Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of II Corinthians Chapter 4
Metaphysically Interpreting II Corinthians 4:1-15
4:1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not: 4:2but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.4:3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: 4:4in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them. 4:5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 4:6Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
4:7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves; 4:8we are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; 4:9pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; 4:10always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. 4:11For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 4:12So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
4:13But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak;4:14knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you. 4:15For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God.
May 28, 1944: II Cor. 4:5
To live the life of the Christ what must we have? Unity of mind. We must be one with the Christ, one with God, and one with others who have the same aspiration. Unity involves the Christ consciousness of God and the brotherhood of man.
What does living the life of the Christ mean? It means first of all a life of service: “ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Metaphysically Interpreting II Corinthians 4:16-18
4:16Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. 4:17For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; 4:18while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
May 28, 1944: II Cor. 4:16-18
How is “the inward man . . . renewed day by day”? By communing consciously with the indwelling Spirit of power, we renew the inward man. By renewing the mind we also renew the inward man. By viewing the eternal qualities of love, power, wisdom, and Truth as our endowment and ourselves as their legitimate vehicles of expression we accomplish the work of renewal.
Why do we study consciousness? Because it is one of the unseen things in which life itself is involved and through which it is expressed.
April 17, 1949: II Cor. 4:16-18
When we surrender to affliction, why does it never seem “light” or for the moment? Because by surrendering to it and allowing ourselves to consider it negatively, we lose the power to develop self-dominion, which would show us the temporal nature of affliction.
How does affliction work for us “more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory”? By training us to look beyond the apparent to the real, beyond the external to the reality of the inner life, and also by teaching us to recognize cause in effects.
How can we look at “the things which are not seen”? We can look at them with the eye of the mind, seeing them in our thoughts.
What is the “glory of man?” His mental endowment or his capacity to develop powers of perception and reflection, to correlate ideas, and to enter into the universal Mind or Spirit.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 11-30-2013
