Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 2 Co 6:1, 2 and following. Indeed, “Great patience” is what the servant of God (that is, every believer) recommends. Better than any speech, Paul’s enduring of his trials demonstrated the value of his gospel. For he was suffering for something worthwhile. What a strange man the Christian is! It sort of has two sides. In the eyes of the world, he appears in ignominy, impostor, unknown… saddened, poor, having nothing. And what is he before God? : True, well known, alive, always joyful, finally possessing all things! That’s his real face.
For the exhortations that follow may seem narrow and severe. But they proceed from the broad heart of the apostle. The word separation puts us off, and yet holiness means separation for God (Lev 20:25-27). For to complete one is necessarily equivalent to practicing the other: a)Separation from the world… and verses 14 and 15 do not apply only to such a mismatched marriage project. b)Separation from the religious world (verses 16 to 18); it offers incomparable compensations: the experience of the presence of the Lord Jesus “in the midst” of his own and blessed relations with God our Father. c) Finally, separation from evil in all its forms.
But the previous theme spoke to us of evangelization, a side of the ministry that is addressed to all men; we note that this same Gospel contains a very special exhortation to the nations. This is why the Apostle says: “Working for this same work, we too exhort that you have not received God’s grace in vain.” This passage, misunderstood, often embarrasses souls. Some want to see that the Christian can lose his salvation after receiving it; others seek to prove that receiving God’s grace in vain is not the absolute loss of grace for the one who received it. Both did not understand well. For “receiving God’s grace in vain” can only mean one thing, that is, losing all the benefit of that grace. God never weakens the responsibility of man and even of the Christian, or attenuates it by the thought of grace; but, on the other hand, grace alone can save us from the consequences of our bankruptcy as to our responsibility.
From the beginning of human history, these two principles are maintained in parallel in all their rigor. Adam responsible, found naked before God, dies and suffers the consequence of his disobedience; and grace clothes that same Adam and introduces him into life, where his disobedience had introduced him into death.
But “behold,” said the apostle, “it is now the pleasant time; behold, it is now the day of salvation” (6:2). Now you are the light of the nations. When we have seen this, this passage becomes very simple. The Apostle exhorts the nations not to do as Israel did, not to receive God’s grace in vain. As part of these nations, we have to be careful how we receive God’s grace, and we have to walk in a way that is related to it. It was part of Paul’s ministry.
He then shows that, for his personal part, he did not receive God’s grace in vain. He presents himself, like his Master, in the character of a servant of God. In the midst of the Jews and the nations, he gave “no scandal in any way, so that the service would not be blamed, but in all things he recommended himself as a servant of God.” He then shows what moral qualities a servant recommends. Necessities are difficulties that offer only one way out. Will we be able to follow it without losing our lives? So one has only one thought, to expect the Lord. Distress is the worst difficulty. Like David, the apostle had also gone through all these things with great patience.
Then we find “the beatings, the prisons, the troubles, the works, the vigils, the fasts”. At the end of this epistle, we learn how many times Paul went through these things, of which the account of Acts gives us only one specimen, for God did not reveal to us all the details of Paul’s life, while giving us what was necessary to present to us the entire career of dedication of a minister of the Lord on earth. In this too the apostle followed, albeit by far, the example of his divine Master, whose beloved disciple said: If the other things Jesus did “were written one by one, I do not think that the world itself could contain the books that would be written.”
“By purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by goodness, by the Holy Spirit, by love without hypocrisy, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness of the right and left hands” (2 Co 6:6, 7). Such things could not be lacking in this ministry: the Holy Spirit, a love without hypocrisy, the word of truth! Let us grasp that.
A Christian has all the power to resist, all the power to fight in this world, but in order to overcome he must guard kept himself from sin in his ways. This is what the sheep says in Ps 23, not about the fight as here, but about the walk: “He leads me on paths of righteousness, because of his name”. If we follow the path of Christ, we will never find sin in our footsteps, and we will only encounter it to fight it. The Lord Himself is the perfect model for us.
This is what we have to look for for ourselves. If, not thinking of ourselves, we walk in this world as servants of Christ, it does not matter that the world does not know us; God knows us. Our path is very simple, because we only have to look at one side. How important we are to be unknown to the world, if God says of us as He said of Abraham: “I know him”.
“As dying, and behold, we live; as punished, not put to death; as saddened, but always joyful; as poor, but enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things(2Cor 6:9, 10). He was still dying, under the sentence of death from the world, and behold, God kept him alive. He was chastised, and God used the rod in the hand of the world for the moral prosperity of his beloved apostle. For God stopped in time, as in the case of Job, the hand of Satan who would have wanted to put him to death to get rid of his testimony. He was saddened, but had a heart filled with joy, because his eyes did not stop at the circumstances, but were fixed on the person of Christ.
Thus, through one end of his long career to the other, the apostle was able to reproduce the characters of his Savior and he was perfectly happy; for, though he had found nothing in this world, he had come into possession of an object, which had become his only Model, and on which all his affections were concentrated. Let us ask him with instance to be able to wear these characters. They are achievable and Paul’s example is meant to prove it to us and to prevent us from losing heart by considering the excellence of service, as it was performed by our Lord and Master, the perfect Servant. The whole question is: What place does the Lord occupy in my heart and in my thoughts? If he occupies all the space, I will be able to honor him by following him.
For the practical result of receiving grace can be summed up in one word: holiness. Indeed, practical holiness includes the whole Christian life, as witness in this world. At Passover, the Israelites were sheltered from God’s judgment by the blood of the lamb. And another type of Christ’s death is given to us in the Red Sea where the people are not only sheltered from judgment, but brought to God. But as soon as they offered the Passover, the Israelites had only one thing left to do: the Feast, which was the celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a type of a life of practical holiness, starting from sacrifice and continuing without interruption for seven days. The number seven is the number of fullness, the image of the complete course of our life here on earth.
For it is important for us to understand what the Apostle’s exhortation to holiness consists of in this passage. Practical holiness has three characteristics: the first is holiness in our associations with the world; the second, holiness in our religious associations; the third, individual holiness.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- God’s ministers, irreproachable conduct:
Phil 2:15 that you may be blameless and pure, irreprehensible children of God in the midst of a perverse and corrupt generation, among whom you shine like torches in the world; Phil 3:6 as to the zeal, persecutor of the Church; irreproachable, with regard to the justice of the law. Col 1:12 Give thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light;1 Thess 3:13 to strengthen your hearts so that they may be blameless in holiness before God our Father, at the advent of our Lord Jesus with all his saints! 1 Thess 5:23 May the God of peace sanctify you whole of you, and may your whole being, mind, soul and body, be kept irreprehensible at the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Tim 3:2 The bishop must therefore be irreproachable, husband of one woman, sober, moderate, regulated in his conduct, hospitable, proper to teaching. Tt 1.6 if there is some blameless man, husband of one wife, with faithful children, who are neither accused of debauchery nor rebels. 2 Pet 3:14 Therefore, beloved, in waiting for these things, strive to be found by him spotless and irreprehensible in peace.
- Characteristics of true ministers 1 Thes 2:4 but, according to God deemed us worthy to entrust the gospel to us, so we speak, not as if to please men, but to please God, who probes our hearts.
Mt 10:16 Behold, I send you like sheep in the midst of wolves. So be careful like snakes, and simple like doves. Mt 20:26 It will not be the same in your midst. But whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant; 2 Co 4:2 We reject shameful things that are done in secret, we do not behave astutely, and we do not alter the word of God. But, in publishing the truth, we commend ourselves to every conscience of man before God. 2 Co 6:4 But we make ourselves in all respects recommendable, as servants of God, by much patience in tribulations, in calamities, in distress;1 Thess 5:14 We also pray to you, brethren, warn those who live in disorder, console those who are slaughtered, endure the weak, use patience with all. 2 Thes 3:9 It is not that we do not have the right, but we wanted to give you in ourselves a model to imitate. 1 Tim 3:2
The bishop must therefore be irreproachable, husband of one woman, sober, moderate, regulated in his conduct, hospitable, proper to teaching. 1 Tim 4:12 Let no one despise your youth; but be a model for the faithful, in word, in conduct, in charity, in faith, in purity. 2 Tim 2:1So you, my child, strengthen yourselves in the grace that is in Jesus Christ. 2 Tim 3:17 that the man of God may be fulfilled and fit for every good work. Tit 2:7 that the man of God may be fulfilled and fit for every good work.
- Imprisonment of the Saints
Gen 39:20 He took Joseph, and put him in the prison, in the place where the king’s prisoners were locked up: he was there, in prison. 1 Kings 22:27 You will say, “So sait the king: Put this man in prison, and feed him bread and water of affliction, until I return in peace. 2 Ch 16:10 Asa was angered at the seer, and he had him put in prison, because he was angry with him. And at the same time Asa also oppressed some of the people. Jer 37:15 The chiefs, angered at Jeremiah, beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan, the secretary; for they had made him a prison. Jer 38:6 Then they took Jeremiah, and threw him into the cistern of Malkija, son of the king, which was in the prison yard; they went down Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but there was mud; and Jeremiah sank into the mud. Lm 3:53 They wanted to annihilate my life in a pit, and they threw stones at me. Mk 6:17 For Herod himself had John arrested, and had him bound in prison, because of Herodias, wife of Philip, his brother, because he had married her; Acts 5:18 laid their hands on the apostles and threw them into the public prison. Acts 12:4 After seizing him and throwing him in prison, he put him in the custody of four squads of four soldiers each, with the intention of having him appear before the people after the Passover. Acts 16:23 After they had been beaten, they threw them into prison, recommending to the jailer to keep them surely. Acts 23:35 I will hear you, he said, when your accusers have come. And he ordered that he be kept in Herod’s courtroom. Acts 26:10 This is what I did in Jerusalem. I threw into prison several of the saints, having received this power from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I joined my vote with that of the others. 2 Co 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? -I speak as a man who extrawaves. -I am even more so: by works, much more; by beatings, much more; by imprisonment, much more. Often in danger of death,
- Spiritual Inheritance of the Righteous
Ps 61:6 For you, O God, grant my wishes, You give me the inheritance of those who fear your name. Ps 119:111 Your precepts are forever my inheritance, for they are the joy of my heart. Isa 54:17 Any weapon forged against you will be without effect; And any language that rises in justice against you, You will condemn it. This is the inheritance of Jehovah’s servants, such is the salvation that will come to them from me, says the Lord. Acts 20:32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, to the one who can build up and give the inheritance with all the sanctified. Acts 26:18 that you may open their eyes, that they may pass from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive, through faith in me, the forgiveness of sins and inheritance with the sanctified. Eph 1:11 In him we have also become heirs, having been predestined according to the resolution of one who operates all things according to the counsel of his will; Col 1:12 Give thanks to the Father, who has made you capable of having a share in the inheritance of the saints in the light; Col 3:24 knowing that you will receive the inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Serve Christ, the Lord. 1 1:4 for an inheritance which cannot be corrupted, defiled or wilted, which is reserved for you in heaven,
- Spiritual temples
1 Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Co 6:19 Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you, that you have received from God, and that you do not belong to yourselves? 2 Co 6:16 What is the relationship between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Eph 2:20-22 You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole edifice, well coordinated, rises to be a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also built up to be a dwelling place of God in spirit. 1 P 2:5 and yourselves, like living stones, build yourselves up to form a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual victims, pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.
From all the above, we note that practical holiness permeates our entire Christian life. For Leviticus 19:19 shows us this clearly. 1° “Thou shat not mate, among your cattle, two different species”. It is the association with the world, which is spoken of in our passage (2 Co 6:14-15). 2° “Thou shat not sow your field with two species of seeds”. This is the type of religious association(2 Co 6:16). For we cannot use various seeds in God’s field; we need to sow a single seed. 3° “Thou shat not put on you a garment of a fabric mixed with two kinds of thread”. For we have to agree these two sides of our personal sanctification, to keep these two trays of the scale equal. As individuals, our outward walk, our deeds and our words must correspond to what is in our hearts, so that we can repeat, with our beloved Savior: “My mind does not go beyond my word” (Ps 17:3). If the three characters of practical holiness that we have just enumerate are found in the children of God, it’s proof that they have been attentive to the exhortations of the Word. To walk contrary to these principles is to have received God’s grace in vain. May God give us all to have, in our Christian lives, much more reality than we have. May He give us, for ourselves, a spirit of humiliation and repentance so that we may become more faithful witnesses of the One whose grace has done everything for us, and who has delivered us from the power of darkness and introduced us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on “Paul Comforted by the Corinthians.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.