2 Corinthians 4 (3)

Pray Psalm 8.1, 2.
O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

Sing Psalm 8.1, 2.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
O LORD our Lord how great is Your Name in all the earth!
The heav’ns display Your glory, and tell Your wondrous worth!
From babes and nursing infants, LORD, let Your strength increase,
‘til all Your foes surrender, and all their boasting cease.

Read 2 Corinthians 4.1-10; meditate on verses 7-10.

Preparation
1. How does Paul describe us?

2. Why has God made us like this?

Meditation
Treasure in earthen vessels. We are those earthen vessels—frail, unreliable, earthy, and yet, invested with heavenly excellence and glory. God knows our weaknesses, but He is undeterred in His purpose to make us agents of His grace because He does not trust in our weaknesses but in His own power. And if you are in the Kingdom of God, the power of God is available to you always (v. 7; cf. 1 Cor. 4.20; Acts 1.8).

Paul lived a tough life, especially after he became a Christian and a preacher (vv. 8, 9). We also can expect all kinds of afflictions, trials, temptations, struggles, disappointments, setbacks, and opposition. That’s what living in this world involves. And these can be worse when, because of our faith in Jesus, those who hate and deny Him decide to take aim at us.

But afflictions and other trials need not prevent us from knowing the power of God and the excellence of His work in and through us. Even as earthly vessels, we can show the excellence and glory of God to the world in everything we do and say (v. 7; cf. 1 Cor. 10.31). And whenever that happens, we can know that it was God at work within us, willing and doing of His good pleasure (Phil. 2.13), so that we boast only in Him and not in ourselves (1 Cor. 4.7; 2 Cor. 10.14-17).

Our trials and afflictions identify us with Jesus in His suffering. But just as new life and Kingdom rule followed our Lord’s suffering on the cross, so greater measures of life and more excellent expressions of His rule in and through us can succeed or be expressed amid all the trials of living in a fallen world (v. 10).

The excellence and power of God await us day by day. We will find them along the path of obedience.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Paul was teaching what it means to be a Christian. He was passing along to his learners then, and to us now, what to expect in our new walk of faith. Paul would have lasted approximately one week on his now erstwhile preaching cable TV show. His was not a message of health, wealth, popularity, success, and fame; but one of truth. Hear the truth, stay the course.

Imagine one of the smarmier of our current TV sensations giving this word to his adoring audience: “Get on board, little children, for the ride of your life! You are going to be hard-pressed with difficulties galore. Yes, and you will be perplexed and confused about many things. And in addition to that, you, my friends, will be persecuted in body and mind. And here’s something to contemplate, you will be struck down. Boom. Knocked right off your feet. Yes, and finally this, the coup de grace, you will always be sporting death in your body to be an example of the dying of Jesus.”

“But, my friends, there is an upside, so be sure and send your gifts to the address you see on your screen. OK, here it is: you won’t be crushed, you won’t despair, you won’t be forsaken, you won’t be destroyed, and the life of Jesus will also be manifested in your dying body.”

Well, at least his sermon was taken from Scripture (2 Cor. 4.8-10).

In truth, though, the kindest and most honest thing to do, when presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ, is to share the whole Gospel. Jesus did— “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost…” (Lk. 14.27, 28). Yes, count the cost.

And Paul preached the whole gospel: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8.35-37). Troubled but conquering.

We are earthen vessels screaming the fact that it is by grace that we have been saved through faith. There are not enough good works on the planet to earn such a gift. It is all the gift of God. We cannot boast (Eph. 2.8, 9). This marvelous gift of salvation has been bestowed freely upon us “that the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4.7). Obviously, His power, never ours.

And amazingly, in all this unworthiness and death, we have been given the opportunity to let the life of Christ be manifested in us and through us. Let us go forth, embracing this truth, as bearers of the love of God.

It's never too late not to waste your life.
Regret is neither vision, goal, nor plan,
so press on, stay the course, endure the strife.

There’s no use waiting for some drum and fife
to rally you to action. Be a man!
It’s never too late not to waste your life.

So everything you’ve tried so far is rife
with disappointment—still, believe you can!
And press on, stay the course, endure the strife.

Does this rebuke cut deep, like some dull knife
sheathed in your ego? Take that blade in hand—
it’s never too late not to waste your life—

and carve a new direction, slice by slice.
You can’t go backwards, and you must not stand
still: press on, stay the course, endure the strife.

Look up, draw strength from that great unseen band;
run, run each day to gain the promised land.
It’s never too late not to waste your life;
so press on, stay the course, endure the strife.
(Taken from Bricks and Rungs, by T.M. Moore, 2017)

Stay the course. We may be earthen, but we’re still useable vessels.

For reflection
1. Yes, it costs to follow Jesus. How do you expect to be afflicted in His service?

2. Who encourages you in your walk with and work for the Lord? Whom do you encourage?

3. Would you say that seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is the defining priority of your life? Explain.

Believers may be forsaken of their friends, as well as persecuted by enemies; but their God will never leave them nor forsake them. There may be fears within, as well as fightings without; yet we are not destroyed. The apostle speaks of their sufferings as a counterpart of the sufferings of Christ, that people might see the power of Christ’s resurrection, and of grace in and from the living Jesus. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on 2 Corinthians 4.8-12

Pray Psalm 8.3-9.
Give praise and thanks to God for His excellent beauty and glory all around. Call on Him to equip you with excellence and power to serve Him well today.

Sing Psalm 8.3-9.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
When I regard the heavens, the work of Your own hand,
the moon and stars which all in their courses You command,
then what am I, O Savior, that You take thought of me,
or I should know Your favor and thus delivered be?

Yet we in Your own image with glory have been crowned,
to worship and to serve You throughout creation ‘round.
These works that sing Your glory in our poor hands are placed,
that we may rule before You to magnify Your grace.

Let every beast and creature, in sky or sea or field,
in our hands bring You glory as we Your favor wield.
Let all things sing Your praises, let all declare Your worth!
O LORD our Lord how great is Your Name in all the earth!

T. M. and Susie Moore

The Church in Corinth was in need of revival. But there was much to be done before that would happen. The Church today is in need of revival, and the same is true for us. Our book, Revived!, can help us to discern our need for revival and lead us in getting there. Order your copy by clicking here.

Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 103 Reynolds Lane, West Grove, PA 19390.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter, available by clicking here