2 Corinthians 4:1. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
It is a very high privilege to be called to the work of the Christian ministry, and when the minister remembers what great mercy he has himself received, what sins have been forgiven, what favors have been bestowed, he has the very best incentives in all the world to pursue his ministry with diligence and with zeal. «We faint not,» says the apostle. We do not hang our harps upon the willows. We do not pray to be allowed to retire from the battle, and give up the strife; but, feeling how great has been the mercy of God to our own souls, we are stirred up to press forward with holy zeal to win the victory. We long that others may taste of the same good things on which we have feasted.
2 Corinthians 4:2. But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
There have, alas! been many preachers who have handled the Word of God in the manner described by the apostle. They have out and trimmed the truth in order to please their generation; they have kept back this, or have made unduly prominent that, instead of giving all the truth of God its proper and proportionate prominence in their ministry; but such men have not, after all, won the respect of their hearers. There is an old story told of King John of England that, when he was closely pressed by the barons, he wrote to the Emperor of Morocco, and offered to turn Mohammedan, and take an oath of allegiance to him if he would send an army to help him, and it is said that, ever after, the Emperor of Morocco abhorred and detested the very name of John, for he said he must be an abominable miscreant to be willing to change his religion for the sake of gain. Ah, my brethren! we never gain any respect, even from the world, by seeking after it in this fashion. Be thoroughly honest, especially you who are in the Christian ministry; be outspoken, blunt, and plain; and then, even if men's prejudices condemn you, their consciences will commend you for speaking what you believe to be the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Without light from above, no man can perceive the beauties either of the gospel or of Christ himself. Until God the Holy Spirit sheds a spiritual light upon the person, and offices, and work of Christ, men grope in the dark as blind men do. They see not the truth, they are not persuaded of its excellence; our ministry is to them a veiled ministry, they do not comprehend it. Let those who receive not the gospel see what a miserable state theirs is, they are blinded by «the god of this world.» He has such supremacy over their intellects that he has utterly perverted and ruined them.
2 Corinthians 4:5. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
Hence we learn that anything like priestcraft is altogether foreign to the Bible. The «priest» preaches up himself, the extraordinary value of his ordination, the occult influences which flow from his touch, the mysterious power which dwells in baptismal water, and in «consecrated» wafers and poured-out wine. This is preaching themselves with a vengeance; but Christ's apostles preached not themselves, they preached up Christ and him crucified. Paul wrote, «God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ;» and this was the constant theme of all the apostles. If they mentioned themselves at all, they simply said, as Paul does here, «Ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.»
2 Corinthians 4:6. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
There is the very glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, for he is «very God of very God,» and he who will but think of the wondrous mystery of the Incarnate Deity, and the simple but marvellous plan of salvation through Christ's atoning sacrifice, will see infinitely more glory there than in all God's works in creation or providence. Well does Watts say,-
«The spacious earth and spreading flood Proclaim the wise and powerful God,
And thy rich glories from afar Sparkle in every rolling star.»
«But in Christ's looks a glory stands,
The noblest labour of thine hands,
The pleasing lustre of his eyes Outshines the wonders of the skies.»
2 Corinthians 4:7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
The original might very fairly be rendered, «We have this treasure in oyster shells,» for, just as pearls are found in the shells of oysters, so God gives to those who preach the Word the treasure of the gospel, yet they are themselves nothing but the oyster shells, nothing but the earthen vessel in which God pleases to place his priceless treasures. If you have done anything in the service of God, my brother, remember that you are nothing but the oyster shell, it is God's truth that is the pearl in you; so while you are thankful for the honour that he puts upon you, mind that you give him all the glory. It is well to take the right view of our own imperfections and infirmities, as Paul did when he wrote, «Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.» The infirmity of the creature leaves the more room for the display of the greatness of the Creator; for, if God can work such wondrous results by using such poor tools as we are, how great must be his power and skill!
2 Corinthians 4:8-9. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; We are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
«We are troubled on every side.» There seems to be an allusion here to the Greek wrestling games. Sometimes, in wrestling, a man would be gripped by his adversary so that he could scarcely move hand or foot; yet bravely says the apostle, «We are not distressed,» or, as the original seems to suggest, «We still have a plan of overcoming our adversaries; though they seem to have got us entirely in their power, there is still something that we can do to obtain our release.» And he goes even further than that, for he says, «We are perplexed,» it seemed as if there was nothing that he could do, yet he added, «but not in despair,» «not altogether without help,» as the marginal reading renders it, for when he could do nothing, God could do everything. The death of creature-strength is the birth of omnipotent might. «Persecuted, but not forsaken; «-having no man's face to smile upon him, but still rejoicing in the light of God's countenance. «Cast down,» as if his antagonist had thrown him, and he had fallen heavily upon the ground; yet he says, as he springs up again, «Cast down, but not destroyed.» Many a time the Christian wrestler is thrown by his foe, but he never has a final fall. As Paul, when he was stoned at Lystra, and left for dead, rose up again, and soon went on with his work, so the Christian, when he has been cast down by trouble, often seems to gain new life and vigor, and to go on to serve his Master even better than he did before.
2 Corinthians 4:10. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
The apostles were always ready to die for Christ, and therefore they were enabled to live so much like Christ, imitating his life, and being prepared to follow him even to the death whenever he called them to do so.
2 Corinthians 4:11-14. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
There is no possibility of serving God well, especially under great trials and persecutions, without a deeply-rooted confidence in the truth of his gospel. Once have a doubt concerning that, and the strong sinews of our spiritual manhood are out. Once begin to question the evidences of our holy religion, and you cannot henceforth serve God as you did before. Oh, to be strengthened every day with might in the inner man; to feel that in our own experience, we have continually fresh proofs of the truth of the gospel, and that, whether we have trials or delights, we are thereby the more firmly rooted in faith, even as the trees are rooted both by the March winds and the April showers;-and so rooted in faith that we grow into it, and cannot be separated from it, because it has become a part of ourselves. Religion is nothing to any of you unless it is woven into the very warp and woof of your being; it must go right into your very soul, and become a vital part of you, or else you have never received it in truth.
2 Corinthians 4:15-16. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
The sickness that crumbles away the body of a Christian often confirms his soul in the faith that he received when he was strong and well. Some of the healthiest hours that God's people ever have are the hours of their sorest sicknesses. God often sends his people fevers to make them well; he sends them losses to make them rich, he takes away their earthly friends to bring them closer to their best Friend, and he brings them to their wits' end that they may begin to be truly wise. Often, when God strips us of all our worldly possessions, it is the most soul-enriching season we have ever known; but, on the other hand, the day of temporal prosperity has often been a day of spiritual poverty. Adversity has many a time been an angel in disguise, but prosperity has been the devil in a mask. Let us take care that we cleave closely to Christ under both experiences, for then both of them shall be sanctified to us.
2 Corinthians 4:17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
Notice the antithesis here. «Light affliction» a «weight of glory.» «Affliction» is not set in contrast with peace, or freedom from affliction, but with «glory.» The «light affliction» is «for a moment» the «weight of glory» is «eternal.» And then, as if this were not enough, the apostle has to exhaust all ordinary powers of speech in order adequately to express the contrast between the «light affliction» and the «weight of glory.» It is «far more exceeding» not only a soul brim-full of bliss, and overflowing, but, far more than that if there can be such a thing, «a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;»
2 Corinthians 4:18. While we look not at the things which are seen,-
Alas for us if we did!
2 Corinthians 4:18. But at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal;
Temporal and temporary; see how they melt away one after another!
2 Corinthians 4:18. But the things which are not seen are eternal.
The substance is beyond the river, the shadows are here. God help us to look for the substance, and to claim it as our own, and let none of us try to grasp the shadows which would be worthless if we could ever hold them in our hands!