2 Corinthians 9:2 - Homilies By R. Tuck

Very remarkable is the tenderness, consideration, and delicacy of feeling with which St. Paul addresses the better, the more spiritual, part of the Church at Corinth. He was very anxious that they should stand well in the matter of the collection, and therefore he had sent messengers to collect their gifts; but he gives them notice of their coming, and heartily expresses his confidence in the ready and willing mind of these Corinthian saints, In such expressions "there was no subtle policy; there was no attempt to get at their purses by their weak side. St. Paul was above such means. It was natural, instinctive, real delicacy; and yet it was the surest way of obtaining what he wished, and that which the deepest knowledge of the human heart would have counselled. For thereby he appealed, not to their selfish, but to their most unselfish, feelings. This is a great principle—one of the deepest you can have for life and action. Appeal to the highest motives; appeal, whether they be there or no, for you make them where you cannot find them. Let men say what they will of human nature's evil, a generous, real, unaffected confidence never fails to elicit the Divine spark." Consider—

I. ST . PAUL 'S CONFIDENCE IN THEIR GOOD HEARTEDNESS . "I know the forwardness of your "mind."

1 . So far as tidings had reached him, and so far as he knew their Christian disposition and character, he felt sure that they were thinking rightly about the matter, cherishing proper sentiments concerning Christian brotherhood and charity, and the duty of the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. This would be the matter of first importance to the apostle, for mere gifts are of no more acceptableness to God nowadays than mere sacrifices were in older days. God reads hearts and motives, and accepts the spirit of generosity and brotherly kindness which may find expression through gifts. So God could send this gracious message to David, "Thou didst well that it was in thy heart."

2 . The Corinthians also planned to meet the apostle's wishes. There had been consideration and consultation and united endeavour to form good schemes for the regular devotement of gifts, for the storing and the ingathering of the moneys. In such signs of thought and care and wise arrangement St. Paul could but unfeignedly rejoice.

3 . It seems that the Corinthians had actually made a good and hopeful begriming. They had been "forward" in advance of other Churches; to use a familiar figure, they had "taken time by the forelock." This the apostle could not fail to regard as a most encouraging and hopeful sign of earnestness, as well as of the preparedness to act upon principle rather than upon mere impulse and excitement.

II. ST . PAUL 'S USE OF THEM FOR THE INSPIRATION OF OTHERS . "For which I boast of you to them of Macedonia." Probably St. Paul had been setting their example before the Churches of Macedonia previous to his receiving news of the trouble at Corinth over the incestuous member, and the disturbance of the Church by St. Paul's personal energies and traducers. Show that whenever a Church of Christ, or a Christian individual, affords prominent illustration of any grace or duty, they properly become , in such matters, models and examples for the inspiration of others. All who attain above an average level in Christian living ought to be used for the permanent raising of the average. It is a somewhat difficult question, how far lesser motives, such as emulation and rivalry and ambition to be topmost, may be appealed to in Christian life and work. Certainly it must be admitted that they can only be secondary motives, buttresses of a building that is well founded on the one great motive of loyalty and love to Christ.

III. ST . PAUL 'S FEARS LEST THEY SHOULD COME SHORT OF HIS HOPE . "His boasting of them might be in vain in this behalf." He was very properly anxious "lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting." The ground of fear was the influence which the troubles and conflicts through which the Corinthian Church had been passing would have upon such a matter of external interest. Churches whose peace is disturbed are seldom found zealous in good works. The energy of the Church which is turned into dissension and strife is taken from its proper spheres of growth, witness, and charity. But St. Paul had further cause for his fears. Enemies at Corinth were so earnestly endeavouring to undermine his authority and destroy his influence that it seemed likely the Church would throw up this collection for the Jerusalem saints as a merely Pauline affair, with which they had better have nothing to do. The apostle opposes this malign influence by his delicate pleading, and by sending messengers who would testify that the collection was a matter of public concern, not one of personal interest to the apostle, and not one which was left in his hands. It was the united contribution of the Gentile Churches to the mother Church in her distress, and the matter was wholly under the regulation of those Churches. Impress how important is manifest clean handedness for all who have to do with Church moneys. No man must blame us concerning the gifts which we administer.

IV. ST . PAUL 'S ANXIETY TO SECURE THE PRACTICAL RESULTS OF RIGHT FEELING . He had been made glad by the report which he had received concerning the more spiritually minded Corinthians. They had received his reproofs and counsels with right feeling. They had cleared themselves of all complicity with the doings of the unworthy member; and the apostle felt that now all that was needed, as a sign of their right heartedness, was the resumption of this collecting scheme. If they would earnestly take that up and carry it through, in a generous and self-denying way, it would be the all-sufficient and outward proof that they had come well through the stormy and troubled periods of their Church history.—R.T.

2 Corinthians 9:5 - Covetousness.

"As a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness." Dean Plumptre translates, "as a work of your bounty, and not of my claims upon your purses." The Revised Version renders, "and not of extortion," but putting the word "covetousness" in the margin. The Greek of the word "covetous," signifies "to have more," and it signifies

But these do not precisely express the thought which is in the word as employed in Scripture. Covetousness is that exaggerated consideration for self which makes it possible, not only to neglect the interests of others, but even to injure others to secure a man's own ends. It is the desire to get and to hold for self, which shuts up a man's hand and heart so that he cannot give to others. We suggest for treatment—

I. THE COVETOUS SPIRIT . Distinguish between covetous acts, and the covetous spirit which may be cherished in such a way as to utterly spoil acts which men may call acts of liberality. It is "covetousness," the self-seeking spirit, concerning which St. Paul is anxious, and this is a form of spiritual evil to which we are all more exposed than we think. The most painful exemplification of it is found in Judas Iscariot. Its subtle and mischievous workings in him can be clearly traced. The examples of Achan, Demas, etc., may also be given. "It is not necessary to describe at any length the sin which the Word of God brands under the name of 'covetousness,' and always associates with whatever is most offensive and most vile, 'the root of all evil,' by bad pre-eminence, 'idolatry.' We assume its existence. It will not be denied. Its spell is upon all. It is the abuse and perversion of a great law of man's nature—the law which teaches him to aspire heavenward and Godward; or of a law not less primary—the law of self-preservation. It is the ruling passion of nearly all men, of all tastes and times. 'Take heed, and beware of covetousness,' said the All-wise; and though his Word teems with such warnings against the sin, men have not been warned. At one time men call it 'the great queen regent of the world;' at another, 'the all-consuming cancer' of the Church; at another, her 'deadly upas;' at a fourth, 'a fatal opiate;' while others assure us that, at the best, man is only the heir of a vault or the lord of a grave. Yet fain are all such exposures. Though it creeps stealthily upon man like grey hairs or dropsy, the conquests of covetousness continue far wider than those of Alexander. The monarch and the menial are alike its slaves. The phlegmatic are covetous because this freezing sin specially suits their nature; the earnest, because it stimulates; the licentious, because it can pamper; the ambitious, because it can exalt; the stupid, because it compensates for dulness. Prosperity fans it, and adversity cannot quench it; men willingly bow down before it, as the tyrant summoned them of old to bow before another idol" (W.K. Tweedie, D.D.).

II. ITS RELATION TO THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER . It is always and necessarily injurious, and, wherever willingly cherished, not only imperilling the finer and more delicate features of character, but even destructive of it root and branch. For the very essence of Christian character is the love of Christ, which takes us out of ourselves, and absorbs us with concern for him; and the love of others, for Christ's sake, which sets us upon making their interests superior to our own. Covetousness may linger in the holes and caves of Mansoul while Immanuel is its King, but where covetousness reigns Christ cannot; or, to put it in other words, it is absolutely impossible to raise a Christian character upon a foundation of covetousness, and this spirit will but exert itself to daub and spoil the whole picture of the Christian graces.

III. ITS HINDRANCE TO CHRISTIAN GIVING .

1 . By preventing the reception of a due impression of cases of need. Covetousness hardens, deafens, and blinds.

2 . By compelling its victim to form a false estimate of his ability.

3 . By deceiving a man through the presentation of unworthy excuses.—R.T.

2 Corinthians 9:7 - Cheerful givers.

Those to whom giving is no forced service, no painful duty, no grudgingly yielding to command, but the joy of their life, the thing which brings them their keenest and purest pleasure. We need only suggest the sources whence such cheerfulness will come. Dean Plumptre points out that in this sentence we have a distinct echo of Proverbs 22:8 , as it stands in the Greek Version: "He that soweth wicked things shall reap evils, and shall complete the penalty of his deed. God blesseth a cheerful man and a giver, and shall complete [in a good sense] the incompleteness of his works." "Cheerfulness in visits of sympathy, in the daily offices of kindness, in the life of home, in giving instruction or advice,—all come under the head of that which God approves and loves. So the greatest of Greek ethical teachers (Aristotle) had refused the title of 'liberal' to the man who gave without pleasure in the act of giving. The pain he feels proves that, if he could, he would rather have the money than do the noble action."

I. CHEERFULNESS THROUGH THE MOTIVE OF GIVING . Which is that thankfulness and love to him who was God's great saving Gift to us, which kindles in our hearts the joy unspeakable.

II. CHEERFULNESS THROUGH THE PLEASURE OF GIVING . For our Lord read human hearts aright when he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

III. CHEERFULNESS THROUGH THE HOPE OF BLESSING BY GIVING . Our giving meets and supplies needs; it tends to lift off burdens and to soothe sorrows. It is glad work to find ourselves, in a sinful and a sorrow-stricken world, healers, comforters, and saviours. No joy is like the joy of wakening joy in others.

IV. CHEERFULNESS THROUGH THE SENSE OF DIVINE APPROVAL ON GIVING . "God loveth the cheerful giver," and when he loves, there is for us his uplifted countenance, his acceptance, and his smile.—R.T.

2 Corinthians 9:8 - God's ability and man's.

Even in the early Church, the first Church of the apostles, there was need of money. In the first Council it was resolved to send a general direction to the Churches that they should "remember the poor." The Apostle Paul was deeply interested in a collection, which he set on foot throughout the Churches he had founded, on behalf of the poor saints at Jerusalem, and his last journey to the holy city was occasioned by his earnest desire to present these "alms and offerings of the Gentiles" with his own hands to the apostles and elders. This text is directly connected with the matter of money, of Christian giving for Christian uses, which we properly regard as still one of the first duties, as it is certainly one of the highest privileges, of the Christian Church. St. Paul had been boasting in other places of the willingness, the heartiness, and the liberality of the Church at Corinth; but in consequence, perhaps, of the interruption of his relations with them, he feared that they would hardly come up to the account which, in his trustfulness, he had given of them He therefore sent on before him collectors, who were to gather their stored gifts together, and he reminds them again of those considerations by which he had already urged them to a noble liberality. "Give," he says, "according to the generous purposings of the heart that is made tender and thankful by the sense of God's saving love. Remember, 'he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.' Let your giving be a 'matter of bounty, not as of covetousness.' 'God loveth a cheerful giver.' And God is able to give all temporal good to you, so that, having sufficiency for all your own needs, you yet may be able to distribute generously. And did not the Lord Jesus lay down for all his people this most comprehensive principle, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'? And did he not illustrate, in his own uttermost self-sacrifice, the glory of his own great principle? Verily the beatitude of God rests on those who give !" This is the first connection of the passage before us, but it broadens its reach beyond the money and the giving. It covers and hallows all the features and expressions of our religious life. Wheresoever we may be, whatsoever we may have to do, whensoever needs arise, the sound of this assurance comes to us, quieting all fears, and stilling the heart to peace and rest. There is a gracious power in the word "all," repeated as it is again and again in the verse. The word seems designed to drive away every lingering doubt. "All grace," "all sufficiency," "all good."

I. GOD 'S ABILITY , AND ITS CONDITION . Nothing that is not an absurdity in the statement is beyond God's power. Much has been made of the contention that God cannot put two things into the same place at the same time, or that he cannot make the addition of two and two make five, or make two parallel lines ever meet. But, in view of the essential conditions of human thought and human language, these things are absurdities, and not impossibilities; and it is no limitation of the Divine omnipotence to say that God cannot do what is absurd in the very statement. "He is able." We feel the truth of this in the world of nature. Sky and earth and sea proclaim that he is "able." Who can listen to the wild storm, hear the mighty winds bowing the great trees, and the thunder echoes rolling from hill to hill, and the breakers plunging against the guardian cliffs, and not reverently say, "He is able"? Who can feel how the gentle spring sunshine warms the wintry air and the chilled ground, tenderly touching every life germ in bud and seed and plant, and wakening life and hope and beauty all around, and not lovingly say, "Verily thou art able "?

"O spirit of the strong things and the gentle, thou art able."

But nature is outside us. We may watch the omnipotent workings, but we want to ask this: "Do we come within the all-powerful grasp?" Admit all we may about our "free will," nevertheless, of ourselves, of body, soul, circumstances, can we say, "He is able"? Yes; in him we "live, and move, and have our being." Our circumstances are his overruling. Our souls are his inbreathing. He in whom we trust can do all things. We are continually crushed by being compelled to say, "I cannot;" but the feeble limited creature steadies its tremblings by leaning on One who can. "Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee." But we long to know this—What can the almighty God really be to us? Can he come right into the spheres of our life and work? and is he able to make all grace abound to us there? Can he "supply all our need out of his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"? Into the shadow of his fatherhood may we run, since our "heavenly Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask him"? That is the ability of God concerning which we need to gain such deep and satisfying impressions. As a redeemed son of his, is he able to find all the grace I need; able to meet me at every point; able to give the grace according to the day; able to adapt himself to all the changes and fluctuations of my moods and circumstances? The little child brings all her broken dolls and damaged toys to her father; she is perfectly sure that, however dreadful the damage may be, "father can mend it." And the sweet confidence dries up the tears. But the little thing never stops to consider how strong the father arms are or how skilful his fingers; she only reads his power by the light of his love; and she is quite sure that he will try, and her trust says that he will succeed. What can God do for us, his blood-bought children? He can breathe on us the spirit of a holy contentment. He can inspire us with zeal unto all good works. He can strengthen us for all noble enterprise. He can make the mountains of difficulty before us lie level as a plain. He can so prosper and bless us that very thankfulness shall urge us to generous and noble deeds. "I cannot indeed, but God can:" let us learn to say that, and then this will be our glorying—"Here, there, yonder, in this and in that, in the light and in the dark, I can, through him who strengtheneth me." There is a condition upon which the ability of God alone can come to us. We must gain and keep the receptive mood, which includes the humble, obedient, and trustful spirit.

II. MAN 'S ABILITY AND ITS EXPRESSION . For we also are "able to abound unto every good work." Sometimes we are deeply impressed with the feebleness, the imperfection, of the best that we can do. But when we estimate that work of grace which God, the All-merciful, is carrying on in the world—so silent, yet so mighty; so long, and yet so surely triumphant at last; so rich in long suffering patience; so quick to take up and use a thousand trifling influences, sanctifying even a passing word and a gentle look to its gracious ends,—then it seems wonderful that, in so great a matter, we should be "coworkers with God," and that the rich streams of Divine grace should even flow to others through us. With the grace of God we can do all things. In the renewed man there is ability. God makes him mighty, and uses him to "pull down the strongholds." God shows him what great things he can suffer, and what great things he can do, for his Name's sake. In full harmony with the Christian humility and dependence we may gain this sense of Christian ability. We want the inspiration of the conviction settled deeply into our souls—"I can." We need the cheer that comes to every man when God says to him, "Thou canst." We are weak, depressed, hesitating; we touch things with a trembling hand; we faint before the first difficulty, so long as we say to ourselves, "I cannot." With the "all sufficiency" we can abound to every good. work.—R.T.

2 Corinthians 9:10 - God's rewards for liberal souls.

This verse may be read in a sentence: "The liberal soul shall be made fat." F.W. Robertson's passage in reference to this is so characteristic of him, and so wise and suggestive, that it cannot be withheld. He says, "In the particular instance now before us, what are the rewards of liberality which St. Paul promises to the Corinthians? They are

A noble harvest, but all spiritual. Comprehend the meaning of it well. Give, and you will not get back again. Do not expect your money to be returned, like that of Joseph's brethren in their sacks' mouths. When you give to God, sacrifice, and know that what you give is sacrificed, and is not to be got again, even in this world; for if you give, expecting it back again, there is no sacrifice: charity is no speculation in the spiritual funds, no wise investment, to be repaid with interest either in time or eternity! No, the rewards are these: Do right, and God's recompense to you will be the power of doing more right. Give, and God's reward to you will be the spirit of giving more; a blessed Spirit, for it is the Spirit of God himself, whose life is the blessedness of giving. Love and God will pay you with the capacity of more love, for love is heaven, love is God within you." Setting out the various forms in which Divine rewards come to liberal souls, we notice—

I. TEMPORAL PROSPERITY . However true it is that this was associated with goodness only under the Old Testament economy, it is still found that the liberal soul makes friends, wins love, and so secures actual temporal advantages.

II. HUMAN LOVE . It is our best earthly treasure, and it comes in response to our power to give. The dearest relationships of human life are the rewards of them that can give. And Job reminds us how the good man, the gracious man, gets his reward in the love of the poor whom he seeks to bless ( Job 29:11-17 ).

III. SOUL CULTURE . For it is a steadfast law of soul life, that it cannot grow by keeping; it can only grow by giving, expending. The law of receiving more grace is this—we must use up, in good generous deeds, the grace that we have.

IV. POWER TO DO MORE GOOD . See the extract from F.W. Robertson given in the introduction to this homily.

V. DIVINE FAVOUR . Which must include those rewards of the heavenly world which now escape our apprehension, because they can only be presented to us in material forms and figures. T. Binney says, "Beneficent acts, right in spirit and principle, though they may be forgotten by the doer—who may not let his 'left hand know what his right hand doeth'—are not forgotten by him to whose will they have an ultimate respect, and by whom they are received as a sacrifice. They have a relation to God, and are regarded by him long after they have been accomplished and have passed away from the memory of man. They do not terminate with their being finished and done with here, or, so to speak, with the immediate pleasurable impression on the Divine mind. That impression is retained and prolonged. He to whom they rise up as incense gives to them, as it were, a substantial embodiment in the upper world—lays them up there as valuable treasure belonging to his children, and thinks of and surveys them with satisfaction and complacency."—R.T.

2 Corinthians 9:15 - The unspeakable Gift.

This can refer to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself said, in such a striking way to the woman of Samaria, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water" ( John 4:10 ). In Jesus Christ "dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." And "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (comp. Romans 5:15 ; Romans 6:23 ; Hebrews 6:4 ).

I. CHRIST IS A GIFT . This is but reminding us that salvation is altogether of grace. We in no sense can be said to have purchased Christ. Nor did any merit of ours attract him. Nor by any power of ours did we win him. God pitied us in our lost estate, and gave his Son. A priceless Gift indeed, seeing that it includes:

1 . Pardon.

2 . Peace.

3 . Eternal life.

II. CHRIST IS GOD 'S GIFT . This reminds us that salvation is a Divine work. We read of the "grace of God" and the "gift by grace." And "when there was no eye to pity and no arm to save, his own arm brought salvation." Salvation is said to be of God to show us:

1 . It is not some human scheme. This is the essential difference between Christ's salvation and all other salvations. They are human devices—philosophies or religions; this is Divine intervention, arrangement, and revelation; God's power directly working in God's way. It is indeed God himself saving men. To trust in any merely human redemption schemes is like hoping to save a drowning man with a rope that is too short.

2 . To give us right views of God. Man's usual thought of God is that of an offended King or stern Judge. But the unspeakable Gift reveals the higher truth that God is love, and the gift being that of a Son unfolds the sublime fact that God is Father. So we know God through his gift.

III. CHRIST IS AN UNSPEAKABLY PRECIOUS GIFT . This reminds us that salvation is priceless. It is beyond all possibility that we could speak worthily

The apostle felt overwhelmed with the thought of it, and spoke of the "love of Christ, which passeth knowledge."

IV. CHRIST IS A GIFT OFFERED FOR OUR ACCEPTANCE . It suffices no man to know that this Gift has come; nor to know that others have received it to the joy and rejoicing of their hearts. No man can offer worthy heart thanksgiving for this Gift until he has personally accepted it, sufficiently proved it, and can speak for himself of the pricelessness of it. The law is this: "He that hath the Son hath life." And he can "thank God for his unspeakable Gift."—R.T.