" thanksgivings abound to Him ;" and the person who perhaps thought nothing of his God before, now adores him and mao-- nifies him from his inmost soul. This is the only tribute that man can pay to his Maker : but it is " a sacrifice most pleasing unto God."]
Conclusion —
[We now call upon you all to adopt the language of our text, and say, " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!"
The true import of these words is not generally understood. It is supposed, that, because our blessed Lord and Saviour calls himself " The gift of God," and is undoubtedly the greatest of all God's gifts to man, the passage must relate to him : but, both from the text and context, it is evident that we must understand it as relating to the alms which were collected for the service of the Church at Jerusalem. Speaking of the part which Titus had taken in this measure, St. Paul says, " Thanks be to God, who put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you^:" where it is observable, that he traces the blessing to God as its true Author, and returns thanks to God for it. So in our text he speaks of " Thanksgivings to God" occasioned by it, and " God as glorified for it," and " the ex- ceeding grace of God" as manifested in it. Hence the import of it undeniably is, that " Thanks" should be given by all to God for so " unspeakable a gift."
And truly it is " the gift of God :" it is God alone that has put it into the heart of so many persons to unite in so good a work. It is to his grace alone that we can trace this tender concern for the temporal and eternal welfare of our fellow- creatures. Man, by nature, has it not: and those who are ignorant of the Gospel have it not: they may talk about good works ; but this is a work in which they never engage. We must therefore glorify God for it, as being the only true source from whence it proceeds.
And it may well be called an " unspeakable gift." It is un- speakable, whether as existing in the visitors, or as operating on those who are visited. No grace can justly be considered as a light matter, since the smallest portion of it that can exist in the soul is of more value than the whole world. Of what value then must such " exceeding grace" be, such grace as most assimilates us to God himself! Was " the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" most displayed in this, that " when he was rich, he for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich'?" This is the pattern which the visitors desire to imitate, so far at least as, by the most self-denying offices of love, to contribute to the utmost of their power to the happi- ness of their afflicted brethren.
^ 2 Cor. viii. 16. '2 Cor. viii. 9.