PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians
Frederic William Farrar [1831-1903] · 297,658 words · 333 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 241
(Gal. iv. I). This, indeed, we should infor le the reverse of wise. It is a mixtllre ol from . nm ny other .passages (I Oor. ii. 34 ; selfishness, Phariso.ism, and conceit, and GRI. 1v. 13, H), and e.s a natural result of there have been abundo.nt examples of it liis "st.1tko in the flesh." It is, too, the con- 1tmo…
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HOMILETICS. Vera. 1, 2.-Se1f-vindication. "Now I Paul myself beseech you," etc. Pnul, as we hnvo frequently intimated, had detractors in the Corinthian Church, men who sought to gain power by calumniating him. We arc not in possession of all the c11lurunies. Paul knew them all. Throughout these two Epistles we find hi…
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Yer. 7.-Pauis spedal power. "Do ye look on things after the ou,tward' ~ppear~. nncc?" These words point to two evils. , . • . . .. ·' I. JUDGING FROM APPEARANCE, " Do ye look on things nfter the outward· appear- ' nuce?" or that '.' are before your face,'.' The teachers at Corinth who w:ere O~J?OS_ed tu the apostle…
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Wo may onslovo ourselves, but he will not. He will always treat ua as rcRponsihlc f0 r all wo do. II. 1TB GREAT DESIGN IS USEFULNESS, "The Lord bath given us for edificn.tion and not for your destruction." He gives power to men, not to pull down but to bniltl up. Usefulness is the grand ond of our existence. We arc fo…
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V8J11. 14-18.-2'7ie true sphere of human usefulnesa and the sourcs of human g'l,o,ry. .. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's lab…
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ful reader of St, Paul knows how abrupt his transitions frequently arc, and how rapidly he ~ig~esses from his main point_ t? something incidental to his topic. His mental e.ssocmt1ons are governed by two d1stmct laws-first, by ideas excitinr, feelings which lead him to diverge from his main line; e.nd next, by emotions…
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concealed. Would he announce nn inflexible determination to punish? No; further di8cipline might be needful for him, further forbearance might be desirable in the case of his assailants; and all he ventured to affirm was, "I think to be bold against some." 'Wno were the "some"? Evidently those who impeached his moti…
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behind thea~ a ma.lefrtctor's cross. In the lands to which it came on its mission or grace it surnmbrled men to repent of sin, to practise self-denial, to become new creatures, ~ abandon idolatries thnt wero in league with lust and cruelty, and, in lieu thereof, accept 11 faith which qemanded a pure heart and a holy…
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with suc~ men. Instead or me,asuring themselves by 11, Divine rule, these persons thought 1t enough to measure themselves by themselves or by others • and this modo or judgment, originating in self and ending with self, was without und~rstanding. Yet there was 11. measure, and he acknowledged it whenever he thought …
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other npostle'e working, but the co-working, the hearty union of Church and apostlcR, tho co-operation of the "diversities of gifts," the oneness of the mystical body of Christ, by which the world was to be evangelized. The schism that had been threatened between the Asiatic nnd European Churches was in a fair way to b…
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appeal to the superstitious fears of tnen ; the address to interest, and selfishness, In thl! use of worldly policy and craft. 2. Spiritual weapons are tehed upou. The truth of God, the gospel of Christ,-this wa.s the arm in which inspired apostles were wout to trust'. 3. 'l'bese ~capons are mighty. In fact, _there …
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autl~orizcs a. ministry, . But the apostles were forward to declare that they had n,,L recc1vod tho1r comm1ss1on from man, 3. It was by the Lord Jesus himself that the apostles were empowered and appointed to fulfil their high office. If Paul was the latest thus to be commissioned, none the less did he receive his autl…
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I. MEN ABE :EMPTED TO GLORY IN THEMSELVES, What men have they are In danger of over-estimating, and thus taking credit to themselves when no credit is due. Some glory in natural endowments, strength of body, or mental ability. Some in the accldentB of birth or of fortune. Some in their position in society, etc. II. FR…
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Vor. 1.-" The meekness and gentleness of (Jhrist." How different was Christ to (l; tho anticipations of the chosen peoplo ! (2) the heathen conceptions of deity! I. 'J'm:: MEEKNESS OF CrrmsT. Illustrated in: 1. His lowly birth. The manger pre- figured the whole life. 2. Ilis humble station. Highest in heaven, lowliest…
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not rhnical. Physical wrapons hnve often been used in the canso of religion, but ahrn.~·, by mistake. Petcr's blnndcr in cutting off the car ol' Malchus has had mnny rcpct1uons. (2) They nrc not carnal, for they arc not of man. The apostle dhl not carry on his conflict by using (a) cunning and trickery in order to s…
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Ohriseian worsltip and worlc eclipse otl1er· and mor&importane. The shallow jud"ments of Corinth wero e.11 for apcal,ing with tongues, "Prophecy" was little acco11n"terl of. "Giving monoy" is often attractive when true charity is not. The grand choral service is more popular the.n quiet consistent living. To be e. "gre…
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stones would cry out. AR God hll.l! wrought tb;e great thing for UR, we muet never let men or God he11r the last of it! What " subject for bo&st I Where ie there aught th11t ORD for a moment compare with it? Boast, ye Christians, of redeeming love till all your powem of boasting fail. 3. We may well boa,st of Gorfs …
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of the truth, This, of course, CODdemns e.11 forms of persecution; and when we say," all forms," we mean, not merely imprisonmeDt, pillage, and death, but the imposition of civil disabilities, or socio.I e.nd educational penalties, or any abridgment of political rights. O~ e.ll such c~ercive measures ~he gospel frowns.…
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rhetoric with P1ml'e inl\rtificin.l speech, hie comml\nding appearance with the ln11lcr- nific11nce of Paul's 'bodily presence."' Conybeare gives a translation or vers. 1 and ~ which effectively expresses the llpirit in which the apostle began his pleadina with thi; malicio~s party. "Now I, Paul, myself exhort yo~ b…
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In hie sublime high-priestly prayer, Jesus spoke thus: "They are not of the world, oven as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shoulclest keep them from the evil." The thouaht expressed m the pnssnge now before us seems to have been B cherished one with the…
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(3) &ssC1ciations. Right thoughts make openness to God, ~ve graciousness to our conversation, enable ns to be oonsiderete of and helpful to otbcfl!, Ae we must keep the fountain pure, if the stream is to nm sweet and clear, we muet recognize the supreme importimce of taking heed to our thoughts. ~I. OUR RESP0NSID[L…
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becnuee we feel thnt it wne through and through trne ; and wh&tever were its appearances they were but manifestations of his life. II. THE OUTWARD APPEARANOE 18 OFTEN UNTRUE TO THE INWARD FACT. Of th:s the fnmilio.r illustration is taken from the usual description of the fruit grown near the Dead Sea, and called" appl…
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this mau made against the apostle, that he W&S always bonsting of his at1thorlty, his superior knowledge, 11.nd the gl'eat things he ha.d done. St. Patti firmly utged .the distinction between glorying in what a man is or in what a man has done, and glorying in what God has made n man t-0 be and in what God has done …
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Je11!0118}'; literally, with a jeawusy of God. it was I who first preache<l .Jesus to you, My jeo.lousy is not the poor eo.rthly vice and from me you first received the Spirit. (Numb. v.14; Ecclus, ix. I), but e. heavenly V~r. 5.---:-J!'~r. It cannot be that yon zee.l of love. For l he.vu espollSed you; rece1v_ed th…
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have pren<'hed for nothing, when be bed a mood he wonld have chosen a leH piotnresqne perfect right to be support.ed by his oon• or technical and medical term. That whioh verts" (1 Cor. ix. 1-15). .A.baaing my!lelf. wu laoldng to me the brethren whioh oame l'he trade oftentmaker was despised, todions, from lle.oeclo…
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They were "raise npoetlee" (Rev. ii. 2), (1 Pet. v. 2, 3), domineering (3 ,John 9). bocanee a true apoetlo delivers the moeeage and even personally violent and insulting of another, while these co.red only for eelf cbnre.cter of these teachen ; w horn yet, (Rom. xvi. 18). Deoeitful workers. Work• strange to so.y, tho C…
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22. etc.; Rom. ix. 4; xi. l). The 1eed or martyrdom? Had St. Paul, In hie humblo Abraham. Alike literally and spiritue.lly reticence, never cared to speak of them? or (see John viii. 33-58; Rom. ix. 7; xi. I). were the Acts only intended for 11, sketoh It me.y eeem strange that St. Paul ehould which made no pretonei…
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city" (Aots llll:. 28). In the wildeine11, afflictions which to othrrd might sound lilrn Ae, for inslo.nce, in tro.velling through the a record of disiracee, but which left on him wild wo.sto tmots of land between Pergo. and the mo.rke of the Lord .Jesus. His he.ir- Antioch in Pisidia, or thence to Lystro. o.nd bree…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1--4.-Inviting men to Ohrist the supreme ob;'ect of preacl1ing. "WoulJ to Gotl ye could bear with me a little," etc. The purpose and spirit of this chapter are the same es the preceding one. The apostle proceeds against the charges which they had brought against him, and the same breeze of irony b…
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Vers. 5-12.-The highest 'knowledge and the noblest generosity. "For I suppose I was not a. whit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, ytt not in knowledge; but we have been thoroughly ma.de manifest among you in all things. Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exal…
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Vers. 13-15.-Self-misrepresentation. "For such are false apost~ee, deceitfQl workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And .no marvel ; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it ie no great thing it his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whos…
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have the most terrible end; the "end shall be according to their worlcs." They will reap tho fruit of their own doings, UoNoLUBION, Learn: 1. The duty of self-truthfulness. Let us Reek to be such trnn men, so true to self, society, nnd God, that we may have no temptation whatever to tJlay the hypocrite or to appear to…
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Ver. 20.-.A picture of religi~us impostors. "For ye suffer, if a m1m bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face." This verse suggests five things concerning religious impostors. I. THEY ARE TYRAl-'Nl0. "For ye suffer [bear] if a man bring…
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lineal descendant of the man who wrestled with Jehovah and prevailed an Israelite. 3. IJis supe1'ior apostleship. "Are they ministers of Christ? (I spe~k as a fool) I am mor~." '!'hey .call~d themselves "mi~isters of Christ," and_ belonged, perhaps, to the party m the Cormthl!l.n Church who s111d they were "of Chnst"-C…
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excrci~e the undl'l'Bte.nding on its contents; more thRn treat it as a.n arcrument intended to ~et forth R definite conclusion; and, especially, more than R defeuc; on anv privRto µ-rounds, of St. Paul's character and conduct. First of all, I\ general vl~w of ti10 situa- tion is necessary. In this large, growing, an…
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itself, It was not II pady, however strong, but the Church be needed in his future work, The opening verse of the chapter indicates his sens& of tho embarrassincr posi- tion. "Would that ye could bear with me in a little foolishness, nay indeed be~r with mo." To commend himself to them by this frequent recital of his …
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that, he had worked at his trade as & tentmaker, and done what ho could to gain a livelihood. It had been used against him. Was it, then, beneath the dignity of nn apostle to labour with his own bands? What his ri,i;ht was to a maintenance he knew and they knew. But he had waived this right for reasons most satisfac…
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opening or the cha.pter, a.nd referred to_Eve ~ led ~nto sin by the subtlety of the serpent, and we see also why he spoke of their bearing with these hypocrites. Hitherto some of the Ohurch had been deceived by the plausible devices of these persons. But he had opened their eyes to the danger, and, if they continued to…
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Satan's enormous power over 'the hurna.n soul. Time was when this truth wrui felt fur more profoundly than now, or at least when it filled a much larger space In pulpit thought and Christi1tn literature. And the fruits of it appeare,i everywhere not only in a higher orcler of religious sentiment, but in the amenabil…
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among them were a correct one, then ho must say that he harl been weak in his inter- course with them on his visit to Corinth. He had not abused them as slaves nor been avaricious, nor o~ered them in?ults. Yes; he must admit that they were strong and he weak, they wise and he foolish, and he confesses the shame he felt…
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of peril and in forms of physical torture. Enough has been said to make good his claim to pre-eminence in aftliction for the cause of Christ.. Outside of tho duties ho was discharging as the Lord's servant, not ono of these evils had befallen him. It was the cross of Christ, and only the cross, which had brought all…
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"how great things he must suffer." Straightway the revelation of sorrow began, for the stay at Damascus was interrupted by a conspiracy of the Jews, aml he sought refu;:,:e in Aro.bia. All the intervening years had been years of suffering, the first link of the unbroken chain forged by the hatred of the Jews at Damascu…
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Vers. 13-15.-Hypocrisy. Like his Divine Master, the Apostle Paul, although compassionate to the penitent, was severe with the hypocritical. The vehement language he here uses with reference to his opponents and detractors is not to be attributed to personal resentment, but to a stem and ri/!hteous indignation against …
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eo~l~si11stic11l ogency by which men_ are summoned to, prepared for, employed in, the mm1s~r:r of the go'!Pel, 1111 true Chrr~tinns are agreed that the real app0intment is by th_e p1v1~11 B~11d of _t!1e Church. It 1s he who, fro!11 the throne_ of his glory, places one mm1ster m this pos1tion, 11nd enother in that, hold…
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They had been in existAlnoe but a few ye11rs, and were subject to the natural dieadv&n• tages of youth e.nd inexperience. They needed diligent we.tching and tender, fostering ce.re. 2. Their exposure to the insidious efforts of false teachers, Some of these sought to lead the Christians of the first e.ge back into Jud1…
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tion in himself; he sees others fall; he wonders whether hiR own converts will yielrl. They are his crown of rejoicing when they stand fast; bis crown of thorns when they fall. 2. The weakness of the hwman heart. He remembers the old nature still within them -their iufirmities, thoir tendencies to trust to their own st…
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II. AN EXPl,ANATION OF BOl[E MYSTERIES; l; The powet' of temptation, Men fre• quently fall before white temptations rather than black ones. Satan is an adept at whitewRshing the sepulchre, The voice that calls us to sin sounds often more like tho Yoicc of an angel than the voice of a deviL 'l'he great adversary tran…
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What little aohos and pains sto·p 118 I An avalanche of grief and trial failed to arrest Paul I IV. IT WAS ONLY WHEN SUBJECTED TO GREAT PRESSURE, AND THEN ONLY UNDER PROTEST, THAT THl!l APOSTLE ALLOWED HIMSELF TO DWELL UPON THIS PERPETUAL MARTYRDOM, He rejoiced in it; yet he did not like to speak about it. He almost c…
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mind and heart from Christ. Nowadays it is worldliness, self-indulaence the beautiful in art, and the fascination of scientific knowledge. \Ve want nowt~ lov~ and serve so many things much and Christ a little, and still the old message sounds forth "If 11 man forsake not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." …
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2, Doos it uphold the honour, and the supreme 11dministraUve rights in souls, of the Lor Jesus Christ? 3. And does it practically tend towards the things that are pure, an trne, o.nd holy, o.nd good? Everything godly is helpful to godliness. In conclusion, o.rgue this point-Can we still safely receive truth upon the au…
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Vers. 23-30.-.77.e evidential rolue of sufferings borne f~r <Jhrut's .sake. Recall Paley's use of the labours and sufferings of the early Christians as an arg1,1ment for the truth of Christianity. Carefully observe under what limitations such an argument must be i;et. There have been martyrs of all sorts of opinions.' …
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Oor; 't. 80). To St. Pon} every true Ver. 5.-0f 111cb a one. These a.re legi- Christion WM II me.n whose personal life timate enbjects of "boast," bccnuso they arEY wns lost in the lifo of Obrist. Above four- heo.ve:nJ:r privileges, ~o\ earthly grounds of teen years a.go. The note of time is very enpenor1ty. Exoept m m…
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but the simple verb and the enbstantfre meet the slj\11derous Innuendo thl!.t, evon tr occur in eiruile.r meanings in John i. 14; he had not personally tried to get anything Rev. vii. 15; xxi. 8 (oomp. oh, v. 1). out of them, still he bad done so indirectly Ver. 10.-1 take plea.1ure in; I am llOn• through the o.geno…
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(b) The stBrry, There the sun, moon, and stars appear. (c) The hea.vens that lie beyond the heavenly orbs; where God and his holy angels are supposed to have their special residence, Up to this" third heaven" Paul was caught. (2) Pwradise. "Cauaht up into Paradise," The word here denotes some place in the universe dist…
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Vers. 11-21.-Paul's state of mind concerm'111/ ma p~t and prospective connectz'on with the Church at Corinth. "I am become a fool in glorying," etc., These verses tb row light upon Paul's state of mind, both in relation to, ,lus pa.at and prouiective oon- nection with the Corinthian Church. • , , I. HIS STATE OF MI…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-6.-Supernatural communications as evidences of his apostleship. The old question as to his apostolic authority, which had recently been revived in a most exciting form, was not yet disposed of, and he must now discuss it in another aspect. So far as external circumstances were conc…
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would be uppermost in hie thought. 'l'he evil in p&in Is what we Bee first. Ir this were not re&lized, it could not be nu affliction. Hence he prayed thrice to the Lord that It might dep11rt from him. But his prayer was demtid. At the aame time, the promise was given-a promise worth far more than the removal of the p…
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Vcrs. 11-15.-Recummce to theformer a,-gwmmt. The intense feeling of St. Pau1 indicates itself by not oontinuing on <:me uu~ryiug l~vel. From the climax just' reached he reverts to what had been previously discussed in oh. x. ancL~.i. These rever- ~rations are very cha.r~risti~ of ~he man as a thinker, and they show …
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J,w ma){es the solemn avowal, "We do all things, dearly beloved, for yoor edifying." Once more he would conciliate, nor should this long and impassioned outburst oome to a close without calling God in Christ to witness hie deep-felt e.ffection for these nngrateful {Joriuthians.-L. . Vere .• 20, 21.-E:i;pression, of hi…
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Ver. 5.-Glnryi111J in weaknesses. It is not to be wondered 11.t that Paul boasted; th.e wonder is that, instead of boasting of the extraordinary visions he had experienced, the extraordinary co=ission be had received, the extraordinary success which bad followed' his labours, he boasted of what other men would ha.ve…
683 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.