Sunday Sermons
Integrity ( 2Cor. 6:3-10)
“The apostle can make this appeal (6:1-2) with confidence as well as with a sense of urgency, because he knows that his conscience is clear. No one can accuse him of preaching from unworthy motives, or of not having suffered for the doctrine he proclaims. Of himself and his fellow apostles it could never be said that they had received the grace of God in vain. The fact that Paul turns at once to what is in effect another defense of his ministry implies, as Denney rightly says, ‘that there are people who will be glad of an excuse not to listen to the gospel, or not to take it seriously, and that they will look for such an excuse in the conduct of its ministers’” (Tasker p. 92).
6:3 “Giving no cause for offense in anything”: “'Whatever his readers may do, however, Paul insists his conduct is worthy of an ambassador of God. He is putting no stumbling block in the way of anyone. He is giving his readers no excuse for rejecting his message” (Erdman p. 70). “Never do we put an obstacle in any one's way” (TCNT). “So carefully they guard themselves at every point. Here is a sermon for preachers, to say nothing of church members!” (Lenski p. 1062). “So that the ministry will not be discredited”: A great responsibility comes upon every individual who becomes a Christian. Your own life can verify the credibility of the gospel, and make it look attractive or at least worth investigating, or it can make the gospel message look impotent. It's very difficult to sustain a successful attack against the Bible or the existence of God, for the majority of people even in our own country, still believe in both. But what turns people off from the truth is often the hypocritical lives of those who profess to be Christians (2 Samuel 12:14; 1 Timothy 5:14) How unselfish Paul is! He was not all wrapped up in himself. His primary concern was to live and act in such a way that he never would bring discredit upon the message he proclaimed. The important thing to Paul was that nobody could use his life as a reason not to become a Christian. He refused to give the opponents of Christianity any ammunition. Next time you are tempted to say or do something that is un-Christ-like, just remember, are you going to present one more obstacle in the way of those who are seeking eternal life? Are you going to give the unsaved one more reason to do nothing and thus end up lost? Is that really what you want to do?
6:4 “But in everything commending ourselves, as servants of God”: At all times and in all conditions. In fact, even in the worst and most difficult situations, we refuse to bring dishonor to the religion of Jesus Christ. “Indeed we want to prove ourselves genuine servants of God whatever we have to go through” (Phi). “In much endurance”: “It does not describe the frame of mind which can sit down with folded hands and bowed head and let a torrent of troubles sweep over it, in passive resignation. It describes the ability to bear things in such a triumphant way that it transfigures and transmutes them” (Barclay p. 237). Without this such patience, none of the following could have been endured successfully (2 Timothy 2:24). “'It may be that the hardest lesson of all to learn is how to wait, how to wait when nothing seems to be happening, and when all the circumstances seem calculated to bring nothing but discouragement. James insists that the Christian must be like the prophets who again and again had to wait for the action of God; he must be like the farmer who sows the seed and who then throughout the slow months waits until the harvest comes (James 5:7-10). It may well be that this is the hardest task of all for an age which has made a god of speed. It is not clad with romance and glamour; it has not the excitement of sudden adventurous action; but it is the very virtue of God himself. “And man in his life on earth must reproduce God's undefeatable patience with people and God's undiscourageable patience with events” (Flesh and Spirit. Barclay pp. 96-97). “Afflictions”: “The things which press sore upon us...There are things which weigh down a man's spirit, the sorrows which are a burden on his heart, the disappointments which are likely to crush the life out of him, the sheer pressure of the demands of life upon him” (Barclay p. 237). “Afflictions include all experiences in which pressure--physical, mental, or spiritual--is put upon him” (Tasker p. 93). “Hardships”: “Hardships of which no mitigation was possible” (Tasker p. 93). “The inescapable pains of life. There are certain things which a man involved in the human situation must bear”(Barclay p. 238). To Paul, serving God meant that certain things couldn't be avoided. Suffering, hardship, the loss of some friends, ridicule from the world, opposition, confrontation, being called names, rejection, and so on. “Distresses”: “Situations where there was no room to turn around and nothing but frustration
(Tasker p. 93). “Situations of utter perplexity in which Christ's servant is faced with difficulties which, humanly speaking, appear to be insoluble” (Hughes p. 224). “Dire straits” (NEB). “It means extreme pressure” (P.P. Comm. p. 145). “The prevailing idea is that of pressure and confinement: each stage narrower than the one before, so that no room is left for movement or escape”(Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 75). Compare with 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.
6:4 “In beatings”: (Acts 16:23ff). “Imprisonments”: “We have been beaten, put in jail, faced angry mobs” (Tay). He will write Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon from prison. “Tumults”: Paul often faced angry mobs (Acts 13:50; 14:19).“Few experiences of flogging by Jews or by Roman lictors, a taste of abominable jails, and a riot or two about one's house or one's person would alone be enough to take the heart out of any man” (Lenski p. 1066). “In labors”: “Toil to the point of sheer exhaustion, the kind of toil which takes everything of body, mind, and soul that a man has to give” (Barclay pp. 239-240). 'Which filled the day with weariness.' (Erdman p. 70) Toil to the point of fatigue. We sometimes forget that Paul had to financially support himself at times, which means he was burning the candle at both ends (1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). “Sleeplessness”: Nights spent in prayer or nights in which Paul was unable to sleep because of peril or discomfort. “Nights rendered wakeful by anxiety or press of work (Acts 20:31) or urgency of prayer (Acts 16:25)” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 75). “Worked to exhaustion, stayed awake through sleepless nights of watching, and gone without food” (Tay). “In hunger”: Often without enough food. Yet in all of this, setting a godly example and having a spiritual attitude. The following is a list of those things that were found in the heart of Paul and his fellow-workers. We should pay close attention to what is being said here. In the above "hardships" Paul was able to manifest the following qualities.
6:6 “In purity”: “With innocence” (Mon); “We have to be pure-minded” (Knox). “Purity of motive in all that they do and suffer”(Lenski p. 1067). “In knowledge”: “The Apostle has no doubts about the validity of the knowledge he possesses” (Hughes p. 227). Hardship never moved Paul to "question" God or the truthfulness of the message that he preached. Rather than questioning God in the midst of suffering, Paul only gained more insight (Psalm 119:71; James 1:2-4). “In patience”: This includes “patience with the obstinacy and stupidity of other people” (Tasker p. 94). “The ability to bear with people even when they are misguided and wrong, even when they are cruel and insulting...Patience is the quality of a man who may lose a battle but who will never admit defeat in a campaign” (Barclay pp. 240-241). “The Corinthians were also well aware from the shame of their own experience that a deficiency of longsuffering in the Church of Christ leads to jealousies, back bitings, and divisions amongst the very persons who ought to be displaying to the world their brotherly unity and forbearance in Christ” (Hughes p. 227).
6:6 “In kindness”: “The graciousness that puts others at ease and shrinks from giving pain” (Erdman p. 71). “Christian kindness is the right and logical consequence of the kindness of God toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7; Titus 3:4)”(Hughes p. 228). “Kindness is goodness in action, a reflection of the kindness of God shown even to the unthankful and the evil (Luke 6:35)” (Tasker p. 94). In spite of everything he endured, Paul remained a kind individual. Yet do we use difficulties as an excuse to be harsh and mean? “In the Holy Spirit”: All of these qualities were proof positive that Paul was obeying and bringing his life into conformity with the teachings of the Spirit. “In genuine love”: “Unpretended love” (Ber). “It means unconquerable benevolence and good will. It means that spirit which no matter what anyone else does to it will never seek anything but the other person's highest good, which will never dream of revenge, but will meet all injuries and all rebuffs with undefeatable benevolence” (Barclay p. 241).
6:7 “In the word of truth”: Still speaking the word of truth in spite of such opposition. “For the right hand and the left”: Both for attack and defense. “The Apostle is fond of military metaphors, doubtless because they are so well suited to illustrate the fact that the Christian is engaged in a stern and unremitting conflict with the powers of darkness” (Hughes p. 230).
6:8 “By glory and dishonor”: “Sometimes the apostle's reputation in the eyes of men stands high; sometimes he is reckoned a person of no account and treated with disrespect. He is defamed, and he is praised; he is slandered, and he is honored; he is criticized, and he is flattered. But, whatever men's estimate of him may be, he continues, undaunted, to ‘fight the good fight of faith’” (Tasker p. 95). “Evil report and good report”: “The minister of Christ is not immune from the fluctuating fashions and fickle judgments of this world. He will have bitter enemies as well as devoted friends; some will hold him in high esteem, while others will heap insult and dishonor upon him, whether popular or despised” (Hughes pp. 231-232). “Regarded as deceivers and yet true”: (Acts 17:18).
6:9 “As unknown yet well-known”: “It may well have been a further evil report that Paul was "not known", that is, not recognized as having the credential of an apostle (cf. 3:1)...We think it preferable, however, to understand the language here in a wider and more general sense: as Saul of Tarsus, the brilliant and ambitious young Pharisee, he had achieved a considerable measure of fame, at least among his own compatriots; but as Paul the Apostle he had turned his back on all those things which, from the worldly point of view, were gain to him, and he became the despised preacher of a crucified Messiah, ignored by the world at large, indeed, unnoticed” (Hughes p. 233).
“Many of Paul's contemporaries no doubt dismissed him by saying, ‘We have never heard of him’. He was a person, they felt,whom they could safely ignore” (Tasker p. 95). Yet, he was known to God (2 Timothy 2:19). Yes, even the apostle Paul found himself snubbed and ignored by the world. “As dying yet behold, we live”: Constantly in danger of death (1 Corinthians 15:31). “But again and gain, just when men were saying he was finished, he was seen (notice the insertion of the word behold) to possess fresh vitality and power” (Tasker p. 95). “Punished yet not put to death”: Notice Paul's wonderful attitude here. His opponents would claim that his sufferings were clear evidence of Divine displeasure (the misconception Job's friends also had concerning suffering). But when Paul experienced suffering, he saw the grace of God. 'Yes, we suffer, but we are still alive!' Paul saw Divine compassion in his sufferings. Do we? Or do we complain if we have to suffer at all? Paul never thought of demanding that God keep him from all suffering! Paul was just thankful that he had been left alive. Wow! What an attitude (Psalm 118:18; Hebrews 12:5-10)!
6:10 “As sorrowful yet always rejoicing”: Paul was not immune from sorrows and disappointments. “We know sorrow, yet our joy is inextinguishable” (NEB); (Romans 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:16). “As poor yet making many rich”: Lacking material wealth but giving people eternal life at the same time (Ephesians 3:8). “As having nothing yet possessing all things”: That is, possessing everything of true value (Mark 10:29-30).
He may have lost a few material possessions and an inheritance, but Paul had a relationship with God, he had a clear conscience. He had his integrity, he had character, he had the gospel message, he had many real friendships and there grounded in true love, he had peace of mind, contentment, and personal fulfillment and satisfaction, and he had the hope of eternal life. He had what money cannot buy!
