FollowThe Voices of the Apostles and Disciples
© 2026 by C. O. Bishop
2nd Corinthians 6:1-13
The Testimony of the Apostles and Disciples:
1 We then, as workers together with him (disciples), beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. 12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. 13 Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.
Introduction:
Last week we addressed the first four verses. We saw this whole passage as the voice of the Apostles and all true disciples at the time. They all were experiencing the Cost of Discipleship.
The Cost of Discipleship varies by location and time. Prior to 1947, one might not have faced punishment in what is now Pakistan, for preaching Christ publicly. Why?
Centuries of Colonial History
Because for centuries, Britain had ruled all of India as a colonial tributary, and the Church of England was still present, along with the Roman Catholics. So, many people of India had at least nominally embraced “Christendom” in the form of either Romanism or Anglicanism. Whether they actually knew the Lord, or were disciples, is hard to say: Their entire families took on the name of “Christian,” whether it was a genuine relationship with Jesus or just a religious preference.
But, ever since the mid-1800s, Britain had been gradually losing control of India, and after WWII, Britain made the decision to “Partition” India into two sovereign states, the “Dominion of Pakistan,” and the “Union of India.” The result was a bloodbath. Muslims slaughtered millions of Hindus, and many survivors fled the country permanently. But most could not. And those who survived and remained became a persecuted minority within what had been their own country.
The Result for Disciples in Pakistan
But a largely Hindu nation called “India,” and a supposedly entirely Muslim nation called “Pakistan” are the long-run Geopolitical result. And in that nation of Pakistan, even today, it is a dangerous place for followers of Jesus. In many other nations, it is also dangerous to stand for Jesus. It is dangerous to shine a light: Dangerous to sound the alarm of the Gospel! Disciples are in serious danger, there.
We pray for the disciples in Pakistan, who are risking their lives to teach Christian Discipleship. They are faithfully practicing it themselves, and we are deeply aware of the risk, and the potential cost.. Reading these verses in 2nd Corinthians 6:1-13, we have a more “distant” view. But we still have still a real sense of the potential “Cost of Discipleship” in this fallen world.
How Should Such Knowledge Affect Us, As Disciples?
The Hebrew believers knew about the Cost: The danger in being a disciple. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews addressed the Cost of Active Faith, in Hebrews 11:35-40.
“35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”
We read of these disciples who lived horrible lives and died horrible deaths. And it troubles us to know the reality. They did not have some sort of “happy ending” appear. to “let them out of the trial.” They endured the trial, and they died in it!
But tin Chapter 12, He tells us how we ought to respond to this knowledge: The challenge to be Disciples.
How Should We Respond As Disciples? (Hebrews 12:1-4)
“1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”
The witnesses are not “watching you.” They are testifying TO you: Bearing witness TO you, just as Paul testified to the Corinthian believers, and just as the disciples in Kenya and in Pakistan are testifying to all of us, today. They are witnesses to the Glory and Power of God, and they testify to us week by week, showing us the result of God’s Word in that hostile environment.
Consider: How Do Weeds Respond?
Oddly enough, if I consider how weeds respond to their environment, I can see that (because we don’t irrigate) the weed seeds in our hard-packed, crushed-rock driveway get exactly the same amount of rain as the weeds out in the grass we keep calling a “lawn.”
But, the weeds in the driveway have a great deal harder time growing, as they can only get a few roots down through the rock into the soil below. The roots have to go very deep to find reliable water and nutrients. So, the stunted plants mature at only 2-3 inches in height. Their stunted leaves are very small, along with that short little flower stem. But that stem bears a blossom, and that blossom goes to seed, and the wind scatters those seeds, to start new plants…exactly the same as the taller weeds do, in our neglected lawn.
The weeds in the lawn grow to 18-24 inches in height, and some of their flower stems branch out and bear more than one flower: The flowers themselves are larger and bear more seeds. And the wind also scatters their seeds. And their seeds go further, because they launched from a higher elevation.
But, Why the Differences?
Why do they grow taller? Because they have better soil, and an easy life. Why do they have multiple blooms on their stems? For the same reason: They are blessed with an easier life! Why do they bear more seeds, and thus, more fruit? It is for the same reason again!
But in the Body of Christ, at large, we see that the persecuted churches, growing in the most difficult and the most dangerous environments often display the deepest faith (think “deeper roots”) and they spread rapidly, in spite of the difficulty and danger.
We have a relatively easy, safe life with far more resources, and very little real opposition. Does it not follow that, as disciples, we should bear more “fruit,” and that our “seed” ought to be scattering and finding root everywhere? Give that some thought! Why is it that weeds will follow the correct pattern, while we, as believers, tend to just “coast?”
Consider the Salmon!
We see the same pattern in salmon: The ones who are willing to focus their lives on swimming upstream will overcome all obstacles, or die trying. They risk their lives to get to the specific gravel beds they seek. Those who succeed will spawn, and produce hundreds of baby salmon just like them. Any fish choosing to do otherwise removes itself from the gene pool by that choice. (To my knowledge, no salmon ever chooses to take the easy way.)
But! You may protest that: “Salmon do not have a completely free will: They only do what their instinct demands that they do!”
Aha! And therein lies the problem! You and I DO have a free will! God called us to Himself, and we responded by our own will, though originally, our only motive may have been “to flee from the wrath to come.” Since then, we have read and believed His Word: Again, by choice.
And, according to Romans 12:1 He calls us, daily, to serve Him as our reasonable service of Worship. He calls us to voluntarily offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, to serve at HIS will, not ours. But He always leaves us the option to say, “No, I would rather serve myself!” And, when we do so, the consequences of that choice are that we have no fellowship with Him. (Fellowship implies Partnership.) And, it means we do not join Him as “workers together with Him.”
Also, although God has “laid the foundation of Christ” in our lives, (By Grace, through Faith) the layers we add to that foundation during the time when we are “off, doing our own thing,” are “wood, hay, and stubble.” Human works without God’s blessing have no eternal value!
So, How Can We Change?
Like the weed-seeds, we may find ourselves in a rocky place. We may bemoan how we got there, and we may suffer remorse for all the bad decisions that brought us to this point. But, regardless of how we arrived here, we now have the same choice as the weed-seeds: Take root and grow where God has planted you, or don’t. In the plant’s experience, it means “Grow here or die!”
In our case, it may only mean, “Blossom and bear fruit where you are, or continue to waste the opportunities God offers you!” You may look around and feel that “But the land is so barren around me: There is no hope!”
Remember, after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, God told Israel, “Stay put, and obey Me, and that I will bless you!” They rebelled and ran off to Egypt, in Jeremiah 42:19-43:7. And they suffered the consequences of disobedience: No blessing, no sustenance, and no safety!
But, What Are the Consequences of Commitment?
Most of you would agree that when you began to try to seriously walk with Jesus, your life got harder, not easier. You entered into the spiritual warfare of the Christian Life, and discovered that the Enemy was actually YOUR enemy!
Could the apostles and early disciples have decided against suffering the Consequences of Commitment? Sure! And some did! Demas began as a co-worker with Paul. He was valuable in the work. (See Colossians 4:14, and Philemon 24. Paul included him as part of his team!)
But later, Demas decided it was costing him more than he was willing to give, to serve as an Ambassador of Christ. So, the last thing we hear of him, is in 2nd Timothy 4:10. “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.”
What a sad epitaph for one who began strong, but who ultimately “sold out cheap.” He wanted what the World offered, and he finally took the bait! Balaam did the same thing: He was a genuine prophet of God, but he sold out and, today, he is only remembered for his failure.
Don’t sell out! Make your walk with Jesus the core value in your life, and offer yourself to Him to be used as He chooses. That is the kind of choice God will honor and bless.
Lord Jesus, clear our minds, and let us see clearly the choices before us. Help us to make decisions that honor You and which draw us into a deeper relationship with You.