Search

Home thoughts from abroad.wordpress.com

Free Daily Bible notes by Rev Stephen Thompson

Open Search
Category

2 Corinthians notes

Daily Bible thoughts 586: Wednesday 2nd April 2014:

 2 Corinthians 4:13 – 18

Four things stand out here to my mind:

  • Spoken message (13): Speaking should be a consequence of believing. Look at the repeated therefore in this verse.It indicates cause and effect: if there is belief in the heart, there will also be confession with the lips (Romans 10:9, 10). If we believe it we will live it. Our beliefs will be reflected in our behaviour. (So, for example, if I believe it is going to rain today I will probably carry an umbrella or waterproof coat.) But they will also be expressed in speech. Out of the overflow of our hearts our mouths will speak. We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, ”I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. The Message.
  •  Future hope/glory (14, 17 and 18): We have this great belief, and why would we keep quiet about it? Our doctrinal understanding is that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. Wouldn’t you want to shout that from the rooftops? One day we are going to be with Christ, which is better by far (Phil.1:23). We are going to see Jesus face to face and be with Him forever. We will also be with all our brothers and sisters in God’s family. We’ll be united and re-united in that wonderful heavenly home. Such a conviction will not only be spoken out loud; it will also carry you through the toughest of times. It will give you a perspective, so that can see experiences such as those described in 4:8-12 as light and momentary troubles (17). You will recognise that there will be a reward coming that far outweighs all this trouble. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. The Message. You are enabled to understand that today is temporary, but we are moving towards an eternal tomorrow.
  • Present worship (15): Paul could not only see that these sufferings would ‘achieve’ something in terms of eternal reward (17). He could also assert that they are productive now. Through the pain-filled ministries of Paul and the other apostles, more and more people were coming to experience God’s grace. As the gospel advanced triumphantly, all-be-it amid suffering, and the church grew, there was overflowing thankfulness given to God.
  • Inner renewal (16): This is the second time in this chapter that we hear Paul saying: Therefore we do not lose heart (see 1). As we have already seen, Paul wasn’t thinking primarily about the outward wasting away that comes from age taking its toll. Admittedly that does happen. But Paul had in mind the constant battering from opponents of the gospel. How he suffered at the hands of antagonistic people (both Jews and Gentiles.) But whilst the wrecking ball was bashing him on the outside, an inner renovation was taking place every day. Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. The Message. The reality of this truth can encourage us all, so that we too, in our struggles, do not lose heart.

Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus that what we have in you is not something to keep quiet about. We do not have ‘the right to remain silent’, but a responsibility to tell. Help us to do this.

 

0

Daily Bible thoughts 585: Tuesday 1st April 2014:

 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

We Christians look fragile; we are fragile (7). We no doubt feel our fragility more and more keenly as the years go by and the aging process takes its toll. (Although for Paul and his colleagues, it wasn’t getting old that caused them to feel fragile, but the persecutions they suffered.) So when all-surpassing power is seen to be at work in and through us, it is obvious that this is God’s and not inherently our own. It is clear that we are unimpressive, basic earthenware pots. We are so easily cracked, but when that happens what is inside us spills out. Paul says that we carry about treasure that is far more splendid than the outer casing. That ‘treasure’ is the gospel of the glory of Christ (4). We carry an infinitely precious jewel within a most ordinary jewellery box. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That is to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. The Message. The whole point is that God should receive all the glory from our frail lives. (See also Is.64:8 and 2 Cor.12:9).

 

There is an interesting repetition of the words but not in (8, 9). The mighty power of God within us does not allow these negative things to do to us what otherwise might be expected. The pot may be cracked (many times over), but it won’t be smashed, and the life and power will seep out through the cracks. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. The Message. No doubt you too can say but not. You have come through trials. There have been great losses; you have experienced sadness and difficulty; your heart has been torn with much pain. But none of this has deflected you from loving God and following Jesus. It has just created more cracks for the glory to shine through.

 

There is this paradox lying at the heart of the Christian faith, of life through death (10, 11). In fact it is a double paradox because it is life…revealed in a mortal body. If you want people to be able to see the life of Jesus now in this body of yours; a body that will one day die; then you’re going to have to be prepared to go to the cross one way or another. R.T.Kendall has said that the key to anointing is suffering. I believe that is Biblically true. Resurrection life bursts out of those who experience the sharpness of the nails and thorns and the roughness of the cross. My problem is that I would like to know the power without the pain (especially that of persecution.)

 

Any dying we do in the course of our lives and ministries is for the sake of others (12). Someone described Jesus as ‘the Man for others.’ To truly follow Him in this world will mean being a man (or woman) for others. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best. The Message.

 

There was a man who filled up a vessel with water every day, and carried it from the well. But his pot had a crack in it. After a while he noticed that all along the path he walked from the well to the house, flowers were springing up where he was inadvertently watering them. They were benefitting from the cracked pot! I don’t particularly like these cracks, or the things that cause them. But may God use them to bless others and glorify His Name.

 

Prayer: Help us, Lord Jesus, to understand that we cannot know an outflow of your resurrection life and power without a willingness to share your cross. Strengthen us to be willing to die so that the stone may once more roll away.

 

0

Daily Bible thoughts 584: Monday 31st March 2014:

 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Here are some marks of an authentic ministry. There are things you do not do:

  • You do not lose heart (1): You recognise that you’re in this ministry because of God’s calling. It’s a privilege you do not deserve. He got you into this and He will help you in it and through it. He will enable you to finish strong if you keep looking to Him. Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. The Message. You might have a lot of rubbish tipped over you, like Paul did, but you focus on God and don’t give up. After all, He’s the One who gives genuine success and changes lives (6). Paul recognised that he was a Christian because of a sovereign work of God. What the Lord had done for him He could also do for others.
  • You do not go down the way of trickery, dishonesty and manipulation (2a): like Nathanael, you will be without guile (John 1:47).You are straightforward and easy to deal with, not slippery as an eel (or serpent?!) You refuse to get sucked into politics and power struggles. Such things should not have any place in genuine Christian lives and churches. You will not try to twist arms and resort to under hand tactics. You will pray and trust God to work things out. You’re not in it for yourself or to climb any perceived career ladder. You know that the highest position in the kingdom of God is that of a ‘servant’ (5). We refuse to wear masks and play games, We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. The Message.
  • You do not tinker under the bonnet of truth in order to change things, however subtly (2b). You know it is not your job to dilute the Scriptures to taste or change them in any way. What they say may prove unpopular, but you will stick to the script handed to you like superglue. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. The Message.
  • You do not use the pulpit to glorify yourself (5). This is not about you. It never has been; never will be.

There are some things you do do:

  • You clearly and plainly state the truth (2c): In your ministry you aim for utter clarity. You are not a philosopher using words that obscure, like opaque glass. Your words are like freshly cleaned windows. The light shines through them.
  • You preach Jesus Christ as Lord (5): At every opportunity you lift up His Name, and not your own. Remember, our Message is not about ourselves, we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. The Message.
  • You live as a servant (5b), and not as some petty autocratic tyrant, lording it over others in what is, after all, Christ’s church.
  • You minister always in the sight of God (2c). You know that you are completely under scrutiny and you will, ultimately, be held accountable.
  • You live with a sense of reality (3, 4). It’s tough out there on the ‘mission field’. You acknowledge the fact. This is a fallen world, and the devil has successfully blindfolded people so that they cannot see the wonder and beauty of Jesus; they are unable to see who He is or why He came into the world. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get. The Message. So you know you will meet resistance to your preaching. There will be both antagonism and apathy. There will be disappointment and discouraging times. But, in it all…
  • You serve with the understanding that God is real, and He can turn the light on in any heart (6; see also Genesis 1:1-3 and 2 Cor.5:17). He can and He does. We see it happening everywhere: sheer miracles of grace; people saying, ‘I can’t explain it, but whereas once I was blind, now I see.’ If someone like Saul of Tarsus could be enlightened, it could happen to anyone.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that all opportunities for ministry come from you; let all the glory go to you.

 

0

Daily Bible thoughts 573: Friday 14th March 2014:

 2 Corinthians 3:12 – 18

Christianity is not an ‘undercover’ operation (12, 13). We are not in hiding; we don’t wear a disguise. We don’t slink around at the edges of society trying to avoid detection. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. The Message. I like the comment made by John White that Christian witness is about honesty, plain and simple. We are who we are: followers of Christ, and we are not trying to pretend otherwise. We want the glory of the gospel to be reflected in our lives, and we know that this is an ever-increasing glory (18) and not one that is fading away (13). We are going to let our light shine before men and not hide it under a bucket.

However bright the light of Christ may shine out of a Christian life, it will not be seen (not truly seen) or understood by people who are not Christians, until their eyes are supernaturally opened to it (14 – 16). Paul here continues with the veil theme, and he says regarding his fellow Jews that they are unable to see the truth when the Old Testament is read. They are spiritually blind. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, they have an eye-opening experience (16). They can say that once they were blind, but now they can see. (Look how this theme runs on into 4:1-6). We can take heart that someone who we know and love, and who is unable to see the truth about Jesus today (perhaps a friend or neighbour or colleague or relative) may ‘see the light’ tomorrow. Whenever anyone does it is a miracle. Christian conversion is about turning people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

Once we get to know the Lord Jesus, and we’re in a ‘face to face’ relationship with Him (reflect can be translated behold), we are changed increasingly to be like Him (17, 18). The Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification causes each Christian to shine ever more brightly with the glory of Christ. The literal idea in (18) is that we are ‘transfigured’. The Greek word employed by Paul is one from which we derive our word ‘metamorphosis.’ This big, complicated sounding word describes the amazing process by which a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly. When someone becomes a Christian they commence a similar process. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. The Message.

Each day, you can have your own personal transfiguration as you worship the Lord and yield to the Spirit. Warren W. Wiersbe: With the Word, p.758.

There is a paradox seen in (17, 18). It speaks of the ‘Lordship of the Spirit’, you might say. But where the Holy Spirit is in control of a life there is freedom (or liberty ). There was a lot of talk about ‘liberty’ in the Pentecostal church circles I moved in when I was a teenager. Often, what these dear people seemed to be referring to was a certain liveliness in the preacher (that might make him particularly fluent, and loud!!) or in the congregation (with similar results!). Some years later I discovered that the freedom of the Spirit, according to the New Testament, is a  freedom to become more like Jesus. This will happen when we are under the rule of the Holy Spirit. So when we are most led by Him we will be most truly free.

Prayer: Lord make my life a mirror to reflect your rays into this dark world.

0

Daily Bible thoughts 572: Thursday 13th March 2014:

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

There are three phrases in this passage that, I believe, supply the key to understanding it: …will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?…how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness…how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! (8, 9b, 11). The New Covenant is much more glorious than the Old one. In fact it shines with surpassing glory (10b).

Paul here contrasts the two covenants:

  • The Old Covenant brought death (7) in that people broke that which was engraved in letters on stone. To sin is to die. To be sinful is to be in a state of death.
  • The Old Covenant condemns men (9). People who break God’s law are condemned by their actions. In fact they do not so much break it as they are broken by it.
  • The Old Covenant was glorious (9, 10, and see 7), but it was a fading glory (11): a point brought home by looking at the fading glory on Moses’ face (7b).

So what we have under the new covenant is better (as the writer of Hebrews keeps emphasising.)

  • The New Covenant is the ministry of the Spirit (8). As someone said, He, the third Person of the Trinity, is the executor of the God head. So we can say that whatever the Father has planned, and the Son made possible by His death on the cross, the Spirit makes real in our lives. An executor ensures you get what is yours.
  • The New Covenant brings righteousness (9). As the Spirit applies the God-ordained work of Calvary to our lives, we become right with  God (positionally) and we are enabled to live right before men (practically) by the Spirit’s power. Through His sanctifying work we become more and more righteous in life.
  • The New Covenant is one of surpassing glory (10)
  • The New Covenant lasts (11b). Its blessings are eternal.

Let’s realise, today, the enormous benefits of living in these New Covenant days. If you have put your trust in Christ to save you, and if God’s Spirit, thereby, has come to live in you, you have entered an era, a realm of indescribable glory. You have been brought out of darkness and into God’s marvellous light  (1 Peter 2:9; see also Prov.4:18). Take time today to adore the loving God who has so blessed you.

Prayer: Lord, I cannot fully grasp that I am able to see the light while so many grope around in the darkness, but I know that it is due to your sovereign grace.

0

Daily Bible thoughts 562: Thursday 27th February 2014:

 2 Corinthians 3:1- 6

The truth about Christian ministry is that if anyone is truly successful in it, it will be because of God and not because of that individual. The effective minister will have no grounds for boasting, yet he/she will be fully involved.

Three truths stand out in this short passage. Paul wanted commendation only from God; his sole confidence was in God, and he knew that any competence he had came from God.

Commendation from God (1-3): Paul was not into self-commendation, nor did he feel the need to have letters of endorsement (The Message). The Corinthians themselves were the only such letter Paul needed. The very existence of this church and the faith of these people was the divine authentication of Paul’s ministry; God’s seal of approval: Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it -not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives – and we publish it. The Message. We in the church are the only ‘Bibles’ some people will read. We are ‘Living Bibles’. This thought begs the question, ‘What is the gospel according to me?’ Paul could say that the Corinthians were the result of our ministry (3). But he wasn’t boasting. He knew he had not changed their hearts, nor could he. Their transformed lives were due to the work of the living God, through Christ and by His Spirit. It is wonderful when anyone can look at people and know that they are in some way the fruit of their ministry. However, they will also know (and must always remember) that they were the channel of blessing and not its source. By the grace of God, the letter commended the very ministry by which it was produced. While there are some circumstances in which a faithful ministry is not rewarded by apparent results, such observations should not be used to excuse ineffective ministries in other circumstances. Normally it is appropriate for our ministries to be judged by their results. Colin G. Kruse: New Bible Commentary (4th edition) p.1195. Paul’s stance was, ‘We are publishing what God has written!’

Confidence in God (4):Any confidence anyone may feel at any time about having a powerful ministry cannot be self-confidence (4). It’s a God confidence; a Christ-centred assurance. This is not a matter of egotistical boasting. It is about trusting God to work through us to bring people to Christ (and even establish churches), and we say, ‘To God be all the glory!’ He’s the ‘letter-writer’.

Competence because of God (5, 6): Three times in (5, 6) Paul refers to ‘competence’. It’s an important concept here. What was true for Paul is the case for us all. Any area of competence is God-given. He makes one person an apostle, another an encourager; one a pastor and another a helper, and so on. In the kingdom of God there are no ‘good-for-nothings’. Everyone is a ‘good-for-something.’ There are such a variety of competencies generously handed out by the Lord. He gives them so that He may be glorified and His church edified. We cannot pat ourselves on the back for what has been placed into our hands, and we must deflect any praise that may come our way to where it truly belongs. As Andrae Crouch sang : ‘Should I gain any praise, let it go to Calvary. To God be the glory…’

This does not reflect an exaggerated humility, but rather a sober recognition of the fact that spiritual work can be accomplished only by the power which God supplies through his Spirit. C.G.Kruse.

…if you heard the same sermon preached where there was no spirit of prayer you might not recognize it). The congregation makes the preacher as much as the preacher makes the congregation…There is a deep connection between the prayer meeting and the Sunday services. No church can live without prayer. What changes the prayers of the saints have produced in our midst. William Still ( in a letter written to church members in June 1948.)

 Prayer: Lord, I acknowledge that all the glory belongs to you and you will not share it with another.

0

Daily Bible thoughts 561: Wednesday 26th February 2014:

 2 Corinthians 2:14 – 16

Before moving on in 2 Corinthians, I want to say a few more words on this passage.

First of all, here is a helpful quote from F.B.Meyer:  Nothing touches the sense more quickly than sweet odours, unless it be noxious ones; and they almost instantly recall some scene of the past with which they were indissolubly associated…the apostle wished that his life might be a sweet perfume, floating on the air, reminding men, and above all reminding God, of Christ. It was as though he said, ”I desire so to live that I may perpetually remind God of the obedience, sacrifice, and devotion of the Lord Jesus, so that my words and deeds may recall to His heart similar ones in the earthly life of Jesus.” A sweet savour of Christ! It does not consist so much in what we do, but in our manner of doing it; not so much in our words or deeds, as in an indefinable sweetness, tenderness, courtesy, unselfishness, and desire to please others to their edification. It is the breath and fragrance of a life hidden with Christ in God, and deriving its aroma from fellowship with Him. Wrap the habits of your soul in the sweet lavender of your Lord’s character.

Note a number of other points:

  • In Christ, who triumphed gloriously at the cross, we are always triumphant (14a). Regardless of how we feel, this is a fact. We are on the winning side, even though appearances may sometimes tell us the opposite.  This bears repetition. It is so important.You may need to preach a sermon to yourself today and remind yourself that you’re a winner, because your circumstances may be mocking you and shouting, ‘Loser!’ Paul faced circumstances in Corinth that were far from what he would have liked them to be. Nevertheless, he believed these words he was writing. (Preachers, take note: makes sure you swallow the same medicine you prescribe to others.)
  • We are God’s instruments (14b) to carry Christ into the world, much as the body gives expression to the head. The head does not ‘reveal’ itself apart from the human body, but through it. That’s how it manifests its thoughts, ideas, intentions, desires etc.
  •  We smell of Jesus (15, 16), as previously noted. Christ is in us and His fragrance is on us. We are so close to Him that we are carrying His scent. So if you don’t have any opportunity to speak about your Lord today, don’t feel a failiure. You will be communicating Him in other ways, and people will take note that you are with Jesus, and that He is with you.
  • Our ministry is divisive (16). Not everyone likes Jesus and not everyone likes His aroma. As Jesus Himself said that He had not come to bring peace but a sword (Matt.10:34 -39), so He in us divides people. We get these widely divergent reactions to Christians and Christian ministry. The incense carried by the priests meant life to the Roman soldiers but death to the prisoners who would end up in the arena with wild beasts. Warren W. Wiersbe: With the Word, p.758. We remind people what their end is if they reject Christ. This will never be a popular truth to the natural man, unless God changes his heart.

Prayer: Don’t let me be surprised if persecution comes, Lord, but fortify me to face it nobly with you and for you.

0

Daily Bible thoughts 560: Tuesday 25th February 2014:

 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

Paul paints a picture in (14-16) of a Roman ‘triumph’. In the ancient world it was probably one of the greatest spectacles any eye could see. When a Roman general returned victorious from battle, he would march through the streets of Rome with his winning army. Behind them, in chains, there would be prisoners of war, and servants carrying incense. The streets would be thronged with shouting, cheering crowds. Paul, in these verses seems to compare himself to a captive, then to an incense – bearing servant, and finally to the incense itself that rose all the way along the line of the procession. There will be more to say about this in a moment.

Verses 12, 13 reveal a human Paul: When I arrived in Troas to proclaim the Message of the Messiah, I found the place wide open: God had opened the door; all I had to do was walk through it. But when I didn’t find Titus waiting for me with news of your condition, I couldn’t relax. Worried about you, I left and came on to Macedonia province looking for Titus and a reassuring word on you. And I got it, thank God! The Message. I once asked a rather stupid question of a Ugandan friend who was studying with me in Bible College. This was before I knew him really well, and I was just trying to make conversation at the meal table. ‘How do you find people in the U.K?’ I asked him. ‘People are people brother!’ He replied. ‘People are people.’ So they are. Paul was not a ‘stained glass window’ figure. He was a flesh and blood human being. Here we see him as rather like a parent who can’t go to bed until he knows his child is home safe and sound. This situation in Corinth was weighing heavily on him, and he wanted to hear a cheering word. At the same time, Paul found that opportunity to preach the gospel was knocking for him in Troas. It is wonderful when our desire to preach Christ coincides with God’s providential ordering of circumstances. (See in connection with this: Col.4:2-4; 1 Cor.16:8, 9). (But even when God is doing something really good for us, as was the case with Paul here, our emotions may not necessarily reflect this because our minds and concerns can be focused elsewhere. There is something so human and transparently real about these words.

Paul’s always (15) relates even to situations such as the one described in (13). Paul did not feel triumphant at that time, it would seem, but turbulent (on the inside). Yet he was triumphant. Whatever his emotions, he was part of God’s triumphal procession in Christ (14). You will note that it is through us that God spreads the sweet smelling knowledge of Christ. In terms of getting the word out about Christ, we have to ask ourselves: ‘If not us, who? If not now, when?’

But Paul is not so much thinking about our words concerning Christ. He is talking rather about how we smell. In other words, he is talking about who we really are in our inmost character. Paul says that Christians smell of Jesus. God catches that scent from us, but so also do believers and unbelievers. Whilst this fragrance is pleasant in the nostrils of fellow-followers of the way, non-Christians turn up their noses and pull faces at it. They have a totally different reaction.

Like two people at a perfume counter smelling the same fragrance and yet having widely divergent views about it, so it is with us. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation – an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse. This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No – but at least we don’t take God’s Word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in God’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can. The Message.

Prayer: Whatever happens today, or in the coming days, let me never forget that Jesus is the undisputed, undefeated Champion, and I’m on His team!

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑