Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-09-01
September 3, 1916.

SepI0mUeT A040s
Q Cor. IL :21-12:1o.
Golden Text-"My grace Is sufficient
for thee; for my power is made perfect
in weakness" Cor. 1879.
When Paul wrote his second letter to
the Corinthians he was under the great
stress of having his ministry question
ed. Certain men had come in and i'm
pugned his motives, had charged him
with inconsistency and hypocrisy, and
had sought to discredit him by making
all manner of false accusations. The
letter was written under the sting of
this charge. In the last four chapters
he is defending himself and his min
tstry. In the part which has been Sc
lected for our lesson today we have his
answer to one or two of the charges
made against him, given with an in
tensity of feeling which could have been
explained under no other circumstances.
No one was more averse to speaking
of himself than was Paul. but under
these circumstances he was driven to 1t.
1t was necessary for their sakes that
he let them know his right to minister
to them. In defending himself he gives
us a bird seye view of his life which
we find nowhere else, and which proves
him to have been indeed the chief apos-
brews; so was he, he said, They boast
ed of being Israelites; that is, Hebrews
who were also descendants of Abra-
ham, and therefore able to claim the
promises. So was he, he said They
claimed to be children of Abraham;
that is, Israelites who were looking for
the fulhllment of all the Messianic
promises; so was he, he said. They
claimed to be ministers of Christ; so was
4 50 N
they Then he went on to prove it by
showing what the office of minister of
Jesus Christ had meant to him. He had
been beaten eight times. He had been
an outcast, hated of the Jews because
he preached the gospel of the Gentiles,
and hated of the Gentiles because he
was a Jew. Many had been the perils
and privations which he had suffered
as the result of his position. His perlls
had been abundant, and on top or them
he had been full of anxious care for all
the churches, and even of the individuals
in the churches. for when any individual
stumbled it made him burn up.
He had been shipwrecked three times
and stoned once and left for dead; and
in addition to this. he had been given
a thorn in the flesh, a constant min ster
of Satan to buffet him, so that he was
never free from testing or temptation.
Other men boosted of other things, but
PauPs boasting was in his weaknesses
Most men boosted of their birth In
the foreign countries this is more
marked than in America, but even in
free America. where all men are sup
posed to be equal, there are societies
and cliqttes which are based upon birth
and blood.
The average man boasts of what he
owns Those who cannot boast of their
blood boast of. their possessions. The
number of self-ma6e men almost exceeds
the number of men that God made, II
you listen to them talk. Still other men
boast of their accomplishments, of their
culture, the things that they have &C
quired in their lives, mental attain
ments, literary abilities, musical and ar
tistic ability, which have been highly
Still others boast of their
social qualities and make much of So
called society. While others boast in
their triumprs, political and intellectu-
al even though their victory has meant
somebody elses defeat. 1t is a sad tale
to tell, but there are some men who
boast of their spiritual triumphs.
Compare these with Paurs boasting.
How that for Jesus sake he had suf-
fered all of these things and gave us
the answer to their charge that he was
not true minister of Christ, a list
of the things that he had suffered for
Jesus sake. even emphasizing the
things which were regarded as human
How else can we account
for his calling attention to the humiIiat-
ing way that he left Damascus, or for