(A) Introduction. (Read the reference)

It is possible that Paul is dealing in part in this passage with the various criticisms levelled against him by his opponents at Corinth.

(B) Paul couldn't quit.

It is often easier to quit than to carry on. Every Saturday in the winter I umpire the hockey matches of Bury Vets. Over recent seasons whenever Bury play their arch rivals, Ipswich, they get a thorough trouncing. A situation has developed where the majority of the Bury team refuse to play Ipswich. They cannot take a hammering. They have lost heart.

(1) Paul could have been excused for giving up.

He could have been excused for giving up his ministry because of the:

(a) Demands it made. Paul supported himself by working in the early morning and evening as a tent maker. For the rest of the day he poured himself out preaching and teaching. There was no let up. The little apostle must often have felt wrung out like a wet rag.

My father never had any leisure time. He hoped to be a full time Baptist minister but thanks to the parsimony of his congregation he had to supplement his stipend as a farm labourer. He combined hard physical work with preparing and delivering four sermons a week. But my father never lost heart. Far from giving up he seldom even complained.

(b) Persecution he faced. Paul was mobbed, imprisoned and beaten. He experienced many threats to his life.

All over the world Christians are persecuted. Christians in Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea must feel like renouncing the faith for their own safety. In China house church pastors were imprisoned for 20 to 30 years yet on release just picked up where they left off and continued to witness for Christ.

(c) Opposition he endured from his fellow Christians. Paul had a lot to put up with. The Corinthians either misunderstood him or misinterpreted his teaching. The Jewish legalists were guilty of malicious and spiteful ill will. Peter wrote: His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort .... to their own destruction. 2Pet3v16.

I have just finished reading an excellent little book on Count Rumford by G.I. Brown. In passing the author deals with the work of Julius Robert von Mayer who devised a way to measure the mechanical equivalent of heat - something that Count Rumford also worked on. When Mayer published his research it aroused great hostility among other scientists who considered him an interloper. Some even accused him of being a megalomaniac. The effect on Mayer was disastrous. One sunny morning in May 1850 he flung himself out of a high window. He suffered no lasting physical injury but all through the 1850s he suffered recurring bouts of depression. Such was the devastating effect of rejection and unjust criticism.

(d) Lack of appreciation and recognition. The members of the church at Corinth did not appreciate Paul as they should. Disparaging remarks were made about him. He had no presence and no eloquence and cut a poor sort of a figure. Some dismissed him as little more than an itinerant cobbler.

It is far from easy persevering in hard, demanding, exhausting work without some encouragement from time to time. Instructing children who don't want to learn and have no appreciation of good teaching is a soul destroying task. Preaching to a leaden, unresponsive congregation week after week can become depressing. Running a youth group year after year without ever seeing anyone converted is demoralising. Writing for a website with, perhaps, 1000 visitors a week yet receiving no feedback for months is a crippling disappointment.

(2) Reasons why Paul did not lose heart.

The apostle did not give up because:

(a) God had been merciful to him. God forgave Paul the terrible period in his life when he persecuted the church. Paul was not half-hearted in his attempt to destroy the Faith. He testified before Agrippa: "I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished and I tried to force them to blaspheme." Acts26v10and11.

Paul realised that God had been very long suffering with him and this made him long suffering of others. God did not give up on Paul and Paul was not going to give up on the Christians at Corinth however perverse they might be. Those most conscious of God's mercy will themselves be merciful to others.

It is always as well when we feel like giving up to remember Jesus. The author of Hebrews writes: Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb12v3.

(b) He received his ministry from God. Paul knew that God appointed him to be the apostle to the Gentiles and equipped him for the task. He told king Agrippa what Jesus said to him on the road to Damascus: "I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. ..... I am sending you to them (Jews and Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." Acts2617and18.

If a person knows God has given them a task to do they can rely on him for help in carrying it out. I was sure that God wanted me to resign from teaching to care for my invalid father. My father's dementia made this a difficult and stressful task which I did not always carry out as well as I would have liked but God ensured I completed it.

(c) Of the nature of the ministry he was given. The wonderful nature of the ministry is outlined above. It brought men life, light, righteousness and glory.

Very many are sustained as they undertake some very difficult and demanding task by the worthwhileness of the work. People in mountain rescue, the lifeboat service, the Red Cross, helping children with AIDS or bringing medical relief to lepers carry on because they know how important their work is.

There is actually nothing more thrilling than doing what Paul did: he proclaimed Jesus who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2Tim1v10. Paul was able to add: And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 2Tim1v11.

Our lives are given a glorious significance if we are instrumental in bringing others to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. v2.

Here Paul may be responding to accusations made against him or contrasting his ministry with that of his traducers. On balance I think the former is most likely.

(1) What Paul was accused of.

He was accused of:

(a) Secret and shameful ways. This may refer to Paul's policy of being all things to all men. He behaved one way when he was with Jews and another way in the company of Gentiles. If anything I believe Paul went too far in trying to pacify his Jewish critics. (See exposition on Acts21v17to36.)

The methods of Christian activists invariably come under attack - especially if they are successful. John Wesley was criticised for preaching in the open air. William Booth was condemned for arousing interest by using the "Hallelujah lasses" and banal songs of no poetic or theological merit. Billy Graham was accused of appealing to people's emotions at his great evangelical rallies. Calvinistic pastors said the conversions wouldn't last. Many of them have! Charity workers are sniped at for using humanitarian aid as an underhand method of making Christians - as if there is anything reprehensible about that.

(b) Deception. It is possible the Jewish "super-apostle" from Jerusalem blamed Paul for deceiving Gentiles by telling them they were free from the demands of the law. Paul emphasised salvation by grace and through faith. James and his associates put a much greater emphasis on works. It is actually very difficult to get the balance right!

There is a great danger of putting too much emphasis on works and not enough on grace. The Roman Catholic church certainly did this before the Reformation. I don't believe it is true of them in general today. Jehovah Witnesses certainly underestimate God's grace because they will not admit that anyone who is not a Jehovah Witness will receive eternal life. I always tackle callers on the door step on this issue. I ask them why they want me to become a Witness when I already believe in Jesus and serve him. I point to the unequivocal promises in John's gospel that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but receive eternal life. Protestant groups that delight in rules and strict adherence to doctrine are legalistic. Other Protestant groups who make the extent of God's blessing dependent upon how much money you donate also put works before grace.

(c) Distorting God's word. It is likely that the visitors from Jerusalem did not approve of Paul's use of the Old Testament to show that Christ's greatest work was accomplished on the cross where he was the ultimate sacrifice for sin and as a consequence put an end to the sacrificial system, the temple and priests. I think it is possible some of the Judaisers were embarrassed by the Jews role in the crucifixion preferring to blame the Romans. It is also possible that whereas the Jewish legalists were prepared to accept that Jesus was the Messiah they did not believe in his deity. If this was the case the "super apostles" would object to a statement like this: For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Col1v19to20.

The Judaisers doubtless thought that Christians should work hard to establish God's Kingdom on earth. This was something that Jesus taught a lot about although it is not a matter that features much in Paul's epistles. They believed Jesus rose from the dead and would return to complete the establishment of the kingdom.

There remain many in the church like the false apostles from Jerusalem. They dislike the emphasis on personal salvation and new life through belief in Christ's sacrificial death at Calvary. Many, in one way or another, prefer working to produce a society of which Jesus approves. They espouse kingdom values and believe the main priority of Christians should be to relieve poverty, remove inequalities, provide education and free the oppressed. A man like the fearless Dr Donald Soper would be a good example of this type of Christian. There is a willingness to teach men to be obedient to Jesus without first making sure that they are born again disciples of Jesus.

On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. v2.

Paul claimed that he:

(a) Proclaimed the truth plainly. He preached the gospel without artifice or an orator's clever tricks but fervently, simply and clearly.

There is no better way to be an effective evangelist. In his book, 'Cliffs of Opal,' F.W. Boreham recalls the first time he heard the great D.L. Moody preach on the common at Tunbridge Wells as a small boy. This is what Boreham had to say about the occasion: To me, the astonishment of that afternoon lay in the circumstance that I could understand every word! ..... He used the simplest and most homely speech: he told stories that interested and affected me: he became sometimes impassioned and sometimes pathetic: he held my attention spellbound until the last syllable had died away. I could scarcely believe my ears. It was all so delightfully different - from what I had expected the utterance of a world-renowned preacher to be.

I can remember listening to Billy Graham preach in my youth. I suppose I was a little disappointed - as the Corinthians were in Paul. I expected an orator in the mould of C.H. Spurgeon. But the fact is Billy Graham's simple, fervent and direct style of preaching won many souls for Christ.

(b) Appealed to every man's conscience. By this I think Paul meant all fair-minded men and women would acknowledge his integrity. I don't think anyone can doubt the integrity of evangelists like Moody, Billy Graham, John Wesley or William Booth. The former labour politician, Roy Hattersley, has written biographies of Booth and Wesley. He does not white-wash their characters like some Christian biographers do. Hattersley deals fairly with the failings of each man but he never questions their sincerity.

During my time as a teacher I spoke at many school assemblies. The children always listened carefully and never criticised what I had to say. I believe the main reason for this was that I spoke from the heart. They may not have agreed with the content of my talks but they never questioned my integrity - nor for that matter did my colleagues.

(c) Was aware of ministering in the sight of God. Paul knew that he could never deceive him.

We will be more effective servants of Jesus if we are acutely aware that nothing escapes God's notice. If we do slip-shod work - he knows. If we say one thing and do another - he knows. If our ministry is all about ourselves - he knows.

(D) The strategy of Satan.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. v4.

The god of this age or Satan has done his best through the ages to blind the minds of non-Christians.

(1) The means Satan uses.

Satan blinds men to the glory of Jesus with a series of lies. This has been his strategy from the first! Some lies Satan uses:

(a) God does not exist. Increasing numbers of people in Britain think that scientific discoveries have made God redundant. One of the things that is commonly said is, "The universe was made by a big bang." It would be truer to say that the universe started with a great outpouring of energy. This leaves open the question who began the process. Where did the energy come from? It was just the right amount of energy! Almost from the beginning there were irregularities in the expanding volume of energy that eventually allowed galaxies to form.

(b) If God does exist he takes no interest in us personally. If God was interested in us surely he would not permit all the terrible suffering in the world.

There is a failure to realise that most if not all the suffering in the world is a consequence of God making us free. Suffering has been caused directly or indirectly by men's choices from the time of Adam to the present.

(c) If God does exist and takes an interest in us he will accept us as we are. If God is love all will be chosen for salvation. This is a popular notion and takes away man's need of a saviour. It also makes a mockery of our freedom of choice. If you are going to be saved whether you like it or not the freedom to reject God is removed.

(d) Christianity is a superstition. The implication is that religious faith is unreasonable and irrational. People are accused of believing things simply because they want to. It makes them feel better and takes away the fear of death.

This is utter nonsense. It is perfectly reasonable to believe that the universe was created by a supreme being. It is certainly more reasonable than to believe that the universe made itself. When it comes down to it this is what atheistic scientists and mathematicians are left with. They can try all they like to pull wool over the layman's eyes with references to string theory, quantum mechanics, parallel universes and an infinite number of universes but at the beginning of time our universe began.

(e) Christians are weird, freakish, scary, dangerous and a threat. Failing that they are all bigots and hypocrites. Any left who do not fall into these categories are usually old and fearful of dying. This is increasingly how the media portray us! I know many Christians and although flawed they bear no resemblance to the various Satan inspired media caricatures.

(f) Faith is a private matter and people should keep their beliefs to themselves. In other words faith is like a bad cold. It should under no circumstances be spread. This is an attempt to separate faith from conduct. Christianity by its very nature is not a private affair. Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

(2) The success of Satan's strategy.

It has three awful results:

(a) Many in Britain are completely unresponsive to the gospel. Millions of people in Britain cannot see its relevance to their lives. The saving work of Jesus means absolutely nothing to them.

(b) Ninety percent of the population remain unmoved by the glory of Christ. He was seen in all his matchless glory on the cross. What love, what mercy, what commitment he showed for sinful men as he hung and suffered there - shedding his precious blood - saving, redeeming at measureless cost. Yet our nearest and dearest are blind to all Jesus accomplished.

(c) The unbeliever's knowledge of God is limited. Jesus was the very image of God. He came to make God known, to dispel misunderstandings and misapprehensions of the creator.

(E) The light that penetrates.

Satan does veil men's eyes. When we blunder about in the darkness there can be regretable consequences.

Back in the days before electricity, a tight-fisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. "Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin' I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man said wryly," and look what you got!"

Making decisions in the dark is never the best policy.

The darkness can be be frightening. Bob Woods tells the story of a couple who took their son, 11, and daughter, 7, to Carlsbad Caverns. As always, when the tour reached the deepest point in the cavern, the guide turned off all the lights to dramatize how completely dark and silent it is below the earth's surface. The little girl, suddenly enveloped in utter darkness, was frightened and began to cry. Immediately was heard the voice of her brother: "Don't cry. Somebody here knows how to turn on the lights." In a real sense, that is the message of the gospel: light is available, even when darkness seems overwhelming.

Yes, the veil cast by Satan over men's minds can be removed. It can be dislodged by circumstances or blown aside by the wind or torn off by a friend. Sometimes a person blundering about in darkness can become so dissatisfied they drag the veil away themselves.

This is why it is important to follow Paul's example: For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord. When the veil is lifted the gospel message is able to penetrate the darkness. It does so in the will and purpose of God who said, "Let light shine out in darkness." v6. This is probably a reference to Is9v2: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

I read in the 2010 issue of Evangelical Times the testimony of Douglas Slack that illustrates the way God works. His eyes were veiled by an addiction to drink. Alcohol and his boozy mates were the most important things in his life. However, God clipped his wings! He was given a three year ban from driving after a conviction for drink-driving. This restricted his boozing and soon afterward he accepted an invitation from the Salvation Army to attend their place of worship for coffee and eats after closing time. While he was there Douglas Slack was challenged by a Salvation Army officer with the gospel and was convinced of his need for Jesus Christ to be his Saviour. The shock of the drink-drive conviction dislodged the veil and provided a window of opportunity for the gospel light to penetrate his darkness. The Salvation Army officer played his part in preaching Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Paul completes this passage with a very involved sentence. It is involved because he refers again to Moses, God's ancient spokesman, whose face shone, reflecting God's glory. So the apostle describes the function of the gospel light in this way: For God ... made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. v6. Or, in other words, the gospel light brings knowledge of God's glory in the person of Jesus.

A thing is seen in all its glory when its true quality is seen to best advantage like, for example, a well lit painting by an old master.

Jesus shows to best advantage four great attributes of God:

(1) His commitment to us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn3v16.

(2) His compassion for us. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also along with him, graciously give us all thing? Rm8v32.

(3) His discernment of us. Jesus throughout his ministry was very discerning. He exercised judgement and his judgement was accurate and true. John records: He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. Jn2v25. God discerns men's hearts.

(4) His belief in us. This is a great and underemphasised point. Jesus believed in his disciples. He considered that they were capable, with the help of the Spirit, of undertaking the great commission he gave them. God, too, has belief - belief that sinful men are redeemable - that many will accept the opportunity to believe in Jesus, follow and serve him even at great cost to themselves.