2 Corinthians 9:1-15

EXPOSITION

Encouragement to the Corinthians to fulfil their promises by giving speedily (2 Corinthians 9:1-5), amply (2 Corinthians 9:6), cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7), and thereby earn God's blessing (2 Corinthians 9:8-11) in a cause fruitful of blessed consequence (2 Corinthians 9:12-14). He concludes the subject with a heartfelt thanksgiving (2 Corinthians 9:15).

2 Corinthians 9:1

For. This word shows that he is continuing the same subject, and therefore excludes the supposition that this chapter is a separate letter or fragment. No doubt, however, the express mention of the collection after he has been practically writing about it through the whole of the last chapter looks as if he had been interrupted, or had left off dictating at the end of the last verse. Such breaks must often and necessarily have occurred in the dictation of the Epistles, and doubtless help to account for some of their phenomena. Perhaps, on reperusing the last paragraphs before resuming the subject he observed that, after all, he had not directly mentioned the contribution, and therefore explains that he thought it superfluous to do so. To the saints. The poor Christians of Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:4). Superfluous. Because the subject had been already fully brought to their notice by himself and by Titus.

2 Corinthians 9:2

I boast of you; literally, I am boasting. The tense shows that he is writing from Macedonia, probably from Philippi (2 Corinthians 8:24). Achaia (see 2 Corinthians 1:1). Was ready a year ago; has been prepared since last year. Your zeal hath provoked very many; literally, zeal from you hath stimulated the majority. "Zeal from you" means zeal which emanated from the Corinthians and aroused emulation in others.

2 Corinthians 9:3

But. Though it is needless to write to you about this collection, I sent the brethren to make sure that all I had said about you might be justified by reality. In this behalf; i.e. about this matter, or, as we might express it, "in this direction." He seems to have felt more uncertainty about their liberality than about other matters (2 Corinthians 7:4).

2 Corinthians 9:4

They of Macedonia; rather, Macedonians; i.e. any friends from Macedonia (Acts 20:4). Shall Achaians have to blush before Macedonians? We, that we say not ye. Nothing can exceed the delicacy of this touch. St. Paul asks them to be ready with their contributions for his sake, not for their own; that he may not have to blush for his generous words respecting them, whereas really the discredit would be simply theirs. Confident boasting; rather, confidence. The reading "of boasting" is not genuine here. For the word hypostasis in the sense of "confidence," see 2 Corinthians 11:17; Hebrews 3:4. The use of the word to represent the "Persons" of the Blessed Trinity is later. The other sense of the word, "substance" (or underlying base of attributes), is found in Hebrews 1:3.

2 Corinthians 9:5

That they would go before unto you. The triple repetition of the word "before" shows how earnest St. Paul is in the matter. The Corinthians had promised largely; it was evident that there had been, or that there was ground for fearing that there might be, some slackness of performance. St. Paul was so unwilling to have seemed inaccurate in what, he had said about them in Macedonia that he wished to give them ample notice before the Macedonian delegates arrived. Your bounty, whereof ye had notice before; your previously promised blessing, bounty; literally, blessing. The mere word should have acted as an inducement to generosity. See the use of the word to express a generous gift in Genesis 33:11; 1:15, etc. (LXX.); Ephesians 1:3. In this sense it resembles the Hebrew berachah (Joshua 15:19, etc.). As a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness; as a blessing, and not as an extortion; i.e. as a free gift of your own, and not as something which I had wrung from you, or "got out of you" (2 Corinthians 7:2; 2 Corinthians 12:17, 2 Corinthians 12:18). It is less likely that the word pleonexia refers to the "parsimony" of the Corinthians, as though the smallness of their gift would show their greed for large gains.

2 Corinthians 9:6

But this I say. The Greek only has "But this." The ellipse can hardly be "I say." It is an accusative used absolutely—"as to their." Compare "But one thing" (Philippians 3:14). Shall reap also sparingly. In the Greek the more emphatic order is "sparingly also shall reap." The metaphor of the harvest implies that the more generous the gift the richer will be the return; and that "withholding more than is meet" will only tend to poverty (Proverbs 11:24, Proverbs 11:25; Proverbs 19:17; Proverbs 22:9). Bountifully; literally, with blessings; Vulgate, in benedictionibus (comp. Galatians 6:7, Galatians 6:8). Bountifulness blesses both him that gives and him that takes.

2 Corinthians 9:7

In his heart. The heart must not only go with but anticipate the hand. Grudgingly; literally, from grief (Exodus 25:2; Romans 12:8). A cheerful giver. The phrase is from the addition to Proverbs 22:8, which is found in the LXX.; except that "loveth" is substituted for "blesseth." Compare "He that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness" (Romans 12:8). The rabbis said that cheerful kindness, even if nothing was given, was better than a morose gift.

2 Corinthians 9:8

To make all grace abound toward you. God can give you such abundant gifts that you will not feel the loss of a generous contribution to his service. Sufficiency. The word autarkeia (1 Timothy 6:6) in the Stoic philosophy was used for the perfect independence which enabled a man to stand alone. The term is here softened and Christianized to express the contentment which arises from the full supply of all our needs by God. The affirmations of the original are as emphatic as language can make them. They express that the man who places all his trust upon God will be "perfect and entire, lacking nothing" (Philippians 4:11, Philippians 4:19).

2 Corinthians 9:9

As it is written. The quotation is from the LXX. in Psalms 112:9. He hath dispersed abroad. He has been a large and generous giver. The poor. The word here used is penes, which does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It means moderato and honourable poverty, whereas in classical Greek ptocheia implies disreputable pauperism and mendicancy. His righteousness. Meaning here his good deeds. The word is often rendered "pity" by the LXX. (eleemosune, from which word comes our "alms"), and this word occurs as a synonymous reading in Matthew 6:1. Remaineth forever. Because—

"Good deeds never die.

They with the sun and moon renew their light,

Forever blessing him that looks on them."

2 Corinthians 9:10

He that ministereth. The verb used is epichoregein, to furnish abundantly. At Athens a choragus was one who furnished a chorus, and as this was a leitourgia (or "public service"), involving great expense, and often discharged with extreme munificence, the verb came to imply "provide abundantly." St. Paul may (so to speak) have "picked up the word" at Athens. Seed to the sower (Isaiah 55:10). Both minister. The true reading almost certainly is "will both supply bread for food, and will multiply your seed for sowing, and will increase the fruits of your righteousness" (see Isaiah 55:10, LXX.). The fruits of your righteousness (Hosea 10:12, LXX.). In "righteousness," as in all things else, it is God only who "gives the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:10).

2 Corinthians 9:11

To all bountifulness; rather, to all simplicity, or "singleness of heart" (2 Corinthians 8:2). Through us. We are the agents in collecting and distributing your gifts (2 Corinthians 8:19, 2 Corinthians 8:20). Thanksgiving to God. From the recipients of your single-hearted generosity.

2 Corinthians 9:12

For the administration of this service. The word "liturgy," here rendered "service," is used in the same connection in Romans 15:27. Generally it means "religious service" (Acts 13:6; Philippians 2:17; Hebrews 10:11). Here it more resembles its classic sense of "a public office discharged for the good of the state," such as undertaking the office of a choragus (see Romans 15:10). Not only. St. Paul is anxious to emphasize the religious side of the contribution fully as much as its philanthropic object. Is abundant. It overflows as it were in the form of thanksgivings to Galatians

2 Corinthians 9:13

By the experiment of this ministration; rather, by the test (of your love) furnished by this ministration (2 Corinthians 8:2). For your professed subjection; literally, for the submission of your confession to the gospel of Christ. And for your liberal distribution unto them; rather, and for the simplicity of your fellowship towards them. A large contribution would prove two things; namely,

2 Corinthians 9:14

And by their prayer for you. These words are joined by our Authorized Version with "glorifying God." The saints at Jerusalem would, in consequence of the proved sincerity of the Corinthians, glorify God with thanksgiving for their faithfulness and kindness, by prayer for them. The Revisers take the clause with the following participle, "while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, long after you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you." This is the only right view of the construction. Long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you; literally, yearn for you because of the grace of God which overabounds to you.

2 Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be unto God. Nothing ever seems so much to disburden the full heart of St. Paul after deep emotion as an utterance of thanksgiving (Romans 7:25; Romans 9:5; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 15:57; Galatians 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:17). The thanksgiving here is like a great sigh of relief. The subject of it is perfectly general. It is not a mere "Amen" uttered, as it were, by St. Paul at the end of the thanksgivings of the saints at Jerusalem which he has been presupposing; but an offering of thanks to God for the issues of grace in general, all summed up in one act of "inestimable love" (John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Romans 11:33; Ephesians 3:19).

HOMILETICS

2 Corinthians 9:1-5 - Paul's directions for collecting the contributions of the Corinthian Church.

"For as touching the ministering to the saints," etc. The work of collecting was entrusted to Titus and a brother whose praise was "throughout all the Churches," and probably to other Christians more or less distinguished. Concerning the collecting of their subscriptions, three things are observable in Paul's own conduct.

I. HE RECOGNIZED THEIR MERITS. "For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: for I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many." He gives them full credit for what they had already done. They had so much cheered him some months before with the readiness with which they had entered into his beneficent enterprise, that he had boasted of them to those of Macedonia and Achaia, and he assures them that their zeal had stimulated, or "provoked very many." We may be assured that Paul not only credits them for what they had done, merely as a matter of policy or politeness, but as a matter of justice. It is right that goodness in others should be recognized wherever found, and that we should with a hearty frankness praise them that do well. This is a duty sadly neglected.

II. HE RESPECTED THEIR REPUTATION. "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 apostle knew human life and the circumstances that influence it, and he apprehended that, had the members of the Corinthian Church been called upon suddenly, without any previous advice, to complete the beneficent work into which they had entered so readily some twelve months before, they might not be able on a sudden either to do justice to their own reputation or to justify the high praise he had given them. The reputation of Christian men should always be sacredly respected. Reputation is social power; deprive a man of this, and he is powerless in society; deprive a Church of this, and you leave it as infirm as a merchant without credit. Respect for the reputation of good men is the duty of all. No man can deprive me of my character, hut he may of my reputation, and without my reputation my social influence is nil.

"The purest treasure mortal times afford

Is spotless reputation; that away,

Men are but gilded loam or painted clay."

(Shakespeare.)

III. HE STUDIED THEIR CONVENIENCE. "Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty," etc. "Every one knows," says Robertson, "how different is the feeling with which we give when charity is beforehand, from that which we give when charitable collections come side by side with debts and taxes. The charity which finds us unprepared is a call as hateful as that of any creditor whom it is hard to pay. Paul knew this well; he knew that if the Corinthians were taken unawares their feelings would be exasperated towards him with shame, and also towards the saints at Jerusalem, to whom they were constrained to give. Therefore he gave timely notice." Special duties have times and seasons. There are moods of mind, and passing circumstances so unfavourable as to render their discharge almost impossible, hence men's conveniences have to be studied. The apostle, in recognizing merits, respecting reputations, and studying conveniences, should be taken as an example by all Christian ministers in dealing with their people.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 - The way and worth of genuine beneficence.

"But this I say, He which soweth," etc. Our subject is—The way and worth of genuine beneficence.

I. THE WAY OF GENUINE BENEFICENCE. What is the method of its operations? How does it develop itself?

1. Bountifully. "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." The apostle does not intimate, still less dictate, the amount of contribution he required, but what he requires is bountifulness. Nothing niggardly or from restraint, but with a full, open, generous heart. A man may give bountifully who only subscribes a mite, and niggardly who subscribes his ten thousand pounds. In the fifth verse Paul says, "The same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness."

2. Deliberately. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give." A spurious charity gives from impulse or pressure. There is a species of eloquence which extorts money, which the giver regrets as soon as he has parted with it. Genuine charity acts not thus; it forms a generous purpose, and from that purpose it acts, as love always acts, on the universe.

3. Cheerfully. "Not grudgingly, or of necessity." There are those who part with their contributions as if they parted with their life blood. They have been wrung from them, and they groan when they are gone. Genuine charity acts not thus; its greatest happiness is in giving. In sooth, he who gives reluctantly never truly gives at all. "God loveth a cheerful giver." His own happiness is in giving; he rejoices in the happiness of the creation, and to be happy there must be giving.

II. THE WORTH OF GENUINE BENEFICENCE. The most valuable thing in the universe is genuine, practical love, or charity.

1. It is a most valuable thing in its issues.

(a) He sees that the man of charity shall lose nothing by his contributions. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." The God of goodness sees that no man shall be really injured by his goodness. "In all thy gifts show a cheerful countenance, and dedicate thy tithes with gladness. Give unto the Most High according as he hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten, give thee with a cheerful eye. For the Lord recompenseth, and will give thee seven times as much" (Ec 35:9-11).

(b) He sees that his beneficent deeds shall be blessed forever. "His righteousness remaineth forever." A good deed is a seed that will go on multiplying forever. Beneficence, after all, is righteousness.

2. It is a most valuable thing in itself. "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." What is the "gift" here? Undoubtedly charity, or practical love. Has Paul here a special reference to Christ? Be it so. The value of that gift was the love which it expressed, incarnated, and diffused. The gift of love is the highest gift. The greatest thing in the universe is mind, the greatest thing in mind is love, and the greatest element in love is practical philanthropy.

2 Corinthians 9:1-5 - Reference to his former argument; its completeness; why he resumes the subject.

Reviewing the reasoning on the duty of Christian beneficence, the apostle concluded that he had expounded the subject in a manner so clear and explicit as to make any addition "superfluous" on the score either of logic or of appeal. Recall the argument for a moment, and see if he was not justified in this opinion. The appeal was for the poor of the Church at Jerusalem. Macedonia was depressed and sorely troubled, Achaia was internally agitated by Judaizers and free thinkers; and between this upper and nether millstone the young Churches were well nigh ground to powder. St. Paul himself was greatly afflicted. But he had strong faith in Christ and in human nature under the influence of Christ's grace, and having this confidence he was hopeful, resolute, and courageous. Macedonia had done nobly. Corinth would not fall below the standard he had set for their generosity. Full of heart, he presses the claim of the occasion, bat his zeal and anxiety never betray him into using a false motive or into pushing a true motive too far. The "rod" is not threatened. All through, the appeal is to the best elements of our nature, for he recognizes, as "the sacred writers constantly recognize, the fact that the freest and most spontaneous acts of men, their inward states and the outward manifestations of those states where good, are due to a secret influence of the Spirit of God which eludes our consciousness. The believer is most truly self-determined when determined by the grace of God" (Hodge). We have seen that the apostle never loses sight for a moment of the one inspiring motive—the love of Christ towards us and his Divine sacrifice in our behalf. Equal with God and infinitely blessed, he left his glory, assumed our flesh took its infirmities, bore its sins, endured its shame and humiliation, and expiated its guilt. The abnegation was so complete that he depended on the Holy Ghost for wisdom, fortitude, and strength. A man of prayer, he sought the Spirit's aid on every occasion, and was so dependent as to say, "I do nothing of myself." Every adventitious help was set aside; loneliness and sorrow were his self-chosen lot; and he made himself the poorest of men, that he might show how supremely he rested upon the Father in his mediatorial work. But poverty and sorrow were not thus borne for their own sake, nor, indeed, was it the circumstances of his lot, but the lot itself, that marked the greatness of his condescension. The argument of St. Paul is directed to one point, viz. what Christ was and what he became, so that the contrast between his earthly position and that of other men is not so much as hinted at, but the whole force is thrown upon the contrast as to his being "rich" and becoming "poor," that we "through his poverty might be rich." On this basis Christian beneficence was founded. Christian "equality" was a natural sequel. For this was, in the order of Providence, the one specific and preeminent sphere in which Christian conscience and affection and humane impulses would most fully and freely combine to glorify God in Christ. On no other ground could a Church be a spiritual human community, and hence the stress laid on human virtues sanctified by the grace of Christ. There is emulation; how he exalts it! There is imitation; how he emphasizes it! There is prudence; what an excellence it is to protect our good from being spoken of as evil! After such a presentation of gospel truth and its effective enforcement, he might well say that it was "superfluous'' to write concerning "the ministering to the saints." One bright spot had all along lingered on that murky horizon; "Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many." Men who are backsliding in religion do not lose their hold all at once on the Christian virtues. Happily for us, some of these virtues are stronger than others, and these act as a breakwater against the incoming surges of temptation. One or more qualities exist in us that are more receptive of grace than other qualities, and they are specially resistant of decay. As in physical disease life would often succumb were it not that some organs have so much more functional vitality than others, so in religious life, a single vigorous principle or sentiment may save us from spiritual death. So it was with the Corinthians. Despite of their corruptions, they had one redeeming excellence, viz. the "forwardness" of their "mind" in this benevolent enterprise of helping the poor saints in Jerusalem. God honoured this trait of their character. Many a virtue had gone down under the pressure of worldliness and carnality. This survived, and it was capable of being evoked into healthy and energetic action. St. Paul knew his opportunity. He saw the good in these erring brethren. If he had not, he could never have seen the evil. And seeing the good so clearly, he recognized it and laboured for its immediate development in a very earnest form. The true growth would choke out the weeds, and to this he directed his wise husbandry. Every way the prospect was encouraging. Yet he would make assurance doubly sure. He had boasted of the Corinthians. If they should not be ready in time with the collection, "we [too delicate to say, 'ye'] should be ashamed in this same confident boasting." On this account he sent Titus and the deputies to "make up beforehand" their bounty. It must be "bounty," not a matter of "covetousness." Postponing the work might open the way for selfishness to suggest reasons for less giving. Love of money might have a sudden quickening. Risks were numerous when men believed that the heart of today would be the heart of tomorrow. Satan was mightier at some times than at others, and Christian men were not always quite themselves. "Make up beforehand." The right thing was ennobled by doing it at the right time, and the right time was now. "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."—Debts of love mature when the heart is first warmed by the Spirit. Fatting off invites covetousness. "Beforehand" is the watchword of the bountiful soul.—L.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 - Correspondence between Christian sowing and reaping.

There was nothing of chance or luck in the operations of beneficence. It was a transaction with God, who had instituted certain laws for its government.

1. As to the law of proportion. If they sowed sparingly, they reaped sparingly; if bountifully, they reaped bountifully. This was natural law. It was also spiritual law. If the law met them everywhere, addressed the senses and the soul, and enforced itself both in providence and grace, surely they could not but give very profound heed to a principle which was so amply illustrated.

2. As to the spirit of giving. The law was spontaneity of sentiment—"according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give;" and again, it was cheerfulness of feeling—not "grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver." On this aspect of giving, the apostle had delivered his mind without reservation. Freedom here was scrupulously insisted on. To be Christ-like it must be wholly self-directed. It must be born directly of the Spirit. Vast and indeed sacred as human agency is, there are seasons when the Spirit bids it retire, and he takes the soul into his solitary communion.

3. The element of recompense is stated. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you." Blessings used rightly would bring other and larger blessings. Benevolent contributions were disciplinary. The act was educative. If a man gave because of his love to Christ, if he gave willingly and cordially, if he gave freely, then he was being trained as a giver, and of course was, in this particular, a growing man. Any sort of arrested development in goodness is bad enough, but this checking of progress in charity is peculiarly harmful. Worldliness rushes back with an overwhelming current. Avarice, denied its food for a time, has a voracious appetite. And, therefore, the very urgent need of growth in this sentiment, which the apostle argues in a manner uncommonly forcible. Spiritual blessings are assured. "All grace abound toward you." Temporal blessings are promised. "Always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." There was to be an "all sufficiency," an overflowing measure on God's part, so as to furnish the means or resources for continued and enlarged benevolence, or otherwise the growth would stop. "Every good work" has a very broad signification. We take it to mean a very wide and generous activity in kind deeds, an "enthusiasm," not for "humanity," but for Christ in humanity, and a desire and a purpose expanding in the ratio of new blessings, spiritual and temporal, to pour forth its heart in ministration to others. "God is able." Yet we must not forget that he never resigns his Divine sovereignty in a promise or to a promise, but is infinitely wise and considerately tender in the administration of providential blessings. To elucidate his meaning, St. Paul quotes from Psalms 112:9, "He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness endureth forever." The rule is that God gives us what we have in order that he may give us more. There is a future in everything, a future in every seed, a future in every dollar honestly made, a future in every blessing God bestows. But it is for him alone to order this future, so as to "make all grace abound" in us, and to enable us to "abound to every good work."—L.

2 Corinthians 9:10-15 - Unity in nature and grace; manifold results of beneficence; thanksgiving.

St. Paul had spoken in the sixth verse of the law of the spiritual harvest—proportion of reward in reference to quantity, so much sowing followed by so much reaping. But there is another law—a grain of corn or wheat produces many grains. In some instances hundreds of seeds come from one seed. Seeds multiply seeds, and the harvest of a county may sow a large territory. Nothing in the vegetable kingdom is on a stinted scale. Omnipotence touches a clod of earth, and in a few months it is transformed into bread; but this is not all the wonder, for that clod has yielded far more than it received. Thus it is that, in the physical world, labour becomes accumulative, producing over and above its own wants a vast surplus, which goes to feed those who are unable to work. Not abundance but superabundance is the lesson nature teaches. We make enough to supply necessities, comforts, and luxuries; enough to meet artificial wants; enough to compensate for impotence, idleness, and dissipation; enough to allow far a waste that can scarcely be computed. So it is in spiritual things. The productive power is immensely rewarded. This striking correspondence was in his view when St. Paul said, "He that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness" (Revised Version). The fact is always grander than the figure and hence we may believe that the fruits of righteousness will infinitely surpass the work done. Observe now that this was a present thing as well as a future thing. Just then a gracious influence was spreading through the Churches and uniting them in closer fellowship by reason of a common interest in behalf of Jerusalem. And, furthermore, they should be "enriched in everything to all bountifulness," no lack of seed for sowing, fruits of righteousness abounding, and especially their liberality should cause thanksgiving to God. This idea of thanksgiving fills a large space in his mind. It becomes in the twelfth verse "many thanksgivings." What joy would it bring to Jerusalem! How far would the glad tidings spread! Not only for the pecuniary aid afforded, but for this new and cheering evidence of their obedience unto the gospel of Christ, what praise would ascend to God! If we could transfer ourselves into the position of these early Christians and enter into their feelings, especially those of the Jerusalem Church, we should realize the apostle's meaning where he lays such a stress on the results of this Gentile beneficence. But we can hardly approximate this state of mind. The loneliness of the saints at Jerusalem, the large sacrifice of property after Pentecost, the loss of employment because of professing faith in Christ, the destitution and suffering that had befallen them, the growing disturbances with Rome, the increase of bitter strife among the Jews, the darkness with its prophetic woes descending on the doomed city, parties becoming more and more virulent in their antagonisms to one another, and amid it all, the "poor saints" subjected to all sorts of insult and grievance, give us but a general idea of the misery and wretchedness they were enduring. It was all very real to St. Paul. No such earthly reality as Jerusalem occupied his intellect and heart. Was he looking forward to the day (as Stanley suggests) when he should stand in the holy city and witness the gratitude of the Church for this great benefaction? Likely enough; but whether so or not, it is certain that his soul overflowed with joy. It was a grand proof of brotherhood between Jewish and Gentile Christians. It was the perfecting link in the chain that was to bind them together. It was a blessed testimony to the divineness of the gospel Contemplating the gifts, he rises in a moment to the Divine Gift, and exclaims, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gift!"—L.

2 Corinthians 9:2 - The contagion of zeal.

The interest which Christians living in distant lands learned, under apostolic guidance and by the spiritual tuition of the indwelling love of Christ, to take in one another's welfare, was an evidence of the introduction into humanity of a new moral power, a principle of universal love and brotherhood. It is very instructive to see the congregations of Macedonia and of Corinth rivalling one another in the benevolent enterprise of relieving the wants of the mother Church at Jerusalem. Paul evidently encourages this beneficial emulation.

I. ZEAL IN CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE IS IN ITSELF GOOD. The languid and unemotional, the cold and calculating, however they may pride themselves upon their justice and reasonableness, are not the people who do the good, the benevolent work of the world. It is good to be zealously affected in a good cause.

II. THE CONTAGIOUSNESS OF ZEAL IS FOUNDED UPON THE SOCIAL NATURE OF MAN. We are members one of another, and it is not desirable, it is not possible, for any person, for any community, to be indifferent to the welfare of others. And the conduct of each has some influence upon the conduct of others. It is not easy to be zealous when all around are unconcerned and inactive, whilst, on the other hand, the spectacle of zealous devotion and self-denial is stimulating and encouraging.

III. THIS EMULATION MAY BE CARRIED TO A PREJUDICIAL EXTENT. It cannot but be acknowledged that emulation may lead to ostentation. Who can question that the motive of some givers to charitable and religious instutions is impure? One wishes to excel another, for the pleasure of triumphing over him, or of cutting a more important figure in the eyes of his fellow men. And thus the true motive is lost sight or, and a moral injury is wrought.

IV. YET IT IS WELL TO FEEL THE FORCE OF A GOOD EXAMPLE AS A PRACTICAL MOTIVE TO ZEALOUS SERVICE. We may learn from the case of others what may be done where there is consecration, self-denial, and prayerful effort. Our apathy may be rebuked, our flagging benevolence revived. It is when the coals are not only kindled, but put together, that the fire burns clear and bright, and gives forth its genial warmth.—T.

2 Corinthians 9:6 - Sowing and reaping.

This is one of those natural analogies which are common to all languages and to all ages. There is sowing and reaping in the history of the individual; the moral bias of his youth may determine the direction of his after life. There is sowing and reaping in the experience of a Christian community; its founders may impart to it an impulse the consequences of which shall be discernible in distant generations. And in this passage the apostle reminds his readers that giving is a kind of sowing, and that, as the husbandman reaps as he has sown, so shall it be in the experience of all benefactors. The liberal shall reap abundantly; the grudging and sparing shall gather a slender crop.

I. THE LAW OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN SOWING AND REAPING IS A JUST LAW. It is an appointment of a God of righteousness. It is in harmony with the principles of his government. Its maintenance is evidently productive of the welfare of Christian society.

II. THIS LAW IS ONE THE OPERATIONS OF WHICH WE CAN IN SOME MEASURE TRACE.

1. It may be observed that illiberality stunts the spiritual stature of the giver, whilst generosity promotes his growth. There is noticeable in large-hearted and generous natures an expansion which is its own reward; a happy disposition, a constant satisfaction in the result of gifts and efforts; a width of view which removes such from the petty and miserable emotions of envy, jealousy, and suspicion.

2. In connection with this it may be remarked that the treatment of the generous by others is in itself a rich reward. The liberal man is honoured, appreciated, loved. Small services, slight tokens of respect, are offered him which are evidences of deep feeling, and which cannot be received without gratification. It may be left to observation whether the reverse of this picture is not equally just—whether the mean, selfish, and niggardly do not suffer personal deterioration, and whether they do not receive from their neighbours a merited contempt.