An Expository Comment on 2 Corinthians 1, Exposition · Sermon 108
SERM. CVIII.
All Chriſtians, eſpecially Miniſters, ought to lay out themſelves wholly for Gods Glory, and others good.
2 COR. 1. 16.
And to paſſe by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea.
THis Text containeth the manner how Paul was to fulfill his purpoſe of coming to them, which was firſt to go to Macedonia; and upon a ſhort abiding there, then again, to come back to them, and to make a longer continuance with them. For the ſtate of the Church of Macedonia was not ſo corrupt, as this of Corinth, and therefore needed not ſo long a reſidence of Paul there, as in this place. For our holy Apoſtle had his whole heart carried out in the ſervice of God, and therefore did order his journeys and continuance in any place, according as Gods glory, and the advantage of the Church might require it. So that when Paul ſpeaketh here of his travails, and ſetteth down as it were his ſeveral journeys, in all theſe he did not conſult with fleſh and blood, or look upon carnal advantages; but his aim in all is, to promote the Kingdom of Chriſt.
There is one great difficulty which Commentators are exerciſed with concerning this Text, and that is, How to reconcile this paſſage with that which is 1 Cor. 16. 5, 6, 7. where he ſaith, He would come to them after he had paſſed through Macedonia, and that he would not now ſee them by the way, whereas here he ſaith, he will, though afterwards he would come and abide with them: So that here ſeemeth to be a contrariety in his purpoſes. Some, as Aquinas, and others, think therefore that this purpoſe in the Text, was either made in a former Epiſtle, which is now loſt, or ſent by a meſſenger to them: And that afterwards Paul for urging reaſons did alter his reſolution. And that this is ſpoken of in the former Epiſtle, which they ſay is the ſecond, though with us it be the firſt. Hence it's affirmed by ſome, that the Apoſtle wrote three Epiſtles to theſe Corinthians, though we have but two. But it is the judgement of the moſt able Divines, That no part of the Canonical Scripture is loſt. They grant many books are now wanting, which ſome holy men did write, but of that which was by God appointed to be the Canon and Rule of our faith and manners none is periſhed. And indeed to hold that opinion, would open a door for many atheiſtical arguments; at leaſt it would gratifie the Popiſh party, who thinketh, if there were no Scripture, yet the Church and her traditions would be a ſtarre bright enough to guide us unto Heaven. Others there are that grant in the former Epiſtle Paul had a contrary reſolution to this in the Text, and that it is no diſhonour to him to change his mind; for they diſtinguiſh between matters of Doctrine, and matters of Fact. In matters of Doctrine they were alwayes guided by the Spirit of God: But in matters of Fact, ſometimes they did purpoſe according to humane conſiderations, but prudential and rational; yet in the event were over-ruled to other things, then they purpoſed, by ſome new diſpenſations of Gods providence. Neither is this to be blamed, no not in wiſe men. For the Rule is, Sapientis eſt mut…re conſilium, new emergencies which the wiſdome of man could not fore-ſee, may cauſe new reſolutions. Now it's plain, that either Paul did wholly change his purpoſe, or elſe he did not fulfill it as ſoon as was expected by the Corinthians, which made them ſo calumniate him for inconſtancy and levity. And this anſwer may very well be juſtified; yet Muſculus doth at large ſhew, how both theſe purpoſes may be reconciled, and that there is no contrariety in them, which is too long here to inſert.
Let us come to obſerve ſome practical and profitable inſtructions from this Text, and from the general ſcope that Paul had in all this labour and travail, which was to advance the glory of God, to promote the good of the Church, rejoycing like a Gyant to runne his race. We may obſerve,
That it is the duty of all Chriſtians, and especially of Miniſters to lay out 'Tis the duty of all Chriſtians, eſpecially Miniſters to lay out themſelves for the glory of God.themſelves for the glory of God, and good of others.
Was not Paul admirable in this? See how he taketh one journey upon another, travaileth from one Church to another; and all this is, that Chriſt might be exalted. Both godly Chriſtians and eſpecially Miniſters of the Goſpel, are to follow Chriſt in this, who went up and down preaching the Kingdome of God, and doing good whitherſoever he came. All his life was ſpent in doing the will of the Lord.
Firſt, Let us conſider it as the duty of all Chriſtians in their ſeveral places and 1. For all Chriſtians.relations; and herein theſe things are conſiderable.
Firſt, There is none, though in never ſo mean a condition, but hath ſeveral 1. There is none but have talents to be improved.talents committed to him, which are to be imployed for the honour of God, and the good of others. The known Parable of the Talents doth ſufficiently confirm this. For though there be a great difference, ſome have five, and ſome have ten, and others but one or two, yet none are to ſit idle: And therefore in that Parable, Matth. 25. 24. the inſtance of an unprofitable ſervant is made in him, who had but one Talent: we would have thought it would have gone worſe with thoſe who had more Talents; they were under many obligations, it would be very difficult to improve all. Doth not evperience teach us, that where a man hath many relations, and ſeveral truſts committed to him, how hard it is to be faithfull in all? Yet here in this Parable, he only is found unprofitable, and is adjudged unto a terrible doom, that had but one talent, and was negligent therin. Would not Chriſt teach us by this, that none ſhould ſlight their mean and low eſtate, thinking that ſuch are poor and inconſiderable creatures, as they are, alas, they can do nothing for God? It is for Magiſtrates and Miniſters, for rich men, or men in place, and of intereſt to lay out themſelves; but God doth not look they ſhould do any thing. Oh take heed of this temptation! If thou doeſt but ſet thy ſelf to conſider in this matter, thou mayeſt find thy ſelf in capacity to promote the glory of God, and to further the Goſpel of Chriſt in many particulars that thou art now negligent in. This is our great ſinne, that none are contented with the ſeveral relations and conditions they are in. One thinketh, if he were in ſuch a mans eſtate, he could ſerve God better than he doth. The private Chriſtian thinketh a Miniſter can do it better: A Miniſter thinketh a private Chriſtian hath not the temptations and ſad eares that he hath. As Luther ſpeaketh (Comment. in Gen. cap. 17.) of himſelf, how he thought other mens callings happier than his, who endured ſo much envy and hatred for the Goſpel, They live without vexations; their labour is ſweet, but I am exerciſed (ſaith he) with great dangers. But we muſt take heed of impatiency, and know we may all ſerve God, and ſo be at laſt ſaved in our reſpective lawfull callings. We would think the hands or feet were in a worſe condition than the tongue, for they are worn out with labour; whereas the tongue doth taſte of ſweet and pleaſant things, and is not w…aried with pain, and yet theſe partake of the ſame happineſs with the body, as the eyes or tongue do.
Secondly, This you alſo are to underſtand, that all the lawfull actions in 2. All lawfull actions may be improved for Gods glory.your ſeveral callings may be improved for Gods honour, as well as thoſe that are in their nature religious, and immediately applied to himſelf. Our plowing and ſowing, our marrying and bringing up of children, if done according to Scripture-rules, pleaſe God in their way, as well as religious duties: It may be holy plowing, holy ſowing, holy buying and ſelling, as well as holy praying and holy preaching. It is the Apoſtles command, 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whether ye eat, or drinke, or whatſoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. In Popery there was an horrible miſtake about this, which was the cauſe of bringing in much ſuperſtition; which made Luther, as appeareth in his Comments on Geneſis, ſo often ſpeak of the good pleaſure that God taketh in the civil actions of our calling, when done out of obedience to Gods command. And indeed men are hardly perſwaded, that the doing of ſuch things in our relations, are ſerving of God; whereas all ſuch things done from good principles, and to right ends, are holineſs as well as other duties. Holineſſe to the Lord, is to be written upon all thy natural, civil and moral actions, as well as religious. It is true, here lieth the difficulty, to do theſe ordinary actions of our calling upon holy grounds; to eat, to drink, to labour, that God may be exalted, and not to make riches, gain, and outward bleſſedneſs the utmoſt end of all doings in this kind. So that till a man be regenerated, he is but a worm crawling upon the ground, he cannot do any thing but upon humane motives. And it is no wonder, for ſuch men in all their religious duties are but carnal and earthly; whether they pray or heare, it is not for the glory of God: Cuſtome, formality, and ſelf-reſpects, are the Locuſts and Caterpillars, that do devour our hopefull buds. Therefore
In the third place, It behoveth every Chriſtian often to meditate about the ultimate 3. Chriſtians ſhould often meditate upon the ultimate end of all their actions.end of all his actions. As the Heathen would have a man ſay to himſelf, Cui bono, for what good is this I do? So much more ſhould believers propound this to themſelves; I labour, I take pains, I riſe early, I go to bed late; but to what end is all this? What is it that my ſoul doth principally aim at in all theſe things? If we had asked Paul, ſaying, Paul, Why will you go to Macedonia? He would have ſaid, to promote Chriſts Kingdom, to have been beneficial to mens ſouls. And then again, Why to Corinth? It was to carry on the work of the Goſpel there. Many did begin to fall off, ſo that it was neceſſary there ſhould be information and admonition. And further, Why do you go to Jeruſalem? It is to refreſh the bowels of the poor Saints there. By which you ſee, that as the Heliotropium, that flower of the Sunne, doth follow the Sunne, and openeth and ſhutteth according to the preſence of the Sun, and its abſence. Thus doth the heart of Paul wholly move after God; divine conſiderations are the Loadſtone that drew out his heart. And indeed in all moral actions, the end is firſt to be concluded. Hence Ariſtotle in his Ethicks beginneth with the end of humane actions. What is the white that all men are to ſhoot at? What is the mark they are to levell at? Whereupon ſome Divines likewiſe concluding, that Divinity is practical and not ſpeculative meerly, that therefore the moſt approved and genuine method in all Syſtems of Divinity, is, firſt to begin with that end, which all men ought to aim at in their whole life, and that is known to be the glory of God, and the ſalvation of our ſouls. Now when a man hath fixed his end, and reſolveth upon that, he doth all things proportionably and ſutably thereunto. Hence when a man acteth according to a Divine Rule: If you ask him, Why do you take ſuch pains? Why do you ride up and down, and travail ſo much? Why do you ſtudy and devour books? His anſwer will be, It is for Gods glory, and the ſalvation of my ſoul. Till therefore a man hath centered his ſoul upon the right end, till his heart be conſtantly upon that, he either propounds curſed and wicked ends to himſelf, or at the beſt he maketh intermedious ends ultimate, that which is the ſecondary to be the principal. For it's lawfull to take pains, to be diligent in our calling, that our family may be provided for, our children be brought up; it were an unnatural and great ſinne to be negligent herein; but then you muſt remember, to make this a comma, not a colon: This muſt be your Inne, not your home, you muſt look beyond all theſe, even to God and your ſouls. This truth is ſo neceſſary, that though we ſhould preach ſix hundred Sermons about it, to quicken you up in the meditation thereof, it would not be uſeleſs: But I am not now to inſiſt upon it. The ſum is this, He that would both in ſoul and body, in health, wealth, parts, and all he hath, be imployed for God, muſt often make this Queſtion to his ſoul, Oh my ſoul, what is thy end in all theſe things! What moveth thee to be thus diligent in thy wayes? What is it that is ſet moſt upon thy heart all the day long? For although we cannot continually have actual thoughts upon our chief end, yet we are to have an habitual and virtual inclination, from whence all is to come, that we do. Even as a perfect Grammarian ſpeaketh alwayes true Latine, from the habit within him, though happily he doth not actually think upon every rule in his Grammar.
In the next place we told you, This acting and working for God in our whole 2. Eſpecially it belongs to Miniſters.life and callings, is more eminently to be fulfilled in the Miniſters of the Gospel. The name of a Biſhop is a name of labour, and not honour. The Miniſtry is, Negotiorum negotium, the work of all works; which made Paul ſay, Who is ſufficient for theſe things? 2 Cor. 2. 16. All the title and names they have, denote diligence; labour, ſollicitude and conſtant perſeverance in the work of the Lord againſt all the cruel oppoſitions that the Devil and wicked men do raiſe againſt them. Hence Timothy is commanded, To endure hardſhip as a good ſouldier of Jeſus Chriſt, 2 Tim. 2. 3, 4. and that he may diſcharge this faithfully, He muſt not entangle himſelf in the affairs of the world. All which ſheweth, that in a peculiar manner they are by their Miniſtry to diſpoſſeſs Satan of his Kingdom: They are clouds to refreſh the dry ground, and to make it fruitfull. They are ſalt to ſeaſon thoſe who are corrupted by ſinne. But you may ſay, What qualification is requiſite, that both private Chriſtians and Miniſters may lay themſelves wholly out in their respective wayes for God? For though Paul inſtance here only of his own travails, yet the end of this is general, and belongs not onelyonly to all Miniſters, but all Chriſtians. We are to do in our way, what Paul did in his way: We may in the Apoſtles conſider ſome things as commanded them in their proper perſonal capacity: Some things again as Miniſters which belong to all Officers in the Church: Some things again as commanded them under the notion of believers, and what they do in ſuch a capacity, we all are to imitate them in. It was not the Apoſtles duties only to watch and pray, to take heed their hearts be not overcharged with the cares of this world; to ſtrive to enter in at the ſtreight gate, but it is every believers duty; we have all the ſame end, though not the ſame way. What Paul aimed at, by preaching, by travailing from one Countrey to another, the very ſame thing art thou to aim at in thy buying and ſelling, in thy trading from one place to another.
Now amongſt the ſeveral qualifications to inable us thereunto, there is required,What is required to enable us to do all things for Gods glory. 1 A converted ſoul.
1. A renewed Nature. We muſt be made new creatures, elſe the firſt ſtone is not yet laid in this foundation. Paul never was buſie in this ſpiritual merchandizing for God, till he was converted; while ſome men have their luſts their god; others their god; others the world their god; others honour and greatneſs their god: They cannot but toil and moil, go farre and near, only to ſatisfie theſe ſpiritual Idols, that they worſhip in their hearts. Oh but when God ſhall make this iron to ſwim, ſhall convert this earth into fire, then he beginneth to improve that firſt Commandment, and to do all things in purſuance thereof, even to have no other gods, but God alone.
2. There is required a publick Affection, whereby we preferre Gods glory, and the ſpiritual good of others, above all our particular concernments. If 2 A publick ſpirit.Paul could even deſire to be an Anathema for Iſrael's ſpiritual good, Rom. 9. 3. How much more then would he readily part with riches, honour, and his own eaſe to have procured it? When we read in prophane Hiſtories, and ſee how much ſome of their Worthies have denied their profits, pleaſures and luſts to promote the publick good, we may admire that publick ſpirit God gave them; yet Auſtin obſerveth truly, That corrupt aims and ends did prevail in all they did. How much more then may we behold the glorious work of Gods Spirit upon many Chriſtians, in this very particular of giving them publick affections, that had rather with Jonah be caſt into the Sea, then ſee the Church ſink wherein they are? If it be our duty, To lay down our lives for the brethren, 1 Joh. 3. 16. is it any wonder, if we do the leſſe things for the good of others?
3. There muſt be Heavenly mindedneſſe. Cold doth congregate heterogeneal 3. Heavenlyn indedneſs.things together; the Earth is an heavy element, and falleth downward. If therefore a man would be active and diligent for God and his Church, he muſt be of an heavenly frame; he muſt be able to ſay with David, Whom have I in Heaven but thee, and in earth in compariſon of thee? Pſal. 73. 25. As fire aſſimilateth all things into its ſelf: Thus doth the godly man endeavour that all his relations may be godly, all his friends, all the world if it could be. Hence it is that every godly man, becauſe of this heavenly affection, is in ſome meaſure, though not equal to Paul, to ſay, 2 Cor. 11. 28, 29. The care of all the Churches is upon me: who is weake, and I am not weake? Who is offended, and I burn not? It is ſaid to be a kind of proverbial ſpeech in the primitive times, If an elect (that is, a believer) hath ſinned, his neighbour hath ſinned; implying the great care Chriſtians took of one anothers ſoul, that if any did ſinne, they were to conſider whether other mens ſins were not made theirs ſome way or other.
Laſtly, Fervency and zeal is a choiſe ingredient in this precious ointment. If you obſerve who ever did much in their places for God, or his Church; you 4. Fervency and zeal.will find they were alwayes men of zeal. Hence Rom. 12. 11. you have thoſe duties excellently put together, Not ſlothfull in buſineſſe, fervent in ſpirit, ſerving the Lord. Every Sacrifice muſt have this fire, that it may be offered up to God. It is the ſluggard that hath this field grown over with briars and thornes; want of zeale maketh a man ſtand like an unprofitable tree, that cumbreth the ground. It was Paul's zeal made him do and ſuffer ſo much for the good of the Church. Thus zeal alſo will inflame thee, and make thy heart which naturally is like a cold ſtone within thee, to burn like fire; and then, as Solomon ſpeaketh in another caſe, It is an impoſſible to keep in thy godlineſſe, as to binde up the winde, or to conceal the ointment thou beareſt about with thee. Zeal will make thee work for God, ſpeak for God. Theſe and the like qualifications will make us put this Doctrine into daily practice, viz. To improve all we are, and all we have for Gods glory, and the good of others.
Let the Uſe be, To examine our ſelves in this point: Is all we do in reference to God? Doe we live and move to glorifie God? May we not charge our baſe and unworthy hearts with much lazineſſe, much formality; much worldlineſſe, whereby we are hindered from ſpending our ſelves, and being ſpent in his ſervice? Do we not live, as if we had no other buſineſs in this world, then to eat and drinke, to buy and ſell? And yet againe, Who looketh upon himſelf as running in a race, and ſo will not give over till he come to the prize? And truely if wee but conſider the infinite comfort that is in doing of Gods worke, above the worlds, and the Devils; this would be a ſharpe goade in our ſides, to make us forward therein.