_For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved._ THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE 1. The description which the apostle makes of the present state in which we now are. 2. His description of the future state, in which the faithful shall be hereafter. 3. The certainty o... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon._ A CHRISTIAN’S UNEASINESS IN THE MORTAL BODY AND DESIRE OF THE HEAVENLY HAPPINESS I. We are to consider a Christian’s groans while he is in the body under present uneasiness. “In this we groan.” And “while we are in this tabernacle we g... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened._ THE TWO TABERNACLES Life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel. A feeble, fluttering guess was all that unaided men could ever reach regarding the life beyond. A jar may be charged with electric fire, and capabl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God._ THE PATIENT DIVINE WORKMAN AND HIS PURPOSE These words penetrate deep into the secrets of God. To Paul everything is the Divine working. Life is to him no mere blind whirl of accidental forces, but the slow operation of the great Workma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore we are always confident … at home in the body … absent from the Lord._ PAUL’S THOUGHTS ABOUT DYING 1. The peculiar interest of this passage is, that it gives us an insight into the apostle’s personal feelings in the contemplation of death. In other places he refers to what is before and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore we labour, that … we may be accepted of Him._ LABOURING FOR ACCEPTANCE I. What we are to understand by the text. 1. The apostle did not mean that he “laboured”-- (1) To make any atonement for his sins. That had been high treason against the sovereign authority of Him who “by one offer... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we must all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ._ THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST The image here is the same as that in Romans 14:10, and the expression is peculiar to these two passages, being taken from the tribunal of the Roman magistrate as the most august representation of justice which... [ Continue Reading ]
_Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men._ PERSUASIVES TO THE BEING RELIGIOUS I. The argument which the apostle makes choice of to persuade men, which is, “The terror of the Lord.” In the gospel we find a mixture of the highest clemency and the greatest severity. The intermixing... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we commend not ourselves again unto you._ PAUL’S SELF-COMMENDATION 1. St. Paul has been magnifying his ministry. It had been, he says, a ministry of the Spirit, not of the letter (2 Corinthians 3:6). Its authority had been that of the truth (2 Corinthians 4:2). It had been a suffering and a ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the love of Christ constraineth us._ THE LOVE OF CHRIST I. The Christian’s ruling motive--The love of Christ. “We love Him because He first loved us.” This love leads to service. This principle is-- 1. Reasonable. 2. Soul-satisfying. 3. Soul-ennobling. All true love is such in degree, but... [ Continue Reading ]
_He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves._ NEW LIFE IN CHRIST By virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection Christians obtain the grace of a new life. I. There is a spiritual life. Note-- 1. The correspondence between common life and this life of grace. ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature._ IN CHRIST AND WHAT IT INVOLVES I. The new relation indicated. The believer is “in Christ.” 1. As the ground of his acceptance (Philippians 3:9). Christ by His atoning sacrifice has supplied the grounds whereby sinful men may become objects... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ._ HIGH DOCTRINE Whatsoever the Christian can desire is to be found in the “all things.” But lest even that should not be comprehensive enough, our summary contains a still greater word, “God.” If we be thirsty, here are s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ._ OF THE NATURE AND USE OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY AS AN EXTERNAL MEAN OF APPLYING CHRIST First, Christ’s ambassadors commissionated. “Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ.” Secondly, their commission opened; wherein we find, first, the work whereunto the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin _ CHRIST BEING MADE SIN, FOR US In every age of the world mankind seem to have been conscious to themselves of guilt. Now guilt is universally accompanied with a sense of demerit. The altars have groaned under the victims that were heaped up... [ Continue Reading ]