2 Corinthians 8:5 - Homilies By J.r. Thomson

If it seems strange to us that a large portion of an inspired Epistle should be occupied with directions as to a charitable collection which was going forward at the time, it should be remembered; that Christianity introduced into human society new and more powerful principles of benevolence, and further, that the new and Divine revelation was one which laid the foundation for this as for all human duties in the character and action of God himself.

I. THE PRIMARY AND ALL - IMPORTANT DEDICATION IS THAT OF THE WHOLE PERSONAL NATURE UNTO THE LORD .

1 . This appears when it is recollected that the Lord has first given himself for us. His sacrifice thus becomes the ground of our consecration.

2 . Our very constitution, taken in connection with our natural relation to our Lord, points to such a dedication. "No man liveth unto himself." Our "chief end is to glorify God."

3 . This spiritual consecration is pre-eminently acceptable to God. His demand is, "Give me thine heart." Every gift which does not flow from this is vain and worthless in his sight.

II. THE DEDICATION OF SELF TO THE LORD SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY THE DEDICATION OF SELF TO THE LORD 'S PEOPLE . Paul looked for the brotherhood, the confidence, the cooperation of his converts, and indeed of all Christian people whom Divine providence might bring into contact with him. The Corinthians apparently wished to be personally associated with him in the ministration to the Judaean Christians who were in poverty, and their wish was a source of satisfaction and joy to him.

III. TRUE CHRISTIAN CONSECRATION INVOLVES THE GIFT OF PROPERTY TO THE LORD 'S CAUSE . It is sometimes objected against calls for liberality that God cannot be enriched by our giving. This is true, yet God's people may receive advantage, and Christ has shown us that what is done for his people is done for himself. As most people value their possessions, their generosity is a proof of the sincerity of their love and the reality of their consecration.

"How can I, Lord, withhold

Life's brightest hour

From thee; or gathered gold,

Or any power?

Why should I keep one precious thing from thee,

When thou hast given thine own dear self for me?"

T.

2 Corinthians 8:8 - Sincere love.

In giving liberally towards the collection made for the poor Christians of Judaea, the Corinthians showed their love to the objects of their charity, to the apostle to whose appeal they responded, and also to the unseen Lord and Saviour by whose desire and for whose sake they befriended the least of his brethren.

I. LOVE TO CHRIST IS THE MIGHTIEST OF ALL SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES , Human life abounds with evidence of the might of love; every family, every society, has some exemplifications of the power of love to overcome difficulties, to prompt to exertion, to sustain under self-denied. And all Christendom in every age has shown that love to Christ is an unrivalled motive to holiness, to patience, to benevolence. The hymns of the Church's literature, and the gifts and labours recorded in the Church's annals, are alike proof of the vitality and efficacy of Christian love.

II. THE PROFESSION OF LOVE TO CHRIST IS NOT ALWAYS ACCOMPANIED BY THE REALITY . The early disciples were admonished to "love unfeigned," were warned, "Let love be without dissimulation." Doubtless in all ages there have been those who have deceived themselves, and have imagined that they loved Christ, because they have felt some glow of admiration towards him, but who in time of trial have made it manifest that they had no depth of love. Weighed in the balance, they are found wanting. The soul is brought face to face with its own weakness and worthlessness, inconsistency and treachery.

III. THE LORD JESUS TESTS IN MANY WAYS THE SINCERITY OF HIS PEOPLE 'S PROFESSION OF LOVE .

1 . By his bodily absence from them, which shows whether they have an attachment to their professed Lord which can abide even though not fostered by sight and constant personal intercourse.

2 . By permitting rival powers and persons to invite the supreme affection of the heart. These, though they cannot satisfy, may please, and the Lord of all suffers their attractiveness; for the love which cannot abide amid rival attractions is poor indeed.

3 . By his demand that we should surrender what is dear to us, if to retain it conflicts with our supreme attachment to Christ. The young ruler was subjected to this test. In some form it comes to many. Feigned love will then go away, even though it go away grieved.

4 . By our necessary and probationary contact with an unloving world. In the presence of the unspiritual and unsympathizing, the sincerity of the Christian's love is often sorely tested.

5 . The trials and sufferings of life not only exercise the faith, they test the Jove, of the professed follower of Jesus. The storm proves whether the vessel is seaworthy or not.

6 . By enjoining upon his people obedience to commandments which are contrary to our natural inclinations. Love can vanquish even the attachment to a "darling sin."

7 . Love is tested when it is invited to direct itself towards others also, for Jesus' sake. Who can love Christ, and yet hate his brother, for whom Christ died?—T.

2 Corinthians 8:9 - The condescension of Christ.

According to the teaching of the New Testament, human kindness should be based upon Divine benevolence. Such is the import of this wonderful parenthesis—a jewel which the inspired writer drops by the way and passes on.

I. CHRIST 'S NATIVE RICHES CONTRASTED WITH HIS VOLUNTARY POVERTY ,

1 . His proper rightful wealth is apparent, not only from his nature as the Son of God, but from his evident command, during his earthly ministry, of all the resources of nature. Bread, wine, money, he could multiply or create; the earth and the sea obeyed his will; diseases and demons fled at his bidding.

2 . His poverty was not compulsory; it was a "grace." We see it in his incarnation, in which he emptied himself of his glory; in his ministry, passed in a lowly and all but destitute condition of life; in his refusal to use his power for selfish ends; in his cheerful submission to a shameful death. Compare the glory which he claimed to have had with the Father before the world was, with the homelessness and poverty of his life and the desertion and ignominy of his death, and his "grace" appeals to every just mind, to every sensitive heart.

II. OUR NATIVE SPIRITUAL POVERTY CONTRASTED WITH OUR ACQUIRED SPIRITUAL WEALTH .

1 . Our natural destitution is undeniable; by sin we have lost our possessions, our inheritance, our powers of acquisition, and are left resourceless and friendless. Apart from the interposition of Christ, and where Christianity is unknown, such is still the state of man.

2 . Christ's humiliation was for the sake of man's spiritual enrichment. Only by condescension, compassion, and sacrifice could man be reached. Thus he drew near to us, and imparted to us of his own true and Divine riches, of knowledge, of righteousness, of favour, and of glory.

3 . By Christ's mediation all things are ours, God, giving Christ, gives with him all good things. "I have all things and abound," is the testimony of every right-minded and appreciative disciple of Christ. The history of the Church is the history of the enrichment of the race; and this in turn is the pledge and promise of the inestimable and inexhaustible riches of eternity.—T.

2 Corinthians 8:12 - The rule of acceptance.

Justice is distinctive of all the demands and of all the proceedings of the providence of God. Often, as in the case before us, the righteousness of the principles of the Divine government is so apparent that no question can possibly be raised concerning it.

I. THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE HERE PROPOUNDED . It is that the requirements of God correspond to the possessions of man.

1 . What men have, they have received from the undeserved bounty of their Creator. This holds good with regard to property and to talents and opportunities.

2 . An account is expected from every man by him who is the Judge and sovereign Lord of all. We are to some extent and in some matters accountable to our fellow men, but foreverything to him in whom "we live, and move, and have our being."

3 . The rule according to which the supreme Governor will judge mankind is one of absolute rectitude—"according to that a man hath." The feeble man will not be expected to have done the work of the strong; the dull man the work of the genius; the peasant the work of the prince; nor the beggar to have given with the generosity of the millionaire. But each must answer for that which has been entrusted to himself. In all things the disposition, the spirit, the endeavour, will be taken into account; "if there be first the ready mind"—"if the forward zeal be at hand." Such is the universal condition of Divine acceptance and approval.

II. THE SPECIAL APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE HERE DEDUCED .

1 . In the matter of gifts there is scope for moral culture and watchfulness. Unless liberality be shown upon definite principle, it will most likely not be shown at all. There is need of watching against selfishness and avarice.

2 . It is well for every Christian to anticipate and apply beforehand the Divine principle—to judge himself, that he may not be judged by God; to put to himself the question, "How much owest thou unto thy Lord?"

3 . Especially should the inspired rule of liberality be observed by those who are prospering in the world. As means increase, let gifts be enlarged. The Judge cannot accept from the wealthy the gifts which were approved when offered by the poor.—T.

2 Corinthians 8:21 - Things honourable.

It might have been supposed that the apostle would have considered himself superior to the considerations here adduced. His life was so completely unselfish, so obviously governed by higher than interested principles, that it seems as if he might have taken it for granted that no suspicion could attach to his personal administration of the alms to be forwarded to Judaea. Probably others thought thus; few, if any, could have suspected Paul of fraud and misappropriation. But he judged himself by a standard which was applicable to all Christian agents, a standard which every wise man, experienced in the ways of the world, will do well to adopt as his own.

I. THE RULE OF CONDUCT HERE PROPOSED .

1 . Things honourable are things actually good, admirable, beautiful, in themselves. The word in the original denotes primarily this. What things are morally excellent and praiseworthy, let these things be done.

2 . Things honourable are things reputable and approved. It is especially prudent to be very careful and scrupulous, and very open, in the administration of public money, and so to act that there may be no opening for slander or misrepresentation. And the same rule applies to other departments of conduct. It should not be a prominent motive with us to secure men's approval, yet our conduct should be such as to secure that approval, and even to command it.

3 . Things honourable may best be provided by endeavouring to realize the inquisitive inspection of men and the all-searching gaze of the omniscient God.

II. THE MOTIVES URGING TO THE PRACTICAL ADOPTION OF THIS RULE .

1 . It will tend to the satisfaction and peace of our own conscience.

2 . It will tend to the honour of the religion we profess, when it is seen to be, not a cloak for covetousness, but an impulse to disinterestedness and a principle of integrity.

3 . It will be for the glory of God. Actions done in his sight and at his command, from the motive of his love, and with the hope of his approbation, are the actions which the Christian should aim consistently and constantly to perform, in all positions and in all relations of life—T,

2 Corinthians 8:23 - The appreciation of fellow labourers.

Anxious as Paul was that a generous contribution should be sent to Judaea for the relief and assistance of the poor Christians in that province, he was equally anxious that the mode in which this contribution was transmitted should be open and above all suspicion of carelessness or misappropriation. Hence he secured that Titus and two others should be appointed as trustees, so to speak, of the fund, to take charge of it and to carry it to the destined quarter. Of these three Christian men Paul speaks in terms of notable commendation. He terms them—

I. HIS OWN ASSOCIATES . The expressions used with this intent are three in number.

1 . They are partners, engaged in the same work, under the same Master, and with the expectation of a similar reward, with himself.

2 . They are fellow workers, each having his own faculty, his own implement, for labour, but all cooperating to the one end.

3 . They are brethren; i.e. bound together by a personal tie, a spiritual kindred, in the Christian family and household of faith. These expressions involve a deep and lasting attachment, such as should unite those who are engaged in one and the same service rendered to the one great Master.

II. MESSENGERS OF THE CHURCHES . The expression in the original is very strong. They are apostles; i.e. sent forth by the congregation as their representatives and plenipotentiaries. This gives a special dignity to the office and work of accredited servants of the body of Christ, and therefore of Christ himself.

III. THE GLORY OF CHRIST . There is something mystical, something difficult to expound, in this epithet. It certainly implies that these faithful men were exalted to a position of very high honour, and were looked upon as related very closely to the Lord himself. Certainly it was to the glory of the Redeemer that a new principle of benevolence was introduced into human society, impelling the Gentile of Europe to display a practical interest in the welfare of the Jew of Palestine. Here was exhibited a moral glory radiating from Christ himself, before which the world might well bow down in wonder, admiration, and reverence.—T.