrity and character.
b) The Gospel needs not to be assisted by trickery and gimmickry.
c) Many ministers are masters of deceit. Not only do they conceal inconvenient truth but they use improper motivations.

3. “Nor handling the word of God deceitfully.” i.e. not falsifying the Word of God. Handling deceitfully (dolountes) to corrupt with error. (See Ch. 2:17)
a) The Gospel which we preach is the Word of God. It is of divine authority.
b) We dare not corrupt the pure Word with error. (Prov. 30:5)

D. FOURTH, THE COMMENDATION OF ANY TRUE MINISTER MUST BE THE CLEAR PREACHING OF THE TRUTH. (VERSE 2b)

1. Paul’s opponents tried to recommend themselves and secure the confidence of men by cunning, and by corrupting the Gospel, but he relied simply on the manifestation of the truth. He knew that even where it is rejected; it still commends itself to the conscience as true. Faithful ministers will, by the truth, secure the testimony of the conscience of even wicked men in their favor.
2. It was “in the sight of God” that Paul ministered. It is before God, in Whose eyes nothing unholy or selfish can stand, that we minister. Surely this fact alone ought to make us strive to be faithful stewards of His Gospel.

II. WE SEE WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THOSE WHO REMAIN UNBELIEVING UNDER SO FAITHFUL A MINISTRY. (VERSES 3, 4)

A. THOUGH THE GOSPEL IS GLORIOUS AND THOUGH IT IS CLEARLY PROCLAIMED, YET TO SOME IT WILL REMAIN HID. (VERSE 3)

1. Its excellence as the revelation of God is not apprehended or recognized. The cause of this fact is not found in the nature of the Gospel or in the mode of its exhibition, but in the state of those who reject it. If the blazing sun shining at noonday is hid from a blind man, it is not because the sun lacks brightness but because the man in blind.
(See I Cor. 1:18)
2. If a man does not receive the Gospel when it is clearly presented, he is lost. The lost are in a state of perdition, and if they continue to reject the Gospel, they will perish forever.

B. THE REASON WHY THOSE WHO ARE LOST DO NOT SEE IS HERE ASSIGNED. (VERSE 4)

1. “In whom.” The Gospel is hid to them that are lost, because in them, “the god of this world” (Satan) has blinded their minds. These need not even be aware that the devil is working in them for it to be so. ( II Tim. 2:26) Satan exerts such an influence over the lost as prevents their apprehending the glory of the Gospel. “…hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”
a) The unbelieving and the lost are identical.
b) To believe the Gospel is to be made to see.
c) Man’s faith is not a matter of indifference.

2. “Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.” Satan’s intent is to prevent those under his sway from seeing the glory of Christ in the Gospel.
3. “Who is the image of God.” He, who being God, represents God. (John 14:9; 12:45) He is the brightness of the glory of the Father. (Heb. 1:3) In Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead. (Col. 2:9) It is this glory that Satan would keep hid, which glory is manifest in the Gospel to every believing soul. A mere intellectual faith will not do. The unsaved can see everything in the Gospel that the saved can see, except for the glory.

III. WE ARE SHOWN IN WHAT THE GOSPEL CONSISTS AND HOW IT IS MADE EFFECTUAL BY DIVINE ILLUMINATION. (VERSES 5, 6)

A. THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL IS ALL ABOUT CHRIST JESUS THE LORD. (VERSE 50)

1. The Gospel, “our gospel” says Paul, is the Gospel of the glory of Christ, so therefore, he preached not himself but Christ.
2. Paul’s object in preaching was to bring men to see Christ.
a) To see that Jesus, the Son of Mary was also the Son of God, and that He was the Christ of God, the Messiah.
b) To see the person and work of Christ in his fulfillment of the Scriptures and His finishing the word of redemption.
c) To see in Him the glory that exceeds all other glories.

3. To this end Paul was the servant of those to whom he ministered. And what better service could he have been to them? There is no higher form of service to be rendered than to bring men to see Christ.
4. To this end Paul became all things to all men that by all means he might save some. He is no self-promoter, as some accused; he preached not himself but Christ Jesus the Lord.

B. IT IS BY THE PREACHING OF CHRIST THAT GOD CAUSES MEN TO SEE HIS GLORY. (VS. 6) In other words, it is by the preaching of the Gospel that God opens and illuminates souls. It is by the manifestation of His own glory in the face of Jesus Christ that sinners are transferred from darkness to light.

1. The main idea of the context is that Paul preached Christ, and here he gives the reason for so doing.
2. There is here an obvious reference to the work of creation as recorded in Genesis, for the work of regeneration (new creation), is analogous to that work. Darkness brooded over chaos until God said, “Let there be light.” So also, spiritual darkness broods over the minds of men until God shines into their hearts. The word rendered “shined” means to be illuminated, or to cause light, which is what God did in the beginning of the creation.
3. God illuminates our minds so that we apprehend that light which flows from the knowledge of the glory of God, which is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. It is the glory of God as revealed in Jesus Christ that men are by the illumination of the Holy Spirit enabled to see.
4. Two important truths are here involved.
a) First, that God becomes in Christ the object of knowledge. The clearest revelation of the fact that God is, and what He is, is made in the person of Jesus Christ. Those who refuse to see God in Christ lose all true knowledge of Him. (John 1:18; Matt. 11:27; I John 2:23; II John 9; John 15:23)
b) Second, that this knowledge of God in Christ is not a matter of mere intellectual apprehension which one person may communicate to another. It is a spiritual discernment, to be gotten only from the Spirit of God. God must shine in our hearts to give us this knowledge. (Matt. 16:17; Gal. 1:16; I Cor. 2:10, 14) As the glory of God is spiritual, it must be spiritually discerned.

5. It is easy therefore, to see why the Scriptures make true religion to consist in the knowledge of Christ. It is also plain to see why denial of Christ, or want of faith in Him as God of very God, is a soul-destroying sin. To know Him is to know God, and to deny Him is to deny God. (I John 2:22, 23)

IV. WE SEE, LASTLY, WHY THE PRICELESS TREASURE OF THE GOSPEL IS ENTRUSTED TO HUMAN MINISTERS. (VERSE 7)

A. THE TREASURE HERE SPOKEN OF IS THE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL WHICH PAUL HAD RECEIVED. “But we have this treasure…”+

B. THE EARTHEN VESSELS ARE THE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. “…in earthen vessels.”

C. THE REASON FOR THIS ARRANGEMENT IS PLAINLY STATED. “That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.”

1. “The excellency of the power,” i.e. the exceeding great power, as described in Verse 6.
2. “May be of God,” i.e. may be seen and acknowledged to be of God.
3. Although the Apostle had magnified his office to the highest degree, he himself was a poor, weak, despised, persecuted man. This in itself made the success of his ministry more conspicuously by God’s power.