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56.
II Corinthians 4: “A Dead Rat Sandwich”
Golden
Nursing Center in Mannington, NJ –Evening Service on 11/19/2015
(edited
October 2020)
This Sandwich
has great bread, but it’s rotten in the middle:
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Yum😊 |
II
Corinthians 3:12-18 - “from Glory to Glory” “Seeing then that we have such
hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a veil
over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the
end of that which is abolished: But their minds were
blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the
reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even
unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless
when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now
the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.” |
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Yuck☹ |
xxx II Corinthians chapter 4 – the dead Rat |
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Yum😊 |
II
Corinthians 5:1-3 - “our Eternal House” “For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If
so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.” |
Starting off with
a little joke tonight, but the subject at hand is not funny. In other words,
our study in II Corinthians chapter 4 is “sandwiched” in the Scriptures between
some of Paul most glorious writings about life in Heaven. But our passage in
the middle deals mainly with the trials and challenges of living for God, not up
in Heaven, but right down here on the earth. And it applies not only to Paul’s
day but to our time as well:
Verse 1: “Therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;”
Paul is putting
it right out there, isn’t he? All who trust in Christ, who live in Him, and
minister to Him and through Him to others, that is to say ALL who believe, we
can only survive the experience because of God’s Mercy! That’s right, because
sooner or later, our ministries will get difficult.
Verse 2: “But
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”
I think Paul may
well have been tempted to become a corrupt Christian! Think about it, as Saul
of Tarsus he had already lived as a spiritually blind, selfishly ambitious, and
dangerous Jewish leader. Then Jesus gave him a new heart, new religion, and a
new character. Still, bad habits die hard. And if Paul struggled with this, so
will all of us at some point. I KNOW I have.
Verses 3-4: “But if our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
There should be
no legitimate reason to criticize a Born-Again believer other than the
spiritual ignorance or blindness of the critic. But sooner or later, for
justifiable reasons or crazy Devilish ones, or for both, we will meet with resistance
in our walk with the Lord. Paul’s telling us to expect it. Because of this, Christianity
is actually a rotten place to worship yourself or your own comforts. Anybody
know what I’m talkin’ about?
Verses 5-6: “For we preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ.”
We bear the
Gospel not because of us or anything we can do on our own. It is a true honor
to serve the Lord and it is a privilege only He can grant.
Verses 7-9: “But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God,
and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed;”
God has packed the
Glories and Blessings of serving Him into very vulnerable packages. That’s the
rat we have been smelling! We are the source of the odor! We are the weak link
in the chain. Still, in Christ we can have security. But it takes faith.
Verses 10-12: “Always bearing about
in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be
made manifest in our body. For we which live are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made
manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.”
The Apostle Paul
was willing to suffer to be a spiritual blessing to others. And, yes, so was
Jesus. If the Son of God had to endure (O, what He endured) hardship in order
to reach us, then no doubt, we will also have to pay some price to serve one
another. None of us can save the world, but each of us has a unique mission
that the Lord has designed just for us.
When we turn a
person turns their back on God it is a double tragedy. That person may wind up
in Hell, AND spiritual tasks that maybe only they could do, or best do, will go
undone.
Verses 13-14: “We having the same
spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I
spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up
the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.”
So before you dive
into our “sandwich,” check between those delicious slices of bread. To fully
complete our little analogy, we need to purify that bread (our concept of
Heaven) and replace that nasty rat of weakness and evil with a big and
beautiful slice of Hope. The Hope of our Savior. The One Who suffered, but
still overcame this world. If we don’t, we’ll wind up with a nasty taste in
your mouth and a tummy ache.
Many, many in the
church today are very disillusioned by their Christian experience and it’s
because, through ignorance of the Word of God, they have eaten that rat and they
have missed the Hope. But not Paul, just listen:
Verses 15-16: “ For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause
we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day.”
There should a be a warning label on every church
altar and in every sermon: WARNING, Personal Sacrifice Required. That’s a real
part of what it will mean for each of us to serve God. And real worship and
praise of the Lord does not try to ignore the dead rat. The victory, Christ’s
Victory, is to rejoice in spite of it.
Paul found that Victory in his life, and with the Lord’s help, so can
we:
Verses 17-18: “For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory; 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.”
Amen? Halleluiah.
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