2 Corinthians 4:1. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;--
We are sometimes ready to faint, but we cast our fainting spirits into the arms of God, and our strength is again reserved at times, the very importance of an errand first weighs down the spirit of the messenger, yet afterwards it seems to impel him to more than ordinary exertion. So is it here, having been divinely entrusted with this ministry, and being ready to faint under the tremendous responsibility that it involves, we yet are roused to action by the very pressure which seems to deprive us of the power to act, and therefore «we faint not;»--
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.
Far be it from the teacher of truth ever to use words in a non-natural sense, or to dissemble or equivocate, saying to the ear what he means not in the sense in which the hearer understands it. Far be it from us to mix with the Word of God anything of our own as vintners mix various kinds of wine, for such is the import of the word that the apostle here uses. Let none of us ever handle the Word of God deceitfully. There is no deceit in it; it is all pure unmixed truth. An honest mind is needed for the understanding of it, and then a truthful tongue for the telling of it to others. If we do preach undiluted, unadulterated truth, we must not expect that the natural heart of man will commend our honesty. We are to commend ourselves to every man's conscience, not by cutting and trimming the Word so as to make it palatable to our hearers, leaving one truth out to please this man, and dwelling too long upon another truth so as to please some other hearer, but by bringing out the whole teaching of the Scripture in clear truthfulness that shall command the approval of the conscience even of those who may not accept the truth that we proclaim.
2 Corinthians 4:3. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
It is not hidden under the flowers of our oratory, not hidden under the darkness of our speech, not hidden through the fog of our philosophies; if it be hidden at all, it is hidden «to them that are lost.» If they had any spiritual perception or apprehension at all, if they were not utterly lost to everything: that is spiritual, they would be able to receive the gospel that we are bidden to preach, and which therefore becomes «our gospel.»
2 Corinthians 4:4-5. 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. For we preach not ourselves,--
What a miserable topic we should have if we did preach ourselves! But we do not set up ourselves as «priests» having authority to administer «sacraments» to a lower order of beings who do not possess sacerdotal sanctity; we do not claim to belong to a ministerial caste; we regard ourselves as simply on an equality with the rest of the Christian brotherhood; and, therefore, «we preach not ourselves,»
2 Corinthians 4:5-6. But Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,
We cannot therefore darken the gospel, or cover it up, «for God hath shined in our hearts,»
2 Corinthians 4:6-7. To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
The most earnest and faithful minister of the gospel must ever remember that humbling truth. He has this precious treasure of the gospel entrusted to his charge; he knows he has it, and he means to keep it safely, but, still, he is nothing but an earthen vessel, easily broken, soon marred,-a poor depository for such priceless truth. Yet God has a good reason for putting this treasure into earthen vessels,
2 Corinthians 4:7. That the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
If angels had been commissioned to preach the gospel, we might have attributed some of its power to their superior intelligence, and if only those had been called to preach the gospel who were men of great intellect and of profound learning, we might have considered that the talent of man was the essential qualification for a preacher. But when God selects, as he often does, nay, as he always does; earthen vessels, and some that seem more manifestly earthen than others, then the excellency of the power is unquestionably seen to be of God, and not of us. In Paul's case, the earthiness of the vessel appeared in the trouble which he had to bear.
2 Corinthians 4:8. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed;-
He is not so far gone as that. He sees the stormy billows raging around outside the ship everywhere, and the ship is tossed hither and thither upon the waves yet she does not leak, there is no water in the hold, and the waves will not sink the ship as long as she can keep them outside; and trouble will not distress us as long as we can obey our Lord's injunction, «Let not your heart be troubled.» «We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed;»-
2 Corinthians 4:8. We are perplexed, but not in despair;-
We scarcely know what to do, but we have not given way to despair. We are perplexed, but hope has not gone from us. Dum spiro spero, was the old Latin proverb,-«While I live I hope;» but the Christian proverb is a still better one, Dum expiro spero,- «Even while I die I still have hope,» for «the righteous hath hope in his death.»
2 Corinthians 4:9. Persecuted, but not forsaken;
For there is One who, when we are persecuted, is persecuted with us, and persecuted in us, who has promised that we shall not be left desolate. He lath said, «I will never leave you, nor forsake you.»
«Should persecution rage and flame,
Still truth in thy Redeemer's name;
In fiery trials thou shalt see That, ‘as thy day, thy strength shall be,'»
2 Corinthians 4:9. Cast down, but not destroyed;--
Even if the adversary is able to cast us down, he is not able to destroy us, for «underneath are the everlasting arms.» «Cast down, but not destroyed;»--
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.
Thus did these apostolic saints in a very high sense die daily, and so must we, when called to suffer for the truth's sake, bear about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:11-12. 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.
The disinterestedness of Christian affection is here seen, in that Paul was willing even to be delivered unto death if only the church in Corinth and other Christians might receive more of the divine life. This is the motive that actuated our blessed Lord himself. He saved others; but, in order to do so, himself he could not save; and he who would be a blessing to others must expect that just in proportion to the good that he is able to impart to them must be the cost to himself.
2 Corinthians 4:13-16. 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. For all things are for your sake, 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,
As, in the ease of most of the apostles, he did absolutely and literally perish by martyrdom,
2 Corinthians 4:16. Yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
As our body, through pain and disease, is constantly sinking towards the grave, here is our continual consolation, that our inner man is renewed day by day.
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;
This is one of the most remarkable verses in all Scripture; the contrast here drawn is perfect, and the language is in the highest degree pertinent to the subject. When the apostle speaks of affliction, he contrasts with it glory. The affliction he calls a lightness of affliction, but the glory he calls a weight of glory; and while he describes the affliction as momentary, he rightly says that the glory is eternal; and then, as though he would make the contract still more vivid, he says that this momentary, light affliction «worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.» He can scarcely find words big enough to express the contrast between what believers now have to endure and what they shall forever enjoy.
2 Corinthians 4:18. While 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.