2 Corinthians 8:1 - Homilies By R. Tuck

By these we are to understand the Churches at Thessalonica, Philippi, and Beroea. There is a sense in which we speak of the Church of Christ as one, and also a sense in which we speak of it as many . It is correct to say, "the Church," and it is also correct to say, "the Churches." All who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and have surrendered their will and life to his ruling, and have made open profession of their devotion to him, make together the one catholic and apostolic Church, and may properly be thought of as a whole, as the members of the one body of Christ; but as these are located in various places, as they unite for purposes of fellowship and worship indifferent spheres and different buildings, they may be spoken of as Churches. The answering terms, which help to explain those on which we are dwelling, were used by our Lord, who spoke of his many folds and his one flock . St. Paul might with equal truthfulness have spoken of the Church in Macedonia, but he probably desired to direct attention to the special circumstances of each individual community, in order to bring out forcibly the remarkable character of their generosity and self-denial, He sets before us for our consideration this fact, that, just as a Christian man's conduct and character may make him a model to others, and a gracious power upon them, touching and quickening into power that spirit of emulation which dwells in various strength in us all, so an individual Church, or a set of Churches, may act with a nobility, a generosity, and self-denial that should make them an inspiring model to other Churches. We consider in what ways the Macedonians became a model to the Corinthians.

I. A MODEL AS THE OBJECTS OF DIVINE GRACE . "We do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the Churches of Macedonia." By "grace" here we are to understand the special favour of God, and the precise "gifts" with which they were endowed. The disposition and the power to give is to be regarded as a divinely bestowed talent or trust, and as a special sign of the Divine favour. The gift of benevolence, charity, generosity, is as truly a Divine trust or bestowment as the gift of healing, of preaching, or of tongues. And, like all other Divine gifts, it is dependent on recipiency, preparedness to use such gifts aright. Divine bestowments on Churches are never made at haphazard, upon any kind of favouritism, or in the exercise of any so-called sovereignty . Neither Churches nor individuals can get free from the responsibility of being ready to receive . The loving and thoughtful spirit of the Philippians, and the studious openness of the Bereans, and the suffering experiences of the Thessalonians, prepared them to receive this special grace of God unto generosity and brotherly charity. Illustrate and impress this point, that nowadays Churches lack "grace" because they are not in attitudes and moods fitting them for its reception. We are not straitened in God, in God's provisions, or in God's willingness, but we are sadly straitened in ourselves, in our unreadiness and unfitness to receive. Of God it is said, "He giveth more grace;" but of us it must be said, "Ye have not because ye ask not, or because ye ask amiss." Illustrating how God delays his bestowments until there is the fitting attitude for their reception, the Prophet Hosea ( Hosea 2:21 , Hosea 2:22 ) represents God as saying, "It shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel." When all unite to cry for the refreshing rains, then, and only then, shall the windows be opened, and grace in copious showers descend.

II. A MODEL AS RESPONDING TO DIVINE GRACE . For the grace may come, and be neglected or misused. Compare the expression St. Paul uses concerning himself ( 1 Corinthians 15:10 ): "By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." It is a great and ever working law that all Divine gifts that are unused or undervalued will be taken away or lost. The one condition of the renewal and enlargement of grace is that we have faithfully responded to the grace we have had. We retain the gift of preaching only by preaching, and the gift of charity only by the exercise of generosity and self-denial. The remarkable thing about the Macedonian Churches, the thing which made them a model to other Churches, was that they so nobly responded to the grace that rested upon them, and acted in so earnest and self-sacrificing a manner. So often Churches have more grace than they follow out, and so they lose the grace. The grace abounds, but the response to the grace is set under unworthy limitations.

III. A MODEL AS SELF - DENYING . The apostle notices two things which might reasonably have excused the Macedonians from sharing in the contribution.

1 . Their persecution, and the anxieties and distresses which it had brought them.

2 . Their poverty, for the Church was not gathered from the rich; the poor of this world were made "rich in faith." So their large and generous gifts were a delightful surprise, and a testimony to the power of Christian principle upon them. Christian motive mastered worldly considerations; and their gifts became peculiarly acceptable to God, because upon them rested the Christly stamp of self-sacrifice. St. Paul commends, in these Macedonians, just what our Lord commended when he directed attention to the poor widow who cast two mites into the treasury—"all her living."

IV. A MODEL AS THOROUGHLY EARNEST IN GENEROUS SCHEMES . St. Paul dwells, in a very delighted way, upon their willingness and their earnestness . It was not merely that they gave, but that they gave in such a hearty way, so cheerfully, under the sway of such high motives, and with such evident warmth of affection for himself. If it is true that "what is worth doing is worth doing well," it is especially true of the Christian duty of brotherly kindness as finding expression in self-denying gifts. The great blessing of a gift is the spirit in which it is made. The value is taken away when it is given grudgingly. God loveth—and so do men—the cheerful, willing giver.—R.T.

2 Corinthians 8:5 - The religion of association must be made personal.

One of the words in this passage is evidently used in an unfamiliar sense. "Hoped" means "expected," "anticipated." The verse is connected with the collection for the saints at Jerusalem, and is part of the apostle's endeavour to inspire the Churches of Achaia to nobler endeavour by the example of the Churches of Macedonia. The text expresses the deeply religious character of the Macedonian gift. As St. Paul saw it, it was no mere gift, it was the expression of consecrated and devoted hearts. They gave themselves, and then their gifts. They gave themselves in their gifts. We dwell now, not on the charity, but on the expression, "gave their own selves to the Lord , " which suggests for consideration the personal character of saving religion.

I. ALL OF US ARE , IN OUR MEASURE , RELIGIOUS . There may still be godless audiences, such as Whitefield gathered at the fairs, or Wesley and Hill at the mouths of colliery pits. But in the ordinary assemblies in our Churches there is not a man, woman, or child who is not, in some degree, religious. They are religious

But the question comes again and again before us—Is our kind and degree of religion satisfactory?

II. IN TOO MANY CASES OUR RELIGION IS WHOLLY MATTER OF ASSOCIATION .

1 . We are members of a Christian home, and share in the religion of the home. And this is, for the children, an every way beautiful and hopeful beginning of religious life.

2 . We are affected by the tone of the spheres we occupy. Illustrate by young people in situations, where they join in family worship and in attendance at the house of God; also by the influence of Christian friendships.

3 . We are swayed by our near relationship with those who are godly, as in the case of the husband and wife. But the question comes—Is this all our religion? Is it enough? Is it saving? Can any reliance be placed upon it? Will it stand in the coming testing day? It is so far good. It is a favourable breeze catching the sails, but it is not safety in the harbour. It is the angel's voice in our ear crying, "Flee for thy life;" it is even the angel's hand on our arm, as on the arm of Lot; but it is not safety in Zoar. There is a familiar old saying that "Hell is paved with good intentions;" it might have been with "good associations." Such associations are good if they are used as helps, but not if they are relied on as sufficient. They are only evil if they are allowed to hinder personal anxiety. Religion is personal or it is nothing.

III. GOD , BY HIS PROVIDENCE AND BY HIS WORD , IS EVER URGING US TO MAKE RELIGION PERSONAL . Providence breaks up our associations. A time comes when the child passes into manhood or womanhood, and must learn to go alone. Then changes and testing times come, which show what the religion of association has been worth. Illustrate by the child going to boarding school; the youth to business; the assistant changing his situation; the man or woman going through times of sorrow. In each God is wanting to lead the soul to personal religion. God's preached Word, with its various persuasions, is ever bearing on the same point. It is a singling out of the individual; a two-edged sword to the individual; a pressure of the personal claims of God on the individual. Its voice is, "Thou art the man;" "To you is the word of this salvation sent." It labours to secure a personal decision for Christ, a giving of "our own selves to the Lord." Is, then, your religion yet no more than the religion of your home and associations? And is your manhood come, your womanhood come? Remember that you are not saved, only associated with salvation. This is the question which should set you upon anxious self-searchings, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" It is not enough to be close by salvation, to be even on its doorstep. Enter in. Strive to enter in. Strive to enter in now . — R.T.

2 Corinthians 8:9 - The poverty that made others rich.

The question is often asked—Which gives most pleasure to us—the faculty of memory, which vivifies the past, or anticipation, which brightens the future? The answers we make at once depend upon, and become revelations of, character. The apostle in this passage is using the faculty of memory; he is recalling what is known respecting the Lord Jesus Christ. He is treating of the grace of self-sacrificing liberality and generosity; and of this Christ is the most illustrious and glorious example. We hold the memory of a twofold exchange on the part of the Lord Jesus—

but here the apostle contrasts Christ's exchange from riches to poverty with our exchange, through Christ, from poverty to riches, and this is the double exchange on which we propose to dwell.

I. THE FIRST EXCHANGE . Christ— from riches to poverty. Christ's riches may be treated under the headings

Or we may say that he was rich

Christ's poverty, which was a comparative thing, may be brought out by presenting such contrasts as

He became poor by

Such a condescension in incarnation had never before been conceived. It surpasses thought. It is the exceeding great mystery which the eternal ages will not fathom. It is "so great love;" it is "what manner of love"

II. THE SECOND EXCHANGE . We— from poverty to riches. By our poverty we need not understand our earthly conditions, seeing that poverty is but a relative thing, and depends upon the degree in which a man matches his circumstances. The man who has little and wants little is not poor; the man who has little and wants much is the man who can alone be called "poor." Our real poverties are the conditions to which we have reduced ourselves by our sins. See how much we have thus lost, so that we are become poor indeed.

Then what are the riches we attain through Christ Jesus? They are riches for the souls, which are our real selves; they are not any mere riches of circumstances. They consist in

(1) the smile and favour of God;

Or we may say that we become rich

But no human words can exhaust our riches in Christ Jesus.

III. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE TWO EXCHANGES . " For your sakes ." The one exchange was made in order to accomplish the other. To bless us Christ must condescend to become one of us. Illustrate by the missionary making himself a Chinaman, and living all alone among the people that he might reach them with the gospel message. Or by the Moravian missionary, giving up friendship, love, and hope, to enter the lazar-house and try to teach and save the lepers. And what did Christ do for us when he had thus humbled himself to take our nature on him? It is said that "he went about doing good," and that was his way of making everybody rich with

And St. Paul appeals to the Corinthians and. to us, saying, "Ye know the grace." But do we know? Have we felt the persuasion and attraction that are in such "love Divine, all love excelling"?—R.T.

2 Corinthians 8:12 - Willing minds putting value on gifts.

"First a willing mind." The apostle has been calling to mind the resolve which the Corinthian Church had made a year previously. They had determined to join in the collection that was being made for the poor and suffering saints at Jerusalem. It seems that the disturbed state of the Church and the delay of St. Paul's visit had led to the forgetfulness of this resolve, and little or nothing had been done in relation to it. The apostle now brings the matter again before them, reminds them that there was at one time the willing mind, and he seems delicately to suggest to them that it would be a beautiful way of testifying to the restored relations between himself and them, if they would revive this collection, carry the matter through, and give him the joy of carrying their gifts to the poor Jerusalem saints, in whom he was so deeply interested. He was thus led to dwell upon the importance, before God, of the spirit in which gifts are made. They ought to carry our hearts to him, just as the old Mosaic sacrifices carried the hearts of the worshippers. Gifts have voices which God can hear, and he reads our hearts by the help of them. Two points are here suggested.

I. MAN ESTIMATES GIFTS BY THEIR MONEY VALUE . A fair enough standard in view of the institutions that have to be sustained and the work which has to be done. The Church needs large gifts, and is compelled to ask for quantity. She needs the devotements of the rich, and is not wholly wrong in trying to raise ever higher the standard of Christian gifts for Christian uses. But the money estimate of gifts needs to be set under most careful limitations. It fails to take account of the relative circumstances of the givers. A pound is a pound, whoever may give it; but the rich man passes it over, and knows that it will not involve his going without any one thing that he wishes to have. The poor man hands it over, and knows it means wearing the threadbare coat a few months longer, or going without some personal gratification. In really worthy scales that poor man's pound weighs heavy, for there is added to it that self-denial which is, in God's sight, of great price. Man cannot discern or rightly appraise motives . The business principle too often wholly sways men in their Christian and Church relations, and men are accepted by the largeness of their contributions rather than by the largeness of the love with which they contribute.

II. GOD ESTIMATES GIFTS BY THEIR WILL VALUE . "If there be first the willing mind, there is acceptance." God seeth not as man seeth. Man looketh on the countenance; God looketh on the heart. Man appraises the value of the thing; God reads the state of the will and the purpose of the heart. Illustration may be taken from the large gift of Barnabas to the early Church. God accepted it because it was the expression of a willing mind. The gifts of Ananias and Sapphira were smaller; they were not, however, refused on this ground, but only because the will was wrong and the motive mixed and bad. The "amount" of a gift is quite as important in the sight of God as in the sight of man, because a great gift alone can express the willing mind of a man with great means. God judges proportions. He only desires to see Christian love triumphing over disabilities, and making the rich, who cling to fiches, splendidly generous, and the poor making the "poverty which had consumed them even to the very bottom" ( 2 Corinthians 8:2 ) yield noble and self-denying contributions. With God the question is—How much did your heart give? It is a second thing, with him, to ask—How much did your hand give? But he does expect the heart and the hand to honourably act together, the hand honestly expressing what the heart feels.—R.T.

2 Corinthians 8:21 - Honest before God and man.

Comp. Proverbs 3:4 , which, in the Greek Version reads, "Write them upon the table of thine heart, and thou shalt find favour. Provide things honest in the sight of God and man." This may be treated as a general precept, applicable to all Christian people; or it may be regarded as a reminder of the care which the apostle had taken that, in the administration of money affairs, he should not be misunderstood or blamed. Consider—

I. THE COUNSEL AS APPLIED TO THE APOSTLE HIMSELF . As a fact he had been jealously providing for honest things, and doing everything possible in order to secure the due checking of the gifts and safety of the stored money. Calvin says, "He was not so satisfied with himself as to think it unworthy of his dignity to avoid calumny." Dean Plumptre says, "In this case, had the apostle had only the judgment of God to consider, he could with a pure conscience have taken up the money to Jerusalem by himself. But he had to consider that men were judging him, and might suspect him, and therefore he insisted on having his accounts audited." F.W. Robertson says, "In this is to be observed St. Paul's wisdom, not only as a man of the world, but as a man of God. He knew that he lived in a censorious age, that he was as a city set on a hill, that the world would scan his every act and his every word, and attribute all conceivable and even inconceivable evil to what he did in all honour. It was just because of St. Paul's honour and innocence that he was likely to have omitted this prudence." Archdeacon Farrar indicates the kind of things that were said about the apostle by his Corinthian enemies, which made such an earnest self-vindication absolutely necessary. He represents them as saying that St. Paul was "half demented," and yet there was some method in his madness which showed itself partly in self-importance and partly in avarice, both of which were very injurious to the interests of his followers. What, for instance, could be more guileful and crafty than his entire conduct about this collection which he was so suspiciously eager to set on foot? He had ordered them to get up a subscription in his first letter, had, in answer to their inquiries, directed that it should be gathered, as in the Galatian Churches, by a weekly offertory, and had, since this, sent Titus to stimulate zeal in the matter. They dared to insinuate that all this was only a cunning device to hide his real intentions, and give him a securer grasp of their money." Give in detail the arrangements made by the apostle to secure the due safety and auditing of the collection; and urge that all who have responsible positions in relation to Christian monies should show a similar anxiety to "provide things honest."

II. THE COUNSEL AS APPLIED TO CHRISTIAN GIVING . Those who give must give only that which is honourably their own. The man who is in debt must pay his debts before he gives. The man who has family claims is bound to make adequate provision for them before he gives. To use the familiar proverb, "A man must be just before he is generous." When this rule is neglected, a man's gifts can neither be acceptable to God nor right in the sight of his fellow men.—R.T.