2 Corinthians 4:7-10

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body."


I'll make this brief, because my husbandly duties will soon whisk me off to the land of "take the garbage out" but I wanted to make a quick note about this passage... and such a beautiful passage. Paul found his weakness to be God's strength, not that God's strength made him weak, but when he was weak, Christ's power was displayed.

This is why this passage floors me: Paul is writing specifically about... The Gospel. Not forgetting to do the dishes, not having to park too far away from the grocery store, not arguing with his spouse, and not trouble at work. (well, kind of in his case) In fact, Paul didn't have the grind of every-day-life in mind here like so many have used this text to preach on. I know this because I used to believe that. I know people still believe this. I used to be encouraged by this verse to go on when I felt depressed about life, or if I didn't get the job I wanted, or if I was having trouble paying the bills... On the contrary, it's come to my attention these last few years that we live like kings! And we're one of the most negative, depressed nations on earth.

All the perplextion, the hardpressing, the persecution, the pressure, and striking down Paul is feeling is the world coming against the Saving Truth he has been entrusted to share with the Gentiles. Paul, having a biblical understanding of himself, knew it was a mercy he was breathing, so the last thing he would feel persecuted for would be a shot at his ego, or an inconvinience in his life. Clearly, Paul's trouble didn't come from life, and life's "troubles" didn't influence this passage, either. Paul was telling his church in Corinth that because Christ was delivered to death, so will he suffer for His' sake, but because Christ has overcome death, Paul, who shares in His sufferings, will not be destroyed, he will not be in despair, he won't be crushed, and he certainly will not be forsaken. Christ is made powerful in Paul's weakness because it's his weakness that displays the glory of the Savior, and Paul's endurance would be a testimony of the authenticity of his message. I can't say I have completley grasped the awe-inspiring truth of this passage, but at least I now understand it doesn't have anything to do with the air conditioning not working on my car.

2 Timothy 4:2

I originally started this blog so I could leave comments on pyromaniacs. It's one of my favorite blogs on the net. It was started by Phil Johnson, who I have an incredible amount of respect for. He's the Executive director of Grace to You, which is the preaching/teaching ministry of John Macarthur. God used John Macarthur's teachings as a catalyst to springboard me into a serious, saving faith in Jesus Christ. I was originally introduced to John Macarthur's ministry by a man named Todd Friel, who is a radio host for an excellent program called Way of the Master. It was through WOTMR, (At that time was called Talk the Walk) I was introduced to Bible teaching, and this teaching was deep, and it was powerful. It was powerful enough to knock me off my high seat of pride, and bend the knee. I was a leader in my church, a young "stud" who thought he knew the answer to anyone's problem at any time. I thought I had it all figured out, and since my conversion, every day has been a step closer to God, and a step further away from the confidence I had in myself.

Someone finally told me what a Christian is, and thankfully it was clear enough to get through the wall of pride I had built up, but shortly after receiving Christ in full faith and submitting to His Word, The Truth seemed to hit me so hard, I couldn't get enough. I just started craving more and more truth. I dove into the Holy Scripture, and pretty much stopped listening to music, and started listening to sermons, all day long. I listened to Macarthur pretty much every day, and then soon discovered the wonderful teaching ministries of R.C. Sproul, Allister Begg, Adrian Rogers, and John Piper. Every opportunity I got, I listened to these men. I couldn't get enough of them, and I couldn't get enough of the Word, either.

Since then, I have been introduced to some great historic Puritans and Saints as well. I've become a devoted fan of Charles Spurgeon, and read the biographies of Spurgeon, John Wesley, and Dwight Moody. I've recently become more familiar with the works of Edwards and Martin Luther. What I found remarkable about all of this information I was soaking in, is all of these men were teaching the same thing. They devoted themselves to the exposition of scripture. None of them wanted radical reformations, or unmatched social reform, they only wanted to be true to the Word of God. One was a shoe salesman with an 8th grade education, the other started Harvard university. They were diverse men, with different backrounds and talents. Some were noble scholars, other common people. Some were eloquent in their speech, others very coarse. But they preached the Word, and they did it faithfully. My quest for more knowledge of the Life and times of these men, and believe me, there are many other great men that have lived, and still live today that I haven't mentioned, has developed in it a common thread... It was always, and will always be the Word of God that made them great. I'll end by an excellent quote by Martin Luther:

"I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And when, while I slept... the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor inflicted such damage upon it. I did nothing, the Word did it all."