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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
ChoirEg* A l A / M C Pulpit H R S H B -Fine materials, beautiful work, . pleasingly ' low prices. Catalog and samples on request. State, your meeds and name of church,.- DeMoulin Bros. & Co. 1126 8. 4th St., Greenville. 111.
-MAY 28, 1944 P A U L EN CO UR AG E S TH E CO R IN TH IA N S 2 C orinth ians 4:1 to 5:21
2 Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not our selves, but Christ Jesus,the Lord; and our selves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the In ward 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 W-hile we look not at the things whiciv are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for'the things which are seen are tem poral;. but the things which are hot seen are eternal. 5:1 For we know that, If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands', eternal in the heavens. 5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath givfen unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 W e are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 14 For the rove of Christ constraineth us; because we thus Judge, that if one died for all, then Avere* all dead: 15 And. that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live -unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16 -Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now hence forth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, be Is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And ail things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of recon ciliation; •19 To wit, that God was in Christ, recon ciling tbe world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses -unto them; and hath com mitted unto us the word of reconciliation. LESSON TEX T: 2 Cor. 4:5, 16-18; 5:1, 5-8, 14-19. GOLDEN TEX T : “ For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet tOf your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). DEVOTIONAL READING: John 15:7-17. Outline and Exposition I. . His P reaching (4 :5 ) A T CORINTH, there was criticism 1. of Paul. Some of the people X * . s e e m e d to think that he preached for personal gain, or exer cised his office in order to dominate other Christians. But he .boldly refuted these charges. He declared that Jesus Christ was their Lord and, for the sake of Him, »Paul would' conduct himself as the servant of others. In his service, he did not seek what they had, for the sake of his own good, but he sought what they were, in order that Christ might have the advantage. II. His R esource „ in A ffliction ’ (4:16-18) Paul’s service for Christ brought him afflictions of all sorts (cf. vs. 6- 15). But in them all, his “ inward man” was “renewed day by day” (v. 16), and he was fully sustained. In comparison with the future glory toward which he
moved, he could speak of present troubles as “bur light affliction,” en during, in th<=, light of eternity, “ but for a moment.”' The ability to rise' above all his suf ferings grew from his looking beyond the present to the future; seeing the first cause rather than the second; and being'occupied with eternal things more than with temporal affairs. In this light, all present afflictions were seen to be “for” and not “ against” the believer. By faith, to behold the. unseen hand of God controlling, managing, and ar ranging all the details of the believ er’s life, is to fin'd encouragement and needed help in every bitter or trying Circumstance. Our troubles are passing things—here today and gone tomor row. . III. His H igh H ope (5 :1 ) Paul’s hope was based on knowl edge: “we know.” In their various • passing experiences, Christians are to make use of what they know. They know that, in the case of every be liever in the Lord Jesus Christ, when this earthly body is dissolved, there' is a heavenly body in which to dwell forever. That new body is a “ building of God, an house not made with hands.” That is, it is not of this crea tion,-but is “ eternal,” never to wear out, nor to give distress to the one who dwells within it., With this sure hope before him, one can contemplate the dissolution of the present body with full confidence and calmness.. . ' IV- V His C onfident W a l k (5:5-8) Confidence arises from the fact that God “hath wrought us for the self same thing” (v. 5); that is, the fu ture glory awaiting believers is part of His perfect plan. Not only so, but He has given born-again ofies “ the earnest of the Spirit.” The word “ear nest” means, “sample,” or a piece of the main body. Thus it is that all the ecstasy that Christians possess now, of delight in Christ, is merely a sam- ple of what they shall have—different in degree, but not in kind. B L A C K B O A R D LESSON
ED EE
The DAINTY, beautiful: “ A .Bible- ■ -■,"F Verse-a-Day” booklet, for Christ’s lit- tor postage. OR: including a LARGE Print, Dupont Morocco Testament, for able-to-read children, for an offering.' Extra postage brings a gift for parents. Before writing, -HEED Proverbs 11:24, 25. Address the now- nearing-age-90 Children’s Evangelist, Grandpa Shafer, K.B., Youngstown 7, Ohio. HALF TONE ELECTROTYPES For the embellishment of Church Printing. Our Portfolio of 300 Subjects FREE to Ministers. GOODENOUGH & WOGLOM CO. 296 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. BIBLES • TESTAMENTS We carry one of the largest stocks west Of the Mississippi River. Also religious and temperance books.
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