"For the love of God controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf!" (II Corinthians 5:14-15)
 
In our lesson last week, on II Corinthians 5:1-11, the apostle Paul (a tent-maker by trade) began (in verse 1) with one of the most profound verses in all of Scripture, describing and affirming the confidence, and assurance we as "born-again" believers in Christ can have, not only now but when, at some point, we face death in this life!  He wrote that "we know (with certainty!) that if the earthly tent which is our house (in this life!) is torn down (speaking of "death"), we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!"  And so, describing the great contrast between the fragileness, vulnerability, and temporary state of our physical bodies in this life with the "building from God--the stableness, stability, and permanence of our glorious, resurrected bodies in the life to come!  This is the "blessed hope" of every believer, when we shall see our Savior and Lord face to face!
 
"For indeed in this house (our physical body!) we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven...so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life" (eternal life!)  And he adds that, "He who prepared us for this purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit (the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer!) as a pledge" (or a guarantee for this to happen!)  But Paul's not done!  "Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!"  Wow!  Paul is saying that, considering his circumstances, he'd rather die and be with Christ than go on living in this life!  Because he "knew" (he knew!) what was ahead for him!
 
But then another "therefore" (which sounds more like a "but"!)  "Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to the Lord!"  That was his greatest goal and desire!  To always be "pleasing to the Lord"!  (MacArthur notes that "the noblest and highest ambition to which we (as believers) can aspire, whether in this life, or the next, is to be pleasing to the Lord"!)
 
Paul said as much to the Ephesians (in Ephesians 5:6-10): "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things (sin in the world!), the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord!"
 
And why?  He answers it in verse 10: "For we (as believers!) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be (not condemned, but) recompensed (or rewarded!) for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad!"
 
And that set the scene for our lesson last night (on verses 11-15) where the apostle Paul begins with yet another "therefore"!  (MacArthur notes that "this passage is a very personal, first-person communication for the apostle Paul, and that one of the hardest things he had to do was to defend himself against the false accusations of some people who had come into the church of Corinth, a church which he founded, and for people whom he dearly loved, amid great trials and suffering!)
 
"Therefore (Paul continues), knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men...!"  Persuade them of what?  Not only of their need to believe and trust Christ as their Savior and Lord, but also for them to recognize and accept him as Christ's representative to them in this world!  He knew he had to defend his own integrity, and the integrity of his ministry from the many false accusations against him (among them: that he was proud, self-serving, untrustworthy, incompetent, and even mentally unbalanced).  And so, defending himself, for the sake of Christ and the preservation of the church!
 
MacArthur notes that "the greatest impact that critics can have on anyone who's in the ministry is an assault on their integrity!  And that's what was happening here! Constable notes that "assaults on Paul's integrity threatened not only to split the church but to stunt the spiritual growth of the believers"!  And so the whole epistle of II Corinthians is basically a defense of his integrity and for the preservation of the church of God!  
 
Knowing the "fear of the Lord" not only influenced and generated integrity in Paul's life but motivated him to preach the gospel of salvation to others!  He wrote in Hebrews 10:31 that it's "a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"  Jesus said something similar to His disciples, in Matthew 10:28,  "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell!"  And, in Luke 12:3, "But I will warn you whom to fear; fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!"
 
Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom!"  And Paul wrote in II Corinthians 7:1, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God!"  MacArthur says, "this is not referring to be afraid of the Lord, but to have a worshipful reverence and awe as an essential motivation to live in such a way as to honor Him!  And he notes in another place that "life is summed up in its richest form by fearing the Lord!"
 
Constable wrote that "the testimony of a clear heart and a good conscience before God and people was important to the apostle Paul, and he told the Corinthians (in verse 11) that his life was made manifest to God (first of all!); and that he hoped it would also be "manifested also in their consciences" as well!  Remember what he had already told them (in 1:11) that "the testimony of his conscience" was that "in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you," and so they "had reason to be proud of him as he also would be proud of them, in the day of our Lord Jesus"!  And why?  In verse 12, he says, "So that you will have an answer to those who take pride in appearance and not in heart"!
 
Constable notes that Paul "knew his life was an open book to God, and he wanted it to be transparent to all the Corinthians as well!  Paul wanted to be seen like David in Old Testament time, who wrote, in Psalm 26:1, "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord, without wavering!"
 
"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; (but) if we are of sound mind, it is for you," he writes in verse 13!  Paul was so passionate and zealous about devotion to truth that some thought he was fanatical to the point of being out of his mind, and unbalanced!  But Paul maintained that the zeal and enthusiasm, and compassion he demonstrated was because he was dealing with critical truths which needed to be heard!  And he didn't seem to care what they thought, as long as the truth was proclaimed!  MacArthur notes that "the world, now as then, often looks unfavorably on people who are so dogmatic and zealous about the truths of the Bible!  As on "Jesus freaks"!
 
"For the love of God controls us," responds Paul (in verses 14-15), "having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf!"  Wow!  What a stunning statement!  
 
The apostle Paul was gratified, and motivated, most notably, by Christ's loving, "atoning, sacrificial death" on the cross!  This truth is the heart of the doctrine of salvation, notes MacArthur!  I John 4:9-10 says, "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins!"
 
And in II Thessalonians 5:9-10, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will be together with Him!"
 
And Romans 8:31-39, "What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare HIs own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the One who justifies; who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also interacts for us!  Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword?  Just as it is written, 'For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered!  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us!  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor any created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of Christ our Lord!"  Wow!
 
Verse 11 in our text says, that "He died for all, therefore all died"!  Since He was our substitute!  We were, in effect, "crucified with Him"!  Romans 6:6-7 says, "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who died is freed from sin!"  And then to verse 11--"Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ!
 
MacArthur sums up or lesson this way: "As the apostle Paul defended his integrity to the Corinthians, he wanted them to know his old, self-centered life was finished and that he had an all-out desire to live righteously. For genuine believers, their death in Christ is not only a death to sin, but a resurrection to a new life of righteousness!"
 
Galatians 2:20 says it well, as well!  "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!"  Changes the way we live!
 
What hymns or other gospel songs come to mind as we look back on this lesson?
 
How bout "Amazing Grace!"  You know the words!
 
Or, the one that goes: "I am Thine, O Lord!  I have heard Thy voice; and it told Thy love for me.  But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee!" (And the chorus) "Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died; draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious healing side!"  (There are more verses!)
 
Or, this one: "Take my life and let it be; consecrated, Lord, to Thee; take my moments and my days--let them flow in ceaseless praise, let them flow in ceaseless praise...!'
 
And, last but not least--"The love of God is greater far, than tongue of pen can ever tell!  It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell; the guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child, He reconciled; and pardoned from his sin!  O love of God, how rich and pure!  How measureless and strong; it shall forever more endure, the saints and angels sing!"
 
Sing to the Lord, men!  And let the love of God control the way you live in the days to come!  Til we meet again!
 
Lowell

"Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in this body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from  the body and to be at home with the Lord!"  (II Corinthians 5:6-8)
 
Last week, in our lesson on II Corinthians 4:16-18, we saw how the beleagured apostle Paul was able to confidently carry out his ministry of preaching the gospel of Christ, to the equally beleagured Corinthian believers, because of what he "knew" (for sure!), as a revelation from God through the Holy Spirit!  Although he suffered for the cause of Christ, perhaps more than any other man in all of history, he "knew" (and believed, and therefore "spoke!) that God was "the One who had shown in his heart to give him (as a priceless treasure!) the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ," so that "the surpassing power of the greatness of the life of Jesus Christ might be manifested (and plainly seen!) in his mortal flesh" (as in an "earthen vessel")--and spread to more and more people, and abound to the glory of God"!
 
The apostle Paul also "knew" (as he said in 4:14) that "the One who raised the Lord Jesus (from the dead!) would raise him up (and them, and us, also!) with Jesus" one day!  "Therefore (he wrote in verse 16) we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day"!  And so he viewed all the affliction that he suffered as only "light and momentary," and "producing for him (he says, "us"!) "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not on the things which are seen, but (by faith!) at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal!"  
 
And so, as Paul would write, in 5:7, as believers in this life, we "walk by faith and not by sight"!  And that "new covenant knowledge and understanding about which we learned from Paul in chapter 4, as revealed to him by revelation from the Holy Spirit, established the basis, and set the tone for last night's lesson (on 5:1-10) where Paul begins by sharing something else that he "knew" about living the Christian life!  Something we need to know as well, so that we "don't lose heart," as believers and followers of Christ!  (And he uses a lot of "discourse marker phrases," such as "indeed," and "for indeed," and "therefore," and "so that," as Kirk noted last nite, "to convey, emphasize, confirm, or exlain the points he's making!  And so, in Paul's writings he always follows what he writes about "what he knows" with a lot of "therefores," and "so thats, as we'll saw in our lesson last night!
 
"For we know (he writes in verse 1) that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!"  Paul, likening our body to an earthly tent!  Constable notes that "in ancient times a tent was a familiar symbol of what was not permanent, and so Paul was contrasting the believer's temporary home, in his dilapidated body, with his eternal home, in his glorious body (in a day to come!), something subsantial and lasting, in heaven"!  Many people who lived during the time of Paul were nomadic tent dwellers, and (interestingly) Paul was a tent-maker by trade, and so he knew all about tents!  Tents were temporary, fragile, insecure, and lowly, and could easily be torn down and taken away!  And so, when he writes that it's "torn down," he's picturing a soon coming separation, or death!
 
MacArthur likens death to "something (or someone) coming to the door of our house (or our life!) like an utterly unsympathetic landlord, waving an eviction notice that will be executed the moment the landlord arrives!  Releasing us (as believers) from a fairly wretched neighborhood down here to a much better neighborhood up there!  It's not going to make us homeless; but, instead, there's waiting for us a far more grand and glorious dwelling in a far better neighborhood"!  (You get the point!)
 
And so he's saying that "therefore," we as Christians (like Paul!) shouldn't fear death!  And even welcome it, "knowing" what is to come!  Although, on the other hand, also like Paul, wanting to remain as long as the Lord wants to use us in His service! MacArthur notes that death (for the Christian!) "is nothing more than a reprieve, a release, from the dilapidating slum that we now live in, ushering us into a better home in a far better place! Death isn't something that cause Paul pain and suffering!  Life is!  And that's the reason why he longed for death!"
 
In Philippians 1:23 he wrote to the Philippian believers, "But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is very much better!  Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake!"  He would gladly trade his scrawny tent for "a building which has foundation, whose builder and maker was God"!  But, then again, he knew he had something more to finish first in this life!
 
In I Corinthians 15:51 he wrote (something more he knew, that was given to him by revelation,) about the coming "rapture of believers"! "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (not writing it as a church nursery message!); in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we all will be changed.  For this perishable must put on immortality.  But when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory!  O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (And he goes on to give us another "therefore" (which we'll pick up below)!
 
And maybe, speaking of the "rapture," this explains why the apostle Paul would write, in verse 1 of our text, that "if" (and not "when") our house is torn down"!  Indicating that Paul was hoping to still be around at the time of the rapture when, as he wrote in II Thessalonians 4:17, believers "who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so be always with Him!" Thus not experiencing death! This was his first hope and desire, as MacArthur notes!
 
But death was not a problem to Paul either, because of what he "knew" was waiting for him! "A building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!"  Paul "knew" that he was a stranger, an alien, a sojourner, and a pilgrim in this world! (Like Moses who, Exodus 2:22 says, was "a sojourner in a foreign land," and like Peter who, in I Peter 2:11, referred to us as "strangers and pilgrims in this world"!)
 
In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He hasseven to subject all things to Himself!"
 
The apostle John writes, in John 1:14, that when Jesus came into this world and became flesh, He "dwelt among us and we saw His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth"!  The word "dwelt," in the Greek, means "tabernackled," and so, He took the form of a man and "tabernackled," or "tented" in a temporary body among us!  But after His crucifixion was resurrected into a glorified body, a body not made with hands, and "not of this creation"!  A dwelling place for Christ in His glory that, MacArthur says, "is not earthy or physical, or tented, but spiritual and transcendent!  Glorified! And eternal in the heavens!
 
Jesus told His disciples, in John 14:1-3, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwelling places (KJV says, "mansions"); if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you; if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also!"
 
And, John wrote (in I John 3:1-3), "See what great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are!  For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him!  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be!  We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is!  And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself, just as He is pure!" Wow!
 
And yet, Paul writes in verse 2 of our text, that "in this house (this earthly house) "we groan"!  And for emphasis: "Indeed, we grown, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked!  For indeed (there it is again!), while we are in this tent we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life"!
 
Romans 8:22-25 adds: "For we know (we know!) that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only this, but also, we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the resurrection of the body!  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for something he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it!"
 
We groan because we are unfulfilled, incomplete, and imperfect in this life!  Paul wrote (in Romans 7:24), "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?  He didn't fear death!  He feared life in this world--so debilitating, so corrupting!  He wanted a glorified body!  To be like Jesus!  To be "swallowed up in the fulness of the perfections of eternal life"!
 
MacArthur wrote that the highest expression that we will ever know in the glory of God's eternal heaven will be when we receive our new resurrected, glorified bodies"!  And Paul writes, in verse 5, that "God has prepared us for this very purpose, and given to us the Spirit (the Holy Spirit who indwells us) as a pledge (or guarantee of what's ahead)!  Wow!
 
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory!"  (The seal "is the official mark of identification placed on a document under the authority of the person whose stamp was on the seal!  Signifying security, authenticity, ownership, and authority!")
 
And now, another "therefore," in verses 6-8!  "Therefore, being of good courage, and knowing (there's that word again!) that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith and not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!"  Wow!  Again, because of what he "knew" was ahead!
 
And yet another "therefore" in verse 9!  "Therefore we also have as our ambition (the "noblest ambition of all," writes MacArthur), whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him!  And how can we do that?  By "therefore, being steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing (there's that word again!) that our toil is not vain in the Lord"! 
 
And why that?  Verse 10 sums it up!  "For we (speaking of believers!) must all appear before the judgment seat of God, so that (note our final "discourse marker"!) each one of us may be recompensed for his deeds in the body (this tent!), according to what he has done, whether good or bad!"  Notice that it doesn't say anything about judgment for sin! That's been dealt with when we came to the cross!  (Romans 8:1, in still another "therefore," says, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!)
 
And so Paul was able to say, at the end of his life, something very special that he shared with Timothy, his beloved brother in the faith (in II Timothy 4:7-8), "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing!"
 
Paul faced death confidently, triumphantly, and joyfully!  Our dear friend, John MacArthur once wrote that just as we are to glorify God in the way we live, we should also glorify Him in the way we die!  It's our last best chance (he said) to glorify God while still in this world, and it's the greatest opportunity to prove the reality of our faith!  Also that "the reality of our faith is most clearly manifested in the face of death!"  And he once even gave a message on this passage, which he titled "Facing Death Confidently"!  
 
Psalm 116:13 say, "Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints!"  And I sure that applied in John's case, just as in Paul's!  And there's a hymn that comes to mind that I'm sure the apostle Paul, and John, and each of us would want to join in singing, as a fitting close to this lesson!  It's called "I Know Whom I Have Believed!"  And here are the words:
 
Verse 1--"I know not why God's wondrous love to me He has made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love, redeemed me for His own!
 
The chorus--"But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able,
To keep that which I've committed; unto Him against that day!"
 
Verse 2--"I know not how this saving faith, to me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word, wrought peace within my heart!
 
(Chorus)
 
Verse 3--"I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him!
 
(Chorus)
 
Verse 4--"I know not when my Lord shall come, at night or noon-day fair,
Or if I'll walk the vale with Him, or meet Him in the air!"
 
(Chorus)  And let's sing it again!  "But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able,
 
To keep that which I've committed, unto Him against that day!"
 
But there's another more contemporary gospel song that comes to mind that also fits this lesson so well, and it's called "Knowing You, Jesus," and I'll leave you with the chorus: 
 
"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You!  There is no greater thing!  
You're the best! You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love you, Lord...!"
 
Go on and sing it!
 
May God be with you, my brothers!  Til we meet again!
 
Lowell

"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day!" (II Corinthians 4:16)
 
Last week, in our lesson on II Corinthians 4:7-15, we saw the apostle Paul literally at his wit's end, from a human standpoint; yet from a spiritual standpoint he was on top of the world!  His life was such a paradox!  As he himself describes it (in verses 8-9), he was "afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Christ, so that the life of Christ also might be manifested in his body"! 
 
And in looking back at the seemingly unbearable litany of trials and persecutions he endured in his life, particularly as cited in II Corinthians 11:23-28 (as we noted in last week's lesson), we can't help but conclude that there was never another a man in all of history who suffered for the cause of Christ as much as he did! In I Corinthians 4:9-13, he wrote that God had "exhibited us as apostles last of all, as men condemned to death...as a spectacle to the world...fools for Christ's sake...slandered...the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even as now"!   In II Corinthians 1:8 he added, "We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of the affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raised the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us!"    
 
And yet, he declared in his opening statement of II Corinthians 4 that "since he had this ministry, as he had received mercy, he did not lose heart..but by the manifestation of truth commended himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God.  And even if the gospel is veiled, it is veiled those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God!"
 
And he continued, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.  For God, who said (in Genesis 1), 'Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ!"
 
And he added that "we have this treasure--this priceless treasure ("the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"--or 'the good news' off salvation in Christ!) in earthen vessels"!  Likening himself (and others who preach, and deliver, the treasure of the gospel of salvation), as "earthen vessels", or cheap, common, and fragile clay pots, so that the surpassing greatness of the power (of salvation in Christ!) will be recognized as the work of God, and not from ourselves"! 
 
And so, through this process, the great gift of salvation in Christ (the priceless treasure!) was "spreading more and more (through his preaching), and abounding to the glory of God"!  And with "the same spirit of faith," Paul knew and believed, with great confidence and an unshakeable conviction that even if he died, he would one day "be raised up, just as Jesus was raised, and be present and alive with Him, and with them" (those who had also believed and trusted in Christ) for all eternity!  For him, "to live was Christ, and to die was gain!
 
And that same confidence in Christ that Paul demonstrated in last week's lesson set the scene, and the tone, for our lesson last night, where Paul begins by declaring that "therefore" (because of the reality of the treasure of the new covenant promise of "new life in Christ"), "we do not lose heart," and that "though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day"!  
 
The apostle Paul was just like us, in the sense that we're all growing old and "wasting away," physically, as part of the normal aging process, but the beatings and sufferings he endured from those who opposed him, only added to, and speeded up, that dying process, as it was taking a heavy toll on his body!  He literally wore himself out in ministry for Christ!  And yet his inner man was being renewed and increasingly growing into more Christlikeness, as he "put on the new self"! (Colossians 3:10) 
 
And yet, in another paradoxical way, he viewed all the heavy affliction that he suffered as only "light" and "momentary," producing for him "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison"!  The way Paul saw it was that the more he suffered in this life for the cause of Christ, the greater the rewards, and eternal glory, in the life to come!  ("Not that affliction is something to be endured in  order to reach glory," writes Constable, but that "the affliction that he suffered was part of the process that created the glory"!)
 
Philippians 2:5-11 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in the appearance of a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross!  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!"  (MacArthur notes that, "Christ's suffering on the cross is the greatest illustration of how suffering is related to glory!  The greatest suffering that ever occurred in the universe occurred on the cross; and the greatest glory that has ever been given was given, by God, in response to that suffering"!)
 
In verses 18-19 (in yet another paradox), Paul writes that "while we look not at the things which are seen, which are temporary, but at the things which are not seen, which are eternal"!  The present, momentary, visible things of life paled in significance for Paul as he considered the future, eternal, invisible things ahead!  He looked forward to his heavenly home, a house not built with human hands but built by God, eternal in the heavens--drawing from the example of Old Testament heroes of faith, like Abraham, who (Hebrews 11:10 says) "looked for a city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God"!
 
Paul writes, in Romans 8:18-19, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God!"
 
And in Colossians 3:1-3, he wrote, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ (and, as believers, we have!), keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God!  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (that are passing away)!  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory!"
 
And he further wrote to Timothy (in II Timothy 2:1-3), "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also!  Suffer hardship with me as good soldiers of Christ Jesus!"
 
So what are the "eternal things," and how do we fix our eyes on them?  Constable writes that the eternal things "include such things as fullness of joy, our completed salvation, and our heavenly inheritances" but that we must look with "eyes of faith"!  Hebrews 11:1-3 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen!  For by it the men of old gained approval! By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made by the things which are visible!"  And, in verse 6, that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him!"
 
So why do we have trials and hardships in our lives, and what's the secret of enduring them?  Jesus (in Matthew 6 and elsewhere) warned us that "in the world we would have trouble;"  Job wrote (in Job 5:7), "For man is born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward;" and Paul wrote (in II Timothy 3:12) that, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly will suffer persecution"!   MacArthur notes that "life can bring disappointment, discontent, pain, grief, loss, disasters of all kinds, and that it is filled with unexpected turns, unanticipated events, dread, and sometimes debilitating and painful experiences! That's life! And the longer we live, the more likely the potential for pain and difficulty!  And so we must learn to deal with life and endure it!"
 
Jesus said (in Matthew 6:34) "not to worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself, and that each day has enough trouble of its own"!  And, in John 14:1, "not to let our hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me!"  
 
Psalm 46:1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore, we do not fear, though the mountains slip into the sea!"  Wow!  And, in verses 10-11, "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold!"  
 
And how bout this one (in Psalm 16:8-11): "I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken!  Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh will dwell securely!  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay! You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forever more!"
 
MacArthur writes that "the secret of endurance (as shown in this passage) "is focusing on the inner man, not on the outer man; focusing on the spiritual and not on the physical!  To look at the future and not the present!  To take our eyes off present pain, and look at future glory! And to be consumed with what is invisible and not on what is visible; to give your life to what will never perish, not for what will perish!  To place the unseen far above the seen, the future far above the present, and the spiritual far above the physical!"
 
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!"
 
Isaiah 40:28-31 (not to be outdone!) says, "Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable.  He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increase power.  Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary!"
 
And when you do all the above, MacArthur notes, you will be able to say with Paul (coming full circled!): "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed!  Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day! For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal!"
 
And we gotta add Paul's prayer, in Ephesians 3:14-21, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, so that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fulness of God!"
 
And we just want to close by bursting out and singing some hymns and gospel songs that come to mind and reflect what we've learned in this great passage!  Songs which the apostle Paul could well relate to and want to join us in singing!  And perhaps this one in particular:
 
"Through it all, through it all, O I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God!  Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word...!"
 
How bout this one: "Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here; trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause to worry or to fear!  He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best.  Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest!
 
Every day the Lord Himself is near me, with a special mercy for each hour; all my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Power.  The protection of His child and treasure, is a charge that on Himself He laid; as your days, your strength shall be measure, this the pledge to me He made!
 
Help me then, in every tribulation so to trust your promises, O Lord; that I lose not faith's sweet consolation, offered me within Your Holy Word!  Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e'er to take as from a father's hand; one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, til I reach the promised land!"
 
Or this one, "O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me; when by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me...!"
 
Or this one, "He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater, he sendeth more stength when the labors increase! To added affliction He addeth His mercy; to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace!   
 
Or this one, "Is there a heart o'er-bound by sorrow?  Is there a life weighed downn by care? ...All your anxieties, all your cares, bring to the mercy seat, leave them there; never a burden He cannot bear; never a friend like Jesus!" 
 
And last but not least (for Paul for sure)!  "Give me Jesus, give me Jesus!  You can all this world, but give me Jesus!"
 
And all this calls for Paul's benediction (in Ephesians 3:20-21); "Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think, according to the power that works within us; to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations for ever and ever! Amen!"
 
Don't lose heart, men!
 
Lowell 

"Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life!"                             (II Corinthians 3:5-6)
 
Last week, at the start of our lesson on II Corinthians 2:12-17, we were surprised to find the apostle Paul, the hero of our faith, weighed down with a heavy heart--actually in the doldrums, "finding no rest for his spirit" (as he himself described his mind-set)!  Like some of us in times of setbacks and turmoil!  But surely not the great apostle Paul, we thought!  Turns out it was brought on by his concern over how the Corinthian believers were responding to the "severe letter" he had written and sent to them in Corinth by way of Titus; the letter he wrote, he says in II Corinthians 2:4, "out of much affliction and anguish of heart...and with many tears"!  And it even caused him to "walk away from an open door of ministry" the Lord had for him in Troas and, instead, to go on to Macedonia in a desperate attempt to find Titus and get a first-hand report from him (since he had no cell phone) about what was going on in Corinth!  And so we saw Paul, perhaps for the first time, as being very human and vulnerable--much like us!  (And we found that, in some kind of way, reassuring!)
 
But, as we might have expected, the apostle Paul wasn't left in that state of mind and heart for very long!  Something very dramatic and life-changing (not written about in this text!) must have occurred between verses 12-13 and verse 14, to turn things around for him!  For we found him in verse 14 bursting out in thanksgiving and praise to God, who he said, "always leads us to triumph in Christ" and, even more, "manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place"!  Wow!  What a turnaround!
 
And so we speculated that Paul must have sought and somehow received refuge and comfort in his quiet time with the Lord ("the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort"), by "resting on His promises"!  It might have started, we surmised, with Paul asking himself, and crying out to God, somewhat as David did (in Psalm 42:11), and as we might in a similar circumstance, "Why art thou cast down O my soul?  And why art thou disquieted within me?  Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His presence!"  And then, maybe, responding again as David did, and like we should (in Psalm 142:2-3), "So I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry, and set my feet upon the rock, and established my goings!  And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord!"
 
Then, he might have gotten the kind of relief John wrote about (in John 14:27) where he said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives give I unto you!  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid!"  And, looking back, he may have thought (again, as David did in Psalm 27:13-14), "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!"  And then, finally, being reminded, as the prophet Isaiah was (in Isaiah 26:3): "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee!"  And (in Isaiah 40:31), "Yet those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint!"
 
And I wondered too if he might not have also turned to some songs or hymns of the faith (of that day), similar to the ones we are prone to sing during our darker moments; like the one often find myself going to: "All your anxieties, all your cares; bring to the mercy seat, leave them there..."  Or, the one taken from Isaiah 43--"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...Do not fear, for I have redeemed you!  I have called you by name; you are Mine!"  Or perhaps an even more familiar one: "When peace like a river attendeth my way; when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever the toil, Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well, with my soul!"  And perhaps others!
 
In any event, we found the apostle Paul, last week in verse 14, at the place where he was able to rebound and confidently declare, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us to triumph in Christ, and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place!"  And we surmised that this drastic change in his spirit and demeanor must have come, as Constable wrote, "from his conviction that God was somehow working in and through him, regardless of the appearance of the setbacks that were confronting him (as he cited in this and other passages)!
 
We were reminded of I John 4:5, where John wrote that, "whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith!"  And Paul again (in I Corinthians 15:57-58), "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"  And how bout the assurance and encouragement of Romans 8:28?
 
And all that set the tone for our lesson last night on II Corinthians 3:1-11, where we find the apostle Paul continuing to find a need to defend his faith and his ministry of the gospel, but now with renewed confidence in God and his calling!  And he begins with some potent questions for the doubting Corinthians!  "Do you think I'm trying to commend myself again by my preaching?  Do you really think, you Corinthians, that I really believe that it's all about me?"  Do I need to introduce myself again to you with a "letter of commendation" from the pastoral board (which Constable notes was a common practice of that day for one to gain entrance and acceptance)?"  
 
And this is how he responded (to his own questions), in verse 2!  "You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts!  Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life!"
 
Paul was saying that the changed lives and transformed hearts of the Corinthians was the best evidence and most eloquent testimony of the legitimacy and creditability of his ministry!  Like a book written "not with ink" (like a letter of men!) but with the Spirit of the living God (who gives us new life!); not on tablets of stone (as it was in the time of Moses) but on tablets of the human  heart!  Constable writes that "God's method of commending the gospel to others is through the supernatural changes He writes on the lives of believers by His Holy Spirit!  In this instance, the transformation of the Corinthians' lives was the strongest proof of the genuineness of Paul's apostleship"! (As it is has been said, "our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read"!  And so our lives should be living epistles of Christ, easily read and not confusing to the reader!)
 
Paul called himself "the servant of a new covenant"!  A covenant prophesied by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel!  Jeremiah wrote (in Jeremiah 31:31-34), "Behold, days are coming (declared the Lord!) when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel...not like the covenant which I made with their fathers...but this covenant I will make on their heart, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people!"  And the word of the Lord that came to Ezekiel (in Ezekiel 11:17-20), instructing him to say: "I (God!) will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered...and I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them.  And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh, so that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do sthme.  Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God!"
 
Jesus Christ inaugurated the new covenant with His death on the cross!  And when Christ instituted the Lord's Supper (in I Corinthians 11:25-26) He took the cup and said, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes!"
 
False prophets who were trying to gain acceptance from the church in Corinth, however (according to MacArthur) wanted to affirm that the old covenant was equal to the new covenant--and "impose on the simplicity of Christ all the Mosaic prescriptions from circumcision and on, confusing the people and deluding the simplicity of the gospel"!  Constable writes that the old covenant "kills"  in the sense that it "shows how impossible it is to measure up to God's requirements, and announces a death sentence for all who fall short of complete obedience, while the new covenant leads to fullness of life because Gods Spirit helps the believer do God's will"!  
 
Galatians 3:10-13 says, "For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is eveyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, to perform them.'  Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for the righteous man shall live by faith.  However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, 'He who practices them shall live by them.'  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree!"
 
And in Romans 7:6, "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter!"
 
Both covenants involved ministry to God that resulted in glory for God!  But the glory of the new covenant far surpassed the glory of the old!  The glory that appeared on Moses' face when he descended from Mt. Sinai, after he communed with God (and descended with the ten commandments) was so strong that the Israelites couldn't look at his face!  But it (eventually) faded away!  It was only temporary!  How much stronger the manifestation of God's glory in the new covenant which manifests His glory in an age when His life-giving Spirit inhabits His people!  And lasts forever!
 
And so, in contrast with the old covenant, the new covenant gives life, produces righteousness, is permanent, more glorious to behold, and is something we've been charged with communicating to this troubled world!
 
And so, as men of the Bible, may God help us to live our lives as "epistles of the living God," easily read known and read by those with whom we interact in this life!
 
And, closing, here are words to some great old hymns that speak (and ring in our ears!) to what we learned from this great passage:  "Christ liveth in me, Christ liveth in me; O what a salvation this that Christ liveth in me...!"  And how bout this one: "Out in the highways and by-ways of life, many are weary and sad; carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, making the sorrowing glad.  Make me a blessing, make me a blessing, out of this life may Jesus shine....!"  And, finally!  "Free from the Law, O happy condition!  Jesus hath bled and there is remission.  Cursed by the Law and bruised by the Fall, Christ hath redeemed us, once for all...!"
 
Men, may we all go forth this week with joy in our hearts and a song of praise to God with our lips, knowing and understanding that our adequacy comes from God!
 
Lowell 

"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life!" (II Corinthians 2:15-16)
 
Last week we dealt with (as MacArthur once noted) "one of the best and most beautiful texts in all the Scriptures on the godly motivation and rationale for forgiveness"!  We cited our Lord's reminder to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us!"  And we made reference to a range of verses in a Bible about forgiveness and concluded that the very act of forgiving is one of the most noble things we as believers can do for one another!  It demonstrates the "agape love" of Jesus, and brings joy and peace, and a taste of a bit of heaven to our earthly realm!
 
Paul set the example as he intentionally downplayed the sorrow and hurt that a certain member of the Corinthian church had caused him personally on his last visit to Corinth, and he insisted that they too should not only forgive the man (as he had!), and especially now that he had repented of his sin, but also to comfort him and restore him to fellowship, and reaffirm their love for him, so that "he wouldn't be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow"!  It was "a test (he said) of their obedience in all things" and necessary "so that no advantage would be given to Satan," who loves to divide believers in the church of God!
 
And that set the tone for our lesson last night, on II Corinthians 2:12-17, where we found the apostle Paul contining to express his concern and love for believers in the troubled church of Corinth, and specifically to explain why his heart was so deeply troubled as he wondered how they were responding to the "severe letter" that he had sent them by way of Titus, a letter that he wrote "out of much affliction and anguish of heart...with many tears"!  And he even decided to "walk away" from his ministry in Troas in a desperate attempt to find Titus, and get his report--even though there was "an open door in the Lord" for him there!  
 
Wow!  Imagine!  The great apostle Paul, the hero of our faith, in this condition, for a time, "having no rest in his spirit"!  Phillips says, he was "on edge"!  Troubled!  Even in the doldrums!  And so, we see him very human!  Much like us!  But not for long apparently, as we see his ultimate response in verse 14!  Makes you wonder what happened to him, in between verses 12-13 and verse 14, where he bursts forth in victory and thanksgiving to God!
 
I wonder (although it doesn't say!) if Paul might not have somehow gone through a whole line of questions and inquiries to God and His Word, in search of answers, as I have, and maybe you have, in times of distress and anxiety!  Beginning with maybe Psalm 42:11, where I often begin, where the Psalmist David cries out in despair: "David! (Lowell!) Why art thou cast down, O my soul?  And why art thou disquieted within me?  Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of HIs presence"!   And then maybe his (and our!) response (in Psalm 142:2-3), "So I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry; and He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the rock, and established my goings!  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord!"  
 
He might then have gotten relief, the kind of relief John wrote about (in John 14:27): "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives give I unto you! Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid!"  And then, looking back, he might have thought (as in Psalm 27:13-14): "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!" And, finally, of being reminded, as the prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 26:3: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee!"  And in Isaiah 40:31: "Yet those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint!"  Yea!
 
And I wonder too, if he might not have turned to some songs or hymns of praise of that day, along the way.  Kind of like the ones we today might go to in our darker moments!  Like, "All your anxieties, all your care; bring to the mercy seat; leave them there...!"  Or, the one taken from Isaiah 43, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the waves will not overcome you...for I am the Lord your God!"  Or, "He giveth more grace when the burdens are greater, He sendeth more strength when the labors increase...!"  Or, "It is well with my soul..."!  Take your pick!
 
And so, in whatever manner, Paul somehow arrived at verse 14 and was able, ultimately, to confidently declare: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us to triumph in Christ, and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place!" 
 
Wow!  Paul didn't get relief from "the power of positive thinking," but from the promises of God and, as Constable writes, "from his deep-seated conviction that God was working in and through him, regardless of the appearance of the set-backs that confronted him, as cited in this passage"!  
 
And when we experience that victory in Christ there's a special fragrance that's manifested of Christ to God (and to a watching world!)--a "sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place"!  And verses 15-16 add that "we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma of life to life!
 
The apostle Paul likens the victory we have in Christ to the victory procession the Romans conducted through the streets of Rome after conquering an enemy; a procession led by the victorious general who brought them the victory, followed by all the troops who participated in the glorious battle, capped off with priests swinging censors that spread a sweet aroma that all could smell and enjoy!  For all those "on the victory side"!
 
I Corinthians 15:57-58 says, "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"  And, I John 5:4, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith!"  And in Romans 8:37-39, Paul writes further: "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come; nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is Christ Jeeus our Lord!"
 
"But who's adequate for these things," the apostle Paul asks in verse 16?  "For we are not like many, peddling the word of God (for personal gain!) but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ, in the sight of God!"  Constable writes that "Paul's only desire was the glory of God, the advancement of the gospel, and the progress of His people, and that the proofs of his sincerity were his divine commission, his sense of divine dependence and responsibility, and his divine authority and power.  Like a spiritual physician Paul did not dilute or add other ingredients to the medicine that brings life, the Word of God!  He gave it out full strength!"
 
Constable also notes that "the role of the heralder of Christ is a high calling, and that no one is adequate (or sufficient) in himself (or herself) for this task!  It's only when we follow Him at His command!  We've been given the great commission, and "we speak in Christ in the sight of God"!  And, he says (in II Corinthians 3:5, "our adequacy is from God"!
 
Paul considered it a great privilege to carry the gospel and, at the close of his ministry, in II Timothy 4:6, he was able to write, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come!  I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing!"  (May this be said of us!)
 
Looking back, I love Paul's words in verse 14, about "giving thanks to God" and how that, when we do, it "manifests through us a sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place..."!  It makes me go back in my memory some 50 years at Immanuel to remember a godly man named Dave Keltonic (now long gone!) who had a habit of constantly saying, sometimes almost under his breath, "thank you, Lord"!  Over and over, at every juncture!  Whether good or bad things were happening!  "Thank you, Lord!"  It was always a joy to be around him, whether playing tennis with him (and him winning or losing), or on visitation, or in the jungles of the Amazon basin on a missions trip, or just in passing time!  "Thanks you, Lord!"  He just kept repeating it!  It was like a special fragrance to God with a "sweet aroma"!  And something I hope to copy and carry on too!
 
Thanks Dave (if you can hear me up there)!  And thank you, Lord (Who I know hears me)!  
 
And speaking on behalf of all us as MOBsters!  "Thanks be to God who always leads us to triumph in Christ"!
 
Lowell 

John MacArthur stated that forgiveness frees people from the past. It is liberating, exhilarating, and healthy. Forgiveness relieves tension, brings peace and joy, and restores relationships. In addition to its personal and societal benefits, there are at least ten biblical reasons for forgiving others. 

1. Believers are never more like God than when they forgive
   
2. The sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13), does not just forbid murder but also anger, malice, lack of forgiveness, and desire for revenge
3. Whoever offends another person offends God more, because all sin is ultimately against Him
4. Those who have been forgiven of great sin against God must forgive the lesser sin of others against them
   God freely forgives believers’ massive debt to His holiness—a debt they could never repay even if they spent eternity in hell. Therefore they must readily forgive the sins by which others offend them. To refuse to do so is reprehensible, insensitive ingratitude that makes a mockery of God’s forgiveness of them
5. Believers who refuse to forgive forfeit the blessing of fellowship with other Christians
6. Failing to forgive results in divine chastening
7. God will not forgive believers who refuse to forgive others
   The Lord was not, of course, referring to the eternal forgiveness of justification (Acts 10:43; Rom. 3:23–24; Col. 1:14; 2:13; Eph. 1:7; 4:32; Titus 2:14; Heb. 7:25; 1 Peter 2:24) but to the temporal forgiveness of sanctification
8. Failing to forgive others renders believers unfit to worship
9. To refuse to forgive is to usurp God’s authority
10. Offenses against believers must be recognized and embraced as the trials that mature them

Source:  2 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2003), Page 50. 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God!"  (II Corinthians 1:3-4)
 
Wow!  What a wonderful verse to begin our lesson last night on II Corinthians 1:3-11!  
 
As we noted last week, the apostle Paul led off his second letter to the church of Corinth with a declaration that his mission as an apostle of Jesus Christ was not a self-appointed one but one of divine appointment, and that the words that he wrote to them didn't reflect his own message and thinking but revealed the very words of God!  In that connection, MacArthur noted that no other book of the Bible better fulfills the claims and promises of II Timothy 3:16-17, that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching doctrinal truth, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, and adequately equipped for every good work!"  And that's why, as men of the Bible (MOBsters!), we're committed, so enthusiastically, to studying it, and sharing what we're learning with each other!
 
Paul describes God not only as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ but, drawing from the liturgical language of the Old Testament, as "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort"!  David wrote in Psalm 86:15: "But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth!"  Paul, in Ephesians 2:4, added: "But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus!"  And borrowed from the synagogue prayer of Isaiah 40:1 which reads: "Comfort, O comfort My people, says your God..." and of Isaiah 51:3, where it says, "Indeed, God will comfort Zion"!  
 
And so, even today, our God, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, comforts us in our afflictions "so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God!  Wow!  Giving us a whole new understanding of why God allows trials and afflictions to sometimes come into our lives!
 
Paul, speaking for himself, writes, in verses 6-7, "But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort"!  And so we develop an empathy for others who are suffering, and they for us, and when we share our experiences together, it brings the comfort of God for us all, Paul is saying!  Comfort "in abundance"!
 
No preacher in the history of the church has probably faced as much persecution and affliction as the apostle Paul!  He says, in verses 8-10: "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us!  He on whom we have set our hope!  And He will yet deliver us!"  Wow!  Paul doesn't describe here what those afflictions were that he experienced in Asia, but the Corinthians apparently where aware of them!  And it may relate to what he writes in 4:8-11, where he says, "We were afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh!"  But despite it all, he continues, in verses 16-18, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day!  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not for the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal!  Wow!
 
Paul says, "we don't lose heart"!  He was confident that God is faithful, always ready to comfort, and that He would deliver him!  If not in this life, in the life to come!  Reminds us of the words of Jeremiah, in Lamentations 3:22-23, "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease.  For His compassions never fail!  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!"
 
MacArthur notes that the constancy of God's comfort led Paul to describe Him as "He on whom we have set our hope"!  In Romans 5:3-5, he wrote, "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us!"  (MacArthur notes that "the more believers suffer and experience God's comfort, the stronger their hope in Him grows!)
 
Near the end of his life Paul wrote, in II Timothy 4:16-18, "At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me, but it is not be counted against them.  But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation (of the Gospel!) might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth.  The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever!  Amen!"
 
What a great example we have in the apostle Paul!  And what a great God we have!  God, "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort"!
 
Have you experienced the comfort of God?  Nearly 2 years ago I suffered a stroke and as I went into surgery and later was recovering in the hospital and at home, I felt the Lord's comfort, as perhaps never before, as I meditated on some key "tough time" verses of Scripture, and another set of verses dealing with "anxieties," as well as the words of some great old (and new) Christians hymns and songs, some of which I passed on to you at the time!  They continue to bring great comfort to me in times of trials and anxieties!   You may want to check them out as you seek relief from "troubles" you may face!  I won't attempt to quote this exhaustive list here, but here are some of the references: Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 11:28-30; Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 46:10-11; Psalm 55:22; Psalm 27:13-14; Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 40:1-3; Jeremiah 33:3; John 14:27; Isaiah 27:3; II Corinthians 12:9-10; Romans 8:28; Psalm 118:24; Jude 24-25; Isaiah 43:1-3; II Corinthians 4:16-18!  Of course, there's many more in God's Word!
 
And here are some of the words to some great songs (to sing!):

• "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...I am the Lord your God; do not fear...!"
• "Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart...!"
• "All your anxieties, all your cares; bring to the Mercy Seat, leave them their...!"
• "He giveth more grace when the burdens are greater; He sendeth more strength when the labors increase...!"
• "Like the woman at the well, I was seeking, for things that could not satisfy...Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord, come and quench this thirsting of my soul...!"
• "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll, whatever my lot; it is well, it is well, with my soul...!"
• "Wonderful, merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and friend; who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of me..!"
• "Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief and pain...!"
• "In the morning when I rise...give me Jesus...You can have all this world, but give me Jesus....!"
• "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus..!"
• "He hath made me glad...I will sing, for He has made me glad...!"

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions...!"
 
Go with God and be a blessing!
 
Lowell  

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!"  (II Corinthians 1:1-2)

The apostle Paul makes it clear right up-front that his mission was not a self-appointed one, or based on his own achievements, but one of divine appointment!  And that his letter reflected not his own message but the very words of God!  No other book of the Bible reflects better the claims and promises of II Timothy 3:16-17--that "all Scripture is breathed out (and given) by inspiration of God and profitable for teaching (doctrine!), for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work!"  And that's why we as "men of the Bible" (or MOBsters) are enthusiastically into studying it and sharing what we're learning with each together!

In his salutation Paul makes mention of his cherished son in the faith, Timothy, who was with him during the founding of the church of Corinth, and extends grace (God's unmerited favor) and peace (one of its benefits), which were the normal salutations in all of Paul's letters to the churches!

This is Paul's second letter to the church of Corinth!  First Corinthians, with all its great content, apparently "did not get rid of all the problems in this troubled church," writes Constable.  And so the apostle Paul wrote this letter "with the immediate purpose of combating the influence of Judaizers who promoted legalistic teaching"!  These teachers were evidently Jews, mainly from Judea, who claimed to be Christians but may have been unbelievers or misguided believers!  But God's larger purpose, again according to Constable, was to "make the gospel crystal clear"!

MacArthur writes that II Corinthians is the "most personally revealing of all Paul's epistles"!  (But) "at the same time it is perhaps the least familiar of all his inspired writings, often overlooked by individual believers and preachers alike...an immense loss to the church"!  (John Neal referred to it as "Paul's autobiography," and that in it, Paul "pours out his soul for the Corinthian church"!  Paul's "godly character clearly shows through as he interacts with the most troubled of his congregations...out of humility"!  "If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness," he writes in II Corinthians 11:30; and he says in 3:5-6, "Not that are adequate in ourselves...but our adequacy is from God, who made us adequate as servants of a new covenant..."!  His passionate concern for the flock is shown in 4:5 where he declares, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus sake"!

MacArthur notes that "no preacher in the history of the church has faced such intense persecution as did Paul, and in this letter he models how to handle suffering in the ministry!  For example, in 4:7-12, Paul writes, "For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves, even as we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in our body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death works in us, but life in you!"  And so much more!

But though it is an intensive look at Paul, nonetheless, MacArthur writes, II Corinthians "contains rich theological truth!  Here the new covenant receives its most complete exposition outside of Hebrews!  In II Corinthians 5:1-11, Paul presents important teaching (especially for us old guys) on what happens to believers when they die!  And what comforting words he gives!  Here's a preview: "For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.  For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.  Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.  Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!  Therefore, we also have as our ambition whether at home or absent, to be pleasing with Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad!"  Whew!

Here's something else to look forward to!  That same chapter 5 discusses the doctrine of reconciliation, "culminating in the fifteen Greek words of 5:21...providing the most concise yet profound summary of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ to be found anywhere in Scripture!"  Wow!  Can't wait to try to figure out those 15 Greek words!

Then, MacArthur notes, "a brief Christological gem of immense valve" in 8:9: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich!"

And lots of practical aspects of living the Christian life, including the principle of separating ourselves from unbelievers; teachings on giving; and distinguishing true servants of God from false teachers, and instructions of how God uses suffering in the lives of His children!

And, last but not least, II Corinthians closes with this great exhortation (and promise) "Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you!"  Followed by the "Trinitarian benediction": "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all!"  And I just want to add, "Amen!"

I hope this overview whets your appetite as we get into--in more detail--the apostle Paul's wonderful, and often neglected, epistle of II Corinthians!  Welcome to MOB!

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Lowell