WHEN AN APOSTLE IS CONCERNED -- Tomorrow:
"Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)
Devotion 10 of 29
PRESENT TO CHRIST
What Paul did through his ministry was to reserve the Corinthians for Jesus. His purpose for doing so was that he might present them "as a chaste virgin to Christ." His intention started in this world, but that was never where it was intended to end!
THAT I MAY PRESENT YOU
" . . . that I may present you . . . " Other versions read, "to give you" (BBE), and "for presentation" (NJB).
There is a kind of holy hierarchy in the Kingdom of God. It begins with God, passes to Christ, then to Christ's laborers, then to Christ's body. The Father has delivered the kingdom to Christ (Dan 7:14; Matt 28:18; Eph 5:5; Rev 1:9). His aim is to bring the sons home to glory (Heb 2:10; 1 Pet 3:18). Christ had dispatched Paul to the Corinthians. His aim is open their eyes, turning them darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness and an inheritance among the sanctified (Acts 26:18). In the end, when Christ's enemies have been publicly made His footstool, Paul will present the Corinthians to Christ (2 Cor 1:14; Phil 2:16; 1 Thess 2:19). Then, Christ will present all of the saved to God the Father (1 Cor 15:24).
Paul knows that at that time, everyone that has been converted or nourished under his ministry will pass through the fire of Divine scrutiny. Those who pass the "fire-test" will be proved to be like "gold, silver, and precious stones." Those who fail that test will be shown to be nothing more than "wood, hay, and stubble." In the first case, Paul will receive a reward. In the last case, he will suffer loss. In the case of the Corinthians, however, the loss would not be owing to his own labors, but to those false teachers who had penetrated the ranks of the Corinthians. Now Paul is laboring to get them back among those who will pass the "fire-test," giving credit to his own ministry so that he will lose nothing, and at last be forever with the Lord.
Over the years I have observed how very few ministers give the slightest indication of possessing such noble objectives. It seems to me that it has become fashionable to have an aim that is so low as to seek only earthly advantages for the people. If they are well, domestically advantaged, and economically independent, everything is thought to be all right. If there are no debt, no illness, no moral waywardness, and no physical hardship, it may seem as though everything is all right. However, when the blazing light of the glory of Christ shines all about us, none of those matters will be of any dominating significance. Then, all that will matter is if the Son of man will "find faith on the earth" (Lk 18:8). Will the individual be found "in Him," not having a righteousness of his own (Phil 3:9). Will he be in "fellowship" with Christ (1 Cor 1:9), walking in the light (1 John 1:7), and walking "in the Spirit" (Gal 5:16-17).
Is it possible that a man will have given anything in exchange for his soul (Matt 16:26)? Will he be found living "by every word of God" (Lk 4:4). Will he have separated himself from the ungodly, and touched not the unclean thing, as God admonished him to do (2 Cor 6:17). Those are the things that will be of paramount importance.
What advantage will it be to have lived in a time when very little was ever said about the resurrection of the dead, the coming of the Lord, and the day of judgment? What will be the lot of a people who were rarely, if ever, challenged to be holy, as God Himself is holy (1 Pet 1:15-16). What if they have not been warned with persistence and power to "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" (1 John 2:15)? Those who have been confined to such surroundings will not be ready for the coming of the Lord, and for a presentation to Him! What is more, those preachers and teachers who have cultured such a miserable environment will be trembling as unfaithful stewards before the Lord of glory. Their position will not be an enviable one.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, send Your people shepherds who will feed them and prepare to pass through the appointed day of judgment.