Charles Spurgeon Commentary 2 Corinthians 4:1

"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not:" — 2 Corinthians 4:1 (ASV)

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

It is a very high privilege to be called to the work of the Christian ministry, and when the minister remembers what great mercy he has himself received, what sins have been forgiven, what favors have been bestowed, he has the very best incentives in all the world to pursue his ministry with diligence and with zeal. We faint not, says the apostle. We do not hang our harps upon the willows.

We do not pray to be allowed to retire from the battle, and give up the strife; but, feeling how great has been the mercy of God to our own souls, we are stirred up to press forward with holy zeal to win the victory. We long that others may taste of the same good things on which we have feasted.

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

We are sometimes ready to faint, but we cast our fainting spirits into the arms of God, and our strength is again reserved at times.

The very importance of an errand first weighs down the spirit of the messenger, yet afterwards it seems to impel him to more than ordinary exertion.

So it is here. Having been divinely entrusted with this ministry, and being ready to faint under the tremendous responsibility that it involves, yet we are roused to action by the very pressure which seems to deprive us of the power to act, and therefore we faint not.

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; (2 Corinthians 4:1)

Stern was the labor of the apostles, but they felt that their work was so all-important, so divine, that they must not grow weary of it, though they were, doubtless, often weary in it.