Lesson #27

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1 – 2 Corinthians

September 21, 2015

Lesson #01

January 16, 2010

Lesson #02

January 16, 2010

RETURN TO THE SYLLABUS

2CORINTHIANS 4
Lesson #27
THE COMFORT OF AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

• Memory Verse: 2Cor 4:16

• Paul continues his theme of comfort in the lives of believers that have seen the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Read 2Cor 4:1-7 A Life Message

• “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy…”

(1)

• God has given every born-again believer a ministry. How do we know this?
• This verse tells us that we have been given a ministry because we have received mercy. The more God has extended His mercy to forgive us of our sins, the more experience we have in our lives to share with others who need God’s forgiveness.
• This life message is what God wants us to share. As we tell others what God has done in our lives, we are witnesses of the love and grace of God that can be extended to them.
• This is what Paul understood.
• Paul had persecuted believers in Jesus Christ, but God forgave him and called him to minister the grace of God to others. Paul’s message for the rest of his life was the grace of God to forgive sins.
• Each believer has a life message based on his experiences and what God has done for him in the same way as the Apostle Paul.
• The believer’s life message will not be revealed to him until he has renounced the things of the world. (2)
• When the believer comes to recognize that God wants to use his life to glorify Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit will prompt the believer to surrender everything in his life to Christ.
• Paul tells us the things to renounce: (2)
• Dishonesty: The believer must not be a hypocrite.
• Craftiness: The believer must not manipulate others to control them.
• Deceit: The believer must not deceive others to benefit himself, especially to use the Word of God to gain money.
• Then the believer is free to let God use him to share the love of God with others by making a commitment to be obedient to Christ.
• The Holy Spirit gives the surrendered believer a love for other people along with a desire to serve Christ.
• This ministry that the Lord gives us is to be a testimony of the living Christ.
• We witness by the message that God has built into our lives.
• We witness by what God has done in our lives.
• “…if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.”

(3)

• The believer that lives his life as an open witness of Jesus Christ, so that others can see what God has done for him, will attract the non-believers that are seeking truth and meaning to life.
• However, those non-believers that do not want truth will be blinded by their own sins. (3-4)
• These people will be like the Israelites that did not want to look at the glory of God on the face of Moses. The result is that they will have a veil over their spiritual eyes like that of the Jews today.
• “…the god of this world…”

(4)

• Satan is the god of this world system, or the god of this age.
• God created this world and it belongs to Him.
• However, Satan runs and controls the philosophical and religious systems of this world, the concepts of behavior in society, and the spiritual powers that govern the way the world system operates.
• This authority was given to Satan by Adam and Eve in the first sinful act of disobedience.
• The center and purpose of ministry: (5)

• “…we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord….”

(5)

• Jesus Christ must be the center of the believer’s life message and the center of his witness to the world.
• If Christ is not the center, the witness that person gives is not energized by the Holy Spirit. (Joh 15:14)
• Believers in Jesus Christ are all witnesses. We either witness for Him, or we witness against Him.
• Paul tells us how to witness for Christ by means of the example of his own life.
• Believers that witness against Christ are those that give a bad demonstration of the Christian life by living a carnal life.
• The purpose for being a witness for Christ is to help others by serving them. In serving other people with a motive of love, we are actually serving Christ.
• The Light of the Gospel:
• At creation God’s light shined through the darkness to bring life to this planet.
• That same light of God shines through the darkness of sin and ignorance to reveal Jesus Christ to the repentant sinner. (6)
• This is the work of the Holy Spirit who works in the heart of man to reveal man’s need of a savior and then to point to Jesus Christ as that perfect savior.
• Read Joh 16:8, 13
• The treasure in earthen vessels:
• What are the earthen vessels?
• Human life is the earthen vessel.
• The symbolism is a fragile clay pot that is easily broken and has a short life.
• What is this treasure?
• The treasure that the Christian has in him is the reality of the new covenant of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• The indwelling Holy Spirit builds the truth of the message of the gospel of salvation in each life by transforming that life to be more like Christ. This is a person’s life message that verifies the truth of the new covenant.
• Read Jdg 7:16-22
• Every soldier had a trumpet in one hand and a clay pot with a light in it in the other hand. They surrounded the enemy camp. With the sound of the trumpet, the soldiers broke the clay pots so reveal the light inside. The enemy was so frightened, they fled.
• In the same way, the light of a person’s life message does not shine so that others can see it until the pride in the human heart is broken for the Lord.
• In the same way, victory in a Christian life comes only when pride and selfishness are broken to reveal the change in the inner man accomplished by the working of the Holy Spirit.
• Read 2Cor 4:8-18 The Triumph of Faith Through an Eternal Perspective
• Parallels of the Christian life of Faith:

• “…troubled on every side, yet not distressed…”

(8)

• When the situation seems that there is no way out, keep your eyes on Christ and you will be not be distressed.
• “…perplexed but not in despair…”

(8)

• When you cannot understand what is happening, neither have an answer to resolve the problem, do not look to the world for an answer, but look to Christ who will give you hope.
• “Persecuted, but not forsaken…”

(9)

• When the enemy pursues and causes trouble in your life, know that God will not abandon you.
• “…cast down, but not destroyed.”

(9)

• When it appears that you are falling and everything around you is falling apart, God gives the promise that He will not permit your destruction.
• Paul’s life exemplified all these situations, but Paul used natural means and supernatural means to gain the victory through Jesus Christ.

• “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.”

(10)

• When the believer gives his life and his body to serve Christ in the way that Paul did, there will be marks left that result from persecution.
• Paul had physical marks from being beaten and stoned.
• Paul had psychological marks from being rejected and hated.
• Read Mat 16:24
• Read 1Cor 15:31
• The Christian life is a life of sacrifice where the believer denies his own selfish desires to serve Christ.
• Paul is the example of a life totally committed to Christ.

• “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

(11)

• On every side, in every location Paul encountered persecution that threatened his life.
• Notice that this did not make him bitter or cause him to accuse God, “Why me?”
• He considered it an honor and a joy to be found worthy to suffer for Christ.
• The purpose for suffering: (12)
• Paul was triumphant in suffering because it produced life in those people that believed the gospel.
• It is easier to bear suffering when a person is able to see the benefit that is produced. Paul could see the many people that came to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. That gave him joy. That joy enabled him to bear the suffering.
• The power of an eternal perspective: (13-18)
• What is it that keeps the Christian moving forward in times of severe problems?
• It is an eternal perspective that enables the human spirit to withstand any problem in life and any degree of persecution.
• What is an eternal perspective?
• An eternal perspective has a focus on the future fulfillment of the promises of God. We can see this eternal perspective in Paul’s life in verses 13 and 14.
• Notice the faith in what God wrote in the Bible. (13)
• Notice the faith in a future resurrection. (14)
• Paul believed that this life on earth was not the totality of man’s life. There is an eternity to come. Therefore, even though he might lose his life, God would resurrect him in the last days and he would spend eternity with God.
• Besides an eternal perspective, Paul had a mission with a purpose that kept him moving forward. (15-16)
• Paul’s mission was to preach the gospel so that many would come to know Christ, and to instruct them so that they would grow in faith and maturity.
• The thanksgiving and praise of Paul’s converts would bring glory to God.
• This brought continual joy to Paul’s heart and encouraged him to continue to sacrifice his life for Christ.
• Notice that an attitude with an eternal perspective causes the affliction, the persecution, and the problems to become insignificant, small, and temporary. (17)
• The key to an eternal perspective: (18)
• If you want an eternal perspective that will take you through anything in this life:
• You need to use your faith by changing your focus from the current situation to Christ who won the victory for you.
• You need to use your faith by changing your focus from the things of the world to the promises of God that are true and victorious.
• Read Heb 11:1
• In the definition of faith in Heb 11:1 we can see the concept of having an eternal perspective as compared to Paul’s words in verse 18.

• “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.”

(18)

• Summary and Application:
• In this chapter we have discussed the impact of the testimony of a life message of the Christian committed to serve God.
• Then we discussed the triumph of faith that comes together with an eternal perspective.
• These two aspects, a life message and an eternal perspective, are the contents of a mature Christian life.
• A mature Christian life is what Paul wanted for the carnal, immature Christians in Corinth.

HOMEWORK
2CORINTHIANS 5
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework anwers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of 2Cor 4
• How is your eternal perspective?
• When problems come, do they consume your thoughts and focus?
• Are you able to rise above the problems because of your focus on the Lord?
• You can develop a deeper eternal perspective by spending more time in the Word of God.
• Preparation for 2Cor 5
• Read 2Cor 5:1-21
• What is the ministry of reconciliation?
• How can the believer fulfill this ministry?
• What is the message of the ministry of reconciliation?

Memory Verse: 2Cor 5:21