I Will Glory in the Cross...The Wayfarer 12/10/17

I Will Glory in the Cross
12/10/17

2 Corinthians 12

King James Version (KJV)

12 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

² I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

³ And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

⁴ How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

⁵ Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

⁶ For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

⁸ For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

⁹ And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Once more, I find the concerns of a people being answered with braggadocio and pride of accomplishment, questionable accomplishment, at best, accompanied by not so questionable failure of those accomplishments to attain stated desired results; Those concerns ever more loudly addressed by a deluge that unrelentingly assails the senses as promises are made that are impossible to deliver, without the recognition that any accomplishment that may be made may only be made with the assistance of God, through the grace delivered by Him, leaving Him out of the equation, without comprehension that He IS the equation.

Today’s hymn reflects a proper and prayerful attitude toward those same concerns, and more important concerns that are never discussed, but remain ignored  by those choosing to glory in their own accomplishment, and the accomplishment of others of their ilk, as the concerns they do address become ever more insignificant in view of where concern need be placed.

Here are the lyrics to "I Will Glory in the Cross",

1.
I boast not of works nor tell of good deeds
For naught have I done to merit His grace
All glory and praise shall rest upon Him
So willing to die in my place

Chorus:
I will glory in the cross, in the cross
Lest his suffering all be in vain
I will weep no more for the cross that He bore
I will glory in the cross

2
My trophies and crowns, my robes stained with sin
Were all that I had to lay at His feet
Unworthy to feast from the table of life
‘Till God made provision for me

Chorus:
I will glory in the cross, in the cross
Lest his suffering all be in vain
I will weep no more for the cross that He bore
I will glory in the cross

Bridge:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ‘ever

Tag:
I will weep no more for the cross that He bore
I will glory, I will glory, I will glory in the cross

As Paul wrote the opening verses to the church at Corinth, his concern was for the preservation and edification of a people seeking to quell concerns held by their members, but seeking to continue to follow the very causation of those concerns, not recognizing that causation.

He carefully admonished them throughout the epistle sent to them to recognize the fallibility and falsity that generated so much division among them, as each sought glory, each sought recognition of ideas that detracted and would have diminished their ability to endure through the required faith in God and Christ Jesus while leading ever farther from the grace given them by the sacrifice made for them, and all to follow as well.

Leadership was sought, but sought in the wrong places, from the wrong people, through the wrong means given by wrong doctrine that denied the truth given by Christ Jesus.

He also carefully pointed out that any glory to be found would not be found in following any other than Christ Jesus, and, that if glory were to be taken by any, it should be the glory that lies within that grace, glory belonging only to Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:10-21 KJV

¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

¹¹ I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

¹² Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

¹³ For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.

¹⁴ Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

¹⁵ And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

¹⁶ But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

¹⁷ Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?

¹⁸ I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?

¹⁹ Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.

²⁰ For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

²¹ And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.

Until and unless we give glory where it is due and cease looking for repositories among our own kind, concerns will continue to lie in the directions given by those same repositories, as they seek glory unearned and unmerited, while the One to Whom glory and honor belongs goes as unrecognized as the true concerns that would alleviate all others if only addressed by the simple recognition of the fact of the existence of the fallibility of man and the infallibility of God, the eternal essence of the soul given man by God, and the mortal corrupt body inhabited by that soul that holds no glory of its own, and must rely on the glory and righteousness of Christ.

While Paul’s return was anticipated by the Corinthians, and his concern for them was made evident in the content of his epistle to them, granting guidance for their concerns, and our own which simply repeat the same concerns held by them, holds importance in content, it is the return of Christ himself that should remain paramount within the concerns of those who should also choose to glory in the cross and what was done on it instead of glorying in any other accomplishment, accomplishment that is of no effect and no importance except in whether it recognizes HIS accomplishment for us through his teachings and ministry, life lived without sin, substitutional sacrifice and Resurrection that grants the glory of eternal life to those willing to glory in the faith in HIS ability and guidance instead of their own.

“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer