But he abandoned those dark and shameful things, did not deceive people, did not speak the word of God, but only showed the truth, so that he could commend himself to the conscience of all people before God.
If our gospel is deceived, it is deceiving those who perish.
These unbelievers are blinded by the God of this world and don't let the light of the glorious gospel of Christ shine on them. Christ is the image of God.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and we have become your servants because of Jesus.
God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, so that the glorious light of God may appear in the face of Jesus Christ.
We have this treasure in earthenware vessels to show that this power comes from God, not from us.
We were surrounded by the enemy, but we were not trapped; Worried, but not disappointed;
Persecuted, but not abandoned; Fell, but not dead.
Four. 1 In the first six verses of the fourth chapter, Paul emphasizes that every servant of Christ has a sacred responsibility to show the gospel message. We should not veil the gospel, nor should we hide or mystify anything. All information must be clear, reliable and sincere.
Paul has been talking about how God wonderfully made him a servant of the New Testament. It is from this point that he discusses this ideological line now. Knowing that the status of Christians has great dignity, people like Paul will not lose heart. Of course, there are many disappointments and setbacks in Christian service, but the Lord will always give mercy and grace whenever necessary. Therefore, no matter how frustrating a thing is, encouragement is often greater than frustration.
Paul is not discouraged. In the face of some seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Paul will not shrink back, but face it bravely.
4.2 Ferris's free translation adds color to this section: "We will not tell tricks, we will not cheat, and we will not change God's word dishonestly. We should tell the truth so that we can entrust ourselves to everyone's conscience before God. "
There is no doubt that Paul thought of the false teachers who infiltrated the Corinthian church. Their methods are often the same as those of evil forces, that is, shamelessly luring crimes, cunningly deceiving the truth, using sophistry and adulterating God's words. As for not talking about God, Paul is undoubtedly referring to these people's favorite game-trying to confuse law and grace.
The apostle Paul used a very different method. The Bible says that he only shows the truth so that he can recommend himself to everyone's conscience before God. There are two forms to show the truth. Telling the truth directly in a frank and easy-to-understand manner is to show the truth. If we live the truth in life in front of others and let them know the truth from us, it is also showing the truth. Paul used both methods. He preaches the gospel and abides by it in his own life. In this way, he committed himself to everyone's conscience before God.
The apostle Paul always said that he was very concerned about how to show the truth of God to people. He not only teaches people, but also carries them out himself. For some people, if the gospel is blinded, it is definitely not God's fault, and Paul hopes it is not his fault. However, he knew that when he wrote this letter, some people could not understand the truth. Who are they? It's the dead people. Why are they so gullible? The answer can be found in the next section.
4: 4 Satan. He is called the God of the world here. He veiled the infidels. He kept them in darkness for a long time, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ shine on them and save them.
In our universe, the sun shines for a long time. We don't often see the sun because there is something between the sun and us. The light of the gospel shines forever. God often tries to light people's hearts. But Satan has put many different obstacles between unbelievers and God. It may be pride, rebellion, self-righteousness, or many other things. These things prevent the light of the gospel from shining in people's hearts. Satan just doesn't want people to be saved.
This gospel is related to the glory of Christ. Paul is not showing the believers the carpenter of Nazareth here. Not only was Christ crucified with outstretched hands, but the Lord Jesus Christ was dead, buried and resurrected, and now he is at the right hand of God in heaven. He is the object of believers' faith ―― the glorious son of God in heaven.
4: 5 In this section, we saw the worst and best speeches of the preacher. The worst topic is yourself, the best topic is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Obviously, Jewish Christians are used to promoting themselves. Paul stayed away from this group of people. He won't waste time on such a worthless topic. His theme is the Lord Jesus Christ. He tried to take people to a place where they were willing to bow down to Jesus Christ, pay tribute to him and regard him as the Lord of their lives.
The apostle Paul introduced himself and his companions, because Jesus is your servant. In this way, they effectively hide themselves and their colleagues in the background. They are just servants, ready to bring people to the Lord Jesus in any way.
In this section, Paul compares the repentance of sinners with the light shining at the time of creation.
At first, God ordered light to shine from the darkness. He said, "If there is light", there is light (Gen 1.3).
Here, what Paul means is that the God who originally commanded light to shine out of darkness has already shone in our hearts. How nice this is. At the beginning of creation, God ordered the light to shine. In the new creation, God himself shines in our hearts. How close to people!
The first part of the first chapter of Genesis describes the pictures at the time of creation. The first man created by God is innocent. But sin entered the world and brought darkness.
When preaching the gospel, the spirit of God runs in people's hearts, just as he ran across the abyss when he created the world.
Then, God lit up the man's heart and told him that he was a guilty man and that he needed a savior. "The creation of the material world in Genesis began with light, and so did spiritual creation. God "lights up our hearts" through the Holy Spirit, and spiritual life begins. " (excerpt)
This section goes on to explain why God has shone in our hearts, so that the glorious light of God appears on the face of Jesus Christ. This sentence seems to indicate that God's purpose is only to let us know the glorious light of God. Damian's new translation puts forward an interesting change: "Let the knowledge of God's glory in Jesus Christ shine." In other words, God illuminates our hearts not only to give us knowledge, but also to illuminate others through our knowledge. "We are not a destination for praying, but a medium for praying." (excerpt)
An example of this statement can be found in Paul's own life. On the way to Damascus, God shone in his heart. He knows that the man he hates and the man he thinks has been buried in the Jewish grave are the Lord of glory. Since then, he has spread the light of knowledge everywhere, that is, the light of knowing the glory of God before Jesus Christ.
7. Pottery with sacred hope (4 7 ~ 18)
After discussing the responsibility of explaining the gospel message, the apostle Paul thought of those who were entrusted to preach this wonderful gospel. Babies in the Bible refer to the gospel message of glory. On the other hand, earthenware refers to a person's fragile body. There is a great contrast between the two. The gospel is like a beautiful diamond, shining from every angle. Think carefully, such a beautiful diamond was entrusted to such fragile clay!
Broken pottery, its appearance is not beautiful
Hidden treasure, who would have thought?
It's a treasure of heaven, and it shines-
Saint on earth, reveal Christ!
Fragile containers, loaded with treasures,
Throughout the ages, people have been expecting,
Generous hands give abundance,
God's gift, the only son!
The saints on the earth are empty and humble,
Go unnoticed, unknown,
Become a sacred container, a sacred container,
Full of Christ, only Christ!
Don't let the soil cover up the glory,
Don't let yourself get in the way of light,
Tell a wonderful story about Christ.
Weak pottery is full of the glory of the Lord!
~ boffin
Why did God put this baby in an earthenware pot? The answer is to show that this great power comes from God, not from us. God does not want people to use their own methods, but to use their own power. Therefore, he deliberately entrusted the message of the gospel to those weak and often unattractive people. All praise and glory must go to the creator, not the creature.
I am secretly happy,
The task given by God is beyond my ability,
So, if you do it well,
Praise belongs to God, not to mankind.
~ dawn
Zhu Weici said: "If the clay pot takes away the baby's glory and the jewelry box is more eye-catching than the jewelry on it, there must be something wrong. If the picture is not as important as the picture frame, if the utensils in the party replace the food, it is a wrong intention. If the "super power" comes from us, not from God, our Christian service will be in danger. Such Excellence is short-lived and will be destroyed and forgotten in an instant like grass. "
When Paul wrote this section, he obviously thought of the events in the seventh chapter of Judges. The Book of Judges records that Gideon's army only brought horns, empty bottles and torches hidden in the bottles. When the army sees the signal, it will blow the horn and break the bottle in its hand. When the bottle broke, the torch lit up, which startled the enemy. The enemy thinks that Gideon has a huge army, not just 300 people. Paul wants to point out that, just like in Gideon's incident, only when the army breaks the bottle will the light shine; The same is true in the gospels. Only when this man's tools are broken and he obeys the Lord can the gospel shine through us.
The apostle Paul immediately explained that because the treasure was contained in earthenware, it seemed to be defeated, but on the other hand it was an eternal victory. It looks fragile on the outside, but in fact it has unparalleled strength. He said that we were surrounded by the enemy, but we were not trapped, which showed that he had been troubled by the enemy and difficulties for a long time, but he was not completely blocked, and he could still spread information freely.
Worried, but not disappointed. From a human point of view, Paul often doesn't know what the solution is to the difficulties he encountered, but the Lord and the Lord didn't let him down. Paul never walks into a dead end with no way out.
9 persecuted, but not abandoned. Sometimes, he felt that the enemy was just outside the door, but the Lord never abandoned him and made him fall into the hands of the enemy. Being knocked down but not dead means that Paul was beaten many times, but the Lord always picked him up and left with the glorious gospel message.
The new interpretation of the Bible rewrites Verse 8 and this verse as follows: "Surrounded, but not immobile; I don't know what to do, but I'm not completely desperate; Persecuted, but not abandoned by God; I often fall, but I have never been defeated. "
We may wonder why the Lord allows his servants to go through such trials and tests. We will think that if the Lord makes everything go well for Paul, he will serve better. But this passage says the opposite. According to his wonderful wisdom, he thinks it is appropriate to make his servant suffer from illness, pain, hardship, persecution, difficulties and danger. All this is to break the bottle and make the light of the gospel brighter.