The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-30


virulent They attacked bin from every
quarter They declared that he was no
apostle: he had received no ordinance;
Christ had nos appointed him; the twelve
had not appointed him; he had no right to
claim to be an apostle; his witness was not
never been with Him, he knew nothing of
Him; his preaching was not true; he set
the law aside and discarded 1t and repu-
dated it; his motives were not good, for he
was a deceiver, a false prophet false
teacher; he was preaching the gospel in or
der that he might live by the gospel; his
motives were mean and sordid. Such were
the accusations which his enemies in COR
NTH and elsewhere brought against nm.
And they claimed authority Tor thelr ac-
cusations. They produced letters. Were
these true letters false letters? IheTe -
some reason to think they were net true.
Did they come from Pales inc or Jerusalem!
We do not know. But the assumption IS
that they purported to come from palestine
II not from Jerusalem DO l need letters!
ne says. Do ! need to have anybody from
outside to vouch for me- You know me-
and know you and you are my children;
and you are brought into the Kingdom OF
God by my ministry. and you are my let
tiers. and I want no other letters than those
which l have written in your own hearts
experiences. To those l appeal That IS
my authority.
.Stili, he is perpexed. I believe this is
the only time in his life in which he shows
indecision. At all events, he does at this
time. He resolves he will go TO Corlntn.
He is so indignant at these charges mace
against him, he is so indignant at the evil
his enemies are working in the church at
Corinth that he resolves he will go and face
them and put them down. And ne STATS ATS
in his wrath. but after he has gone a llttle
way he cools off. He thinks on the Wnoie
that it is better that he should not go wnlle
hd is in that state OF mind ne VIII 90 mos toit
harm than good. and abandons his VISIT.
And then this is brought as new charge
against him that he is weak ana VAGINAL
ing that he makes great pretense IN ms
letters but when the time comes he falls
in his promises and does not fulhll them.
Now it is out of these experiences, rul-
,,f,. nh I'D of
this second epistle TO the Corlnthlans IS
written. In parts of this epistle he defends
himself at length against the GharseS same
parts he goes into autobiogra phlcal meme
robila, which have very rapidly ana prlel-
ly outlined, from which | have drawn soIne
of the things have said to you. He urges
on the church at Corinth that they take ~
a collection. Corinth is rich city cry; .h me
| church is not rich church, but still there
are more people able to give in Corlnth tnan
there are in some other cities, and ne urges
that they take up COLLECTION; ana ,, ne WI u.
| take it or it shall be sent to the churcn a.
| Jerusalem. If some of the letters written ID
! undermine his authority were from Jerus ;s
| lem it was noble revenge ana wise ChIls-
| tian method Of meeting that attack 10 pro-
| pose to carry back tributes 10 the poor
| church at Jerusalem from the very cnuI I:,
which the men in Jerusalem had been SUE
| ring dp against him. But the part OF htS
| epistle which will interest us the most are
! those parts in which he speaks of MS own
personal experiences, and gives mint, IN
! those personal experiences, or the truths
which, in later epistles, he is 10 elaborate.
| He has learned in the only Scnool III WIlicI
we can learn that lesson the power or Gou
| to comfort men in trouble. Blessed be Goa
i even the Father OF our LORD jesus CHRIS IN
| the Father of mercies and the God OF al
| comfort; who comforteth us IN all our Ito
ulations that we may be able TO comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comIorted on
| God. For as the sufferings OF Chrlst
abound in us. so our comfort also aDoeiiu-
/ eth by Christ.
ORIGIN OF FAITH.
Later we shall find in the eighth chapter
| of Romans this experience expanded into
doctrine. We shall find him stating how
waiting for the final redemption he is able
to glory in tribulation, knowing that moth
| ing can separate him from the love of God.
| Meanwhile we learn where he gets this faith
| which is triumphant over sorrow and trou-
| bIe He gets it in the school of trouble.
/ Prosecuted, oppressed, overworked, SICK,
| carrying the troubles of others in his own
| person, he learns how to share the sorrows
of others. When grief assails, it brings Or
dination with it, The way in which God or
dams us to comfort our fellow men is be-
| yond our own affliction. Mourning is
! priestly garment if we only knew it. lie
has been assaiIed by the defenders and
maintainers of the Jewish law. He main
| tains that men are not to be saved by law,
| but b. Christ. But the time has been when
| he also was a maintainer of the JeWlsh law.
| Born and bred in the school of Pharisee-
ism he beeysd the SfT S eW W M aw
final; and now he is attacked by those VINO
hold the same Pharisaic faith, although
they are in the Church of Christ, and who
| impugn his motives and attack his charac-
| ter and assail his doctrine, because ne mas
departed from this Pharlsaic faith III the
! integrity, and greatness OF law.
And presently we shall see how ne comes
| to put away all saving of men by law and
to put in the place of it the saving by faith.
4 " pet OnlV the hint and SUCCESS
ton of this. The law, he says, is glorious,
| but the law is transitory. lie has come al
neither men nor communities are made by
| simple obedience to law. He has come to
4 see that there is some other method, or he
is coming to see. it at least; and he gives
| a very simple illustration. Moses came
down from the mount, his face aglow with
the glory ana presence of Jehovah, and
when he finished speaking to the children
of Israel he put veil on his face and de-
Tarted from them again up into the noun
tain top. And Paul gives this incident a
new interpr citation. He rut the. veil on his
face, ne says that the children might
ary fade MONTE from his Sinai face and for the
f0ry not 16 t thus lfS m HaGSS will h~aS
Mount Sinai and shaping themselves accord
| ing to it, bat by another and very different
fashion. We all as from mirror rejecting
the image of the Lord are changed into
the same image from glory TO glory 1t IS
by understanding the Christ, it is by try
our old version says, not beholding as in a
4 q glass the glory of the Lord but as the
new version has it. rejecting as from mir
ror the glory of the Lord, we are changed
from glory unto glory. Not by squaring our
life to an external standard, but by appre-
ciating the splendor of the divine life and
then repeating that splendor to others. And
yet has he done it? All, Paul, who is ready
enough to defend himself against the
charges of his enemies, he is ready enough
also to face the imperfection OF his life. NO,
he has not done Ii. He does not reflect the
glory of Christ, or if he does, he reflects it
from a dim and shadowy mirror. We
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the
Lord; and ourselves your servants Tor
Jesus sake But we have this treas
ure in utensils of earthen ware, that the
! transcendent power may be seen to be of
God, and not from ourselves. On every side
we are pressed but we are not in straits,
perplexed, but not unto despair; hunted, but
not Abandoned smitten down, but not de-
! bearing about in the body in order that the
life of Jesus in our bodies might be mani
Tested ii Cor. 40. What then? What then
Why this? Although he does not reflect
fully the glory of the Christ, still he looks
upon Him, he sees Him, he appreciates
Him. he approximates Him. And this is his
faith To see the Christ; to appreciate Him,
to follow Him and to in any wise approx
innate Him. Men throw the taunt of his
blindness in his face, his dim wisdom, and
he answers, We look not at the things that
are seen. 1t is true this outward world is
yelled from us, because we bear in our body
the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ But
at the things that are unseen. and the things
that are unseen are temporal. but the things
that are unseen are eternal.
FINE DEFINITION