2 Corinthians 1

Ver. 1, 2. I, Paul, whom Jesus Christ has immediately called to the high office of apostleship, according to the sovereignly gracious appointment of his Father;—and Timothy, my beloved and faithful fellow Christian, and minister of the gospel,—to all those at Corinth, and the places adjacent, that appear effectually called, graciously regenerated and sanctified, and set apart to the holy services of Christ,—wish the most abundant manifestations and fruits of God’s free favour and mercy through Jesus Christ

2 Corinthians 1:3

Magnified, adored, admired, loved, and praised for ever, be that infinitely great and gracious JEHOVAH, who from eternity, in an inconceivable manner, begut our Lord Jesus Christ, who constituted him our Mediator, and prepared for him his marvellous manhood; and who, in and through him, appears full of the most tender compassion, and is the author of all pardoning and relieving mercies, and bestower of all comfort, temporal, spiritual, or eternal

2 Corinthians 1:4

Who, by his word, Spirit, and providence, supports, assists, and comforts, us ministers and Christians in all our painful and pressing troubles, outward or inward, particularly in such as we endure for adhering to his truths;—and that not merely for our own benefit, but that we may be thereby experimentally taught, disposed, and qualified, to sympathize with, and administer suitable and seasonable encouragement and comfort to, others in their afflictions, for animating their faith and hope to expect the like refreshment and deliverances

2 Corinthians 1:5

For, as we have been uncommonly troubled and persecuted for the sake of Christ, so, through union to and intimate fellowship with him, we have been proportionally filled with spiritual comforts to balance it

2 Corinthians 1:6

And all these things are divinely intended and ordered for your unspeakable advantage. If we be pressed with troubles, it is that ye, beholding us enabled to bear them with Christian courage, patience, and joy, may be emboldened to persevere in your holy profession and practice unto complete salvation, and to undergo similar troubles on Christ’s account

2 Corinthians 1:7

And, from what I have heard of my former epistle, I rest assured that, as God has made you willing to sympathize with and share in our sufferings for Christ, he will, in his rich grace and faithfulness, make you partners with us in our abundant comforts, as your condition shall require it

2 Corinthians 1:8

Passing over many other afflictions which we have met with, ye perhaps have heard that we were so terribly persecuted and cruelly abused for preaching the gospel in Lesser Asia, that we had scarcely any hopes of escaping with our life

2 Corinthians 1:9

But God reduced us to this apparently desperate extremity that we might learn to live by faith on him, and have no dependence on our own wisdom or strength, or the favour or influence of friends, but only upon his life-giving, preserving, and restoring, power, goodness, wisdom, and faithfulness, for our protection and deliverance

2 Corinthians 1:10

And we firmly trust that this God, who, by marvellous interpositions, did, and still does, preserve us in life amidst the greatest dangers, will continue to deliver us from doing evil ourselves, or being hurt by the wickedness of others, and preserve us safe unto his heavenly kingdom: 11. And that, in answer to your prayers as well as our own, such marvellous preservations and deliverances, procured by many prayers and intended for the spiritual edification of multitudes, may issue in abundant thanksgivings of many to God

2 Corinthians 1:12

For, whatever reproaches and troubles I and my faithful fellow preachers of Christ have met with, we have in our own breasts the heart-ravishing and triumphant testimony of our consciences, in every reflection upon our principles, tempers, motives, views, and conduct, that with an ingenuous undisguised sincerity and singleness of heart, and with the most upright aims to promote the glory of God,—not with any cunning artifices of carnal policy, or selfish or secular designs or motives, but by a governing principle of grace, which God has wrought in our hearts, and by the gracious directions and assistance, which he, in free favour, continually affords us,—we have conducted ourselves in the whole of our ministerial and personal behaviour, and in a particular manner towards you. 13, 14. What I have now hinted is nothing more than ye have read in my former letter, and which I understand ye generally acknowledge to be true; and I hope that, by the grace of God, ye shall never have occasion to think otherwise;—even as the better part of you have already, with great pleasure, honourably acknowledged me and my fellow preachers to have been the instruments of your conversion and spiritual comfort;—and we have rejoiced on account of the gifts and graces bestowed upon you, and expect to see you presented, as the seals of our ministry, before our Lord Jesus Christ in the last judgment

2 Corinthians 1:15

And, being satisfied of our having mutual comfort in one another, I truly intended to have made you a second visit before now, that, by my preaching and conversation, ye might be further refreshed and built up in Christ, and others converted to him

2 Corinthians 1:16

I intended not indeed to visit you on my return to Macedonia, as then I could have merely seen you, but to continue with you some considerable time after my return from thence, and that some of you should help me forward in my way to Judea with the collection for the saints there

2 Corinthians 1:17

In forming this design, which has not yet been accomplished, I did not, as your new preachers pretend, act inconsiderately or lightly, regardless of what I said or did; nor was it a compliment to flatter and deceive you; nor did I alter my resolution without sufficient ground, or as influenced by any carnal and secular considerations; nor did I, like a wicked man regardless of his word, affirm and deny the same thing by turns. 18, 19. No: I dare appeal to the infinitely true and faithful Jehovah that, in my whole conduct, I have acted consistently with truth and sincerity, and that the subject of my own and my brethren’s ministrations are the stable and unchangeable truths of God!—for with uniform evidence of certainty we preached Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in his person, offices, and benefits, which are for ever invariably the same

2 Corinthians 1:20

For in him, the faithful and true witness, all the great and precious promises of the new covenant, given forth by the unchangeable God, and clearly exhibited under the New Testament dispensation, are infallibly and invariably the same;—all established and put in force by his death, that they may be effectually and completely fulfilled in their proper time and order to his people, to the praise and glory of God’s truth, faithfulness, and grace by our ministrations. 21, 22. And it is this great and unchangeable God who establishes and strengthens us, ministers and people, to abide in the truth through virtue of our union to Christ,—and by his Spirit furnishes us with all necessary gifts and grace; who has also graciously distinguished, marked, and secured, us for his own,—confirmed his covenant with us, assured us of our interest in it, and imprinted his holy image upon us, and has given us his Spirit to dwell, and shed abroad his love and influence, in our hearts, as a pledge and earnest of our eternal inheritance

2 Corinthians 1:23

And I dare appeal to him, in the most solemn manner, that I delayed my visit to you merely from tender affection to you, that I might come, not to exercise my power in censuring and reproving you, but in kind and meek encouragement and comfort

2 Corinthians 1:24

Not that I, or any other minister of Christ, have any right to domineer over your faith, by requiring you to believe or practise any thing in religion which is not required by Jesus Christ, the only Head of the church: but we are authorised by God, and sincerely desire and endeavour, to promote your spiritual comfort, by recovering you from what would hinder it, and by establishing your faith in Christ, and the promises which are confirmed in him; for it is by such a divine faith, founded on God’s own authority and faithfulness, that ye have stood, and must continue to stand, in your state of grace to eternal salvation

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. I.—An unbounded source of mercies and blessings is a reconciled God in Christ. And delightful is it to have the God and Father of Christ ours also. Faithful ministers and Christians may expect to meet with great troubles on earth. But it is enough if God proportion their comfort to their tribulations, and make all to issue in the edification of his church. Yes, thus God often delightfully prepares his ministers, by their own trials and comforts, to comfort others. It is happy to see all our troubles and comforts wisely ordered by God to draw us off from resting in creatures to a sole dependance on himself; and to be enabled so to live amidst reproaches and persecutions as our consciences cannot but attest our uprightness and holiness—Joint fervent prayers bring down remarkable blessings upon ministers and others. And, if God answer our prayers in remarkable benefits to many, abundant thanks should be rendered to him for his kindness. Happy is it when ministers earnestly pray, faithfully preach, and prudently vindicate their own character, in order to promote the remarkable edification of the church. And wonderful is the blessed provision which God hath made, in promises and spiritual influences, for the instruction, comfort, establishment, and eternal salvation, of his people