The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 16

If he h11d this shifting 11nd variable intellect (so said his enemies), what depenclence was to be placed in such an apostle? Then the solemn protestation breaks forth, " As God is true, our word toward you was not ye,a, and nay." It was our purpose to come to you, but it was changed in the spirit of the gospel, and just as certainly as the prcaching of Christ in this gospel was "yea," just so certainly was our conduct in this matter in the "yea" of the gospel, i.e. truthful and reliable. All God's promises were made to be kept, and they are "yea" in Christ and we are "yea" in him. The response of the Church is "Amen," and it glorifies God through our instrumentality. All is in the Spirit of Christ-our preaching, promising, and living. God has made us firm and strong in Christ, has given us the unction of his Spirit, so that while Jesus of Nazareth was by distinction the Anointed, and received the Holy Ghost without measure, he has taken us, apostles and believers, unto himself, and conferred on us the gifts of grace. We are" sealed;" the mark is evident that we belong to Christ, and this "earnest" or pledge is "in our hearts." On the broad ground of his apostolic ministry and fidelity to its obligations, St. Paul makes his first defence as to sincerity and consistency. The charge of his adversaries, that he was guilty of double-dealing, is without foundation. His teaching and its results were proofs beyond question that he was anointed to his work, and these believers were the a.cknowledgment, the "Amen," that certified the fa.et. Why did he defend himself, at first, in this general way ? Why not come at once to the specific reason for not visiting Corinth as he had prorniseJ? The reason is obvious. These Judaizers were striking at his apostleship, and the true issue between him and them turned on this point. What did they care a.bout the assurance that he was coming to Corinth? This was a small matter. The main thing with his opponents, in their fiery zeal, was to overthrow the power of his ministry among the Gentiles by heaping contempt on his character and conduct. St. Paul saw this clearly, and hence his line of argument. He appealed to his ministry, to its fruits, most of all to the fa.et that the "yea" here was " yea," e.nd the" Amen" of all converted souls was the endorsement of its success. And having met these slo.nders precisely in the form they were designed to affect him, he proceeds to tell the Corinthians why he had failed at the time to make them II visit. Hoping that his letter would lead them to see their grievous errors and induce them to repent and amend, he had deferred the journey to Corinth. " To spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth." The "rod " of severity (1 Cor. iv. 21) might not be needed, it would not if they administered the proper discipline in the case of the incestuous mo.n and rectified the disorders in tlrn Churoh. Had he not asked them to decide whether he should come to them "with a rod, or in love and in the spirit of meekness"? In this spirit of tendor conciliation he had waited to see the issue. And now, vindicating: his action in this matter, ho solemnly appeals to God to be a witness ag:e.inst his soul if he had not spoken the truth. "I call God for a record upon my soul." Was not the case very clear? In what stronger light could it be put? There was the tostimony of conscionce, the seal of God, the unction and the earnest, tho yea and the Amen; and hero, last of all, tho calling on God to testify agninst him if he had been untruthful. But, writing as be wns under tho consciousness that every word would be subjected by his adversaries to a merciless criticism, he would explain that he claimed no "dominion" o_ver their" foith." In fact, they were steadfast in the faith, and his only wish was to be a helper of their joy. Thus ends the first chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. It is personal in an uncommon degree, a revelation of the man and the apostle in one of the critical periods of his career. Yet it is not a new revelation, but rnther a fuller disclosure of what had been previously seen in part.. No man can be known in oue attitude ancl aspect. To see him in a single light and from a. fixed an11:le of observation is impossible. Sculptors and painters, in representing men, work under this limitation. '!'hey select ,\ cha.raoteristic expression, a dominant appearance, an historic moment. But not so with the historian, the poet, the dramatist. St. Luke in the Acts gives us St. Paul in various positions; but St. Paul is his own biographer, and, in this chapter, 11Jmits us to the privacy of his heart. Throughout the Second Epistle we shall enjoy thi~ inner com- munion with him, and feel every moment tho heart that throbs boneath tho words.-L. Ver. 1.-" An apostle by the will of God." Paul claims to be what ho is, not by his own choice, not by the favour or noru~natiou of his fellow-men, uut by the Di vine will.  1G THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [on. 1. l-~'.