The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 222

wbioh I boast of you to them of Macedonia _that Achaia was 1eacl.y a yen,r ago; anrl your ieal bath provoked very many." He gives them full creclit for what they harl 11lre11dy done. They hnd so much cheored him some months before with the readinesR with which they had entered into his beneficent enterprise, that he harl boaster! of them to thoso or Macedonia and Achaia, and he assures them that their zeal had stimulrlted, or" provoked very many." We may be assured that Paul not only credits thorn for what they had done, merely as a matter of policy or politeness but as a rontter of justice. It is righ: that. goodness in. others. should be recognized' whcreyer found, and that we should with a hearty frankness praise them that do well. This iR a duty sadly neglected. II. HE RESPECTED THErn:REPUTATTON. "Lest ha.ply if they or Macedonia come with roe, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting." The apostle knew human lifo 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 yon leave it as infirm as a mer- chant without credit. Respect for the reputation of good men is the :duty of a.II. No man can deprive me or my character, but he may of my reputation, and without my reputation my social influence is nil. " The purest treasure mortal times afford Is spotless reputation; that a.way, Men are but gilded loam or painted clay." (Shakespeare.) III. HE STUDIED THErn CONVENIENCE. "Therefore I thought it necessary to exhorl 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 nnpre- pared '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 ta.ken unawares their feelings would be exaspeuted 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 con- veniences have to be studied. The apostle, in recognizing merits, respecting reputa- tions, and studying conveniences, should- be taken as an example by all Christian ministers in dealing with their people. Vere. 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. '.!,'HE 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 contri- bution he required, but what he requires is bountifulness. Nothing ni~garrlly 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, "'l'he same might be ready, as a matter of bounty~ an~ not as of covetousness." 2. Deliberately. " Every man according as he purposeth m his heart, so let him give." A spurious charity gives from impulse or pressure. There is a spec_ies or 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 lllways 11cts, on the universo. 3. Cheerfully. "Not grULlgingly, or of necessity." There are those who part with their contributions as if they parted with 222 THE SEOOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [olI. IX, 1-15.