"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in dispair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."
(2 Cor. 4:3-183But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 8We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 13We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; 14Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 15For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 16For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:3‑18).)
Notice in that third verse that the apostle says "our gospel." Elsewhere he speaks of "my gospel." Paul's gospel was the gospel of the glory of God. Now, the gospel is looked at in two ways: the gospel of the grace of God, and the gospel of the glory of God. The gospel of the glory was especially committed to the apostle Paul, because the only place he ever saw the Lord was in that bright glory, after His work here below was finished. The other apostles had seen the Lord in His life; they were with Him, and even ate and drank with Him after His resurrection. But we find that Saul of Tarsus, perhaps deliberately, avoided ever getting to see the Lord down here, because his heart was so filled with enmity toward Him. God overruled that for His own glory, because when he did see Him, he saw Him as a man there in the glory of God; and that formed the character of his whole preaching-that there is a man in the glory of God.
He tells us here that "if our gospel be hid, it is hid..." It really should be "veiled," for it is veiled to them who are lost. Beloved friends, there may be one or more here to whom this gospel is still veiled. It is a very solemn thing, because you are in a lost condition. If you go on as you are, you will be lost for all eternity. In Rev. 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15) we read that, "whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." What an awful, solemn thought to consider!
The devil is spoken of here as the "god of this world." The Lord called him "the prince of this world" when He was on His way to Calvary. So the devil has those two positions: most solemn, for they are connected with this world. This should give us his true character: that is, first of all, the political leader of this world's affairs. O beloved, let us avoid having any connection with this world in it's political ambitions. But he is also the god of this world. That is, that he is it's religious head and leader.
So, as the god of this world he hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. And for what purpose? "lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ... should shine unto them." He has many ways of keeping that light from that glorified man from shining right down into your dark soul! He brings forward a false Christ, and false religion-anything, it makes no difference. If it is just a little pleasure in this world, he cares not, if he gains what he is seeking; and, that is to shut out that light, which streams from the face of that glorified man, from ever entering your dark soul. So, if you have never let that light, that glory, shine into your poor dark heart, my beloved friends, beseech the Lord; listen to His gracious appeal to you, telling you of His love, and how He is waiting there, longing to have you be enfolded in His arms of love and mercy; listen to His voice; accept Him as your Savior; delay no longer to go on in your sins and folly, and Oh! what blessing, what joy, what delight will fill your soul!
In verse four a better reading is: "... lest the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." As we have said, the gospel of the grace of God teaches us that there is a Man who has come down from heaven. He lived for thirty-three years in this world; He had done all the will of the Father, and then in lowly, humble grace He went to the cross and suffered so that any poor sinner, regardless of who he is, could be saved. Then He arose. The disciples saw Him in His resurrection glory, and were with Him until He led them out as far as to Bethany; then He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And then He was received back into heaven—"a cloud received Him out of their sight." That is where the gospel of the grace of God takes us.
But the apostle Paul was taken beyond the cloud, and saw the glorified Man. That is the reason why his gospel is the gospel of the glory, of that Man who is now seated at God's right hand. So, we can see why that gospel has such importance for our souls: that, when the gospel of the glory is received, it immediately separates us from the whole course of this world, because it unites our souls, and gives us the very presence of Him whose glory has reached our hearts and brought us into the knowledge of His blessed presence.
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (verse 6). That verse takes us right back to the first chapter of Genesis, verse 2. There we read, "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light."
The one who is giving us the gospel of the glory had experienced this in a very special way himself. His heart was just as dark as that scene which is described in Genesis, where darkness was upon the face of the deep, and Spirit of God brooded, as it were, over the face of the deep. And, in the midst of that darkness, there came a voice saying, "Let there be light," or, "light be." And the light was. So we read (Acts 9:33And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: (Acts 9:3)) that the apostle, Saul of Tarsus, was on his way to Damascus. Just think, he had by persecution driven the Christians out of Jerusalem. He wasn't satisfied, but he pursued them, as he said, to strange cities. In all the fury and hatred of his wicked heart, he was going to Damascus to bind those devoted Christians, and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to punish them. He said, "When they were put to death, I gave my voice against them" (Acts 26:1010Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. (Acts 26:10)).
But friends, a light shone out of heaven; and he heard a voice out of that glory that shone upon him, and we are told that he saw the face of Jesus. (Baranabas took Saul when he was come to Jerusalem, and told them how "he had seen the Lord in the way, and He had spoken to him." Acts 9:2727But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:27).) Oh, what a sight! He saw the face of Jesus-and he heard His voice! His response was, "Who art thou Lord," as he sees the light shining in that glorious face. Then he hears, to his astonishment, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecuteth." From the very One he hated, in love and grace, with all the beauty and loveliness of His blessed face shining upon him, he learned that He was the Jesus of Nazareth whom he hated!
He said, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Afterward, in his ministry (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)), he tells us, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." That is, when we get saved—when we own Jesus as Lord; when we submit; when we surrender to Him. When that has been wrought in our souls, a surrender to Him, the work is accomplished that will last through the ages of eternity. For, glory to His Name, He will never cease to be our Lord! We may fail Him; we may grieve Him, as we have so many times, but He will never cease to be our Lord through all our journey down here in this world.
That is the way that the light shines into the dark heart of man. It was Paul's experience, and it was exceptional; for, you know, there has never been two conversions alike. God has taken different ways to reach our souls; but it is always the same result—that this blessed One reveals Himself to the dark soul of a sinner going on in this scene, and stops his mad career.
Then, we read (verse 7), "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Suppose when we got saved that we received perfect bodies, so that we didn't have any infirmities, that we became "super men." Who would get the praise? Others would say, "What wonderful people those Christians are! They don't have the trials of other people, What wonderful bodies they have." But God saw that this would not do. So, in order that Christ might have all the glory, He put the treasure into poor, earthen vessels, with all their infirmities. Peter tells us that, "the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." So, we have the same diseases. The Lord could have healed all the diseases, and left this world without any aches or pains. But what did the world do with the One who had the power to heal the sick wherever He went? They just put Him on the cross and said, "We will not have this man to reign over us."
So the world goes on in it's darkness and misery; but all over this dark scene the light of the glory of God shines down in the heart of a poor sinner. And then there is this treasure. What is the treasure? Oh, it is that glorified Man that is now the object, the One whom the soul has received and accepted as his own Lord. That is the treasure that we have in these earthen vessels. And the very fact that the poor, unworthy creatures of earth possess this treasure, the excellency of the knowledge goes up to God, and not unto man. This was especially true in the life of the Apostle Paul, because he was not a man that had exceptional powers as an orator; in fact he says, "I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:3,43And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: (1 Corinthians 2:3‑4)). Even these Corinthians to whom he was writing said of him, "his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible" (2 Cor. 10:1010For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. (2 Corinthians 10:10)). And yet here was one who so thoroughly submitted his life to the Christ of God, to whom Christ was everything, that God was pleased to commit to him that great and mighty power that shook the whole world in a way that nothing else ever had. I have read writings, even of unconverted men, that were amazed how that one man, a poor, once persecutes named Paul the Apostle, could have been the means of carrying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to all the known civilized world of those days. It amazes even the men of the world to think what he accomplished. And yet it was not his eloquence, it was not his oratory; it was simply that he committed himself so entirely to the Holy Spirit that that wonderful power went out in all its excellency that has brought in the work of God that continues, and we are in the good of it ourselves to this very day.
In our little measure, whenever we submit to the One that God has glorified, there is a little of that reflected glory that we see in the face of Jesus Christ coming out in our lives. And, we don't want to think only of the wonderful preaching of the Apostle, but we want to think of his devoted life, for they went together. The more he followed Christ, the more his testimony shown out. I doubt not that when he says here, "that if our gospel be veiled, it is veiled to them that are lost," that when Paul had preached, led by the Spirit of God, such was the convincing, the soul-absorbing effect of the gospel that went from his lips, that those who rejected that were an irrecoverable class! The enemy had blinded their minds, had shut the gospel out from them. I surely would say that no one else was so devoted, to whom God could commit His gospel to in such a way as He did to the Apostle Paul.
Now, the breaking of the earthen vessel begins in verse 8: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair..." When you follow those verses you get how God smashes the earthen vessel to pieces so that this glory of that treasure that is within may shine out in its brightness to reach the heart of those who know Him not. He says: "We are troubled on every side,"—that is the vessel; "yet not distressed,"—that is the treasure; "we are perplexed," that is the vessel; but not in despair,"—that is the treasure; "persecuted,"—that is the vessel; but not forsaken,"—that is the treasure; "cast down,"—again the vessel, "but not destroyed,—"there again we get the treasure.
Now, when we consider this subject, I feel that the Spirit of God was, as it were, getting His thoughts from Gideon's victory over the Midianites, that is found in the seventh chapter of Judges. We read, starting from verse 16: "And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon." When they carried out Gideon's instructions, then the whole host of the Midianites broke into what we might call a stampede, and they began to mow each other down. Every man's sword was turned against his fellow. There was a great victory, and the other men of Israel came in and they all pursued them over Jordan; so the Midianites were completely vanquished.
We learn a most profitable lesson here: Gideon told the men to keep their eyes on him. Oh, beloved friends, keep your eyes on Christ when the enemy is seeking to turn you away from the path of obedience! Then, they were to do what Gideon did; for he gave each one of his three hundred a lamp inside of a pitcher. Then they had a trumpet in the other hand. I thought it was rather extraordinary that they were to say "the sword of the LORD and of Gideon." But, where was the sword? With a pitcher and a lamp in one hand and a trumpet in the other hand, where was there a hand for the sword? But it wasn't man's sword, it was the "sword of the LORD" that won the victory over the enemies of Israel that day.
So, there they were on three sides of the army, a hundred in each company; and, all of a sudden, they broke their pitchers, the lights shone out, and they they blew with the trumpets and shouted "the sword of the LORD and of Gideon." That won the victory that day. Now, the apostle is using that in our chapter as an illustration of this treasure that we have-that glorified Christ-in these earthen vessels, our poor bodies. But, in order that the light may shine out, these earthen vessels must be broken.
And then there is the testimony that goes out as well; for we read in this chapter (verse 5), "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." That is the trumpet of Gideon—that we preach not ourselves, but (as it should read) "Christ Jesus Lord." It is owning the Lordship of Christ. And, as far as the one who proclaims the message is concerned, he says we are only servants, or bondslaves, for Jesus's sake. There was a man who had his eye, as it were, on our Gideon, the one who was doing just what the Lord commanded; then all those lights burst out, and what a glorious, a marvelous victory followed.
But the lesson we have before us is this, the subject of the breaking of the earthen vessel. That is what we were reading (verse 8) where he said, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in dispair." That is, all the trials of this life, they break our wills: and, what wills we have! How we are opposed to submitting; how often we have brought harm to ourselves and to our brethren by stubborn wills, were unwilling to own when we have make a mistake, that we were wrong. The Lord alone knows how to break these stubborn wills of ours. And it is not just by sitting on our rocking chairs and reading the "Synopsis" (as much as I value those writings) that this work is wrought out. It is by putting us in some of the most difficult, trying and heart-breaking circumstances that are possible to experience in this life. That is the way He has of breaking these earthen vessels. Oh! He has a purpose—that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God might shine out of these poor hearts of yours and mine.
Then we read (verse 10), "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." You will find in a better translation the the word "Lord" is not there; it is "the dying of Jesus," "the life of Jesus." Then, in the next verse, "delivered unto death for Jesus' sake., that the life also of Jesus..." That blessed name that is above every name! That name to which every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to the glory of God the Father! That precious, precious name of Jesus!
"Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus..." Recently we were seeing in the epistle to the Colossians the truth of our having died with Christ: "Ye are dead" (Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)). Also, in Rom. 6:1111Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:11) we are told, "reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Here in our chapter we have the practical, daily carrying out of the truth that we have died with Christ. For, it is not just something that we experience at the beginning of our Christian life and testimony; it is something that is to be carried out as long as the Lord leaves us in this scene. That is, that when the blessed Lord Jesus died on that shameful cross, that He not only died for my sins, but I died with Him. And that was the end of my Adam life; that brought to a close all the ambitions of the worldly desires of the natural man. For, now, there has been a complete break with everything connected with what the old nature desires. We still have that old nature, and we have to be on our guard for it can soon display itself. But if we are reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin, then it is, as we go on in this daily experience, that the life of Jesus is manifest in our bodies. Isn't that wonderful!
Now that is not said just to these old, gray-haired brothers, it is said to you young people. "That the life of Jesus"—just think of it boys and girls—the life of Jesus manifested in your mortal flesh. Think of the lowly Jesus; think of how He went about doing His Father's will; think of His humility; think of His love; think of His tenderness; think of that grace that abounded over everything of man—and, something of that can be seen in you and me, if we just put ourselves in the place of having died with Christ.
You might say, "We are not up to that." Well, the Lord knows that too; and so He sees to it that we go through that which will produce that of always being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. He says in verse 11, "For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." The Lord, as it were, says, I know that you are a poor, unstable, unworthy thing; so I will put you in circumstances that will bring about what I desire.
That was true in a very special way in the life of the apostle Paul, for he had just been through the very thing he is speaking of here. Turn to chapter one, verse eight, "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." When we think of a devoted man like the apostle Paul having to be put right at the brink of death to bring out the sweetness of Christ, we need not wonder that He in His wisdom sees to it that we have to go through circumstances so that something of Christ might be seen in our life and ways.
So, the apostle even despaired of life; he didn't know from day to day but what that would be his last day on earth. So, surely, he would make that day to the glory of Christ for the little time that was left to him here. So, self had no place whatever, and thus the life of Jesus, that blessed One, was manifested in the life of the apostle in that blessed and wonderful way. And, beloved friends, we who sit here on these seats this afternoon, are enjoying the result of Paul being brought down through those circumstances where he despaired even of life, because we have these writings which are so rich and so precious to our souls. Then He says (verse 12), "So then death worketh in us, but life in you." That is, the very fact that he was brought so low, brought out that precious ministry—the ministry of the glorified Christ—that is occupying our poor hearts at this moment. What spiritual light is the result of Paul being brought down to the very brink of death!
"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore we speak." That is a quotation from Psa. 116, and Paul quotes it in reference to himself. "We also believe, and therefore we speak." That is, in giving out the full revelation of God, he does not hesitate because of the consequences or the troubles it would bring upon him. If it brought stripes, stoning or imprisonment, he was going to give out the whole counsel of God regardless of the suffering it would cause him. That was blessed that God had a man who was willing to give out the whole counsel of God for the eternal blessing of His own.
Then he says in verse 14, "Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you." First, he looks at the consequences of speaking the truth—what it might incur, what it might bring upon him; but then he looks at another side of things: he gets his eye on the Lord Jesus—He did all the will of His Father down here and they crucified Him. But where is He? God raised Him from the dead! And he says that if He raised His blessed Son from the dead, I know that that same power that is operating in my soul will result in His raising me up, the same as He raised His beloved Son; and raised, as He said, "the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus (that same word "Jesus" appears especially here again), and shall present us with you." What deep love he had for the saints to whom he was writing! He says, as it were, If it cost me my life to minister what I am ministering to your souls, God is going to raise me up with that blessed One. And he doesn't stop there, he says, "with you." So, if I lose everything down here that nature desires, he-says, I am going to enjoy that scene of glory in company with you, and with my blessed Jesus, the One who has won my heart.
"For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God" (verse 15). All, beloved, is for our sakes as well as for the sake of those Corinthians to whom he was writing. All the ministry we have here is for our spiritual encouragement and blessing. But, there is a higher thought: not just speaking of our own gain, for we gain infinitely in this way, but for the glory of God. When we get His glory before our souls we have the right object in view! And that is what Paul leads on to: not merely that he was going to be with Him, but the very fact that he would be then the mighty triumph of the grace of God, and God would receive eternal glory in that way.
"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (verse 16). As saints of God we need to be more concerned about that inner man than about the outward man which perishes. What is your life? It is but a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:1414Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)). If we had everything that the heart could wish in this life, how long does it last? How soon it is all over, and over forever! But, Oh, that inner man that is nourished, built up, strengthened and gaining all of the blessings, maturity and enjoying before we reach the glory that which lies before us—what development there is for that new man. That is what He would have, and that is why the apostle was willing to suffer as he did. And this new man is renewed day by day. The Lord is looking after our spiritual needs, and He does not forget our temporal needs. When He had taught the multitude, then He said to His disciples, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" He didn't forget that they were hungry. There were many men, women, boys and girls there that day, and He would not forget their temporal needs. If we are more concerned about our spiritual needs, we can be sure that the Lord will look after our temporal needs.
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (verse 17). Notice it says "glory" at the end of the verse. Isn't it wonderful to think of glory? We sometimes sing, "The glory shines before me, I cannot linger here! Though clouds may darken o'er me, my Father's house is near." But he does not merely speak of glory, he speaks of a "weight of glory." Oh, yes; it has weight. Then we read that it is "eternal." It is an eternal weight of glory. Then he says, "an exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And, that isn't all, it is a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The scripture never indulges in exravagant language; never uses unnecessary adjectives. But when we do get something like this, it is very exceedingly precious, isn't it? How the Spirit of God would have our poor hearts just thrilled and filled with rapture at the thought of what awaits us in that coming day!
'While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (verse 18). To a man of reason, a man of the world, that would not make sense. How can we look at things which are not seen? The unbeliever would scoff at that. "What nonsense—look at things you cannot see!" But when you bring faith into it, what a difference. Faith pierces the thin veil that shuts out the unseen world, and lets us look into the future with absolute certainty. Think of verse 9 in the second chapter of Hebrews, "But we see Jesus." That is faith. What is seen by faith is even more real than things which we can see by our natural eyes. So often we look at the beauty of nature, and a beautiful scene like this city on this very day. I was remarking as we came along, "What a beautiful city it is; streets running from one mountain to the other." But then the sister reminded us that some days the smog settles in here. So, even what is so beautiful in nature has its disappointments. But are there any disappointments to what is revealed to the eye of faith? None whatever! And, is it not remarkable that the soul that is in the enjoyment of eternal things, is the one who is contented with his lot down here, trying and with as many disappointments as it may contain, because he has something infinitely better before him.. Whereas the man that has nothing but this world, after he has accumulated and grabbed after everything that the world offers as treasure, is soon sadly disappointed, and often goes to the extermity of committing suicide. So, we have the wonderful vision of faith brought before us.
If time permitted we might go on to chapter five, were we of "the dissolution of the earthen vessel." There we see that the apostle had been nearly at the point of death. He had nearly been martyred. Had he been martyred, he can say this, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:11For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)). That is, he looks at the body of his present condition as a tabernacle, or a tent. Just like as if you were on a journey: you pitch your tent, and in the morning you pull up the stakes, roll up the tent and you travel on. That is the way our body in its present condition is looked at. But when we are called to depart from earthly scenes, he tells us that we have a "building of God." That is our glorified body—"we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." That leads us on to see the glorified state, or what the apostle says in Phil. 3:21,21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21) "Who shall change our body of humiliation (J.N.D. translation), that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." What a prospect is before us!
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