Notes on 2 Corinthians 4

1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
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.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 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.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 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.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

There are people now, as there always have been, who pervert the Gospel for their own purposes.  Some of them amass huge fortunes; others exploit and manipulate those close to them out of a thirst for power and control.  Some are consumed by lust, which they consume on prostitutes, or on members of their own staffs or flocks.  True ministers of the Gospel are concerned only with sharing the truth, the good news of Jesus Christ, and their record is open for all to see.  This is the second mention Paul makes of spiritual blindness in this letter, in this case the fact that the lost have no concept of what the Gospel really means until they experience its truth for themselves.  It is commonplace for the popular media to ridicule and debunk what we as Christians know and believe, and for presumably learned men to declare solemnly that religious beliefs in general, and Christianity in particular, are nothing more than superstition and wish fulfillment.  As Jesus said of the Pharisees, they are blind leaders of the blind, and both shall fall into the ditch (Matthew 15:14).  The source of spiritual blindness is Satan, the god of this world.

False preachers, false prophets, are concerned with lifting up themselves, not Jesus.  That's what the people coming into the Corinthian church with letters of recommendation were doing.  They were glorifying themselves.  Glory belongs only to God, and his glory is all the more apparent, or manifest, when contrasted to the weak physical bodies, the earthen vessels, of those who share and proclaim it.  The light that shines in the darkness does not come from us; we only reflect it.

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 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.
11 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.
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
13 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;
14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
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.

We seldom recognize or appreciate the sacrifice of those who carry the Gospel into new places, like missionaries, or those who stand on the front line in spiritual battles, like pastors and evangelists.  All we, as members of a congregation, usually see is the comfortable routine of attending church, participating in services and ministries, and enjoying the fellowship of other Christians.  Persecution of Christians is increasing in this country, and will continue to do so, but we do not yet face the threat of privation and even death on a daily basis, as do many Christians in other parts of the world.  As things grow worse here, more and more Christians will fall away, like chaff blown away from the wheat.  Some of us already face prison for standing up for what we believe, or the loss of rights and property.  We can and should stand up for our rights as Americans, but more and more those rights are being restricted and circumvented by the very courts that are supposed to protect them.  Other religions and systems of belief, especially secular humanism, enjoy the protection of our legal system, but that protection does not extend to Christianity.  They are not really persecuting us, but Christ.  When they reject us, they are rejecting him.

Faith is the capacity to believe in the face of the evidence of our senses and the views of the world.  If we can see something with our eyes, it requires no faith to believe it.  When we give the testimony of what we believe and know about Christ, we speak, as Paul says, out of the spirit of faith.  Belief in Christ is a gift of God, and cannot be gained by study or human reasoning alone.  Knowing the facts about the Bible and what it teaches can help overcome doubts, but only Christ can bring us to the Father, and the certain knowledge of who he is.  There is always a gap between human reason and belief, and only Christ, by his Spirit, can cross it.

The assurance of our reward is the promise of eternal life, of being raised up from physical death to life in Jesus Christ.  All those we bring to him, if indeed we do lead any, are a part of our reward as well, presented with us to Christ.  Any who are introduced to Christ, and shown by the truth of the Gospel, by the same person, have a common bond that will last through eternity.  I believe that this is the crown of rejoicing referred to in scripture (1 Thessalonians 2:19).  God give us gifts through his grace that the gifts might be returned to him, through our thanksgiving and praise; that's what it means to say that we will cast our crowns at the foot of Christ, as the twenty-four elders do (Revelation 4:10).

Our real life is inside of us, not in the physical body everyone can see.  No one can say that enduring physical pain or discomfort is easy, and when we're in the midst of it, we long for it to end.  If we suffer for the sake of Christ, though, and not just because of our disobedience or foolishness, Christ promises us a reward.  Not only does leading someone to Christ bring a reward, then, but suffering for his sake does as well.  The eyes of faith do not look at what we see with our physical eyes, which everyone can see, but at what can only be seen with faith, the eternal reward that awaits us.  Other religions promise such rewards, too, because Satan always has his counterfeits to God's truth.  The reward of a suicide bomber, though, is the pits of Hell, which he or she will discover only when it's too late.