The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 124

tencles, more exquisite in form, and with faculties the.t shall bear it into mid-heaven, When will you he. ve this body? When your soul has the life-energy to produce it. Vel'B. 8-10.-The phi7osopliy ef courage. "We are confident, I 81\Y," etc. Paul says wee.re courageous, or of good courage. Courage is often confounded with recklessnesa of life, a bnita.l insensibility to de.nger. True courage always implies two thing~. 1. The existenc.e of unavoidable dangers. He who rushes into danger is not couracrcous, but reckless. Paul had unavoidable dangers: "Wo are troubled on every side".'" 2. True convictwn., of being. Ignorance of existence may make men reckless, but never courageous. What was Paul's view of life? (1) Ho regl\l'ded the body as the organ or himself. He speaks of it as a "house," a " tabernacle," etc. (2) The soul he regards as the personality of his being. "We that are in this tabernacle," etc. Tb.e soul, not the body, is the "I," or self. (3) He regarded death as a mere change in the mode of his being. Death changes the house and the garment; it is not the extinction of the tenant or the wearer. (4) He regarded heaven as the perfection of his being. "The house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." The courage of which the apostle here speaks seems to have been based on three things. I. A consciousness that his death would not ENDANGER THE INTERESTS of his being. Notice: 1. His view of the interests of being. It was being" present with the Lord.'' 2. His view of the bearing of death upon the interests of being. He regarded it e.s the flight of the spirit int.o the presence of the Lord. "Absent from the body, present with the Lord." A view of death this antagonistic to the ideas of purgatory, annihilation, soul-deep. 3. His state of mind under the inflnence of these thoughts. "Willing rather to be absent from the body." II. A consciousness that death wonld not DESTROY THE GREAT PURPOSES of being. It is tLe characteristic of a rational being that he has some purpose in life--the pnr- pose is that in which he lives, it makes life valuable to him. To a man who has no purpose in life or has lost his purpose, life is deemed of little worth. What was Paul's purpose in life? "Wherefore we labonr, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him." Is not this purpose sublimely reasonable? If there be a God, does not reason teach that to please him should be the supreme purpose of all intelligent creatures? Now, Paul felt that death would not destroy this purpose. It destroys the purpose of the voluptuous, avaricious, etc.; and hence to them it is terrible.. But it does not destroy the chief purpose of the Christian. In all worlds and times his cLief purpose will be t.o be "accepted of him." Ill. A consciousness that death would not PREVENT THE BEWARDB of being. "We must all appear [ or, 'be ma.de manifest'] before the judgment-seat of Christ." Success, while it should never be regarded either as a rule of conduct or a test of character, must ever have an influence on the mind of man in every department of labour. Non- success discourages. Paul felt that his labour here would appear and be recognized hereafter. "We must all appear," etc. 1. Every one shall receive the recompense of labour after death. "Must all appear." None absent. 2. Every one shall receive a reward for every deed. "That every one may receive the things done in his body.• No lost la.hour. With this consciousness we may well be courageous amidst all the dangers here and in view of the great hereafter. Dread of death is a disgrace to the Cl.iristian. "If," says Cicero, " I were now disengaged from my cumbrous body, and on ruy way to Elysium ; and some: superior being should meet me in my flight and make mt the offer of returning and remaining in my body, I should, without hesitation, reject the offer; so mnch should I prefer going into Elysium to be with Socrates and Plato and all the ancient worthies, and to spend my time in converse with them.'' How much more should the Christian desire to be" absent from the body, and present with the Lord" I Vers. 11-18.-Man in Christ a mw man. "For whether we be beside ourselves," etc. To be "iu Christ" is to be in hie Spirit, in his charact.er, to live in his ideas, pcirici1,lts, etc. Such u man is "a Dew creature." I. The wan in Christ has a new JllP£BIAL IMPULSE. "The love of Christ constraiueth us." Whether tht " love of Christ" here means aie love to us or our love for him is of no practical import. The latter impliea the former; his love is the flame· that on. v. 1-21.] 'l'HE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE C:ORINTHIANS. 125