2 Coríntios 4
G. Campbell Morgan · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Coríntios 4:7-9
Morgan writes that "in Bible times, when they didn’t have banks or safe repositories, they would bury their precious possessions in the earth or hide them in caves. They would often use clay jars for doing this. Have you ever read about the Dead Sea Scrolls? These priceless manuscripts date back 2000 years and were discovered in caves near the ruins of the village of Qumran, in the desert South of Jerusalem. They were stored in clay jars. Of course, clay jars break easily. They are fragile. They are easily damaged. In fact, that’s the way the scrolls were found. An Arab goat herder threw a rock toward the cliffs, trying to scare his goat back down the hill. The rock sailed through the opening of a cave, and the boy heard the sound of a jar breaking. The Dead Sea Scrolls were stored in jars of clay, but jars of clay are fragile. They break easily. And Paul is using that as an illustration of you and me. We are God’s depositories for His treasure, yet we are fragile and breakable and easily damaged. Every one of us can identify with that. I don’t need to spend much time on this point. No matter how strong we think we are or how stoic we try to be, we are fragile people and we break and are easily damaged. That’s true of us physically and it’s true of us emotionally. Some of you right now feel like a jar of clay that’s been chipped or cracked or broken. Someone has thrown a rock, and it’s shattered something inside of you. Well, the benefit is that it keeps us humble. In fact, the rest of the verse makes this quite plain and that brings us to the third word—power. (Read the entire sermon below - Jars of Clay) Wiersbe rightly reminds us that "We must focus on the treasure and not on the vessel. Paul was not afraid of suffering or trial, because he knew that God would guard the vessel so long as Paul was guarding the treasure (see 1Ti 1:11; 6:20). God permits trials, God controls trials, and God uses trials for His own glory. God is glorified through weak vessels. The missionary who opened inland China to the Gospel, J. Hudson Taylor, used to say, “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on Him being with them.” (Bible Exposition Commentary - New Testament) Earthen (3749) (ostrakinos from óstrakon = baked clay - English "oyster") is an adjective which literally means made of baked clay and thus describes pottery or earthenware (2Ti 2:20). Such earthenware was the least valuable in the ancient Greece household and when broken would not be repaired but cast out. The plural noun ostraca has been taken directly over into English for potsherds or broken pieces of pottery that are found in archaeological excavations. Ostrakinos is used figuratively in 2Co 4:7 to describe that which is fragile or lowly. Colin Brown comments that "There is little evidence of a metaphorical use of ostrakinos in antiquity until the second century A.D. when Artemidorus describes the body of a man as an earthenware vessel....The striking contrast between the splendour of the treasure and the commonness of the vessel in which it is stored directs attention away from the preachers to the glory of the message they proclaim. It was not unusual in the ancient world to conceal valuable treasures in earthenware urns.In this context ostrakinos refers to the whole man who is entrusted with the gospel. This description finds a parallel in rabbinic accounts of men as clay vessels containing the Torah or wisdom which God has bestowed, e.g. Sifre Deut. 48 (84a on Deut. 11:22): as it is not possible for wine to be stored in golden or silver vessels, but only in one which is least among the vessels, an earthenware one, so also the words of Torah can be kept only with one who is humble in his own eyes; cf. b. Taanith 7a, where “glorious wisdom in a repulsive earthen vessel” describes R. Jehoshua ben Chanaiah, whose appearance was unattractive. Paul’s detractors had described his bodily appearance as weak and dismissed his words as inconsequential (2Co 10:10; cf. 2Co 10:1; 11:6). His self-description as ostrakinos attests that human weakness presents no barrier to the accomplishment of the divine intention when it is undergirded by the transcendent power of God (cf. 2Cor. 3:5; 4:7; 12:9, 10; 13:3, 4).(New International Dictionary of NT Theology) The only other NT use of ostrakinos is in Second Timothy "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. (2 Ti 2:20-+). Comment: The idea here is that these vessels were used for dishonorable tasks. These clay pots had no value in themselves but only had value in regard to what they contained or the service they performed. The vessels must be clean and emptied of self. W L Lane explains that this use of: Ostrakinos occurs in a context, where Paul urges Timothy to separate himself from false teachers like Philetus and Hymenaeus, who have subverted the faith of some Christians at Ephesus (2Ti. 2:14-19, 22-26). The appearance of false teachers poses the question as to why there are disloyal persons in the congregation. Paul responds by comparing the church to a large house in which it is normal to find vessels of differing material, which serve different, indeed opposite, functions (2Ti 2:20). Even as the presence of vessels of wood and earthenware (ostrakinos) devoted to disreputable use in such a house occasions no surprise, so the evidence of base leadership in the church can be anticipated. But 2Ti 2:21 makes the point that, whether a vessel is made of gold, silver, or earthenware, it may be clean in order to be ready for honorable service to the owner. By separating himself from the false teachers and cleansing himself from their disreputable actions, Timothy will be prepared for any task to which his Master is calling him. Comment: Picking up on the vessel imagery, believers are ordained of God to bear the water of life to a thirsting world (2Ti 2:21; 2 Cor 4:7) Ostrakinos -15x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Lv 6:21; 11:33; 14:5, 50; 15:12; Nu 5:17; Is 30:14; Jer 19:1, 11; 39:14; La 4:2; Ezek 4:9; Da 2:33 34, 42. It is to note that in rendering the Aramaic portion of Daniel the translators chose ostrakinos to describe the great image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, whose feet were partly of iron and partly of clay (Da 2:33, 34, 42-+ - Da 2:41 uses the related word ostrakon = earthen vessel, also describes the hard shell of certain animals - snails, mussels, tortoises). Below is an example of a figurative use in the Septuagint. The precious sons of Zion, weighed against fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen jars, the work of a potter’s hands! (La 4:2). Comment: The humiliated sons of Zion, who are “weighed against fine gold” are now considered to be of no more value than common earthenware by their captors. Marvin
2 Coríntios 4:10-12
Morgan asked his wife, “Wasn’t that wonderful?” She quietly replied, “Yes, but it will be more wonderful when he has suffered.” Morgan adds: “Well, he suffered, and it was more powerful.” (2 Corinthians 4) Living daily for Christ Requires dying daily to self. So that (hina) again is introduces a purpose clause, in this case the reason for the suffering. It has a high and holy purpose. As someone has well said "There is no abundant life without first an abasing death." The life of Jesus also may be manifested (revealed, clearly shown, be made visible - phaneroo) in our mortal flesh - Amplified = "that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced through our flesh which is liable to death." That others may see Christ in Paul the hope (absolute assurance of future good) of glory. In our mortal flesh means in real lives of real people who really suffered for Christ. KJV Bible Commentary makes an interesting analogy "A diamond is best seen against a black background. The brilliance of the life that is in Christ Jesus is best seen against the background of death. Alford…God exhibits Death in the living, that He may exhibit Life in the dying. (The New Testament for English Readers)
2 Coríntios 4:16
Morgan comments "One of my favorite writers was a New Zealander named J. Oswald Sanders. He died at age ninety just as he finished his last book, which was on the subject of aging. In the introduction of that book he makes a very interesting point. He says that it is possible to be realistic about aging without being pessimistic and depressed. He said:Realism and optimism with regard to the aging process can sleep in the same bed.” (J. Oswald Sanders, Enjoying Your Best Years: Staying Young While Growing Older (Grand Rapids: Discovery House Publishers, 1993), p. viii.)I know this is true based on my observations through the years… When it comes to aging, we have to be realistic, but we can either be realistic/pessimistic or we can be realistic/optimistic. Paul was realistic/optimistic, and his secret is in the next phrase and in the next dimension of healthy living, the inward dimension (yet the inward man is being renewed day by day). (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Our Daily Strength) D E
2 Coríntios 4:17
Morgan comments on producing an eternal weight of glory… This is a profound sentence. He is using the analogy of a pair of scales. Inside of you and me, we have an emotional pair of scales. On one side is joy and on the other side is depression. On one side are our temporary problems and on the other side is our eternal glory. When we fail to renew ourselves each day (Ed: Remembering that the renewal is from God, we can refuse to allow ourselves to be renewed [unconfessed sin is one common way to "refuse"] but of course we have to do our part by eating God's provision of daily bread, Mt 4:4, drinking God's pure milk 1Pe 2:2+), we tend to forget about the glory side of the scales and we focus on our afflictions, and they seem very heavy. We talk about being heavy-hearted, about carrying a heavy load. When we don’t daily renew ourselves, when we do not daily tend to the interior life, our hearts grow heavy and our burdens weigh us down. We lose our joy. We lose the light-heartedness in life. But Paul is saying here in 2Co 4:17 that when we are being daily renewed in the inner man and when we are refreshing ourselves daily with the perspective of Scripture, we begin to see things more as God does. And when we see things more nearly as God does, our afflictions in this world seem to "weigh" a lot less. In fact, they are light. They aren’t heavy at all, they are light. What kind of afflictions is Paul talking about? Well, he gives us a list of them in chapter 11: In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was ship-wrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes up me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. You and I have not experienced most of those afflictions, but we have our own list. But combine them all tighter, group them in one huge bundle, and throw them on the apostle Paul’s back—and how does he describe them? They’re light. Because they are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The heavy, solid side of the scales is our eternal glory. Eternal life. Our eternal home. Our eternal rewards. Paul’s going to go on and talk about that in chapter 5, but for now, he just wants us to look at our temporal heartaches in the light of our eternal hope, and the ability to do that is a product of the constant renewal of our minds and hearts. A famous Danish sculptor went to Rome to produce his works of art because choice marble was available there. When he finished, he put his masterpiece in crates, using hay and straw to protect them for shipping. Then he hurried back to Denmark. The day his treasures arrived, he was away on business. After uncrating the statues, his resentful servants deliberately scattered the packing material over his well-tilled garden, hoping the weeds which were lodged in the chaff would take root in the fertile soil. Exotic plants native to Rome sprang up instead, and today they are some of Copenhagen’s most beautiful flowers. Thomas Watson - Hence, for the persevering saint, there is laid up a crown of righteousness in heaven. A crown is the highest picture of worldly happiness. It is only for kings and people of renown to wear. There is a crown of righteousness laid up for the elect. It is a weighty crown. The Hebrew word for glory signifies a weight—things that are precious and weighty. The more weighty they are, the more they are worth. The weightier a gold chain is—the more it is worth. The heavenly crown is expressed by a weight of glory in 2 Corinthians 4:17. This crown of righteousness exceeds all earthly crowns. (The Fight of Faith Crowned) We have read that during World War I, when it was no longer possible to import those beautiful singing canaries from the Harz Mountains, Germany, a dealer in New York decided to start a system of training canaries to sing. He had bird songs put on records, and these proved of value. But one day he made a real discovery which meant success. He found that if he covered the cages with thick cloths, completely shutting out the light, the birds learned their song. God sometimes teaches His children to sing in darkness. Verily, “He giveth songs in the night.”—Moody Monthly Joni Eareckson Tada- While lunching at a friend's house, I had to borrow a spoon and have her bend it so it could be inserted in my hand splint and I could feed myself. Throughout lunch, she glanced at the spoon. Embarrassed, I offered to have my husband straighten it out. Later I thought, Isn't that the way God works in our lives? He knows he can accomplish his unique plan when he bends us to suit his will. The metal of our souls may be difficult to bend, but when we allow God the privilege of shaping our lives, we discover new depths of purpose and meaning. We become perfectly suited for his use. -- Don’t be afraid of difficult times. God may be using them to bend you, shape you, make you more useable. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” It is far easier to endure trials when we value the future over the present. A few years ago the popular Back to the Future movies dealt rather whimsically with the possibility of time travel, which always involved entering the future. The recurring theme was that with all the complications of tampering with the future, it was better to live in the present. Viewers could infer that, ultimately, it is not worth it to dwell a lot on the future. That is just the opposite of the apostle Paul’s attitude about the future. He dealt with the profound certainties of what awaits all believers in the life to come. For Paul, the value of the future was another important reason he could endure life’s sufferings and trials. The temporal pain for him and us is inconsequential compared to what awaits us in Heaven (Rom. 8:18). Trials are inevitable, and the pain associated with them can be very intense, but when compared to what we will enjoy in the future, they hardly matter. Paul saw them as light afflictions, or literally “weightless trifles.” He knew that their real significance is only in how they contribute to our eternal glory. That contribution is anything but trivial. Rather, it produces “an eternal weight of glory.” Concerning this expression, it’s as if Paul envisioned an old–fashioned two–sided scale that was being tipped in favor of the future by the cumulative mass (“eternal weight of glory”) of his individual sufferings. Paul could endure the pain of present trials when he was certain that they contributed positively to his life in Heaven. The amount of trials and suffering you and I endure now is also directly linked to our eternal rewards. Those rewards are not external bonuses such as fancier crowns, better robes, or bigger heavenly mansions. Instead they refer to our increased capacity to praise, serve, and glorify God. That fulfilled Paul’s greatest desire and enabled him to joyfully persevere in trials, and it should do the same for us. (Strength for Today - John MacArthur) Suffering not only makes us stronger now—it makes us able to endure with patience, increases our faith, teaches us to trust God, and leads us to depend on Christ and His Word—but also affects how we will function later. That’s why Paul went on to say our focus isn’t on today but the future: “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (v. 18). The greater our endurance through suffering, the greater our eternal reward. Our Light Affliction 2 Corinthians 4:17 - Charles Wood Introduction: Are you kidding, Paul? What do you mean, “our light affliction?” Some of us are going through heavy affliction; where do you come off calling it light? Paul is writing under inspiration and knows whereof he speaks. Whatever your affliction, it is really light. Here are seven reasons why that is true: I. Your affliction is light when compared with that of many others. A. No matter how heavy, there are others with worse. B. Paul endured incredible afflictions—he speaks from experience. II. Your affliction is light compared with your deserts. A. It is unworthy to be compared to the woes of the lost (slightly revealed in story of rich man and Lazarus). B. You actually deserve the woes of hell (and would have them were it not for the grace of God in Christ). III. Your affliction is light compared to that of your Lord. A. He drained an ultimate cup of woe. B. Thus the One who regulates our afflictions knows exactly what afflictions really are. IV. Your affliction is light compared with the blessings you enjoy. A. We possess: 1. Salvation. 2. Righteousness. 3. Adoption. 4. The privileges of the children of God. 5. The assurance of future glories. B. No amount of affliction can take these blessings away (or outweigh them either). V. Your affliction is light in comparison to its benefits to you. A. It proves the power of sustaining grace. B. It is designed of God to make changes in you. 1. It can drive out sin. 2. It can develop character. 3. It can deepen your walk with God. VI. Your affliction is light because of its relative brevity. A. “Which is but for a moment”—it is not lasting. B. It must be viewed as relative. 1. Compare it to the overall span of life. 2. Compare it to the reach of eternity. VII. Your affliction is light in comparison to the glory to be revealed. A. Paul refers to “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” B. Handling the affliction right can increase the weight of glory. 1. It can make us more what God wants us to be. 2. It can increase the weight of the reward awaiting us. Conclusion: Our afflictions are much a matter of focus. Focus on the afflictions, and they become heavy. Focus on what God is doing through them, and they lose weight. Whatever it is that you are going through, will you see it through God’s eyes? Or will you see it as some heavy weight? Paul says, “For our light affliction which is but for a moment,” and we had better agree with him. Streams in the Desert - “For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4:17.) (Weymouth.) IS achieving for us,” mark. The question is repeatedly asked—Why is the life of man drenched with so much blood, and blistered with so many tears? The answer is to be found in the word “achieving”; these things are achieving for us something precious. They are teaching us not only the way to victory, but better still the laws of victory. There is a compensation in every sorrow, and the sorrow is working out the compensation. It is the cry of the dear old hymn: “Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee, E’en tho’ it be a cross that raiseth me.” Joy sometimes needs pain to give it birth. Fanny Crosby could never have written her beautiful hymn, “I shall see Him face to face,” were it not for the fact that she had never looked upon the green fields nor the evening sunset nor the kindly twinkle in her mother’s eye. It was the loss of her own vision that helped her to gain her remarkable spiritual discernment. It is the tree that suffers that is capable of polish. When the woodman wants some curved lines of beauty in the grain he cuts down some maple that has been gashed by the axe and twisted by the storm. In this way he secures the knots and the hardness that take the gloss. It is comforting to know that sorrow tarries only for the night; it takes its leave in the morning. A thunderstorm is very brief when put alongside the long summer day. “Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning.” —Songs in the Night. “There is a peace that cometh after sorrow, Of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled; A peace that looketh not upon tomorrow, But calmly on a tempest that it stilled. “A peace that lives not now in joy’s excesses, Nor in the happy life of love secure; But in the unerring strength the heart possesses, Of conflicts won while learning to endure. “A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded, A life subdued, from will and passion free; ’Tis not the peace that over Eden brooded, But that which triumphed in Gethsemane.” When Trouble Works For Us Our light affliction . . . is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. —2 Corinthians 4:17 Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 Is there something that seems to be working against you today—time, health, money, opportunity, people? Sometimes it’s easy to feel that everything and everyone is against us. We know we’re supposed to trust God, but it’s hard to understand why He would allow our circumstances to become so difficult and confusing. A friend of mine who has experienced many setbacks offered a fresh look at the role of our difficulties. He emphasized a single word in a familiar passage: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). “We think our afflictions are working against us,” my friend said, “but God says they are working for us. They’re producing a glory that will last forever. Compared to our trials, the glory is always greater. That’s why we don’t lose heart.” From God’s perspective, our deepest disappointments and sorrows are “but for a moment.” It’s difficult for us to accept this while we are in the midst of our trials, but we can trust the word of our kind and loving Father. One little hour to suffer scorn and losses, Eternal years beyond earth's cruel frowns; One little hour to carry heavy crosses, Eternal years to wear unfading crowns. —Anon. God can weave the thorns of life into a crown of glory. It’s Working for You - Bob Gass - A Fresh Word for Today Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us. (2 Corinthians 4:17) There are times when everything you attempt to do will seem to go wrong. Regardless of your faith and your consecration, adversity will come. You can’t pray away God’s seasons. The Lord has a purpose for not allowing you to be fruitful all the time. You need seasons of struggle as well as seasons of success. These times destroy pride in our own ability and increase our dependency upon God. Paul says these light afflictions are only for a moment. Because you can’t change it, doesn’t mean you can’t survive it. If you can’t alter it—outlive it! Be like a tree. In winter it silently refurbishes its strength, preparing for the next season of fruitfulness. If you look back on your accomplishments, you’ll notice that they are seasonal. There are seasons of sunshine as well as rain. Each season has its own purpose. Never make permanent decisions based on temporary circumstances. Again Paul says, “The things which are seen are temporary; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). The word “temporary” means “subject to change.” Rejoice; it’s not always going to be this way. Just hold steady. Temporary circumstances don’t always require action. I’ve found that prayer brings patience, and patience results in trust. You can’t trust a God you don’t talk to! Paul says, “Light affliction works for us.” IN WAYS THAT YOU CANNOT SEE OR UNDERSTAND, GOD IS MAKING THE CIRCUMSTANCES YOU’RE IN TODAY WORK FOR YOU. We write our blessings on the water, but our afflictions on the rock. GUTHRIE. If at any time you feel disposed to say, “It is enough,” and that you can bear the burden of life no longer, do as Elijah did, flee into the silence of solitude, and sit under—not the juniper-tree—but under that tree whereon the incarnate Son of God was made a curse for you. Here your soul will assuredly find sweet refreshment, from Christ’s acceptable offering to God.… At the sight of the cross you will no longer think of complaining of the greatness of your sufferings; for here you behold sufferings, in comparison with which yours must be accounted a light affliction which is but for a moment; here the righteous One suffers for you,—the just for the unjust.… Under the cross you are prevented from supposing that some strange thing is happening unto you; “the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord.…” At the foot of the cross your grief will soon be lost in that peace and joy of God which drops from this tree of life into the ground of your heart, and the foretaste you will here obtain of heaven, will sweeten the troubles of this life as with the breath of morning.… Yea, the cross itself will be transformed into such a medium between heaven and earth, that the most comforting thoughts shall descend into your soul, and the most grateful thoughts shall ascend from your soul to heaven like those angels of God seen in a vision on the plains of Bethel by the solitary and benighted patriarch, Jacob. KRUMMACHER. A W
2 Coríntios 4:18
Morgan adds that "We are inwardly renewed because we are upwardly focused. We see that which is invisible. What is Paul referring to? Paul is thinking about our everlasting life. Let’s read verse 18 again, then keep going, remembering that the chapter divisions were not in the original.…while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He’s talking about our resurrection bodies, about our eternal life, about the New Jerusalem with its streets of gold and shining crystal river, which we looked at a few months ago. David