_HE DECLARETH HOW HE HATH USED ALL SINCERITY AND FAITHFUL DILIGENCE IN PREACHING THE GOSPEL; AND HOW THE TROUBLES AND PERSECUTIONS WHICH HE DAILY ENDURED FOR THE SAME, DID REDOUND TO THE PRAISE OF GOD'S POWER, TO THE BENEFIT OF THE CHURCH, AND TO THE APOSTLE'S OWN ETERNAL GLORY._ _Anno Domini 58._... [ Continue Reading ]
WE FAINT NOT;— This is to the same purpose with _we use great plainness of speech,_ in the 12th verse of the foregoing chapter, and signifies in both places the clear, plain, direct, and disinterested preaching of the Gospel; which is what the Apostle in a great measure means by his figurative way o... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE RENOUNCED THE HIDDEN THINGS OF DISHONESTY,— All dishonest artifices of false teachers. It would perhaps be better to translate the word απειπαμεθα, which we render _renounced,_ by _set at defiance;_ which seems more literally to express the original. Some read the latter part of the verse, _But... [ Continue Reading ]
IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID, &C.— _If our Gospel be under a veil too, it is veiled to those that are lost_—who wilfully reject it, and perish thereby. This has an evident reference to what was said above, concerning the veil on the faces of the Jews; and the text may justly be urged as a proof of the persp... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOD OF THIS WORLD— That is, the Devil; so called, because the men of this world worshipped or obeyed him as their god. It would be a good illustration of the present passage, if it could be proved, as it has been asserted by many, that this malignant spirit was so early called by the Jews, סמאל,... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE PREACH NOT OURSELVES,— "We aim not at exalting our own authority, extending our reputation, or securing to ourselves any secular advantage; but, renouncing all such views, claims, and desires, we preach Christ Jesus as the supreme Lord of his church: and instead of setting up ourselves for yo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD, WHO COMMANDED THE LIGHT— "God, who by his powerful word, in the first creation of this world,commanded the light instantaneously to shine out of that darkness which covered the whole face of the deep, (Genesis 1:3.) hath also shined in our once prejudiced and benighted hearts, _to impart th... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS,— Vessels of clay which have been baked, and are brittle. The word rendered _earthen,_— οστρακινοις,— sometimes signifies _shells,_ which are often made use of to preserve things of value in the cabinets of the curious; and these beinglikewise brittle, convey... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE TROUBLED ON EVERY SIDE,— This and the following verses contain a beautiful and pathetic detail of the sufferings of the Apostles; and the contrast which runs through them gives an air of sublimity to the whole, at the same time that it conveys a noble ideaof the intrepidity of the first Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
ALWAYS BEARING ABOUT IN THE BODY, &C.— "So that the cruelties which were exercised in putting Christ to death, seem to be acted over again upon us by the rage of the enemy. Yet all this is, in effect, not that an immediate period should be put to our life and ministry, as they desire, but that the l... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEN DEATH WORKETH IN US,— Or, _is wrought in us._ "So that the preaching of the Gospel procures sufferings and danger of death to me, but to you it procures life; that is, the energy of the Spirit of Christ, whereby he lives in and gives life to, those who believe in him.... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVING THE SAME SPIRIT, &C.— Dr. Heylin reads this, _We having the same spirit of faith_ [_which David had_] _when he said I believed, and therefore have I spoken;—we also believe,_ &c. And he observes, that by the _spirit of faith_ is meant the disposition which faith produces. So _spirit of mee... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR ALL THINGS ARE FOR YOUR SAKES,— "For I do and suffer all things for your sakes, that the exuberant favour of God may abound by the thanksgiving of a greater number to the glory of God." That is, "I endeavour by my sufferings and preaching to make as many converts as I can; that so the more parta... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION,— This is one of the most emphatical passages in St. Paul's writings; in which he speaks as much like an orator as an Apostle. The lightness of the trial is expressed by Το ελαφρον της θλιψεως, _the lightness of our affliction;_ as if he had said, "It is even levity itself,... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE WE LOOK NOT AT, &C.— Or, _while we aim not at._ This is the exact signification of the Greek word σκοπουντων; and our English word "scope," or "mark aimed at," is derived from the same Greek word. _INFERENCES.—_How great is their mercy, who are put into the gospel ministry, qualified for it, a... [ Continue Reading ]