2 Corinthians 6:4-10

DISCOURSE: 2025
THE CHARACTER OF A CHRISTIAN MINISTER

2 Corinthians 6:4. In all things approving ourselves at the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

WHAT a portrait is here drawn! Was there ever, from the foundation of the world, an uninspired man that could pour forth an extemporaneous effusion like unto this? By much study, a man of deep thought may ramify a subject, and distribute it into a great variety of minute particulars: but the passage before us smells not of the lamp: it savours not of scientific arrangement: it is no laboured accumulation of particulars, brought forward in order to display a fund of learning, or to exhibit the resources of ingenuity: it is an effusion out of the fulness of a heart devoted to the Lord, of a heart enlarged in the service of mankind.
To enter minutely into the different expressions here brought before you, would be unprofitable in a public discourse. It is by taking the passage in the aggregate, as one vast compendious whole, that we shall best consult the edification of your souls. It refers primarily, no doubt, to St. Paul himself: but, improved in the way I propose, it will be of essential benefit to the whole Christian world: for which end, I shall take occasion, from it, to set before you the ministerial office.

I. As executed by him—

His whole life, after his conversion to Christianity, was one continued scene of “afflictions,” to which he submitted with unconquerable “patience.” Those two words (“afflictions” and “patience”) may be considered as comprehending the whole, which in all that follows is branched out into a variety of particulars. Bearing that in remembrance, there will be found a climax throughout the whole. It will be proper to notice,

1. The circumstances in which he was placed—

[He was in one continual state of trial, as arising from different sources. Mark his trials; first, as arising from the occurrences of every day: he was often in such “necessities,” as to want every thing that was needful for the body, and to suffer much from hunger and cold and nakedness: his “distresses,” too, were often of so embarrassing a nature, that he knew not how to extricate himself from them. Mark them, next, as arising from the treatment he met with: multitudes were embittered against him to the last degree; sometimes loading him with “stripes;” at other times tormenting him with “imprisonments;” and at other times raging against him with such “tumults,” that he was literally in danger of being torn in pieces by his infuriated enemies. Mark them, yet further, as arising from his own zeal in the discharge of his high office. His “labours,” and “watchings,” and “fastings,” were doubtless sometimes imposed upon him by necessity; but they were also sometimes voluntarily undertaken, for the advancement of God’s work in his own soul, and for the furthering, by means of more fervent intercession, the glorious cause he had undertaken to promote.

Now let us turn our attention to,]

2. The manner in which he conducted himself under them—

[On this he dilates, with a richness and a copiousness unrivalled perhaps in the whole world. He speaks of his patience under these diversified trials, and of his deportment under them; first, in a way of active exertion. He was careful, above all things, that no one should have cause to impeach the “pureness” of his principles; and he strove to act with such judgment, that his “knowledge” of God’s will should be evident to all, and be exercised to the uttermost, for the benefit of all. At the same time, he took care, by his “long-suffering,” to shew that he could not easily be stimulated to resentment against his persecutors: on the contrary, he lost no opportunity of requiting by “kindness” the injuries they inflicted; evincing, by this, that he was under the influence of “the Holy Ghost,” and actuated altogether by “unfeigned love” to every child of man. “The word of truth” was constantly upon his lips; and it was attended always, in a greater or less degree, by “the power of God” to the souls of men: whilst, in consequence of being clad with “the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,” he was enabled to defy all the assaults, whether of men or devils.

At the same time, he manifested his superiority to all his difficulties, in a way of patient submission. Passing through “honour and dishonour,” he shewed that he was neither elated with the one, nor depressed with the other. With some he was an object of “evil report,” and with others of “good report;” some calumniating him in every possible way; and others exalting his character in terms of the highest approbation: but he was alike unmoved both by the one and the other. What if he was accounted a “deceiver,” who took advantage of the weakness or wickedness of others, to impose upon them, and thereby to advance his own interests? This did not move him, whilst he knew himself to be “true,” and a faithful minister of the truths which he had been commissioned to declare. The proud looked down upon him with contempt, as one altogether “unknown,” and unworthy of regard; whilst, in fact, he was “well known” by the many blessings which he imparted wheresoever he went. It was supposed, inasmuch as he was “dying” daily, that his course would soon be finished: but yet, contrary to all human expectation, though sometimes left for dead, he was “yet alive.” He was “chastened” with all imaginable severity by magistrates, on different occasions; yet was he “not killed.” Viewed according to his outward appearance, he was in a most “sorrowful” condition; yet was he, in reality, “always rejoicing” in the testimony of a good conscience, and in the favour of his God. He was “poor,” no doubt, and bereft at times even of the most common necessaries of life; but yet, in the whole course of his ministry, he was “making many rich,” yea, richer far than all the monarchs upon earth could ever make them. Finally, he was as one “having nothing;” and yet, both as to his present enjoyments and future prospects, he was as one “possessing all things;” so that, if the whole world could be given him, it would not add one atom to his wealth.

What a surprising description is this! How remote from all the conceptions of the natural man! yet how exactly suited to the experience of every faithful minister on earth!]
Leaving now these views of the Apostle’s ministry to the contemplation of those who are called to minister in holy things, I will proceed to speak of it,

II.

As appointed for us—

Let us conceive of the Apostle as set apart to this office by Almighty God, and, as informed, at the very time of his appointment to it, “how great things he should suffer” for his Master’s sake; and let us further bear in mind, that all who are in every age ordained to the office of the ministry are called to a measure of the same experience; and how strongly will it impress our minds with,

1. The exceeding great value of the soul—

[The souls of men were “perishing for lack of knowledge.” God, in his mercy, determined to set apart an order of men to instruct them, and to guide them into all truth. But the wickedness of men would “not endure sound doctrine:” they would hate the light, and endeavour to extinguish it, wheresoever it should appear. This, however, should tend rather to the furtherance, than to the obstruction, of God’s gracious purposes. It should tend to complete the work of his grace in the souls of his servants, whom he should thus send forth; and it should serve to illustrate the power of his grace, in upholding them under circumstances of such peculiar trial. Conceive now of persons so separated and so appointed, in every age, for the benefit of mankind; and what an idea will it give us of the value of their souls! What; shall strangers, unconnected with the world, except as being partakers of the same nature, be raised up to devote themselves to such labours, and to undergo such sufferings for us? to warn us, instruct us, encourage us, and lead us into the way of peace? Verily, then, the interests of an immortal soul are not of so little importance as the world at large seem to imagine. Indeed, brethren, if we are bound, by our high office, to live as the Apostle lived, and in the whole of our ministerial career to follow him for the benefit of your souls, it can never be that you should be at liberty to neglect your own souls, or to manifest less concern for yourselves, than we are to exercise for you. Doubtless, that which most marks the value of an immortal soul, is the gift of God’s only-begotten Son to die for you: but next to that, is the appointment of an order of men, who are to go with their lives in their hands, and endure all that an ungrateful world can inflict, for the purpose of “turning you from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” Read carefully the text in this view; and then say, “He did all this for me, and suffered all this for me: and then you will see what is that measure of zeal which you are called to exercise for your own souls.]

2. The true nature of the Christian warfare—

[There was nothing in the Apostle’s experience which we ourselves are not, according to our measure, called to undergo: and we ourselves must approve ourselves servants of God, precisely in the same way as he “approved himself a minister.” In degree, our trials may differ from his; but in substance they will be the same. We may not be called to stripes and imprisonments for the Lord’s sake: but we should be prepared for them, if it should please God that persecution should rage against his Church, as it has done, not in the apostolic age only, but in ages not very remote from that in which we live; and in this country too, not less than in other kingdoms. But whatever be the measure of our trials, our spirit must be the same as his. We must be proof against all the assaults of our enemies; “not being overcome of evil, but overcoming evil with good.” As to all the contempt that shall be poured upon us, or the privations we may be called to undergo, they must be as nothing in our eyes, by reason of our enjoyment of the Divine presence that bears us up above them, and our prospect of the Divine glory, that will compensate for all the labour or suffering that ever we could endure, if our lives were protracted for ten thousand years. The Apostle expressly calls upon us to follow him: and to “be imitators of him, even as he was of Christ [Note: 1 Corinthians 10:32. with 11:1.].” And I would call on every one of you to set before your eyes the pattern as it is here drawn; and to aspire after the highest conformity to it that God shall enable you to attain.]

3. The great blessing of a faithful ministry—

[What would the world have been, if no such persons as the Apostle had been raised up to instruct them? See what the heathen were, as described by St. Paul in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans; and what the Jews themselves were, as described in the second chapter. Or see what heathen countries are at this day, yea, and Christian countries too, where the Gospel is not preached with fidelity and power. Then look at the Churches formed by the Apostles, and at Churches even at this day, where Christ is preached in sincerity and truth. This will shew how great a blessing is a faithful ministry. But let us go no further than to the Apostle Paul; and compare his picture as drawn previous to his conversion, with that which is drawn in the passage before us: does not the difference strike us as truly wonderful? Yet it was all formed by the grace of God operating upon his soul, through the principles he had imbibed. And, permit me to say, that I consider my ministry as of no use, any further than it operates to the production of the same change in you. If it have wrought on any to their conversion, let them be thankful for it; and strive more and more to shew its power, by an entire conformity to the Apostle both in heart and life. But if it have not, (and how many of you are there that are in this awful predicament!) remember your sad responsibility to God; and tremble, lest that, which God has sent you for your salvation, prove only an occasion of your more aggravated condemnation!]

Address [Note: This must of course vary according to the audience before whom the subject is brought. If it be on the occasion of an Ordination, or Visitation, the clergy must be exhorted to consider what they have undertaken, and to fulfil it. If the subject be before a common audience on the First Sunday in Lent (the Epistle for the day), the people may be exhorted to avail themselves of the privileges they enjoy; and to pray for their minister, that he may be enabled to approve himself faithful to God, and to them.]—