2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. (Text and ver. 2): — We have here the privileges of the Christian dispensation. 1. Connected with the heart of God. 2. Associated with the services of the ministers of Christ. 3. Looked at as in the hands of confessed Christians. 4. Regarded as the blessing of. the present time. We can, however, only deal with two of these topics. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY "THAT YE RECEIVE NOT THE GRACE OF GOD IN VAIN"? 1. Merely to hear, is to be like a sick man who is told of a physician, but who does not apply to him; or a poor man who is told of a treasure and does not seek it. They receive the communications "in vain." 2. Only to comprehend intellectually the word of God's grace is to receive it "in vain." It is to be like a man who devotes himself to the study of the chemistry of food, but who neglects to eat. Of what advantage is his knowledge? 3. Only to be pleased with the Christian manifestations of the grace of God, is to receive it "in vain." This is like a man who, delighting in good advice, follows his own counsel. 4. To believe what is said of the grace of God without a personal application of those words, is to receive it "in vain." It is to be like a man in a house on fire, who sees a way of escape, but does not flee. He will be burned. 5. Anything short of a complete use and enjoyment of the grace of God, is in measure, to receive it "in vain." If present pardon, e.g., be not enjoyed as well as possessed, then, in a certain limited sense, it is received "in vain." II. IF "THE GRACE OF GOD" COME TO US IN A TIME ACCEPTED, AND IN A DAY OF SALVATION, IT CANNOT BE RECEIVED PREMATURELY, AND THEREFORE WE ASK YOU TO RECEIVE IT. Open your mouth wide, open your hands and stretch out your arms and "receive." 1. This is God's giving time. 2. This is God's redeeming time. He is working out your personal salvation on the basis of the sin offering, which His own Son has made. 3. This is your needy time. You will never be more needy than you are now. God seeks to drive that need away, and to fill you with blessings. It is true that you are guilty and most unworthy, but you may receive. Receive, then, to the highest purpose. Receive to the largest extent. Some professing Christians are like cups turned upside down. They will have to be converted before they can be filled. Your capacity to receive will have to be directed heavenward. Let a cup or any vessel be placed on the angle, and can you fill it? Just so with your religion. It must be true to God, to the Saviour, to the Spirit, or you cannot be filled with the fulness of God. (S. Martin.) Parallel Verses KJV: We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.WEB: Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the grace of God in vain, |
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