Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 6:10

"as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and [yet] possessing all things." — 2 Corinthians 6:10 (ASV)

As sorrowful, lupoumenoi. Grieving, afflicted, troubled, sad. Under these sufferings we seem always to be cast down and sad. We endure afflictions that usually lead to the deepest expressions of grief. If the world looks only at our trials, we must be regarded as always suffering and always sad.

The world will suppose that we have cause for continued lamentation (Doddridge), and they will regard us as among the most unhappy of mortals. Such, perhaps, is the estimate which the world usually affixes to the Christian life. They regard it as a life of sadness and of gloom—of trial and of melancholy.

They see little in it that is cheerful, and they suppose that a heavy burden presses constantly on the heart of the Christian. Joy, they think, pertains to the gaieties and pleasures of this life; sadness to religion. And perhaps a more comprehensive statement of the feelings with which worldly and pleasure-seeking people regard Christians cannot be found than in this expression, as sorrowful. True, they are not free from sorrow.

They are tried like others. They have peculiar trials arising from persecution, opposition, contempt, and from the conscious and deeply felt depravity of their hearts. They ARE serious, and their seriousness is often interpreted as gloom.

But there is another side to this picture, and there is much in the Christian character and feelings unseen or unappreciated by the world, for they are alway rejoicing.

So Paul was, despite the fact that he always appeared to have occasion for grief. Religion had a power not only to sustain the soul in trial but also to fill it with positive joy.

The sources of his joy were undoubtedly the assurances of divine favor and the hopes of eternal glory. The same is true of religion always: there is an internal peace and joy that the world may not see or appreciate, but which is far more than a compensation for all the trials the Christian endures.

As poor. The idea is, we are poor, yet in our poverty we endeavor to give no offence, and to commend ourselves as the ministers of God. This would be done by their patience and resignation, by their entire freedom from everything dishonest and dishonorable, and by their readiness, when necessary, to labor for their own support.

There is no doubt that the apostles were poor . The little property that some of them had was all forsaken so that they might follow the Savior and go and preach His gospel.

And there is just as little doubt that most ministers are still poor, and that God intends and desires that they should be. It is in such circumstances that He intends they should illustrate the beauty and the sustaining power of religion and be examples to the world.

Yet making many rich. On the meaning of the word "rich," see Barnes on Romans 2:4.

Here the apostle means that he and his fellow-laborers, though poor themselves, were the instruments of conferring durable and most valuable possessions on many people. They had bestowed on them the true riches. They had been the means of investing them with treasures infinitely more valuable than any that kings and princes could bestow. Those to whom they ministered were made partakers of the treasure where the moth does not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

As having nothing. Being utterly destitute. Having no property. This was true, undoubtedly, in a literal sense, of most of the apostles.

And yet possessing all things. That is:

1. Possessing a portion of all things that may be necessary for our welfare, as far as our heavenly Father deems necessary for us.

2. Possessing an interest in all things, so that we can enjoy them. We can derive pleasure from the works of God—the heavens, the earth, the hills, the streams, the cattle on the mountains or in the valleys—as the works of God. We have a possession in them so that we can enjoy them as His works, and can say, “Our Father made them all.” They are given to man to enjoy.

   They are a part of the inheritance of man. And though we cannot call them our own in the legal sense, we can call them ours in the sense that we can derive pleasure from their contemplation and see in them the proofs of the wisdom and goodness of God.

   The child of God who looks upon the hills and valleys, upon an extensive and beautiful farm or landscape, may derive more pleasure from contemplating them as the work of God and His gift to men, than the real owner does, if irreligious, from contemplating all this as his own. And so far as mere happiness is concerned, the friend of God who sees in all this the proofs of God’s beneficence and wisdom may have a more valuable possession in those things than the one who holds the title deeds.

3. Heirs of all things. We have a title to immortal life—a promised part in all that the universe can furnish that can make us happy.

4. In the possession of pardon and peace, of the friendship of God and the knowledge of the Redeemer, we have the possession of all things. This comprises all.

   The one who has this, what more does he need? This meets all the desires, satisfies the soul, and makes a person happy and blessed.

   The one who has God for his portion may be said to have all things, for He is all in all. The one who has the Redeemer for his Friend has all things that he needs, for He that spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32).