Author: looking2jesus13

August 8

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 8

2 Corinthians 8:1-5, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches in Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.  For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”

The context of this passage is the appeal from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth to participate in the relief efforts for the church in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:7).  A number of factors led to their impoverished condition.  Some were ostracized from their jobs and families for their faith.  A famine aggravated the situation.  The people were heavily taxed.  Paul responded by going to various churches and asking for their help.  Paul dedicated a considerable amount of his time over a period of five years to this effort.

The believers in Macedonia were commended to the Corinthian church by the Apostle Paul, as examples, for the spirit in which they had given (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).  They gave sacrificially (i.e., out of their “extreme poverty” and “beyond their means”); joyously (“their abundance of joy”); generously (“in a wealth of generosity”); beggingly (“begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part”); lovingly (“for the relief of the saints”); and in a surprising fashion (“and this not as we expected”). 

Theirs was not a reluctant “how much is this going to cost me?” kind of gift.  It was a “my brothers in Christ are in need, what can I do to help?” kind of sacrifice.  Their brethren in Jerusalem were hundreds of miles away, but that mattered not to the Macedonians.  They had never met them, but they responded as they were kin (which they were; Hebrews 13:3).  Why did they give as they did?  Paul explained, “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us” (2 Corinthians 8:5).  They gave as an act of worship.  Their hearts and lives and love already belonged to God (2 Corinthians 5:15).  They were Spirit-led to give in a Christ-like manner that they might assist their Christian brethren. 

They gave as Jesus gave.  He Himself came as a heaven-sent gift of “inexpressible” worth (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 9:15).  He did not merely give out of His riches, He gave and gave and when He had given all that He had in this life, He gave that up too (Philippians 2:5-8).  He impoverished Himself so that we might be made rich.  “For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).  When it comes to the matter of giving His example reigns supreme.

One of the things that has amazed me in my nine trips to Uganda has been the overwhelming support the ministry effort received.  Our brethren in that region of Uganda are impoverished and in need of help.  Churches in Maine, Florida, Oregon, Washington and other places have responded by providing funds for transportation, building projects, Lugandan Bibles, Bible school tuition, gospel tracts, children’s ministry supplies, medical supplies, purchase of animals, printing and distribution of the “First Steps with Jesus” booklet, etc., etc.  The ministry effort has been amply provided for and sometimes in surprising and unexpected ways.  The spirit of giving has been a tremendous source of encouragement to many.  We would be amiss were we to fail to acknowledge the true source of this abundant provision.  In addressing the matter, Paul traced the gift of the Macedonian believers back to the “grace of God” (2 Corinthians 8:1).  Such giving is ultimately sourced in Him.  It is by His grace in salvation that rebels are transformed into worshippers and created anew with the desire to give.  It is by His grace that we are enriched, for “what do (we) have that (we) did not receive” (1 Corinthians 4:7)?  It has all come to us by grace—salvation, provision, strength, motivation and ability to serve.  By the grace of God, we are what we are (1 Corinthians 15:10).  Whenever we see that spirit of giving—whether it be of time, energy, or money—we can trace it back to God, who is the greatest giver of them all (James 1:17).

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” – Jesus

Give of your best to the Master;
Give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service;
Consecrate every part.
Give, and to you will be given;
God His beloved Son gave;
Gratefully seeking to serve Him,
Give Him the best that you have.

August 7

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 7

2 Corinthians 7:9-10, “As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting.  For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss for it.  For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

The context of these two verses has to do with the response of the Corinthian church to a letter Paul had sent.  There were false teachers in Corinth and some who were rebelling against Paul (2 Corinthians 2:5, 11:2-4, 13).  Paul loved the church and wanted God’s best for them (2 Corinthians 11:2, 28).  He wrote to them to address what was taking place.  He wrote “out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears” that they might know of the “abundant love” that he had for them (2 Corinthians 2:4).  Paul did not excuse, evade, or tolerate the evil that was occurring, but with “anguish of heart” he confronted it by speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).  He dealt with the matter as a loving parent would in disciplining his own children (1 Thessalonians 2:11), as God himself responds to us all (Hebrews 12:5-11).

Paul was deeply concerned as to the response of the Corinthians.  He wondered what they might do and could not rest in anticipation (2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:5).  He knew his letter would cause them grief and for a time regretted having even sent it (2 Corinthians 7:8).  But then Titus returned with his report on their positive response.  And Paul was comforted (2 Corinthians 7:4, 6, 7) and he rejoiced (2 Corinthians 7:7).

Paul used the opportunity to speak of the two alternative responses to the confrontation of a revealed sin problem.  Both relate to experiencing grief, but in one case that grief is characterized as “worldly” and in the other “godly.”

John MacArthur, in a sermon on this text, aptly distinguished between the two kinds of sorrow: “Theirs was the right kind of sorrow.  It was not the sorrow of selfish sympathy, poor me, self-pity.  It was not the sorrow of getting caught and being cut off from the pursuit of your iniquity and thus your lust is unfulfilled.  It was not the sorrow of interrupted iniquity.  It was not the sorrow of weak sensitivity.  It was not the sorrow of despair.  It was not the sorrow of bitterness.  It was not the sorrow of wounded pride.  It was not the sorrow that’s often expressed of manipulative remorse.  It was the real thing, and he says it here in verse nine, it was the sorrow of repentance, the sorrow of “metanoia”, the sorrow of turning around and going the other direction.  It’s the sorrow of a real change, no defensiveness, no victimization mentality, no self-vindication, no self-justification, no self-defense and no resentment, just sorrow unto repentance, the real deal, the real transformation, the real change.”

John MacArthur

There is a “good grief”, and it is that God-ward response to conviction of sin.  David experienced it and cried out, “Against you, and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4).  Good grief is a blessed thing is as much as it “those who mourn” over sin who “shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).  Judas had a “worldly grief.”  He was sorrowful in that sense after he betrayed the Lord (Matthew 27:3-4), but it was not of the godly variety that accompanies salvation.  Peter denied Jesus, experienced a godly grief, and was restored (Luke 22:62, 32; John 21:15-17).

To experience a godly grief over sin is to view sin from God’s perspective.  To appreciate its vile and debilitating nature.  To see it as a contradiction to that from which Christ has worked to free us.  To understand it in terms of its dichotomy to God’s purpose for us.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians with tears but rejoiced in their response because it showed that they truly belonged to God (2 Corinthians 7:12).  Theirs was a “good” (i.e., godly) grief.’

Grief is good when it works to direct our thoughts and hearts Godward.

Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of thy cross,
Jesus, I come to thee.
Out of earth’s sorrows into thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into thy calm,
Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to thee.

August 4

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 6

2 Corinthians 6:8-10, “Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise.  We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”

According to Webster’s Dictionary a paradox is “an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises.”  We have such an argument in this series of descriptive phrases regarding various aspects of Paul’s life in ministry.  Ministry is a paradox.  God’s work done God’s way meets with Satan’s opposition.  Because of that, and other factors, Christ-centered ministry is characterized by both opportunities and obstacles, triumphs and trials, and delights and defeats.  It is filled with the good, the bad, and sometimes even the ugly. 

“Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise” (2 Corinthians 6:8).  Paul was sometimes honored and praised.  One would imagine him typically receiving an exceedingly warm welcome when he returned to the churches where he had ministered.  The elders in Ephesus wept out loud when the time came for his departure (Acts 20:37).  But some in the church in Corinth were opposing him in his ministry (2 Corinthians 10:10).  He had, through the course of his ministry, been the recipient of both slander and praise.  As with Jesus, Paul was both incredibly loved by some and vehemently disdained by others.  There is undoubtedly something amiss if we are ever only honored and praised, for allegiance to Christ and His Word won’t please everyone. 

“We are treated as imposters, and yet are true” (2 Corinthians 6:8).  Jesus himself was met with a similar discordant response: “And there was much muttering about him among the people.  While some said, ‘He is a good man,’ others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray’” (John 7:12).  Hard to imagine—some in Corinth were treating the Apostle Paul as an imposter!  They were saying “his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is of no account” (2 Corinthians 10:10).  Though he had been called by God (2 Corinthians 1:1), they were doubting his Apostolic credentials (2 Corinthians 12:11-12).  But the truth of who he was is evidenced in the fruit of his ministry (Luke 7:31-35).

“As unknown, and yet well known” (2 Corinthians 6:9).  Paul had experienced a dramatic turnaround with respect to his own identity.  He had been well known to the Jewish leaders when he was a zealous persecutor of the church (Acts 22:5).  But then Christ saved him and called him to be an apostle.  The ones who had known him well then wanted nothing to do with him (and even tried to kill him), and eventually some who didn’t know him at all wanted nothing more than to know him better.  He traveled to places where he was unknown but became well known.  He ministered with friends who knew him quite well, but even some of them deserted him (2 Timothy 4:11, 16).  Whether unknown or known by others, he was fully known by the Lord (1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Timothy 2:19).

“As dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:9).  He had spoken earlier to the Corinthians about such matters (2 Corinthians 4:8-12).  He suffered much in the cause of Christ, but in his weakness “the power of Christ” rested on him (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Amidst his “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” he was made strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).  In all his countless trials (2 Corinthians 11:23—28), he was not killed until God’s appointed time.  He experienced both great sorrow and great joy (Romans 9:2; 16:19; Philippians 2:17-18).

“As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10).  Paul did not possess much and worked with his own hands to provide for his needs (1 Thessalonians 2:9).  He had “learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:12).  But regardless of his own circumstances, he experienced contentment and strength in Christ (Philippians 4:11, 13).  Many were enriched through his ministry (Ephesians 3:8).  And he himself possessed everything in Christ and nothing mattered more to him than that (Philippians 3:7-8, 10; 1:23).

Praised yet reviled, loved yet hated, embattled yet enlivened, sorrowful yet rejoicing, poor yet rich.  Oh, the paradox of life in Christ and ministry!  The paradoxical existence that was true for Jesus and Paul and countless others is the same for all who now reside as “exiles” on earth (1 Peter 1:1).  Their experience includes some bad and even some ugly, but God strengthens by grace and even uses such things to refine His servants and prepare them for heaven.  In heaven, there will be no paradox — no bad or ugly—only good.

In life and ministry, we experience the good, the bad, and the ugly, but we serve a God who is well able to bring good out of the bad and has promised to us a heavenly home where the bad and ugly will be no more.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul.

August 3

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5:1-2, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling.”

This verse looks back to that which proceeds and the encouraging word that our present-day trials are “preparing us for an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).  Looking not at the things that are seen, we do not lose heart knowing that “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus” and bring us into his presence (2 Corinthians 4:14).  A distinction is made, in these two verses, between our present dwelling (our earthly home) and that which awaits us in heaven.  We now reside in a tent, but we long for our heavenly abode.

Our family once tent-camped at the Deschutes River State Park at the mouth of the Deschutes River.  It is typically very windy in the Columbia River gorge, and it was on that occasion.  Sometimes it seemed as if the wind would lift our tent off the ground and blow it away.  Laura and I camped there again years later.  A sudden thunderstorm brought strong winds and heavy rains, and most of the tent campers quickly picked up their tents and left.  Tents are temporary dwelling places.  They are subject to tears and rot.  Their ability to provide comfort and shelter is limited.

The Maryhill Museum of Art lies across the river from the Deschutes River State Park.  We once left our tents behind to visit the place.  It was designed 100 years ago by a famous architectural firm and built by Sam Hill to be his residence.  It is constructed of steel I-beams with interior steel studs.  The walls, floors, and ceilings are constructed of poured concrete reinforced with steel.  Sam Hill built it to last “1000 years.”  For one hundred years, it has stood and weathered the strong winds and storms that sometimes visit the Columbia River gorge. But as impressive as the Maryhill building is, it is subject to the same decaying forces that permeate all this curse-afflicted creation (Romans 8:21; 2 Peter 1:4).  It too will be destroyed one day (2 Peter 3:10-11).

Our earthly bodies are compared to tents.  They are temporary dwelling places.  They are frail, subject to decay, and not fit for heaven (1 Corinthians 15:50).  They are “perishable,” “sown in dishonor” and “weakness,” “natural” not spiritual, “from earth,” and “of dust” (1 Corinthians 15:42-49).  No “age-defying” machination of man can work to prevent the decay.  Only through God’s intervention, in receiving the One who died for sins and rose from the dead, can any of us experience triumph over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:16; John 1:12). 

Paul was writing to believers in Christ and his message was one of hope and assurance.  God has prepared a home for us in heaven.  In contrast to the temporary dwelling places in which we now live, our heavenly home is “eternal.”  It will last far longer than 1000 years.  It is not subject to rot, or rust, or robbers (Matthew 6:19-20).  It takes a lot of work to keep up a house, but not our heavenly abode.  No earthly home is without flaws, but our heavenly home will be “imperishable, undefiled and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4).  A famous architect designed the Maryhill home, but it is God Himself who has designed and constructed our eternal one (Hebrews 11:10, 16).  As Jesus once said to His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you will be also” (John 14:3-4).

Moving is a difficult and tiresome thing, but the distress is lessened if the move is to a more desirable place.  Every believer in Christ will one day make a last move to a heavenly abode.  Jesus’ presence there makes that place most desirable (Philippians 1:23; 3:20).  The use of the word “if” in verse one is noteworthy.  Those alive at Christ’s return will not experience “destruction” per se but will be instantly “caught up” into His presence and transformed (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).  Whether we “walk the vale with Him, or “meet Him in the air,” in either case, we will be brought home to a place that will far exceed our expectations and desires (Ephesians 3:19-21).  “So we do not lose heart…for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Herein lies our hope.  Every believer in Christ will one day make a last move to a perfect and eternal heavenly abode.

There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

August 2

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay.”

The context of this passage has to do with Paul’s perspective regarding ministry.  By the mercy of God, he’d been given a ministry and in it he did not “lost heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1, 16).  He was faithful to the task and refused to deviate from the truth (2 Corinthians 4:2-3).  How did he stay motivated?  Some refused to believe. How was he not discouraged?

Some years ago, I read a book about the Alaskan Gold Rush.  It was amazing to consider the extent that folks would go to—and the hardship they would endure—in the prospect’s pursuit of treasure!  Paul was motivated in his ministry not by the prospect of treasure, but by the possession of it.  Though he was, by his own admission, “the very least of all the saints, he was privileged “to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).  The possession of the treasure served both to motivate and empower him.

What is the treasure of which Paul spoke?  It is the gospel, but more than the gospel.  The gospel is in the immediate context (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).  It was a message Paul refused to tamper with (2 Corinthians 4:3).  It was the truth to which the perishing were blinded to, but to which the saved were enlightened (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).  The treasure is not just knowing the gospel but knowing the One of whom the gospel speaks (2 Corinthians 4:6).  It is to be Spirit-brought into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus.  It is the knowing of Him and in a personal and intimate way.  To know Him is to possess immeasurable treasure, to live without Him is to be hopelessly and eternally impoverished.

Where does the treasure lie?  In jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7).  Jars of clay were widely used in Paul’s day.  They were used to hold things.  And there were vessels of gold and silver and there were jars of clay.  What is the nature of a jar of clay?  Something ordinary, pedestrian, vulnerable, and temporary.  Paul was himself a jar of clay.  He possessed in life and ministry unsearchable riches, but God had deposited His treasure in his Paul’s frail being.  He was a clay pot — “afflicted…perplexed…persecuted…struck drown… always carrying in (his) body the dying of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). 

Why has God placed His treasure in such a place?  We don’t have to wonder—as verse 7 explains, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”  It was God’s design to place the treasure into ordinary jars of clay like you and me.  It is the same principle of which Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, “And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God?”  God has treasured our frail vessels that attention might not be directed to a man or a messenger, but to the God-man and His gospel (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).  God has deposited His treasure in jars of clay “so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies (1 Corinthians 4:10, 11).

By way of contrast, the treasure vividly shines, having been placed in frail vessels.  Human weakness and vulnerability give opportunity for God’s grace to be made even more evident.  These matters are sometimes confused.  The treasure is neglected, and emphasis is put instead on the clay pots.  Books are written on how to be a better clay pot.  In clay pot meetings, clay pot ministries are developed with little thought given to the indwelling treasure (Revelation 3:17).  Churches compete with one another to see who can grow the biggest clay pot assembly.  And in all this spiritual naivety and nonsense, it is possible to lose sight of the treasure.  Ministry is not about us, it’s about the treasure—knowing Jesus.  As Paul had said, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Corinthians 4:5).

God would have us to treasure the treasure and Jesus is that to us.  In our lives and ministries, His life and sufficiency are made manifest amidst our human frailty and weakness—as our jars of clay are “broken and spilt out” (Mark 14:3-9).  As with the cross, the surpassing greatness of God’s power is more vividly revealed when set against a contrary background.

It is against the backdrop of our inadequacies and frailty that Christ’s glory and sufficiency are clearly and vividly made manifest!

I am weak but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

August 1

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

You may have read the story of the Emperor Who Had No Clothes.  Weavers provided the emperor with new clothes, which they claimed to be invisible to the unenlightened.  The citizens kept up the pretense, saying nothing, though the emperor’s nakedness was readily apparent.  When the Emperor once paraded through the city, a child—naively blunt—blurted out that the emperor was naked.  The cry was then taken up by others.  The emperor cringed, suspecting the assertion of being true.

Adam and Eve sinned against God and, as an immediate consequence, found themselves naked (Genesis 3:7-8).  In a tragedy of unrivaled proportion, they have left to us all a legacy of nakedness in sin (Romans 5:12).  Many “fig-leaf religions” (Genesis 3:7b) are devised to rectify the “nakedness” problem, but apart from Christ, none of us can be properly dressed.  In a universal “what not to wear” reality, lost sinners—devoid of righteousness and naked in sin—are all consistently guilty of indecent exposure before God.

In what sense were Adam and Eve naked?  Had they misplaced their clothes?  Genesis 1:27 says that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.”  Two different Hebrew terms are translated “image” in the verse. Both bear an element, in their definitions, of visible correspondence.  Adam and Eve had looked something like their glorious creator.  It was with some kind of glorious God-imparted covering that they were clothed, but their attire was lost to them when they fell. As someone has humorously put it…they looked at each other and declared “ICK, A BOD! (“Ichabod” is Hebrew for the “glory of the Lord has departed”).  In response to their fall, God promised a future Redeemer (who would one day come to restore that which was lost in the fall; Genesis 3:15) and provided for Adam and Eve a prototypical, by grace, via sacrifice, set of clothes (Genesis 3:21).

It is to this matter of restoration that our text speaks.  Sin has left us all naked before God.  We were created to know and worship our Creator, but sin has gotten in the way (Romans 3:23).  How are we to be restored?  Jesus has provided a means of restoration through His work on the cross (1 Peter 3:18).  His shed blood is the only God-acceptable means for cleansing from sin.  By grace through faith, sinners are made righteous.  This sin-cleansing work is in three tenses.  All three have to do with the restoration of that which was lost in the fall.  Justification represents freedom from the penalty of sin (Romans 5:1).  By faith a person is declared once-for-all righteous on the basis of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Sanctification is a progressive work by which the believer is set free from the practice of sin and transformed by the Spirit into Christlikeness.  That is the focus of our text: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  In salvation, one’s face is unveiled to Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).  To behold Christ is to look in a mirror inasmuch as He indwells the believer.  We are being progressively transformed (Greek “metamorphoo,”: “to change into another form”) by the Spirit into Christ’s image (Romans 8:29).  This metamorphis occurs from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The transforming work is completed in the believer’s future glorification (freedom from the presence of sin).  Philippians 3:20, “(He) will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”  By the Spirit of God, we now long for the culmination of this work: “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4; Romans 8:18-24).  And so there we have the end result of Christ’s saving work—sin is purged from the believer and God-imputed glory restored.  “Glory” culminates God’s saving work (Romans 8:21, 9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Colossians 1:27). Salvation is more than just salvation from sin and hell.  It is more than merely being brought to heaven.  It is being restored to glory and to enjoy intimate and eternal fellowship with the God who has created us and who has lovingly worked to save us. 

“The supreme work of Christ in redemption is not just to save us from hell, but to restore us to Godlikeness again.” ― A.W. Tozer

All the way from earth to glory—
I would be like Jesus;
Telling o’er and o’er the story—
I would be like Jesus;
Be like Jesus, this my song;
In the home and in the throng;
Be like Jesus all day long!
I would be like Jesus!

July 31

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 2

2 Corinthians 2:14-17, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 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.  Who is sufficient for these things?  For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

The church I pastored in Astoria was located adjacent to a dairy.  Sometimes we would experience something called “dairy-air.”  The dairy business is pretty simple—cows eat grass, cows digest grass, cows make both milk and cow-pies, cow-pies make manure, manure makes grass grow, cows eat grass.  It’s the “manure makes grass grow” part of the cycle that leads to that which we refer to as “dairy-air.”  A manure spreader is used to broadcast the liquefied, grass-fertilizing, brown stuff across the surrounding acreage.  Wind works to spread the fragrance all around.  What smells like profit to the dairy farmer stinks to the rest of us. The sense of smell is a powerful thing.  It warns us of things to avoid or rectify (think soiled baby diaper).  Other aromatic fragrances are pleasing to our nostrils.  Sometimes we might even smell a thing and be readily reminded of some long-ago experience connected to that smell. 

The Apostle Paul compared the ministry of the gospel to a “triumphal procession” led by God Himself (2 Corinthians 2:14).  A great Roman victory was celebrated with a lavish parade, with the victorious general leading and his army marching behind.  Priests would accompany the parade, waving censers of incense, filling the streets of Rome with a sweet-smelling aroma.  Conquered foes followed behind in the procession—the aroma served but to remind them of their vanquished estate.

The ministry of the gospel is likened to such a thing.  And in God’s triumphal procession, “the fragrance of the knowledge of him” is “everywhere” spread “through us” (2 Corinthians 2:17).  We are only considered aromatic in a good way when it comes to our relationship with Christ. His death on the cross, and its attending suffering and sacrifice, is deemed “folly to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23), but not to God.  The OT sacrifices, which looked forward to Christ, were likewise said to represent “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:13, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, etc.).  The fragrance aroma, sourced in Calvary’s sacrifice, lingers on, and goes with Christ’s followers wherever they go.

The fragrance meets with divergent response.  “Among those who are being saved” it is a “fragrance from life to life” (2 Corinthians 2:16).  “Among those who are perishing” it is a “fragrance from death to death” (2 Corinthians 2:16).  We, God’s people, stand in such a fragrance-emitting position in this world.  The ministry of the gospel is a “triumphant procession” in which God’s victory has already been won and is thereby assured.  The proclamation of the gospel amidst suffering is akin to the sacrifice from which it was born.  It is likened to a fragrance pleasing both to God and His children.  God’s children have had their senses trained to sense the beauty in it.  It is a fragrant aroma representing life.  But it is not so pleasing to the nostrils of the lost, it works instead to remind them of pending judgment.  The perishing would sooner eradicate the source of the aroma than deal with the root of the problem (i.e., sinful unbelief).

How smelly are you?  And in what sense?  It is not just the gospel that emits the fragrance, but the gospel lived out.  And not just the gospel lived out, but the gospel lived in the context of loving sacrifice amidst suffering.  Paul’s opponents didn’t understand how an Apostle of the Risen Christ could suffer so (indeed, suffering is a major theme in this epistle).  But it was in his sufferings that the life of Christ and grace of God were made manifest (2 Corinthians 4:7-12; 12:9-10).  A rose petal emits a beautiful fragrance to those who draw near, but in a more effusive manner when crushed. In the lives of His followers, “the fragrance of the knowledge of him” is spread all around.  It meets with varying responses, but it is a pleasing aroma to God and to those having a Spirit-borne sense of smell.

The gospel—that Christ died for sins and rose from the dead—is a fragrance of life unto life in this sin-smelly world.

Sing them over again to me,
Wonderful words of life;
Let me more of their beauty see,
Wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty
Teach me faith and duty.

Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of life;
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of life.

July 28

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 1

2 Corinthians 1:3-7, “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 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. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.  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.”

I was recently in the home of a patient who was near to death.  Sad expressions and many tears bore silent testimony to the grief borne in the hearts of family members.  How great the sorrow we face in the loss of a loved one!  Afflictions and sufferings of various kinds can work to bring us into a vulnerable and fearful state.  In such situations, we might wonder, “Does anybody care about what I’m going through?”  Our text assures us that God does.

The word “comfort” (and its linguistic relatives) appears ten times in these five verses.  The Greek term “paraklesis” means “a calling to one’s side” and hence represents “an exhortation, or consolation, comfort” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).

There is a need for comfort because sin has left us in a vulnerable and needy condition.  Adam and Eve sinned against God and sin and death (and all its corresponding maladies) entered into man’s existence.  The “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” intervened on their behalf.  Though they had rebelled, He sought them out, made promise of a coming Redeemer, and mercifully worked to meet their immediate need (Genesis 3:9, 15, 21). 

Jesus was Heaven sent from the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” to walk amongst us and to die for our sins (the preeminent demonstration of God’s loving concern; John 3:16; Titus 3:4).  In His ministry, Jesus lovingly worked to comfort the afflicted—be they sick, blind, hungry, bereaved or otherwise in need.  He promised to impart comfort (i.e., rest of soul) to the “heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28-29).  His warning to his disciples of His pending departure left them troubled (John 14:1; 16:6).  “Believe in God, believe also in me” He said (John 14:1).  Then He comforted them with news of a future reunion and of God’s provision of the Holy Spirit (a Helper, a Comforter, like unto Himself) who would be with them forever (John 14:16).  The Father of Mercies and God of all comfort does indeed care!

The God of all comfort is the ultimate source of all comfort and were it not for Him, there would be no true comfort to be found in this sin-weary and troubled world.  He is the source and avails comfort to us in various ways to meet a host of needs.  He sometimes uses those who have been comforted by Him “to comfort those who are in any affliction” with the comfort they themselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Paul himself had received comfort from God.  “Fighting without and fear within” left him weary and in need (2 Corinthians 7:5).  God comforted Paul by sending to him Titus (2 Corinthians 7:6).  Titus in turn had been comforted by the Corinthians and the news of their loving concern for Paul (2 Corinthians 7:7).  Titus comforted Paul by his coming, but Paul traced the circumstance back to the God of all comfort.  Sometimes we are comforted by God through the comforting presence or words of others.

Thomas Brooks once wrote, “When we are in a very low condition, when we are spent with grief and swallowed up in sorrows, when we are destitute of all relief and comfort—then the God of all comforts comes to console us!  No tribulations, no persecutions, no grievances, no prison doors, no bolts, no bars—can keep the consolations of God from flowing in upon His people. God loves to comfort His people—when all their outward comforts fail them. God’s comforts are not only sweet, but seasonable.”

Thomas Brooks

There will come a day, in God’s presence, when “He will wipe away ever tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:4).  In the meantime, we have this assurance that God does indeed care and can work to heal our inner hurts.  He is not far from us or callous to our needs.  He comforts us and calls on us to pass it on.   You, or someone you know, have need of it.

God’s chain of comfort — God comforts us so that we can comfort others.

No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon his breast,
God will take care of you.

July 27

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 16

1 Corinthians 16:15, “They have addicted themselves to the ministry.” (KJV).

According to Webster’s Dictionary to be addicted is “to devote or surrender oneself to something habitually or obsessively.” There are a lot of different kinds of addictions—alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, video games, etc. Some people are even addicted to shopping. Oniomania is the technical name given to that disorder.

We are prone, by nature, to addictive behaviors. “The desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 John 2:16) demand satisfaction.  The pleasure experienced in sin is short-lived (Hebrews 11:25), and never fully satisfying.  Sin thereby works to enslave us: “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). Jesus died on the cross to set us free from both the penalty and power of sin.  We are, by nature, selfish-sinners, salvation works to free us to worship and serve. 

Paul commended the household of Stephanas. “They have addicted themselves to the ministry,” he said. The term “addicted” translates a Greek term means “to arrange, assign, order.” They had so ordered their lives that ministry came first (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:5). The term “ministry” is the Greek, “diakonia,” which speaks of service. It is the same term elsewhere translated “deacon.” The household of Stephanas was addicted to ministry in the sense that they had prioritized their lives such that the service of others came first. They were given to it. Their lives were characterized by it. They were devoted to serving Jesus by serving others.

Jesus was addicted to ministry.  He served—humbly, wholeheartedly, relentlessly.  Any day in the life of Jesus was a day in which He served.  He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cast out demons, raised the dead, fed the multitudes, and did more miracles than it was possible to record (John 21:25).  His disciples sometimes argued amongst themselves as to who was the greatest (Luke 22:24).  On one occasion, two of His disciples came forward to request that they might sit and His right and His left in His glory (Mark 10:35-37).  The situation caused some friction amongst the disciples.  Jesus called them all together and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  But it shall not be so among you.  But whoever would be first among you must be your servant.  And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45).  The world doesn’t think much of servanthood, but God does.  In His economy, greatness is defined in such terms.  Man naturally gravitates to a “looking out for number one” way of living, but Jesus walked in a revolutionary manner.  By His sacrifice He served us all in preeminent fashion.  He calls us to serve others according to His example (Philippians 2:3-8; Galatians 5:13).

Paul exhorted the Corinthians to “be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer” (1 Corinthians 16:16). Many in the church in Corinth were walking as “mere men” and behaving in selfish and childish ways (1 Corinthians 3:1-4; 13:11-13). Paul directed them to subject themselves to those who showed a capacity to serve, like those of the household of Stephanas (1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17). The church of our day (in America) is characterized by a selfish brand of Christianity that bears too little resemblance to its Biblical counterpart.  Servanthood—as a virtue—has fallen on hard times amongst some who profess Christ. But there are still many who walk in same the manner that Christ has established (1 John 2:6)—let’s be careful to look to their example.

Jesus was addicted to serving.  He calls us to follow in His steps.  Serving Jesus by serving others is at the heart of worship (Hebrews 13:15-16; 2 Corinthians 9:12).  It is a healthy addiction for which no cure is necessary, for it meets with God’s approval.

An addiction to serving Jesus is a healthy addiction for which no cure is needed.

Give me a faithful heart—
Likeness to Thee,
That each departing day
Henceforth may see
Some work of love begun,
Some deed of kindness done,
Some wand’rer sought and won,
Something for Thee.

July 26

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:1-2, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Sometime ago I read the book “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.”  It tells the story of the sinking of the Lusitania. WWI was in its tenth month.  German U-boats terrorized the shipping lanes.  The Lusitania was a luxury ocean liner sailing out of New York for Liverpool.  Though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, the thousands on board were at ease, wrongly assuming their ship to be safe from harm.

They thought their ship was too fast and unsinkable.  They thought that the Germans wouldn’t dare do such a thing.  Then the unthinkable happened.  A U-boat torpedoed the ship.  Many died immediately.  Others scrambled to get in the lifeboats.  But because of the list of the ship, only some lifeboats could be launched.  So, some jumped into the sea and looked for anything that would work to keep them afloat.  It took a long time for rescuers to get there.  And some people developed hypothermia.  In the end of the almost 2000 people on board, 1200 people died.  That event drew America into WW1.

Now, if you were one of those passengers on board that ship.  One who found himself adrift in the ocean.  And you were surrounded by water.  And you saw something floating to grab hold of—a piece of wood, a chair or table, or something of the like.  That would immediately become something precious to you.  No doubt, you’d swim for it.  And you would grab hold of it.  And you would cling to it.  And your fingers would hold fast to that.  And nothing would matter more to you than that piece of floating debris.  Because it would have the power to save you.  It would be, for you, a matter of first importance.

The gospel is like that to us.  Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth of the gospel message he had preached to them.  By the power and inner working of the Spirit, they received it.  They stood in it.  They had gained right standing before God on it.  They had been justified by faith through the truth of that gospel message.  They were being saved by it.  The word “saved” is in the present tense.  And we rightly understand salvation to be in three tenses—past (justification), present (sanctification) and future (glorification).  God’s work of salvation in their lives was more than a onetime transaction.  They had been justified, declared righteous, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more to be done (Philippians 1:6). They had a need to “hold fast” to the gospel.  Like those people clinging to a piece of wood to keep them afloat.  They needed to keep on clinging to it lest they drown.  We need to keep on clinging to Jesus.  It is the nature of those who are truly born again to do so.  Those who are truly saved will be kept saved, but that truth does not diminish the need for the truly saved to hold fast. 

Paul Washer, “In this small portion of Scripture, we find a truth that all of us must rediscover. The gospel is not merely an introductory message to Christianity—it is the message of Christianity, and the believer would do well to give his life in the pursuit of knowing its glory and making its glory known. There are many things to be known in this world and countless truths to be investigated within the realm of Christianity itself; nevertheless, the glorious gospel of our blessed God and His Son Jesus Christ ranks high above them all.  It is the message of our salvation, the means of our progress toward sanctification, and the pristine fountain from which flows every pure and right motivation for the Christian life. The believer who has comprehended something of its content and character will never lack in zeal nor be so impoverished that he seeks to draw strength from broken, waterless cisterns hewn by the hands of men.”

That message proclaimed by Paul to the Corinthians two millennia ago has spread from those early days to the four corners of the globe.  It has worked through the centuries to “save to the uttermost” those who have believed (Hebrews 7:25).  This matter of first importance is a timeless, powerful, and glorious message of truth imparting forgiveness and life eternal!  It represents the sole means by which anyone can be saved (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) and is the only answer to any of the problems that beset the sons of Adam.  Someone shared it with you—you believed and were saved.  God made it known to you that you might pass it on.  There is a lot of bad news in the world, but Christ died for sins and rose from the dead, and that’s good news!

“The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing”—D. L. Moody

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away,
Rising, He justified freely for ever:
One day He’s coming—oh, glorious day.