but in everything commending ourselves as God's ministers, in much endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in straits,
Paul is asked, in effect, for his credentials. He answers by pointing to the way he has served — and the first item on his list is not success but endurance under pressure.
One writer treats "servants of God" as the fact that shapes everything else Paul lists.
The key point of his service is that he was God's minister, and that he represented Him in his service. This made two things necessary. First, he had to be beyond reproach in everything. Second, he had to keep this character of God's minister, and keep exercising his ministry, through all the opposition and in every circumstance that the hatred of man's heart, and even the cunning of Satan, could put him through.
"In every way" rules out the idea that service belongs to certain places, hours, or duties. Older translations render the phrase "in everything."
He never meant it only for the pulpit, as people say. He never meant it for set occasions only, or for a small or larger sphere of one's own, or as a matter of established rights or personal authority... So here the first quality set before us is "in everything as ministers of God commending ourselves." If not as His ministers, what are we? Worse than useless. And that as a fixed purpose of the soul, not now and then, nor in specified duties only, but in everything as God's ministers commending ourselves.
Another writer shows how a life can back up what a person preaches — or undermine it.
The apostle's life in every detail was a comment on his ministry. He practised what he preached. The opposite undermines any preaching or teaching. "But in everything commending ourselves as the ministers of God." He did more than avoid giving offence. In all conditions and under all circumstances he behaved as God's minister should — as the ambassador of Christ.
Paul does not begin with gifts. He begins with the capacity to keep going — and commentators notice the careful wording of "great endurance" rather than perfect endurance.
Much patience is the leading virtue on this list of qualifications for ministry. He dares not say all patience — God alone can claim that. Men bear in proportion to their own experience of the grace that bears with them... Christ only bore without complaining, because He was Himself the embodiment of a love that bears all things.
The word translated "patience" here is worth pinning down, since English uses one word for two different Greek ones.
It is important to distinguish between hupomone and makrothumia. Both are rendered "patience" and "long-suffering"... They are found together in Colossians 1:11, and in 2 Cor. 6:4, 6, where hupomone is given as the first mark of what commends the "servants of God," as it is the first sign of apostolic power in 2 Cor. 12:12.
The three words that follow are not synonyms piled up for effect. Each names a different kind of pressure.
First, the Apostle speaks of hard circumstances that are common to everyone. "Afflictions" touch the body. "Necessities" arise from daily needs. "Straits" come from a lack of resources to meet those needs. The servants met all these things with "patience," or "endurance," and that is what commended them.
One writer maps how the rest of the passage is built on this one word.
"In much patience" or "endurance" is the basis for all that follows. A colon would be better than a comma after this word. What follows it are nine tests of endurance, to the end of verse 5; then nine moral characteristics of endurance (vv. 6, 7); then nine contrasting experiences, the sphere of endurance (vv. 8-10)... Paul certainly faced those nine tests in rigorous severity, yet they only served to prove him more beautifully a true minister of God.
Signs and wonders may look like the obvious proof of a true servant. One writer argues that suffering proves more.
When it is a question of one's credentials — of producing facts that prove beyond all question that someone is a genuine servant of Christ — then the record of one's sufferings is far more convincing. A power other than the Spirit of God may produce signs and wonders. But nothing except absolute devotion to the Lord will enable a person to serve with patient persistence through years of toil and suffering.
- Represent — the servant stands in for God. That calls for a life without reproach, and a ministry held steady under every kind of opposition.
- Everywhere — "in every way" refuses to limit service to the pulpit or to set occasions. It is a fixed purpose of the soul, not an occasional performance.
- Endure — endurance heads the list and holds up the rest: nine tests, then nine moral qualities, then nine contrasting experiences.
- Measured — Paul claims much patience, not all. Only God can claim all. We bear with others in proportion to what we have known of the grace that bears with us.
- Prove — afflictions, hardships and calamities are not obstacles to his credentials. They are the credentials. Suffering borne with patient persistence proves a servant as signs never could.
in stripes, in prisons, in riots, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,
Paul is defending his ministry to a church that had begun to doubt him, and instead of listing his gifts or successes he lists what he endured. Verse 5 sits in the middle of that list: three things done to him, and three he took on himself — and together they show what really marks a servant of God.
Older translations end this verse with "fastings" where the ESV has "hunger." The writers below comment on that older wording.
The list does not run loose. Everything from verse 4 onward hangs on one quality, and the items fall into deliberate groups.
"In much patience" or "endurance" is the basis for all that follows. A colon would no doubt be better than a comma after this word. What follows is nine tests of endurance, to the end of verse 5; then nine moral marks of endurance (vv. 6, 7); then nine contrasting experiences, the sphere of endurance (vv. 8-10). How precious that patient endurance of faith that goes on steadily for the Lord, whatever the way may be! The nine tests came on Paul with rigorous severity, yet they only served to prove him all the more beautifully a true minister of God.
The next three items are blows from outside. What commends Paul is not the suffering itself, but the patience in it.
They commended themselves by their patience under the special trials that came on them as servants of the Lord — beatings, imprisonments, and riots.
Each of the three words has a history behind it, and commentators dispute the last one.
As to the first of these three, the apostle tells us that from the Jews he five times received forty lashes less one, and was beaten three times. As to "prisons," we know of only one, told in detail in Acts 16, no doubt because it mattered so much for the first planting of the gospel in Philippi. But 2 Corinthians 11:23 speaks of the apostle being "in prisons more frequent," so we know this shame came to him often. There remains "in tumults," which some take to mean the forced changes of the apostle's unsettled life… Still, New Testament usage does not support that meaning. The word means either a "riot" in the world or "confusion" among God's people. Here the context confirms the first: a trial that would shock anyone used to an orderly life.
With "labours, watchings, fastings" the list turns. These were not done to Paul; he chose them. Commentators have argued over whether the last one really means voluntary self-denial.
Then we pass from trials inflicted on him to trials he chose, "in labours, in watchings, in fastings," and these are no small witness to his sustained devotion… Dr. Bloomfield insists that reading them as voluntary suffering is not only groundless but invented to support the harsh self-denial of monks. He holds that the words may well refer to the hard work of Paul's trade, to cutting his rest short and working at night to make up for days spent preaching, and to the poor food such a trade must bring. But 2 Corinthians is the true parallel, not just 1 Corinthians 4. There "fasting" is set apart from "hunger and thirst," clearly marking voluntary suffering off from involuntary. No! the apostle's "labours, watchings, fastings" had to do with the gospel and the church, as well as individual souls.
Paul, of all people, stood for freedom. He still mentions fasting — twice, and without any show.
The apostle who more than others stood for liberty in Christ speaks plainly and reverently of "fastings" and "fastings often" in his service (2 Cor. 6:5; 2 Cor. 11:27). This rebukes the light-mindedness the church at Corinth showed, and it marks Christianity today as well — except where superstition and self-righteousness give fasting an artificial importance, in eyes very different from his.
What kept his ministry above blame was not an argument he wrote. It was a life anyone could inspect.
The apostle's life in every detail was a comment on his ministry. He practiced what he preached. The opposite undermines any preaching or teaching. He did more than avoid giving offence. In all conditions and in every circumstance he behaved as a minister of God should, as the ambassador of Christ… Then there were sufferings: beatings, prisons, riots. We read more of these in chapter 11. Then come the things he took on himself, willingly and gladly, as the minister of God: labours, watchings and fastings. By these he showed his devotion.
The obvious escape is to treat this as Paul's job description and nobody else's. That escape is closed.
In every thing crushing to nature did the apostle fulfil his mission. Is the reproach of Christ to be an apostolic perquisite? Are not His servants to share it still? Is it not true from first to last?
- Endurance first. Everything in verses 4-10 hangs on "much patience." Nine tests, then nine graces, then nine contrasts: endurance tested, endurance shaped, endurance displayed.
- Endurance received. Beatings, prisons and riots came from outside. Paul was jailed far more often than Acts 16 alone records, and "riots" means public uproar, not an unsettled life.
- Endurance chosen. Labours, sleepless nights and fastings were his own choice. Paul lists hunger and thirst elsewhere, which shows the fasting here was voluntary.
- Endurance unadvertised. Paul names fasting plainly and with no display — a quiet rebuke to a light-hearted church.
- Endurance proved. The list is a commendation, not a résumé. His life was a comment on his ministry: he practiced what he preached, and the opposite would have undermined every word.
in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, in [the] Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned,
Paul has just listed what his service costs him: hardship, beatings, sleepless nights. Now the list turns inward, from what he endures to what he is. So what proves a servant genuine? Anyone can suffer. Purity, patience and honest love are harder to fake.
The first half of Paul's list is about pressure from outside. Now the subject changes.
But now we turn from circumstances and sufferings to quite another class. These are qualities which God looks for in His service. So there is not only perseverance in the face of opposition and hatred. There is also the exercise of all that is holy and wise, patient and gracious. And all this is not in mere amiability, but in love unfeigned — yes, in the Holy Spirit, and so in the word of truth and in the power of God. It is not in human wisdom and ability, so that the excellence of it might be from Him, not from the man, though through him.
Each of these words has a definite sense. Older versions read "pureness", "long-suffering" and "love unfeigned" where the ESV has "purity", "patience" and "genuine love".
As to moral character, pureness means no mixture of principles. Knowledge is that full awareness of what one stands for and does. Long-suffering is the fruit of a faith that knows God will triumph in the end. Kindness is genuine, courteous treatment of others.
Other people can only judge what they see. God tests the motive behind it.
If care kept him free from human blame, there is another eye that tests the secrets of men's hearts. God was his witness to the pureness of his motives and his walk... He had renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. He lived among men with no other aim than to carry out his commission with a single eye. This integrity was held up in him by a "knowledge" that enabled him both to silence those who argued against him and to pour the light and comfort of divine truth into the souls of all who lived on God's words.
Paul's patience with difficult people was not natural temperament. It was a debt.
Here too he might claim a certain pre-eminence. As a chosen vessel of His grace, he owed this service to God. Christ had shown him all long-suffering (1 Tim. 1:16), and he would let no one outdo him in showing the same grace, since he owed his own salvation to it. For he served God as he knew Him. He had to abound in kindness too. What he gave to others he had first received from God, whose goodness led him to repentance.
Two different Greek words in this passage are both translated "patience" in older versions, and the distinction is worth keeping.
It is important to distinguish between hupomone and makrothumia. Both are rendered "patience" and "long-suffering"... They are found together in Colossians 1:11, and in 2 Cor. 6:4, 6, where hupomone is given as the first mark of what commends the "servants of God".
Paul was an apostle. But this part of the list is not only about that.
These words no doubt refer, in a very important sense, to the special inspiration that belonged to him as an apostle of the faith. But they are by no means only, or perhaps even chiefly, about this. We must remember that although the example is apostolic, and so exceptional, the character described is general. Not all are apostles. But every true believer is "a servant of God," and all living service must be in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Each quality rules out its opposite.
They also commended themselves by the power and motives that moved them in their service. It was carried out not in the flesh, but "in the Holy Spirit." It was not in malice and envy, but "in love." It was not according to man's speculations, but "in the word of truth." It was not in human power, but "in the power of God."
Love can be counterfeited. Real love has one source, and it shows in how a servant treats people.
This chief fruit of the Spirit follows naturally in the list, right after the mention of its living source. It is what has always marked true ministry off from its counterfeit. As a spiritual man Paul had given up all private aims. He no longer judged anyone by human standards, but held to all who were "of God." His affection was warm and true, and it saw the Saviour in the saved.
These qualities need a hard world to show in.
These were the circumstances suited for the development of such a character as he goes on to speak of... It is clearly a world just suited to display these things in, as darkness is suited for the stars to shine in.
- Source. The list moves from what a servant suffers to what God looks for in him. The excellence belongs to God, not the man.
- Purity. Purity means no mixture of principles. God tests the heart, and public opinion cannot.
- Received first. Paul gave out patience and kindness because he had first received them from God.
- Power. The Holy Spirit rules out service done in the flesh. Paul's example is apostolic, but every believer is a servant of God and needs the same power.
- Proof. Love without pretence has always marked real ministry off from its counterfeit. A dark world is where these stars shine.
in [the] word of truth, in [the] power of God; through the arms of righteousness on the right hand and left,
This verse sits inside Paul's long list of the marks of a true servant of God. Three things stand together here: truthful speech, God's power, and righteousness worn like armour. The last one raises the sharpest question in the verse — which righteousness does a Christian wear into battle?
Paul's truthful speech invites a comparison. One writer names the men Paul is set against:
Here, as in all these marks of genuine ministerial grace, stands a challenge to compare him with the smooth-tongued men who misled unstable souls. They seemed convincing, but their hearts were loveless, and they used good words and fair speeches to prey on the flock. There were many then who corrupted the word of God, and their number is far greater now. But his boast to the end of his race was that he had "kept the faith," and men's own conscience bore witness to his words.
The phrase is striking coming from a man whose public reputation was the opposite of powerful.
"In the power of God" was his settled confidence, and that energy did his work. What set him apart was a weak body and unimpressive speech. Others who trusted in themselves might fall back on deceitful methods to spread their various strange doctrines. But as a minister of God he had renounced the hidden things of darkness. He admitted he could not think anything as coming from himself, yet he was mighty in the Lord who sent him, and he fulfilled his mission in word and deed.
This is where readers divide. One writer answers from the picture itself, and from what Paul is arguing here:
Some here, as elsewhere, take "righteousness" to mean the standing that justification before God secures. But this mistakes both the picture and the setting. Armour protects a person against the attacks of an enemy, and God is certainly not that to the believer. So where we get the details, as in Ephesians 6, the point is beyond dispute. We put on the armour to withstand the powers and schemes of evil, not to stand before God. If it were to stand before God, we would hear of a robe, not of weapons. So practical righteousness is what is in question here, not the righteousness of God. The setting requires the same. Paul is insisting here not on the believer's standing, but on avoiding everything that could expose the ministry to reproach, and on cultivating everything that would commend it to every conscience.
The two senses of righteousness are not rivals, though. One must come first if the other is to work:
I am made righteous before God — that is a settled thing; and now I want everything Christ is and has been as my power against the enemy. If a man has a bad conscience, there can be no power against Satan. There must be the "armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left."
Paul also changes one small word mid-verse. Older translations read "in the word of truth, in the power of God", where the ESV has "by truthful speech, and the power of God". From the armour onwards the Greek word changes, and Kelly translates it "through" or "with" (William Kelly). The two hands cover the servant's two tasks:
Whether attacking error or defending truth, he worked in righteousness, as one who worked with God and in His sight. His opponents were of Satan; his defence was of God, who saves the upright in heart.
This leaves no room for cutting corners:
No matter what the circumstances may be, nothing could ever excuse the servant of the Lord, or any saint of God, for acting unrighteously. An unrighteous act would make a lie of the testimony of the righteous God we serve. It would shame that glorious testimony before the world. So at all times, and in all circumstances, righteousness must mark God's servant.
One writer sees a shape in verses 6 and 7. The firm qualities guard the tender ones:
Purity and righteousness stand guard, right and left, before and behind. Under that protection come knowledge, patience, love and truth, in the energy of the Spirit and in the power of God. What a beautiful blend of spiritual graces this is. The servant of God who is armed with righteousness, and yet is full of patience and kindness and sincere love, must be like a polished sword in the hand of the Holy Spirit.
- Truth. Paul spoke the word of truth. Others used convincing, loveless words to corrupt God's word — and they still do.
- Power. Paul was weak in body and unimpressive in speech. He was mighty because the energy was God's, not his own.
- Armour. Armour protects you from an enemy, and God is not the believer's enemy. So this is practical righteousness in daily conduct, not the robe of justification.
- Conscience. The righteousness God gives comes first. A bad conscience leaves a believer with no power against Satan.
- Both hands. Armed right and left, the servant is covered whether he attacks error or defends truth. Nothing can ever excuse an unrighteous act.
through glory and dishonour, through evil report and good report as deceivers, and true;
Paul is listing the marks of a true servant of God, and here they come in opposite pairs: honour and shame, praise and slander, a fraud's name given to a truthful man. If opinion swings that far, what holds a Christian steady?
Paul knew both extremes of public opinion. One writer traces those swings:
Who ever touched both extremes as fully as the man who describes here the path of service according to God? Who ever served the Lord Jesus so far above circumstances? Who was less lifted up? Who was further from depression? People honoured him as a divine being and then stoned him. One moment they suspected him of murder; at once after that they treated him as a god. Among the saints themselves he went through ups and downs almost as wild and quick.
These swings were not only in the world:
In the church, as well as in the world, he met these opposite extremes of human opinion. In the church his position and his personal grace both gave him a claim to respect. Yet some thought little of him — even people he could call his own children in the faith. In the world he was sometimes an honoured guest, though far more often in chains for Christ. But in either case he proved himself God's minister.
The ESV reads "slander and praise" here, where older translations have "evil report and good report." That second word is hard to pin down in English:
The words "of good report" translate only one Greek word: euphemos. It is found only once in the New Testament, though a similar word, formed from it, is found in 2 Corinthians 6:8, linked with its opposite. The word is not easy to translate accurately. Some suggest that "sweet to speak of, winning, winsome, gracious, attractive" give something of its true meaning. One example from the classics is said to mean "putting the most favourable reading on the account."
The same writer names the word's opposite, and the people it fitted:
Its opposite is dusphemos, which means slanderous... Those who slandered Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:8 were, I have no doubt, people who were Christians — at least in name. And remember what we saw in Philippians 1. Some there "preached Christ" out of envy and rivalry, hoping to add affliction to Paul's chains.
Because both verdicts kept coming, Paul stopped treating either as his measure:
"Through evil report and good report," he ran on steadily toward his mark. He sought people's souls, not their votes, so he closed his ear to flattery and criticism alike... Nothing moved him from his steadfastness. He looked for the honour that comes from God alone, and kept his heart and eye fixed on invisible things. So he could afford to be indifferent to human praise or blame.
Where the ESV has "impostors," older translations read "deceivers." The charge lives in the rumour; the truth lives in the man:
"As deceivers" in the evil report, and "true" in reality... What contradictions and puzzles are here! Yet they are all made to work together to show Christ and His people.
"Deceiver" was not a new insult invented for Paul. People said the same of Jesus:
In a world such as this, the true servant of God will at times be treated as a deceiver by some and as true by others. It was so with the Lord, for some dared to say, "He is leading the people astray," while others said He was "a good man" (John 7:12)... In all these ways the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord.
Both verdicts meet the same answer — righteousness worked out in daily life:
They commended themselves by a life of practical righteousness towards people on every side. This held whether they were treated with honour or dishonour, and through good report and evil report. So, wearing the breastplate of righteousness, they were armed against every attack of the enemy.
- Two verdicts. People honoured Paul as a god and then stoned him. Some in the church thought little of him too.
- Two words. "Good report" is speech that is warm and puts the kindest reading on things. Its opposite is slander — sometimes from people who carried the Christian name.
- One direction. Paul closed his ear to flattery and criticism alike. He ran toward his mark, seeking souls, not votes.
- One reality. "Deceiver" was what the rumour said; "true" was what he was — and both together displayed Christ.
- One pattern. Jesus carried the name first, and the servant is not above his Lord. Practical righteousness is the armour for both verdicts.
as unknown, and well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as disciplined, and not put to death;
Paul describes his ministry in a run of contrasts, and this verse holds three of them. Each pair sets what people saw against what was really true.
One writer sums up the whole list of contrasts in a single picture:
So he showed himself to be the minister of God in everything that could test him... unknown to the world, and known and prominent; outwardly trampled underfoot by people and disciplined, inwardly victorious and joyful.
Being unknown did not mean nobody had heard Paul's name. His reputation travelled; what failed to travel was any true grasp of him.
None was more widely known than Paul, for the fame of him and of his teaching filled the world, yet none was so little understood. For what he said and did was "by the Holy Spirit," and the natural person does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God. So his tireless zeal made him known everywhere, but the world took him for a wild fanatic. He spoke words of truth and good sense, yet the Gentile ruler who heard him called him mad.
Greek has more than one word for knowing. The word here is the stronger one, and one writer notes where older English versions showed it:
The difference between the two words is the strength that the added preposition epi gives to gnosis, "knowledge" (or its verb). It makes the word mean "a deeper and more intimate knowledge and acquaintance." Yet only one passage in the Authorized Version shows this (2 Cor. 6:9), where epiginosko is translated "well known."
Some of that obscurity is chosen. A servant who refuses to chase a reputation loses it — and still cannot stay hidden.
Never was it true of Paul, and it never can be true of a thoroughly devoted and unworldly servant of God, that everyone speaks well of him. That is how the Jews of old spoke of the false prophets, not the true. Faith does not love the chief place at feasts, or greetings in the marketplaces, or being called Rabbi, Rabbi by people. It refuses them. The servant clings to the name of the One whom the world does not know, and so is unknown. Yet as with the Master, grace in service cannot help making itself felt in a world of need and misery. It cannot be hidden.
The two words can also mark two stages that take turns across a life of service.
There is a time to hide ourselves and a time to show ourselves... A time to pass through the land "as unknown," and a time to mingle with the crowd "as well known" (2 Cor. 6:9). Such changes are the common lot of all true servants of the Lord. John the Baptist, in his day, was in the desert "as unknown" until the day he appeared to Israel "as well known." Then he withdrew from public view again, in the presence of One of whom he could say, "He must increase, but I must decrease."
Paul stood at the edge of death over and over, and was still alive the next morning.
He carried the sentence of death in himself. He was in constant danger of his life for Jesus' sake, through the active rage of the destroyer. Yet he lived always in the power of that deathless life, whose source is in the Name he confessed. What is more, until his work was done he was, though vulnerable, safe from fatal harm. Once his enemies were allowed to spend all their fury on him, and they left him only when they thought he was dead. Yet he soon revived, with strength to continue his usual work the next day (Acts 14:19-20).
The last pair changes who is acting. Man's hostility is not the only hand at work in these sufferings.
God's hand was on him too, as well as man's. As a true son of the Father of spirits, he shared what all share whom God acknowledges as His (Heb. 12:5-7). If others forgot this, he did not, but confessed it openly, to the glory of God and for the comfort of his brothers... Apostle and chosen vessel though he was, that made him need it all the more — the very thing his own word says we all need.
- Known. Paul's fame filled the world, yet almost nobody understood him. Being widely heard of is not the same as being truly known.
- Better known. The word behind "well known" is the strong one. It means a deeper, more intimate acquaintance.
- Unhidden. A servant who refuses the chief seat becomes unknown. Grace in service still makes itself felt, because it cannot be hidden.
- Alive. He was always at death's door, yet safe from fatal harm until his work was done — struck down one day, back at his work the next.
- Corrected. Behind man's blows lay a Father's discipline. It fell on a chosen apostle who needed it as much as anyone, and it stopped short of death.
as grieved, but always rejoicing; as poor, but enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things.
Paul ends a long list of what marks a true servant of God with three short pairs. Each pair sets something people can see beside something hidden: grief and joy, poverty and wealth, empty hands and full ownership. How can both halves be true at the same time? And does this belong only to Paul, or to every Christian?
These clauses end a description of ministry, and they change register as they go. One commentator notes that the earlier items in the list describe how Paul was reported, while these last ones state what was simply so.
The clauses which follow have a rather distinct character, sliding from matters of report into actual fact: "as dying and behold we live, as chastened and not put to death, as grieved but always rejoicing, as poor but enriching many, as having nothing and possessing all things."
The grief was not mainly about hardship or persecution. It came from walking close to Christ, and from carrying the churches.
Why was he sorrowful? The general answer to this question is, if rightly given, because he followed so closely in the steps of the One who was "the Man of Sorrows" on earth… No outward persecution made him grieve, but tears were often his food while, as one on whom the Lord had laid the care of all the churches, he watched with anxious longing for their souls.
The two halves do not cancel each other because they belong to different orders of experience. Natural joy leaves when sorrow arrives; this joy does not.
These words, written by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:10, must be a puzzle to the men of this world, for in natural things when sorrow enters the human heart its joy departs. Though the Christian knows the joys and sorrows that are natural to men, he also has a divine joy of which the man of this world knows nothing, and he also has sorrows that cannot be known to those who have not the divine nature that God has given to His children.
The pattern was set by the Lord Himself, and the clearest case is an hour when both were present together.
In Luke 10, as in Matthew 11, the Lord pronounced woes on the cities in which His mighty works had been done. These favoured cities had closed their doors on the One who had brought the grace of heaven down to them, and with deepest sorrow in His heart the Lord is compelled to speak of the judgment awaiting them because of their unbelief. Yet in the moment of deepest sorrow the Spirit of God records, "In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children" (Luke 10:21; Matt. 11:25-26).
Paul's poverty was partly chosen. He worked with his hands when he need not have, and there was a second poverty underneath the first.
To work with his hands was not in fact a necessity, for the labourer is worthy of his wages; yet for example's sake he added this to his other burdens, and what his hands earned hard by this voluntary toil, the same hands also gave freely to the weak (Acts 20:34-35). And if poor in worldly goods, he was poorer still in that poverty which God has blessed (Matt. 5:3). Thoroughly self-judged and self-humbled, his heart held Christ in a fullness that flowed out continually to enrich the souls of others.
The last pair is the boldest. It is not a mood but a legal claim, held on another's title.
"As having nothing, and possessing all things." If Paul's earthly property had been valued, some books and parchments and a cloak would probably have been the bulk of it; yet the unlimited credit he had in heaven, as a simple and fervent truster in the living God, made him bold to make valid promises of an unlimited amount to those he dealt with in his Master's name (Phil. 4:19; Philemon 18, 19). Like Abraham… he would not call the ground he stood on his own, because the time of lasting occupancy had not come; but because Jesus holds all things as the Father's gift, he claimed, and taught others to claim, the ownership of all things in His name.
The reverse also holds, and it is worth weighing:
Men out of Christ, as they have right to nothing, so indeed they possess nothing… To him who belongs to the world the world cannot belong.
Paul knew this in an unusual measure, yet the same words are pressed on ordinary believers.
If Paul knew it above measure in his ministry, he like Peter calls on every Christian to be "as sorrowful (or, grieved), yet always rejoicing."
- Fact. These pairs move from what people said about Paul to what was true of him.
- Sorrow. It came from following the Man of Sorrows and from the daily care of the churches, not from mere hardship.
- Joy. The believer has a joy the world knows nothing of. Grief and gladness can fill the same hour, as they did for Christ in Luke 10.
- Riches. Paul was poor in goods and poor in spirit. His heart was full of Christ, and he preached those riches to make others rich.
- Ownership. All he owned was books, parchments and a cloak. Yet his credit was heaven's, and all things were his because they are Christ's.