CHAPTER 6

(A.D. 60)

THE MINISTRY

¹We then, as workers together with Him(with Christ), beseech you also that you receive not the Grace of God in vain. (All who turn away from the Cross, the means by which Grace is given, make it all vain.)

²(For He said (Isa. 49:8), I have heard You (refers to God hearing the prayers of the Messiah; it is prayer for the Salvation of the heathen world) in a time accepted (refers to this Day of Grace), and in the Day of Salvation (which has been afforded by Christ, and what He did at the Cross) have I succoured You (God the Father upheld the Messiah, despite His many enemies): behold, now is the accepted time (Christ has made it all possible); behold, now is the Day of Salvation.) (In a sense, this day will end at the coming Resurrection.)

³Giving no offence in any thing (we are to give no occasion for condemning or rejecting the Gospel), that the Ministry be not blamed (that the Finished Work of Christ be not blamed):

⁴But in all things approving ourselves as the Ministers of God (in both word and deed), in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

⁵In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings (in all of this, the Grace of God can keep us);

⁶By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned (the Holy Spirit Alone can help us to overcome, and to experience these graces as well; our part pertains to our constant Faith in the Cross; the Spirit will then do what needs to be done),

⁷By the Word of Truth (the Word of God), by the Power of God (through the Holy Spirit), by the armour of Righteousness on the right hand and on the left (speaks of being completely armed, which pertains to simple Faith in the Cross of Christ),

⁸By honour and dishonour (some people honor us and some dont), by evil report and good report (it is very trying to human nature to have ones name slandered and cast out as evil, when we are conscious only of a desire to do good): as deceivers, and yet true (we are labeled by some as a deceiver, but God knows its not true);

⁹As unknown, and yet well known (despite being true, some will not know, but yet a few will); as dying, and, behold, we live (we must be willing to face death, and willingly place our lives in the hands of the Lord); as chastened (by the Lord), and not killed (the Holy Spirit desires to kill many things in our lives which are wrong; this is a portrayal of the purging of the branch [Jn. 15:2]; we may think the purging is going to kill us, but it wont!);

¹⁰As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (the evidence of an inner triumph which puts tears to flight by the Smiles of Praise); as poor, yet making many rich (irrespective of our financial status [and I speak of lack], we can make many rich with the Gospel, spiritually speaking); as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (If one is saved, one has all things.)

¹¹O you Corinthians (Corinth was known for vice, but the Gospel changed it to Righteousness, at least for those who would believe), our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. (The Apostle spoke straight, mincing no words, but it was because of love.)

¹²You are not straitened in us (they did not possess a narrow place in his affections, but rather a large place), but you are straitened in your own bowels. (This should have been translated, you are straitened in your own hearts. It means the Corinthians didnt have a large place in their hearts for Paul, as they should have had.)

¹³Now for a recompence in the same (Paul asked the Corinthians to reciprocate by expanding their hearts as wide toward him as he had toward them), (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged (simply means, love me as I love you).

SEPARATION

¹⁴Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers (there are two fellowships in the world, and only two; all men belong either to one or the other; no one can belong to both and claim to be a Christian; one is with the world, and one is with the Lord): for what fellowship has Righteousness with unrighteousness? (None!) and what communion has light with darkness? (None!)

¹⁵And what concord has Christ with Belial? (This presents another name for Satan.) or what part has he who believes with an infidel? (Those who make a profession of Salvation should resolve to separate themselves from the world. However, it is separation and not isolation.)

¹⁶And what agreement has the Temple of God with idols? (God and idols cannot mix.) for you are the Temple of the Living God (speaking of all Believers); as God has said (Ex. 29:45; Lev. 26:12; Ezek. 37:27), I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (The Believer is the Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, all made possible by the Cross.)

¹⁷Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord (as stated, the Word of God emphatically teaches separation from the world, but not isolation), and touch not the unclean thing(refers to Christians avoiding all unholy contact with a vain and polluted world); and I will receive you (at the same time, means if the person disobeys these injunctions the Lord will not receive us; the Christian can walk clean in this world only by constantly evidencing Faith in the Cross of Christ, which makes it possible for the Holy Spirit to do His Work within our lives),

¹⁸And will be a Father unto you (but only under the conditions mentioned in the above Scriptures), and you shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (Lord Almighty in the Hebrew is Jehovah Shaddai. The Hebrew word Shad means a womans breast. The title Shaddai suggests that we must never resort to the world, but rather draw all nourishment from the Lord Who can provide all things, which the world can never provide.)