Verse 3 . . . The revelation of God is not something which is legal or external or outside of Paul, but something that has come into the very depths of his soul, that has touched the hardness of his heart and melted it. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God"; not something that causes Paul to boast in himself, but rather something that has caused him to renounce all self-confidence and put his confidence in the Lord. Verse 6: ". . . not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit gives life"; not a ministry which has brought him under a sense of condemnation and guilt, but a ministry of grace which has set him free from all of that and given him life and righteousness, purity and victory.
Finally, verses 13 and 18: "And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished . . . . But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. . . ." Notice the contrast: not the one but the other; not the condemnation but the deliverance; not the letter but the spirit; not an external God but an internal reality; not death but life; not a veil of uncertainty concerning the things of glory and heaven, but an open face beholding the glory of the Lord.
"Now," Paul is saying, "I can take any buffeting in the reality of that experience!"
. . . What are the resources which are adequate for any buffeting and which enable us to say, as Paul says in chapter 4:1 ". . . seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not"? Seeing that I have this ministry . . . an indwelling life, that has brought him out of death into liberty and joy, that has taken away the veil from his face and enabled him to see God--seeing I have received this ministry, I faint not. I have something which enables me to take it in the face of all the buffeting that comes my way, for I can always find resources that are adequate to take the knocks.
. . . . "Give up the struggle and the fight; relax in the omnipotence of the Lord Jesus; look up into His lovely face and as you behold Him, He will transform you into His likeness. You do the beholding--He does the transforming. There is no short-cut to holiness."
". . . changed into the same image from glory to glory . . . " (v. 18)--this is a lifelong, glorious experience, and it will be perfected one day in heaven. . . .
. . . . Buffeted, knocked down but never knocked out, cast down but never in despair, persecuted but never forsaken, because--praise the Lord!--you have found the answer to what it takes to stand in the ministry you have received: a clear view of Jesus, in contemplation; in reflection of His glory in the midst of the battle; and then being made like unto Him as day by day your heart is lifted up to the Lord Jesus and He imparts to your life the sweetness and loveliness or His character (Blessings out of Buffetings, pp. 42, 48-49).
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Alan Redpath (1907 - 1989)
Redpath was a well-known preacher from England who pastored the famous Moody church in chicago for 7 years. He ministered at Keswick conventions and also deeper life meetings on the subject of revival, prayer, full-surrender. He spent the later years of his life ministering Capernwray bible school movement founded by Major Ian Thomas.Dr. Redpath authored six books; the first one, Victorious Christian Living, was published in 1955. Others were Victorious Prayer (1956), Victorious Christian Service (1958), The Royal Route to Heaven (1960), Blessings Out of Buffettings (1965), The Making of a Man of God (1962), and Law and Liberty and Captivity to Conquest (1978).
Alan Redpath was a well-known British evangelist, pastor and author.
Alan Redpath was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the only son of James and Christina Redpath. He went to Durham School, and then studied to be chartered accountant in Newcastle, completing this in 1928. He then worked as the chartered accountant for ICI until 1935. In 1936, he joined the National Young Life Campaign as an evangelist, where he served until he was called to be pastor of Duke Street Baptist Church in Richmond, London in May, 1940. In 1953 he moved to the United States and became the pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago. In 1955, Redpath was elected President of Unevangelized Fields Mission in the United Kingdom. Redpath ministered at Moody Church until 1962. In 1961, Houghton College awarded Redpath an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree.
Redpath returned to the United Kingdom in 1962 as pastor of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh, Scotland. While at Charlotte Baptist, he suffered a near-fatal stroke in 1964, but was able to recover, although he suffered from deep depression for a period afterwards. He preached there until 1966, when he embarked on ministry as a traveling missionary and conference speaker. In 1969, he became Field Representative for Capernwray Missionary Fellowship, and then in 1975 he was named Pastoral Dean of Capernwray Bible School. Redpath married, and had two daughters. He died March 16, 1989, in Birmingham, England.
Alan Redpath was born January 9, 1907, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, the only son of James and Christina Redpath. He attended high school at Durham School and trained as a chartered accountant in Newcastle, qualifying in 1928. From graduation year until 1935, Redpath was the chartered accountant with Imperial Chemical Industries and the following year, 1936, he joined National Young Life Campaign as an evangelist, a position he filled until May 1940. In that month, he was called to be pastor of Duke Street Baptist Church, Richmond, London, and he remained with that church until 1953, when he came to the United States as pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. He served in this position between 1953 and 1962. While at Moody Church, Houghton College awarded Redpath an honorary D.D. degree in 1961.
From Moody, Redpath returned to the British Isles in 1962 to become pastor of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh, Scotland, and he remained with the church until 1966. In that year, he began an itinerant conference and missionary ministry. In 1955, Redpath was elected President of Unevangelized Fields Mission in the United Kingdom. Fourteen years later, in 1969, he became Field Representative for Capernwray Missionary Fellowship and in 1975 Pastoral Dean of Capernwray Bible School. He was still serving in all three capacities in 1983.