2 Corinthians 12:11-21 I am become a fool in glorying; you have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you… 1. The Divine discipline had succeeded well with Paul. There was danger of his being exalted above measure, and therefore there was given him a thorn, etc. His humility comes out in the incident before us. He was compelled to defend himself, and in the midst of strong expressions of self-assertion, every one of them severely truthful, his true humility is manifest. 2. Although Paul was undoubtedly humble, yet there is not a particle of cant in any of his expressions. There is no humility in such self-depreciation as would lead you to deny what God has wrought in or by you: that might be wilful falsehood. Mock humility creeps around us, but every honest man loathes it, and God loathes it too. Now, the apostle says that he is not a whit behind the very chief of the apostles, etc., and yet for all that he finishes his detail of experience by saying, "Though I be nothing." I. THIS WAS OTHER MEN'S ESTIMATE OF HIM. You may be starting the Christian life full of zeal; but you dwell among a people who count you hot-headed and self-conceited, and do their best to thwart you. Be comforted, for if Paul heard that, in the judgment of many, his personal presence was weak, etc., you need not wonder if the like thing happens to you. The case is harder with older servants of God. After a long life of usefulness the churches often forget all that a man was and did in his vigorous times, and now they treat him with indifference. You must not marvel. The apostle of the Gentiles, when he was "such an one as Paul the aged," knew that to many he was nothing. Paul was nothing — 1. In the estimation of hatred. His Jewish brethren, when he was an advocate of their principles, thought him some great one; when he went over to the hated sect he was nothing. Such is, in a measure, the case when men become thoroughly followers of Jesus. If a scientific man is of infidel principles he is cried up as an eminent thinker; but should he be a Christian, he is antiquated and narrow. 2. In the valuation of envy. There arose even in the Church certain brethren who loved pre-eminence, and found the apostle already in the highest place. They strove to rise by pulling him down. It is an unfortunate thing for some men, if they love their own ease, that they have risen to conspicuous usefulness, for in a middle place they might have been allowed to be something, but jealousy is now resolved to rate them at nothing. 3. To those who desired that Christianity should make a fair show in the flesh. Certain brethren had thought to adorn the doctrine of Christ with human wisdom. Our apostle abhorred this. "We use," saith he, "great plainness of speech," and therefore they retaliated by declaring that he was not a man of great mind — that, in fact, he was nothing. Other teachers arose who took the way of tradition and ritualism. To which Paul replied, "If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified." Straightway the High Churchmen discovered that Paul was nothing. II. HIS OWN ESTIMATE OF HIMSELF. 1. This is a very great correction upon his original estimate of himself. 2. This corrected estimate resulted from the enlightenment which he received at his conversion. What a flood of light does the Lord pour in upon a man's soul when He brings him to Himself! Then great Saul dwarfed into little Paul, and the learned rabbi shrivelled into a poor brother, who was glad to learn from humble Ananias. 3. The force of that estimate had increased by a growing belief in the doctrine of grace. In proportion as he learned the fulness, freeness, richness, and sovereignty of Divine grace did he see, side by side with it, the nakedness, the filthiness, the nothingness of man, and so he who could best glory in the grace of God thought less and less of himself. 4. His own internal experience had very much helped him to feel that he was nothing, for he had experienced great spiritual struggles. "Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" 5. When the apostle said this he meant that he was — (1) Nothing in comparison with his Lord. (2) Nothing to boast of. Albeit he had been a faithful sufferer for Christ, that he had preached the gospel in the regions beyond. If we rise very near to God, and conquer open sin, we shall still have to look within, and say, "I am nothing." Boasting is a sure sign of failure. Gilded wood may float, but an ingot of gold will sink. (3) Nothing to trust in. I am strong in the Lord when He strengthens me, but I am as weak as an infant without His aid. "In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing."(4) Nothing worth considering. "If there is any good thing for me to do, I never calculate whether I shall be a loser by it or a gainer, for I am not worth taking into the account. If Christ's kingdom will but come, it does not matter whether Paul lives or dies." Christ's kingdom will go on without me.Conclusion — 1. May we all be made by Divine grace to say "Though I be nothing."(1) It will prevent pride. It will prevent our being mortified, because notice is not taken of us. No man will look for honour among his fellows when he owns that he is nothing. (2) It will also prevent severe censures of others. We are all very handy at picking holes in our brethren's coats; but when we are nothing we shall draw back our hand. I wish that those who criticise ministers would think of this. (3) It will help us to avoid all self-seeking. A man who feels himself to be nothing will be easily contented. (4) It will inspire gratitude. "Though I be nothing, yet infinite grace is mine." 2. When the apostle says, "Though I be nothing," that word shows that there was a fact in the background. (1) He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had enjoyed a special revelation of Christ. We, too, have been very near the Beloved, and He has manifested Himself to us as He does not unto the world. All this you know, and I also know it, "though I be nothing."(2) "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad," by enabling us to serve His cause. This we are right glad of, though we heartily add, "though I be nothing."(3) We can also believingly say, "though I be nothing," yet the Spirit of God dwells in me. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. |
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