He giveth the reason why, though he knew the forwardness of the Corinthians, yet he sent Titus and his brethren before-hand: and proceedeth in stirring them up to a bountiful alms, as being but a kind of sowing of seed, which shall return a great increase to them, and occasion a great sacrifice of thanksgivings unto God.
Anno Domini 58.
THE Apostle, in this chapter, continued his discourse concerning the collection, not to persuade the Corinthians to undertake the work: that, as he observed, was not needful, 2 Corinthians 9:1.—He knew their willingness, and had boasted to the Macedonians that Achaia was prepared since the end of the last year; for so the Apostle believed at the time he boasted of them, 2 Corinthians 9:2.—But now, being informed by Titus that a good deal still remained to be done, hehad sent the brethren mentioned in the preceding chapter to encourage them to go on, that his boastingconcerning their being prepared might not be rendered false; but that at length they might be prepared, 2 Corinthians 9:3.—For if the Macedonian brethren, who were coming with him to Corinth, should find their collection not finished, he, not to say the Corinthians, would be ashamed of his confident boasting concerning them, 2 Corinthians 9:4.—He had judged it necessary, therefore, to intreat the brethren to go before him to Corinth, to persuade them to complete their collection, that whatever they should give, might appear as freely given, and not as forced from them by his presence, 2 Corinthians 9:5.—In the mean time, to encourage them to give liberally, he put them in mind of the future reward: He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, &c. 2 Corinthians 9:6.—Then desired every one of them to consult his own heart, and to give what he thought proper, without grudging, 2 Corinthians 9:7.—Because God loves a cheerful giver, and can supply men abundantly with this world's goods, both for their own maintenance and to enable them to do works of charity, 2 Corinthians 9:8-9.—Farther, he observed, that such a gift, from so many Gentile churches, not only would supply the wants of the brethren in Judea, but, being a demonstration of the affection which the Gentiles bare to them, would occasion many thanksgivings, 2 Corinthians 9:12.—the Jews glorifying God for the professed subjection of the Gentiles to the gospel, of which they would have so clear a proof, 2 Corinthians 9:13.—and also praying for the Gentiles, whom they would love as their brethren on account of the grace of God bestowed on them, 2 Corinthians 9:14.—Now the union of the Jews and Gentiles into one body, or church, being in all respects a most happy event, the Apostle returned thanks to God for his unspeakable gift, Jesus Christ, through whom it had been accomplished, 2 Corinthians 9:15.
Icannotfinishthisintroductionwithout observing, in praise of the Apostle Paul, that there never was penned, by any writer, a stronger and more affecting exhortation to works of charity than that which he addressed to the Corinthians in this and the preceding chapter.—The example of the Christians in Macedonia, who, notwithstanding they were themselves, in very straitened circumstances, had contributed liberally towards the relief of the saints in Judea.—The great love of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for their sake became poor, that they, through his poverty, might be rich:—God's acceptance of works of charity, not according to the greatness of what is bestowed, so much as according to the willingness with which itis bestowed:—the reward which God will confer, in the life to come, on beneficent men, acting from the principle of divine love:—his supplying them with a sufficiency of this world's goods for their own maintenance, and for enabling them to continue their good offices to the indigent:—his blessing their ordinarylabour for that end:—the joy which is occasioned to the poor, whose wants are relieved by the alms of the charitable:—the thanksgivings which other good men will offer to God when they see works of this sort done; but especially thanksgivings to God from the poor, who are relieved in their straits by the charitable:—their gratitude towards their benefactors, expressed in earnest prayers to God for their happiness:—and the cordial union which is produced between the rich and the poor by this intercourse of good offices:—all these considerations are displayed in this excellent exhortation, with a tenderness and feeling which nothing but a heart filled with goodness was capable of expressing.
With the above mentioned affecting motives, which are suited to every ingenuous mind, the Apostle intermixed a variety of other incitements to works of charity, adapted to the particular circumstances of the Corinthian brethren, which, therefore, must have made a strong impression on them:—such as their former readiness to do good works:-their being enriched with every spiritual gift, a kind of riches vastly superior to the riches which the Apostle wished them to impart to their needy brethren:—their love to him, their spiritual father, with whose reasonable desires it was their duty to comply:—his having boasted of their good dispositions to the churches of Macedonia:—his anxiety that the messengers from these Churches, who were coming to Corinth, might find them such as he had represented them:—and the shame with which the Apostle himself, as well as the Corinthians, would be overwhelmed, if, when the Macedonian brethren arrived, they were found to have been negligent in making the collection for the poor in Judea. He therefore intreated them to prove the truth of their love to him, and of his boasting concerning them, before these worthy strangers, and before the churches whose messengers they were, byfinishing the collection with cheerfulness, that what they gave might appear to be a gift willingly bestowed, and not a thing extorted from them by his importuni
Upon the whole, if any minister of the gospel, who is himself animated by a benevolent disposition towards mankind, has occasion to excite his people to works of charity, let him study with due attention the viiith and ixth Chapter s of St. Paul's second Epistle to the Corinthians; for no where else will he meet with so fine a model to form his exhortation on, as that which is exhibited in these excellent chapte