2 Corinthians 6:1-18

EXPOSITION

The methods and conditions of an apostolic ministry (2 Corinthians 6:1-10). Appeal to the Corinthians to reciprocate his affection and separate themselves from evil (2 Corinthians 6:11-18).

2 Corinthians 6:1

We then, as fellow workers. Continuing the entreaty of 2 Corinthians 5:20, he adds, "But as [his] fellow workers we also exhort you." The "also" shows that he does not rest content with merely entreating them ( δεόμεθα), but adds to the entreaty an exhortation emphasized by a self-sacrificing ministry. "Fellow workers with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9). Beseech. The word is the same as that rendered "beseech" by the Authorized Version in 2 Corinthians 5:20, and it should be rendered "exhort:" "God exhorts you by our means; we therefore entreat you to be reconciled to God; yes, and as Christ's fellow workers we exhort you." That ye receive not. The word means both passively to receive and actively to accept as a personal boon. The grace of God. To announce this is the chief aim of the gospel (Acts 13:43; Acts 20:24). In vain; that is, "without effect." You must not only accept the teaching of God's Word, but must see that it produces adequate moral results. It must not, so to speak, fall "into a vacuum ( εἰς κενόν)." "He," says Pelagius, "receives the grace of God in vain who, in the new covenant, is not himself new." If you really are in Christ you must show that you have thereby become "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). The branches of the true Vine must bear fruit. (For the phrase, "in vain," see Galatians 2:2; Philippians 2:16.) What the grace of God is meant to effect is sketched in Titus 2:11, Titus 2:12.

2 Corinthians 6:2

For he saith; that is, "God saith." The nominative is involved in the "fellow workers,"so that this is hardly to be classed with those rabbinic methods of citation found also in Philo, which deliberately omit the word "God" as the speaker, and use "He" by preference. I have heard thee, etc. The quotation is from the LXX. of Isaiah 49:8, and is meant to express the necessity for receiving the grace of God, not only efficaciously, but at once. The "thee" in Isaiah is the Servant of Jehovah, the type primarily of Christ, and then of all who are "in Christ." In a time accepted; literally, in the Hebrew, in a time of favour. It is the season of grace, before grace has been wilfully rejected, and the time for judgment begins (Proverbs 1:24-28). The accepted time; literally, the well-accepted opportunity. St. Paul in his earnestness strengthens the force of the adjective. The same word occurs in 2 Corinthians 8:12; Romans 15:16, Romans 15:31.

"There is a deep nick in Time's restless wheel

For each man's good."

(Chapman.)

Now. No doubt St. Paul meant that, as long as life lasts, the door of repentance is never absolutely closed; but it is probable that he had specially in view the nearness of the advent of Christ. Compare the stress laid upon the word "today" in Hebrews 3:7, Hebrews 3:8, and "at least in this thy day" (Luke 19:42).

2 Corinthians 6:3

Giving no offence in anything. An undercurrent of necessary self defence runs through St. Paul's exhortation. The participle is, like "fellow workers," a nominative to "we exhort you" in 2 Corinthians 6:1. Offence. The word here is not skandalon, which is so often rendered "offence," but proskope, which occurs here alone in the New Testament, and is not found in the LXX. It means "a cause of stumbling." Proskomma, a stumbling block, is used in 1 Corinthians 8:9. Be not blamed. When any just blame can be attached to the minister, the force of the ministry of reconciliation is fatally weakened. (For the word, see 2 Corinthians 8:20.)

2 Corinthians 6:4

Approving ourselves; rather, commending ourselves, He is again referring to the insinuation, which had evidently caused him deep pain, that he was not authorized to preach, as his Judaic opponents were, by "letters of commendation" (2 Corinthians 3:1-3) from James or from the ciders at Jerusalem. His credentials came from God, who had enabled him to be so faithful. As the ministers of God (1 Corinthians 4:1). The article should be omitted. In much patience. Christ had forewarned his apostles that they would have much to endure, and had strengthened them by the promise that "he that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 10:22). In afflictions. This word, as we have seen, is one of the haunting words in 2 Corinthians 1:4-11. In necessities. St, Paul was poor, and was often in want (Acts 20:34). In distresses. The same word which occurs in 2 Corinthians 4:8. It means "extreme pressure" (literally, narrowness of space), and is a climax of the other words.

2 Corinthians 6:5

In stripes. The stripes were of two kinds—from Jewish whips and Roman rods. But of the five scourgings with Jewish whips not one is mentioned in the Acts, and only one of the three scourgings with Roman rods (Acts 16:23). Nothing, therefore, is more clear than that the Acts only furnishes us with a fragmentary and incomplete record, in which, as we gather from the Epistles, either the agonies of St. Paul's lifelong martyrdom are for some reason intentionally minimized, or else (which is, perhaps, mere probable) St. Paul was, as his rule and habit, so reticent about his own sufferings in the cause of Christ that St. Luke was only vaguely, if at all, aware of many scenes of trial through which he had passed. In imprisonments. St. Paul was frequently in prison, but St. Luke only tells us of one of these occasions (Acts 16:24)—at Philippi; the Roman imprisonment and that at Caesarea were subsequent to this Epistle. In tumults. These were a normal incident of St. Paul's life, both up to this time and for years afterwards (Acts 13:50; Acts 14:19; Acts 16:22; Acts 17:4, Acts 17:5; Acts 18:12; Acts 19:28, Acts 19:29; Acts 21:27-39; Acts 22:22, Acts 22:23; Acts 23:9, Acts 23:10; Acts 27:42, etc.) The word akatastasiai might also mean "insecurities," i.e. homelessness, wanderings, uncertainties; but New Testament usage seems decisive in favour of the frowner meaning (2 Corinthians 12:20; 1 Corinthians 14:33; James 3:15). In labours (2 Corinthians 11:28; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Acts 20:34; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8). In watchings. "Spells of sleeplessness" were a necessary incident of such a life; and an eminently nervous nature like that of St. Paul is rarely capable of the habitual relief of sound steep. Hence he again refers to this in 2 Corinthians 11:27. His "sleeplessness" was sometimes the necessary result of labours "night and day" (Acts 20:31; 1 Thessalonians 2:9, etc.). In fastings. St. Paul never inculcates the practice of voluntary fasting as a duty (for the reading in 1 Corinthians 7:5 is more than dubious); but it is probable that he found it personally useful at times (Acts 13:2, Acts 13:3; Acts 14:23; Acts 9:9). The nine forms of suffering hitherto mentioned—three general, three specific, and three voluntary—are all physical sufferings borne with "much endurance."

2 Corinthians 6:6

By pureness; rather, in pureness, as the preposition is the same. He now gives six instances of special gifts and virtues. The "pureness" is not only "chastity," but absolute sincerity (1 John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:10). By knowledge. The knowledge is the true knowledge of the gospel in its fulness (Ephesians 3:4). In his depth of insight into the truth St. Paul was specially gifted. The word gnosis had not yet acquired the fatal connotations which afterwards discredited it. By long suffering (2 Timothy 3:10; 2 Timothy 4:2). The patient endurance of insults, of which St. Paul shows a practical specimen in this Epistle, and still more in Philippians 1:15-18. By kindness. "Love suffereth long, and is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4); "Long suffering, kindness" (Galatians 5:22). By the Holy Ghost. To the special gift of the Spirit St. Paul attributed all his success (1 Thessalonians 1:5; Romans 15:18, Romans 15:19). By love unfeigned; which is the surest fruit of the Spirit, and the best of all spiritual gifts (2 Corinthians 12:15; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.; Romans 12:9, etc.).

2 Corinthians 6:7

By the word of truth. St. Paul now passes to the more specific endowments of the true teacher. By the power of God; literally, in power of God (2 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Corinthians 4:20). "For the kingdom of God is not [only] in word, but in power." By the armour of righteousness. Here first the preposition "in" ( ἐν) is changed for "through," "by means of" ( διὰ). Armour; rather, arms. On the right hand and on the left. That is, both by offensive weapons and a defensive panoply (2 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:11-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8).

2 Corinthians 6:8

By honour and dishonour; rather, by glory and dishonour. There is no need to change here the meaning of διὰ, "by means of," to "through," i.e. "amid." The honour and dishonor are alike means which contribute to the commendation of the ministry. Of our Lord some said, "He is a deceiver," while others said, "He is a good man" (John 7:12); and the dispraise of some is the highest praise (Matthew 5:11). Compare with the whole passage 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, where we see that "abuse," "insult," and "slander," constituted no small part of the apostle's daily trial. By evil report and good report. The beatitude of malediction (Luke 6:22; 1 Peter 4:14). St. Paul had deliberately abandoned the desire to win the suffrages of men at the cost of undesirable concessions (Galatians 1:10). As deceivers. The Jews called Christ "a deceiver" (mesith, i.e. a deliberate and misleading impostor), Matthew 27:63; John 7:12. This is an illustration of the "evil report," and in the Clementine homilies, a century later, St. Paul, under the disgraceful pseudonym of "Simon Magus," is still defamed as a deceiver. And yet true. There is no "yet" in the original, and its omission gives more force to these eloquent and impassioned contrasts.

2 Corinthians 6:9

As unknown; literally, as being ignored; as those whom no one cares to recognize. And yet well known. "And becoming fully recognized." "Recognized" by God (1 Corinthians 13:12), and ultimately by all good men (2 Corinthians 11:6), though they might be contemptuously ignored by men. As dying (2 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:11). Behold. The word calls attention to what seemed like a daily miracle. The paradox of the Greek tragedian—

"Who knows if life be death, and death be life?"

which seemed so supremely amusing to Aristophanes and the wits of Athens, became a familiar fact to the early Christians (Romans 8:36; 1 Corinthians 15:31; Ephesians 2:5, Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:13, etc.). As chastened. The daily Divine education of suffering (Psalms 118:18).

2 Corinthians 6:10

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing. The early Christians always insist on "joy" as one of the fruits of the Spirit (comp. Matthew 5:10-12), and especially joy in the midst of grief and anguish (Romans 5:3; Romans 14:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Rejoice always"). The best proof that this was no mere phraseology, but an amazing and new charism granted to the world, may be seen in the Epistle to the Philippians. It was written when St. Paul was old, poor, deserted, imprisoned, in danger of immediate death. and apparently in the lowest deeps of forsakes sorrow; vet the spontaneous keynote of the whole Epistle is, "I rejoice; rejoice ye" (Philippians 4:6, Philippians 4:12). As poor. The word means even "paupers," and describes a very literal fact. St. Paul, for Christ's sake, had suffered "the loss of all things" (Philippians 3:8). Yet making many rich. Not by getting collections for them (which would be a most unworthy antithesis, though it is strangely accepted by Chrysostom and others); but "by imparting to them the true riches, in the form of spiritual gifts, and the teaching of the gospel" (comp. James 2:5). Possessing all things; rather, as having nothing, and fully having all things. The verb means "possessing all things to the full." For "all things are ours" (1 Corinthians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 3:22).

2 Corinthians 6:11-18

An appeal to the Corinthians to reciprocate his love for them, and separate themselves from evil.

2 Corinthians 6:11

Corinthians! A rare and very personal form of loving appeal, which occurs nowhere else in these Epistles (comp. Philippians 4:15). Our mouth is open to you. St. Paul has evidently been writing in a mood of inspired eloquence. The fervour of his feelings has found vent in an unusual flow of beautiful and forcible language. He appeals to the unreserved freedom with which he has written as a reason why they should treat him with the same frank love. Our heart is enlarged. After writing the foregoing majestic appeal, he felt that he had disburdened his heart, and as it were made room in it to receive the Corinthians unreservedly, in spite of all the wrongs which some of them had done him. On the antithesis of the mouth and the heart, see Matthew 12:34; Romans 10:10.

2 Corinthians 6:12

Ye are not straitened in us. Any narrowing of the sympathy or straining of the relations between us does not rise in any way from me. (For the verb, see 2 Corinthians 4:8.) Ye are straitened in your own bowels; rather, in your own hearts. Any tightening or pressure of the feelings which should exist between us rises solely from your own hearts. Enlarge and open them, as I have done, and we shall once more love each other aright. The verb has already occurred in 2 Corinthians 4:8 ("distressed"). Your own bowels. It is to be regretted that the Authorized Version adopted the meaningless and often rather incongruous word "bowels" for the Greek word σπλάγχνα used in its Hebraic sense of "feelings," "affections" (So 2 Corinthians 5:4; Isaiah 16:11). This literalism is always out of place, and especially in Phil 7, 12, 20.

2 Corinthians 6:13

Now, for a recompense in the same. He begs them to give him "a reward in kind;" in other words, he wishes them to be as frank with him as he has been to them. As unto my children. And therefore, as a spiritual father, I may surely ask for sympathy. St. Paul uses the same metaphor in 1 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:11. Be ye also enlarged. Treat me as I have treated you (comp. "Be as I am," Galatians 4:12).

2 Corinthians 6:14

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Ewald, followed by Dean Stanley, Holsten, and others, thinks that here there is a sudden dislocation of the argument, and some have even supposed that the section, 2Co 6:14-7:1, is either an after thought written by the apostle on the margin of the Epistle after it was finished; or even an interpolation. The latter view has arisen from the unusual expressions of the section, and the use of the word "Belial," and the command of Greek shown by the varied expressions. There is no adequate ground for these conjectures. Every writer is conscious of moods in which words come to him more fluently than at other times, and all writers of deep feeling, like St. Paul, abound in sudden transitions which correspond to the lightning-like rapidity of their thoughts. It is doubtful whether the readers would not have seen at once the sequence of thought, which depends on circumstances which we can only conjecture. Probably the alienation from St. Paul had its root in some tampering with unbelievers. Such might at any rate have been the case among the Gentile members of the Church, some of whom were even willing to go to sacrificial feasts in heathen temples (1Co 8-10.). "Unequally yoked" is a metaphor derived from Le 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:10, and is the opposite of "true yoke fellow" (Philippians 4:3). What fellowship; literally, participation (Ephesians 5:6-11). Unrighteousness; literally, lawlessness (1 John 3:4). It was a special mark of heathen life (Romans 7:19). Light with darkness. This antithesis is specially prominent in Ephesians 5:9-11 and Colossians 1:12, Colossians 1:13, and in the writings of St. John (John 1:5; John 3:19; 1 John, passim).

2 Corinthians 6:15

Concord; literally, harmony or accord. The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament or in the LXX. The adjective sumphonos occurs in 1 Corinthians 7:5. Christ with Belial (see 1 Corinthians 10:21), Belial. Here used in the form Beliar, as a proper name, because no Greek word ends in the letter τ. In the Old Testament it does not stand for a person, but means "wickedness" or "worthlessness." Thus in Proverbs 6:12 "a naughty person" is adam belial. "A son of Belial" means "a child of wickedness" by a common Hebraism (Deuteronomy 13:13; 19:22). And hence, since Belial only became a proper name in later days—

"To him no temples rose,

No altars smoked."

Perhaps, as has been conjectured, this clause, which contains two such unusual words, may be a quotation. It is, however, no ground of objection that Belial does not occur elsewhere in St. Paul, for until the pastoral Epistles he only uses diabolos twice (Ephesians 4:27; Ephesians 6:11). What part, etc.? This is not, like the other clauses, an illustration, but the statement of the fact itself which "has come in amidst the lively, sweeping flow of the discourse." With an infidel; i.e. with an unconverted Gentile.

2 Corinthians 6:16

What agreement. The word means "unity of composition." This is the fifth synonym which St. Paul has used in this clause— μετοχὴ κοινωνία συμφώνησις, μερὶς συγκατάθεσις. The verb συγκατάθημι occurs in Luke 23:51. St. Paul in this chapter shows an almost unwonted command over the Greek language. With idols (Matthew 6:24; 1 John 5:21). Ye. "We" is the reading of א, B, D, L. Ewald, without sufficient ground, makes it one of his arguments for regarding this section as interpolated. Are the temple of the living God. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every Christian heart, which is the distinguishing result of the new covenant, was very prominent in the thoughts of St. Paul. As God hath said. The quotation is altered slightly from the LXX. of Le 26:12. But in this and the next verses we have "a mosaic of citations" from this passage and Exodus 29:45; Isaiah 53:11; Ezekiel 20:34; 2 Samuel 7:14; comp. Jeremiah 31:9; Isaiah 43:6. This mode of compressing the essence of various quotations into one passage was common among the rabbis. In them. In the original Hebrew this means "among them" (Exodus 29:45; Le Exodus 26:12). since the indwelling of God by his Holy Spirit belongs only to the new covenant.

2 Corinthians 6:17

From among them; i.e. from among the unbelievers. Touch not the unclean thing (Le 2 Corinthians 11:8, etc.; Isaiah 52:11). I will receive you (comp. Ezekiel 20:34). These promises to Israel are naturally transferred to the ideal Israel, the Christian Church.

2 Corinthians 6:18

And will be a Father unto you. These reminiscences are sufficiently near to 2 Samuel 7:8-14; Isaiah 43:6; Jeremiah 31:9, to render needless the supposition that they come from any apocryphal book (Ewald) or Jewish hymn (Grotius). Saith the Lord Almighty. The phrase, not elsewhere used by St. Paul, is taken from 2 Samuel 7:8 (LXX.). The epithet indicates the certain fulfilment of the promises. Pantokrator, for "Almighty," is used in the LXX. for "Lord of sabaoth," and in the New Testament only occurs elsewhere in the Apocalypse.

HOMILETICS

2 Corinthians 6:1, 2 Corinthians 6:2 - The grace of God received in vain.

"We then, as workers together," etc. There are three topics here for meditation.

I. A SUBLIME MISSION. "Workers together with him." What is the grand work in which God is engaged and in which we can cooperate? He is engaged in numerous works—works of creation, government, conservation, in which we can have no hand. The work here is evidently the work spoken of in the preceding chapter—the work of reconciling man to himself, the work which he does in Christ. Now, all genuine ministers cooperate with him in this; their grand endeavour is to bring alienated souls into friendship with him. Blessed partnership this.

II. A SOLEMN POSSIBILITY. "Receive not the grace of God in vain." The grace of God here evidently refers to the offer of this reconciliation. This may be looked upon objectively or subjectively. Objectively it is the gospel, which is called the "gospel of the grace of God;" subjectively it is personal Christianity. It may be received "in vain" in two forms. Many have the offer of reconciliation and reject it, and to them the offer has been received "in vain." It is possible for those who have personally experienced it to lose it. The free agency of man, the exhortations of the Scriptures, and the facts of apostasy—as in the case of David, Peter, etc.—show the possibility of losing this. No greater calamity can happen to a man than to receive this "grace in vain;" hence the earnestness of the apostle.

III. A SUPREME OPPORTUNITY. "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." To use the words of a modern writer, "There is, so to speak, a 'now' running through the ages. For each Church and nation, for each individual soul, there is a golden present that may never again recur, and in which lie boundless possibilities for the future. The words of the apostle are, as it were, the transfigured expression of the generalization of a wide experience, which tells us that there is a tide in the affairs of men.'"

2 Corinthians 6:3-8 - The highest office injured by its officer.

"Giving no offence in any thing," etc. Paul was engaged in the highest office—the office of reconciling men to God; in this he was a coworker with the Infinite, and here he refers to—

I. AN EVIL TO WHICH MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL ARE LIABLE. The evil referred to is bringing blame upon the ministry. "Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed." So perverse is man that he often degrades some of the highest offices he is called to sustain. There are merchants that degrade commerce, doctors that degrade medicine, judges that degrade justice, statesmen that degrade legislation, kings that degrade the throne; but, what is worse far, there have been ministers who have degraded the ministry, and there are such still, ignorant men, intolerant men, worldly men, unspiritual men, blatant dogmatists. Ah me! how the pulpit is often degraded!

II. AN EVIL WHICH MUST BE AVOIDED AT ANY COST. See what Paul did and suffered to avoid this stupendous evil. "But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses," etc. Mark:

1. How he suffered in order to maintain the honour of the ministry. "Afflictions," "necessities," "distresses," "stripes," "imprisonments," "tumults," "labours," "watchings," "fastings," etc.

2. How he wrought in order to maintain the honour of the ministry. By "pureness," "knowledge," "long suffering," "kindness," etc. He learned to labour and to wait. "Neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." The ministry in these days is too often degraded into a trade, a profession, a medium for the gratification of the vanity, ambition, and the greed of men. The millions have come to call churches and chapels "preaching shops." One of the greatest trades carried on in this commercial age is, perhaps, the trade in the gospel

2 Corinthians 6:9, 2 Corinthians 6:10 - "Things are not what they seem."

"As unknown, and yet well known," etc. Against misrepresentations and slanders, Paul, in the context, vindicates his apostolic authority, and proclaims at the same time the unworldly principle which animated both him and his fellow workers. These words present to us the two opposite sides of a good man's life—the secular and the spiritual The side revealed, as seen by man, and the side in the sight of God.

I. TO THE SECULAR EYE HE WAS UNKNOWN; TO THE SPIRITUAL WELL KNOWN. "As unknown, and yet well known." The world has never yet rightly interpreted and understood the real life of a genuine disciple of Christ. To the world, Paul appeared an ignominious fanatic. John says, "The world knoweth us not." The world does not understand self-sacrificing love, the animating, shaping, directing principle of a godly man's life. It understands ambition, greed, revenge, but not this. Hence men in every age, so far as they have come under the rule of this "new commandment," have been regarded as monsters unworthy of life. This explains martyrdom, ay, and the crucifixion of Christ. But, though thus unknown to men, they are well known to others.

1. Well known to Christ. "I know my sheep." Christ knows all his disciples.

2. Well known to heavenly spirits. They are famous in heaven. At their conversion heaven rejoiced, and over every step of their subsequent history heaven watches with a loving care.

II. TO THE SECULAR EYE HE WAS DYING; TO THE SPIRITUAL HE WAS LIVING, "As dying, and, behold, we live." To worldly men Paul appeared as mortal as other men; with a frame scourged by persecution, shattered by perils, wasted by labour and want, he was nothing but a dying man. His contemporaries knew that he would soon run himself out, and mingle with the dust of all departed men. But spiritually he was living. "Behold, we live." The soul within that dying body of his was living a wonderful life—a life of Christly inspiration and aims, a life of communion with heaven; a life destined to become more sunny, vigorous, and beautiful with every aspiration and act. Living is not body breathing, but spirit acting, acting according to the Divine laws of our constitution.

III. TO THE SECULAR EYE HE WAS MUCH TRIED; TO THE SPIRITUAL HE WAS NOT DESTROYED. "Chastened, and not killed." The word "chastened" here refers, I think, to his various scourgings, suffered in the synagogues and elsewhere. To worldly spectators he, with all his wounds, would appear a dead man; but he was spiritually alive. The hardships and the strifes did not touch his soul; his spiritual purposes, enjoyments, and hopes were not killed. Spiritual life is unkillable; like certain plants in the vegetable kingdom, which have their germs or roots so deep down in the soil, and so thoroughly mixed up with it, that, though you cut down the trunk, or pull up the roots from the earth, their life will break out again.

IV. TO THE SECULAR EYE HE WAS VERY SORROWFUL; TO THE SPIRITUAL HE WAS ALWAYS REJOICING. "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing." As if Paul had said, "Under our sufferings, we seem to be very cast down and sad; dreary, degraded, and wretched does our life seem to the worldly men around us." So it often is with the life of a Christian man. But, on the spiritual side, a truly godly man is "always rejoicing," rejoicing in a good conscience, rejoicing in a stream of pure and noble thoughts, rejoicing in a consciousness of Divine favour.

V. TO THE SECULAR EYE HE WAS VERY POOR; TO THE SPIRITUAL HE WAS WEALTH GIVING. "As poor, yet making many rich." Paul and his colleagues were poor; they had suffered the loss of all things. Yet spiritually they were not only rich, but made others rich.

1. The highest work of man is to impart spiritual riches to his brother man.

2. Worldly poverty does not disqualify a man for the discharge of this sublime mission.

VI. TO THE SECULAR EYE HE WAS DESTITUTE; TO THE SPIRITUAL HE WAS ENORMOUSLY RICH. "Having nothing, and yet possessing all things." Nothing of this world's good, yet "possessing all things," not legally, but morally. Christliness gives us an interest in all things. "All things are yours."

Do not estimate life by appearances—things are not what they seem. Christliness with poverty, persecution, and suffering, is infinitely to be preferred to wickedness with the whole world at its command.

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 - Genuine Christian love.

"O ye Corinthians," etc. Notice—

I. ITS POWER. What does it do? It enlarges the heart. "Our heart is enlarged" The heart means the whole spiritual nature, and this spiritual nature is capable of indefinite expansion and Christian love, and nothing else can effect this. A man's intellect may be expanded by ideas, but his heart, out of which are "the issues of life," only by love. What a difference between the heart of a miser or a bigot to the heart of a Paul, a Howard, or a Fenelon! Selfishness contracts the soul into a grub, love expands it into a seraph. Therefore "covet earnestly the best gift," that is, love.

II. ITS IRREPRESSIBILITY. "Our mouth is open unto you." A large heart is so full of loving sympathies and aims that speech becomes a necessity. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." The language of love is the language of nature, the language of eloquence, the language of inspiration.

III. ITS HUNGER. What does it hunger for? "Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels ['affections,' or 'hearts']," etc. Paul states that their hearts towards him were "straitened," or narrow, compared with his to them. He entreats them to be "enlarged," and thus "recompense" or return his affections. Love, by a necessity of its nature, hungers for a return of its affections from the object on which it is bestowed. Paul did not ask them for their money, or their patronage or praise, but simply for a return of the love which he had for them.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 - Unequally yoked.

"Be ye not unequally yoked," etc. Observe here three things.

I. THERE IS AN ESSENTIAL SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE WHO ARE TRULY CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT. The line of demarcation is broad and conspicuous. The difference is the difference:

1. Between "righteousness and unrighteousness."

2. Between "light and darkness."

3. Between Christ and Satan. "What concord hath Christ with Belial?"

4. Between faith and infidelity. "What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

5. Between the "temple of God" and the "temple of idols."

II. NOTWITHSTANDING THE SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCE, THE CONVERTED ARE IN DANGER OF BEING ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNCONVERTED. Hence the command, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." Also the command, "Come out from among them." Alas! we find such association in almost every department of life—in the matrimonial, the commercial, the political, etc.

III. FROM SUCH AN ASSOCIATION IT IS THE DUTY OF THE CONVERTED TO EXTRICATE THEMSELVES. "Wherefore come out from among them," etc. Observe two things.

1. The nature of the separation. "Come out from among them." It must be:

2. The encouragement to the separation. "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters." As a Father, what does God do for his children?

2 Corinthians 6:1-10 - Appeal growing out of the foregoing argument.