The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-24
The
sundays School
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR DECEMBER 5.

LII HO1b OISILH11Ixe &c.
Subject: Paul ON tbc Grace Of Giving,
2 Cor. S:1.15- Golden Text,
Acts NIT Verse g.
Commentary Gil the Lesson.
TLME.-A. D. 81.
PLACE.-Ephesus.
EXPOSITION.-I. The Liberality
Of the Churches of Macedonia, 1T.
This and the following chapters are
devoted to the very vital subject OF
Christian giving. The giving In the
Apostolic church was IN a high plane,
and the modern church has much to
learn along this line. It was Paul,s
method to stir up n church by, re-
counting what God had done In an
other church. He speaks Of it as the
grace of God which hath been given
unto the churches Of Macedonia be-
aus their generous giving was the
product Of Gods grace and not Of
their own natural generosity (cf.
Acts 4:31-33). True generosity Is
always the product Of grace. The
Macedonian Christians were being
tested by affection, but lin the great
testing Of affection" the abundance Of
their joy and their poverty (down to
the very depths Of IT., abounded unto
the riches of their l~iberaiity. The
deeper their poverty, the more their
liberality abounded in Its riches and
the more their Joy abounded. One Of
the fairest sights in the church to-day
is the Astounding JOY, and abundant
.ltberaltty OF Gods poor ones. In Ma
cedonia they not only gave up to the
measure of their power, but even ssbe-
yond their power" and this "of their
own accord" (there needed to be no
urging by others). Indeed Paul
seems to have been inclined to dis
courage such. over-abundant giving.
and they besought him with much en-
treaty that they might exercise this
grace and have fellowship in the min
istry to the saints ". 4, r. W. This
was not as Paul had hoped (but far
beyond his hopes). There vas some
thing far more important. than their
gifts Of money; that was. that they
give themselves unto the Lord. This {
they did FIRST" first in time and first
II 11upOQ Io1SC iCls u1dIG. .. o . j, MOI
only, did they give themselves unto
the Lord, but unto Paul also as the
Lords representative. They did 1T
"by, (through) the will of God,"o not
merely according to Gods will, but
moved thereto by Gods will (cf. Phil.
2:13). Paul was so moved by what
was done'in Macedonia that he urged
Titus to 60 to Corinth and lead them
on into like generosity. Titus, on his
former visit, from which he had just
returned, had already made a Begin
ming along this line and Paul sex-
horted him to return and complete
what he had done. The church In,
Corinth was a church of Amounting
gifts (cf. 1 Cor. 12). They abound
ed lin everything they abounded
"in faith and utterance and knowl-
edge" (cf. / Cor. 1:5; SID; and Gin
all diligence and in love- to Paul.
Now he would have them abound In
l~iberality also. y
IL. A Willing Mind the Thing That
God Expects, 8-15. Paul did not
command them to give. II he had,
there would have been no element OF
voluntariness in 1t as there, must be
in true Christian giving, Two things
moved Paul to speak: First, the ear
nestness (R. V. or diligence) of 9TH
ers; and second, the wish to test the
sincerity of the love of the Corin-
thians. There Is perhaps no surer
test of the g%enuineness Of love than
giving Il John 3:f7, l8). But now
Paul brings in a mightier motive to
abundant giving, the example of U
Lord Jesus Christ, "Who though He
was rich yet for our sakes become
poor, that we through His poverty
might be rich" How rich was He?
All divine glory and power and riches
were His. And how poor did He be-
come? The poorest being in the uniS
verse. He was stripped Of every
thing (Phil 2:6-8, R. W. And how
rich do we become through His pow
erty? All that God has becomes ours
from. 8:17; 1 Cor. 3:21, 22). Ought
we then to hesitate at the little sacri-
,fices we are called upon to make for
others? Paul gave his Judgment ".
10, R. w. and his judgment was In
spired judgment (cf. l Cor. 7:40)!
His judgment was that as a year ago
they were the first to make a begin
ming (R. w., mot only to do but to-
will" Ito do heartily, they now COM
plete the doing Of 1t ". II, r. V.).
The readiness to will was good, but
there should also be a completing of
what was willed out. Of their ability.
This strikes at an error that is all too
common in our day, viz, the great
eagerness to resolve and c~onsecrate,
but the sad failure to carry out what;
is consecrated and pledged. If there
be readiness, then it is accepted acI
cording to whatsoever a man hath,
not according to what he hath not.
What a man purposes in his heart SO
should he do (cf. CHI. 9:7). While
God looks at the purposes of the
heart He takes no pleasure in pur-
poses which men do not carry out &C
cording to their ability. Paul had no
desire to distress the Corinthians that
the saints in Jerusalem might be
eased, but he wished to see things
evened up. The abI nee Of the
Corinthians at this time became a
supply to the want of Jerusalem, that
at sonic future time the abundance in
Jerusalem might become the supply
of C%orinthian need. Gods desire for
equality among His people was illus
trated in the wilderness ". Is; CT.
Elk. 1918; Acts 2:44, As; -, 1851.
Loyalty to Church.
Loyalty to church should not be
contingent upon petty human likes
and dislikes.