Therefore we make it our aim, .... to be well pleasing to Him.

.......  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Twice in the greater context of this passage Paul has declared “we do not loose heart” (4:1, 16). The first time because we have received mercy and the glory of ministry, the second because though life can be very difficult  “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (4:17).

But there is another reason we need to keep the perspective of eternity, it is because we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ (4:10). Bear in mind this is Paul who is writing. The same Paul who tells us “It is by grace we have been saved,” and that “we have been sealed for the day of redemption” (not the past tenses Ephesians 2:8). This therefore,  is not about eternal separation from God.  Rather,  as I Corinthians 3:11-15 makes clear,  it is about receiving or loosing rewards, about our behaviour working or not, a far more exceeding weight of glory. If we loose our rewards we will still be saved, yet at thought fire (verse 15). It sounds painful! Paul experienced the terror of the Lord on the Damascus road when the Lord knocked him to the ground,  and asked why he was persecuting Him?  Paul, previously Saul, had been breathing out threats and murder against the disciples (Acts 9:1). Likewise on the last  day the unsaved will cry out to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from .... the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16).

Paul was motivate to persuade men both by knowing the terror of the Lord, and by being compelled by the love of Christ (5:11, 14). So the carrot and the stick, the love and the terror, the gain and the need to die to our selfishness. Much of our Evangelism is out of balance,  being only the carrot!   “Come to Jesus and all your problems will be solved!”  You may actually have more “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you” (John 15:20).  A hundred years ago it was all about declaring hell, today Hell is hardly mentioned. When did you last hear a sermon on it?  It's the old swing of the pendulum, out of balance on both accounts. It's not either or, it's both and, and if we are to be Biblical, we must to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). If you knew that on an icy road round a bend the bridge was washed out, would you not want to warn everyone, even if they were happy? We must of course always do it in love.

Father, I confess this morning that we Your church,  have been intimidated into silence. This especially about the doctrine of hell, but also that we must all give an account of the deeds done in the body. We have preached “Come to Jesus, you don't need to change your life, He will forgive you!” It's not the whole council of God. Forgive us Lord, forgive me where I have failed in this, and show us how to change and equip us the be faithful in proclaiming the Gospel, persuading others,  and being well pleasing to You,  in Jesus Name Amen

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy

....  we do not lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:1). So what is this ministry,  and what is it about it that causes us not to loose heart?  As to the ministry, it's the ministry of the Spirit, it's the ministry of righteousness, it's the ministry of reconciliation, and we are its ambassadors  (3:7, 9; 5:18). Paul had been talking about the glory of it. He tells that the ministry of the old covenant was glorious. It “came into being with glory,   so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance” (3:7). In that same verse, he calls it the ministry of death, likely because it proved a ministration of death to those who reject the gospel. On the other hand the gospel is the ministry of life and without question it is much more glorious. Not the least of this, is that we who have received His mercy and who behold the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror,  are being transformed into His image from glory to glory (3:18). 


There was much in Paul life that might have caused him to loose heart (see his reluctant “boasting” 11:23-26).  It was because he had received mercy, and that the ministry of life is so amazingly glorious, that neither he nor we should loose heart. Paul includes includes us in the “we” in this morning's verse (see also “we all” in 3:18)!  I find that if I am not careful, I can skip over all this talk of glory, without letting it sink in. The meanings of the word “gory” include splendour, brightness;  magnificence, excellence, preeminence, majesty, dignity and grace.  The inner three saw Jesus' visible glory on the mount of  transfiguration ( 2 Pet. 1:17), but also the Heaven's declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). It's not just appearance, Jesus revealed His glory in turning water into wine, and raising Lazarus from the dead (John 2:11;11:4, 40). The glory of  God includes the magnificence of His (and of course Jesus') character. To name a few of  His attributes, He is faithful, holy, righteous, infinitely good, merciful,  compassionate, just. He is the very essence of love, and of what is good, and right,  and pure,  and lovely.

Is it any wonder the Scripture tells us that all have fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23).  But what is also glorious, is that we are being transformed into His image (His glory) from glory to glory, as we behold His face (3:18 again). But what does it mean to behold His face? Well, first and foremost we behold Him through the Word where we see His character, His love and His mercy etc. We behold His glory as we sit in His presence in prayer and worship. We behold His glory when we spend time taking in,  looking in appreciation,  at the beauty of  creation. 

Father, when we get a gimps of Your glory, it changes us, and with Paul, it gives us the grace to endure. With him we also progress to the place where we  too  consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). In this way we too will not loose heart. I'm not quite there yet Lord, it is a journey, but with You all things are possible, so continue to lead us there in Jesus Name Amen



Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!

.... Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill, and to Your tabernacle (Psalm 43:3).  At the start of the Psalm, the writer, like many of us do in times of trouble and distress,  feels  abandoned by God, and is in deep mourning (verse 2).  He cries out with this morning's verse. The commentators see the word “light” as shorthand for “the light of Your countenance,” which comes many times in Scripture (i.e. Psalm 4:6). It speaks of favour,  as when you are given a dazzling smile, the exact opposite of when someone is angry and their facial expression seems dark. We need both God's favour and His truth. We need to know for example that He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). But knowing these things intellectually is not enough,  we need the New Testament equivalent of being brought to His holy hill, His Tabernacle.  Under the old Covenant the Tabernacle was the place where God dwelt. For us under the New covenant God our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that is where He dwells.

But, as I say there are times when we might feel abandoned.  Feelings and emotions are a gift of God. If there were no feelings there would be no joy,  or peace, or the deep affections of loving and being loved. But emotions are fickle and can get out of control.  We need to learn, with the Psalmist,  to direct our negative emotions to draw, and sometimes to drive,  us back to God. The Christian already has His favour “If God is for us who can be against us” (Romans 8:31), and we all have access to His truth, His Word. I need the security of His truth, but I also need the comfort of His presence (2 Corinthians 1:4).


I keep saying this, but research has shown that thoughts and feelings are intricately intercommunicated. When we dwell on a particular thought,  it amplifies the emotion that is attached to it whether good or bad. That is why resentment is so destructive, and why grumbling and complaining is a sin (Philippians 2:14). These things keep us stuck in negativity. We need, again with the Psalmist,  to instruct ourselves, and to start by asking “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God” (verse 5). Or again we can follow Paul's instructions to replace our anxiety with all kinds of prayer, not forgetting thanksgiving. In this way we can claim the promise that His peace will guard our hearts (Philippians 4:6,7).

Father,  please bless us and keep us. LORD please make Your face to shine upon us, and be gracious to us; LORD please let the light of  Your countenance shine upon us,  and give us Your Shalom, Your peace (Numbers 6:24-26).  Please   send Your light and Your truth,  and grace us with Your presence, in Jesus Name Amen



.... Christ always leads us in triumphal procession ...

The full verse is “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”( 2 Corinthians 2:14). You have probably heard that we don't wrestle towards, victory, we wrestle from victory. This is one of the verses that show it's true. If we are defeated, we have not been lead there by Christ, so it must be the other fella. It's his agenda! But Jesus came to give fullness life (John 10:10). This doesn't mean we will not have troubles and difficulties, but if we are being lead by the Lord, He is leading us to rise above it all. It's not academic, Paul lived it. In prison, and in danger of being put to death for his faith, he writes an epistle to the Philippians that just bursts with joy. He does not seek martyrdom, but neither does he dread it. To paraphrase Philippians 1:21 for me life is joy filled and abundant, nevertheless to die,  and so to be with the Lord,  is something I look forward to.

Note the “us” in this morning's verse. Paul of course lead an extraordinary life, but the “us” shows that  the Lord wants each and every one of us to lead extraordinary lives. Unless Jesus was a husker, then He is leading you and I,  to fullness of life in our own individual destinies for tHim. We too, when we are in absolute surrender,  are being lead to fullness of life even in the midst of trials (James 1:2). It does not mean we will never weep, or never struggle. However, we are to see pain as a barrier the other side of which is joy. And with His help and leading,  we are to push through the pain to Joy. This is what Jesus, our forerunner did (Hebrews 12:2). 

The widow who has joy in the midst of her tears, the one who is  terminally ill but who has a peace and a radiance, the falsely or even rightly accused bearing up under it all without bitterness, such are those who spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. These things cause others to want what we have even if they don't know that it is Christ in us,  the hope of glory.  It is a fragrance, it goes beyond the rational, and it penetrates deep into others hearts and lives.  It challenges them. It is one of life's many crossroads, for depending on how they respond, it is a fragrance leading to spiritual life, or it is a fragrance leading to spiritual death (verse 16). It causes the heart to be softened, or to be hardened.

Father, Paul cries out “Who is sufficient for these things” (verse 16).  It's not just with our words that we preach the gospel Lord, it is with out lives. So many people are put off Christ by Christians, may I not be one of them Lord. To think that my life may provoke a fragrance of death is unbearable at times Lord. As much as is within me I do not want to be one that causes even one little one to stumble.  I need Your help Lord,  thank You that You always lead us in  triumphal procession, so that when I follow,  I can leave the results to You.  And I give you thanks and praise for this,  and many other things,  in Jesus Name Amen.



For all God's promises are "Yes" in him.

.... And so through him we can say "Amen," to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). As always, words like “for” and “therefore” link a verse to its context.  Paul had told the Corinthians that he would visit them, but had been hindered from doing so. I seems some were saying that he was fickle, that his “yes” was  really “no” (verses 17, 18). He denies this, but takes the opportunity, with this morning's verse,  to say that when God makes a promise,  there is  nothing in all of creation that can hinder Him from coming through. In other words when God says He will do something, He will do it, come hell or high water! The difference between God and us, is well, He is God and He is in control.  And He is always able to do what He says He will do (Romans 4:21)!

Of course, there are going to be times when we give our “yes,” fully intending, as Paul did, to do what we say.  We are not in control however, if for example we get knocked down on a way to a meeting, we might not be able to make it. Having said that,  our “yes,” should certainly be “yes.” For the Christian there should be no need to swear on a stack of Bibles that you will do something. Jesus put it this way “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).  In other words we Christians should have the reputation of saying what we  mean,  and meaning what we say. Others should be able to take our plain and simple words to the bank!

The word “Amen” is an interesting word. In the context here, Paul is saying that we can say Amen to God's promises, and what that means is twofold. Firstly we are saying it is sure, and secondly that we are taking the substance of the promise to heart. There are two kinds of promises, God's unconditional promises i.e. “Never again will will I flood the whole earth” (Genesis 9:11). Then there are the conditional “if – then” promises. For example “If you continue in my Word, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31, 32). If you say “Amen” to this promise, you are agreeing to continue in His Word, holding fast to His teachings and living in accordance with them (Amplified Bible version). For such promises,  if we do our part, He will do His, Amen. 

Father, Lord Jesus, I want to thank You this morning that Your exceedingly great and precious promises are Yes and Amen. Thank You for the unconditional promise and assurance that You have given in verse 22, showing that our salvation is secure. Paul tells us there that You have “sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” Thank You too Lord,  that You have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). Your promises are sure Amen. What You have promised You are able, and You will perform (Romans 4:21; Jeremiah 33:14). Amen, Amen and Amen


We had the sentence of death in ourselves,

.... so that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9). Paul had been telling the Corinthians of the troubles he encountered in Asia “we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life” (verse 8). It felt like a sentence of death, but the Lord was using it to take away any last vestige of Paul's self sufficiency.  Our society places great value on independence.  We tend to admire a self made man! But independence is not the highest virtue. Who is stronger, one who can surrender some of her independences, or one who cannot?  The progression of maturity moves from the dependence of childhood,  to the independence in adolescence, to interdependence in adulthood.  Interdependence is about surrendering an appropriate part of our independence for the greater good.

Who is more effective for the Kingdom, is it one who does everything independent of God?  Or is it one who surrenders all to God, and in fellowship with Him,  takes on God's strength, wisdom,  and grace and love?  We too need to die, but don't come to these deaths easily. They are, however some of the many deaths an effective Christian has to die. It is about taking up our cross. In the end is all about the death of the Kingdom of self, of I, me,  mine!  These deaths are individual deaths,  and we need to see, as with Paul,  that God wants to use the difficult things in our life,  to accomplish them. You see there can be no resurrection without a death!  Without the death of self, we will not be able to tap into His resurrection power in the here and now (Philippians 3:10).  But Paul was not independent of others either.  While it is certainly God who did deliver, does deliver and who will deliver, it is also the Corinthians “helping together in prayer”  (verses 10, 11).

The Corinthians were also suffering for the gospel. In verse 7 he writes “And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so also you will share in the comfort.” The comfort Paul is talking about here is discussed earlier. He talks about “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the very same comfort we ourselves receive from God” (verses 3, 4). The word for comfort and sharing is the same word in the Greek, it is translated fellowship elsewhere,  and is actually one of the Names of Holy Spirit (the comfort). The point is that interdependence, fellowship, intimacy and comfort are all bound up together. In a physical war two buddies thrown together form a life long bond. But this is nothing compared with the consolation we receive when fellowship together with the each other and with the God of all comfort. 

Father, we need to learn to look at suffering differently from the world. It is not that we seek it, but as this passage tells us, when we respond the way You want us to,  then as our sufferings abound, so also does our comfort and fellowship with You. Paul elsewhere links the fellowship of Your sufferings with the power of the resurrection (Philippians 3:10).  Indeed Paul suffered greatly,  but he also had great power. Help us Lord to receive Your perspective on this,  and the grace to live it, in Jesus Name Amen

For I know that my Redeemer lives,

.... And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25, 26).  The book of Job is said to be the oldest  in Scripture, it deals with the problem of “bad things happening to good people.”  It teaches that suffering is not always a result of our sin, for Job was a just and good man (1:8).  Job doesn't understand why he is suffering, and many times neither do we.  Sometimes we suffer as the consequences of our sin. I mean  bad choices have negative consequences  (Galatians 6:7). Suffering for our sin is designed to lead us to repentance, and hence to God.

Great suffering is a crossroads, it can lead us to God, or it can lead us away from Him. Job's wife counselled him to “curse God and die” (2:9). Most of the book of Job is about him wrestling with the injustice of it all. It ends with Him drawing even closer to God (42:5), but there are times he accuses God of injustice. God is big enough to deal with this. David when he was overwhelmed “poured out his complaint to the Lord” (Psalm 142:2, 3). When I find myself there,  I picture in my mind's eye the Lord with His arms around me, and me pummelling his chest with my fists.  I know that He would rather I came to Him with my accusations, than to take offence and walk away. In my own case, I'm too weak to walk away, I cannot live without Him even if I think He is being unfair. But life is not fair is it? But then He never promised that it would be.  And if we hold two things together in tension,  firstly that God is good, and secondly that life is unfair,  then we too will come to the conclusion of this morning's verses.

Firstly then that I have a redeemer. A redeemer is one who is charged with restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs. The Lord is our redeemer, and He tells us “Revenge is mine, I will repay” (Deuteronomy 32:35). Secondly, in light of the New Testament, we know that our redeemer is Jesus, and that He lives. In fact He lives and is making intercession for us  (Hebrews 7:25).  Though he likely did not know it, Job's next words are prophetic  “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” (Zechariah . 14:4). Lastly Job understands that if God is just, there has to be something after his “skin is destroyed.” Paul has much to say about in what sort of “flesh” we shall see God (1 Corinthians 15:34-44). But one thing is certain, the believer shall see God.

Lord Jesus, there is indeed coming a day when we will see You face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).  On that day Lord there is no doubt in my mind that we will say “You have done all things well.” In the meantime Lord please give us grace to deal with the injustices of life, and the discernment to know when we are suffering because of things we have done. But be it suffering unjustly, or as a consequence of our sin I know that You my redeemer. I know that You live,  and that to die is gain. And I give You praise and glory again this Morning Lord in Your precious and lovely Name Amen