THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Jehovah, and it gets its sense here from that usage. Paul preached Christ Jesus as the Divine One who has an absolute right to the control of our lives. Notice carefully that it was not merely Christ that Paul preached as Lord, but Christ Jesus. It is important to note that in this day when there are many, especially among the Christian Scientists, who say that they believe in Christ, but mean the Christ principle and not the actual historic Christ Jesus who was born of a virgin in Bethle hem, and who lived and died, as is recorded in the four gospels. Any other Christ than the actual historic Jesus is a false Christ, an antichrist, and to make a distinction, as the Christian Scientists do between the Christ and the actual historic Jesus is to present.the gospel of the antichrist (1 John 4:1-37). The reason why Paul was their servant was because God has shined in his heart “to give the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The God who had thus shined in his heart was the God of the first chapter of Genesis. Tuesday, February 5 . 2 Cor. 4 :?. / ‘This treasure” of which verse 7 speaks is the treasure of which Paul has just spoken, “the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” The “earthen vessels” to which he refers are our fragile bodies of earth. How fragile these earthen vessels are, except as they are sustained by the power of God, Paul goes on to show in the verses which follow. As Gideon and his host carried their torches in earthen pitchers which were easily broken (Judges 7 :16-20), so Paul (and all teachers of the glorious gospel) carried his wondrous light, “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” in an earthen vessel, his body, which might be broken at any moment. Some very careless expounders of Scripture have made “the treasure” here the revealed truth of God, and the “earthen vessels” the imperfect
exceedingly solemn and searching words; they declare plainly that if the gospel is not plain to any one, if it seems dark or foolish or incredible, that proves conclu sively that such a person is “perishing” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18).' The reason why the gospel is veiled to, the perishing is because “the god df this age” has “blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving” (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10-12). Their unbelief is not then because of their intellectual superiority, but because of a blinding of their thoughts. “The god of this age” is the devil (Eph. 2:2). Unbelievers are under his blinding sway. Of course, this is at the first by their own consent (James 4:7). The reason why the devil blinds men is to the end “that the light (literally, illumination) of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.” There is nothing that illumines the heart and mind of man, and scatters midnight and brings the dawn like the gospel (John 8 : 12 ), and there is nothing else the devil hates as he hates the gospel (Luke 8 :11712). The gospel centers in Christ and His glory. It is “the gospel of the glory of Christ.” Christ is the very image of God (cf. Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3 ; John 1:8). If we wish to see God we have only to look at Christ , (cf. John 14:9). Monday, February 4 . 2 Cor. 4 : 5 , 6 . ' Verse 5 gives the reason why it is not Paul’s fault if his gospel is veiled to any one who hears it, “for we prea'ch not our selves, but Christ Jesus as Lord.” If Paul preached himself it would be his fault if the gospel was hid, or veiled, but he did not, he preached Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus not merely as an example, but “as Lord.” Paul himself was not Lord, he was simply a bond-servant of others “for Jesus’ sake” : so it was Jesus and not him self that he preached as Lord. He preached Him as Lord in the Sense that he preached that He was Divine Master. The Greek word translated “Lord” is the word which throughout the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament is used for the Lord
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