And we have sent with them our brother. Who this was is wholly unknown, and conjecture is useless. Some have supposed that it was Apollos, others Silas, others Timothy. But there are no means of ascertaining who it was; nor is it material. It was some one in whom Paul had entire confidence. Whom we have oftentimes proved diligent. Of whom we have evidence that he has been faithful. It is evident, therefore, that he had been the companion and fellow-labourer of Paul. But now much more diligent, &c.-Who will now prove himself much more diligent than ever before. Upon the confidence. &c.-Marg. "he hath." The margin is doubtless the more correct reading here. The idea is, that this brother had great confidence in the Corinthians that they would give liberally, and that he would, therefore, evince special diligence in the business.

VER. 23. Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper concerning you: or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.

w Phil. ii. 25.

Whether any do inquire of Titus.-It is to be observed that the words "any do inquire" are not in the original; nor is it clear that these are the most proper words to be introduced here. The Greek may mean either, "if any do inquire about Titus," or it may mean, "if any thing is to be said about Titus.' The sense of the passage may either be, that some of the faction at Corinth might be disposed to inquire about the authority of Titus to engage in this work, or that Paul having said so much in commendation of the persons who went with Titus, it seemed proper also to say something in his favour also. The idea is, "If any inquiry is made from any quarter about him, or if it is necessary from any cause to say any thing about him, I would say he is my partner," &c. He is my partner, &c.-He partakes with me in preaching the gospel, and in establishing and organizing churches. Comp. Tit. i. 5. To the Corinthians this fact would be a sufficient commendation of Titus. Or our brethren be inquired of. That is, the brethren who accompanied Titus. If any inquiry was made about their character, or if it was necessary to say any thing in regard to them. They are the messengers of the churches.-They have the entire confidence of the churches, having been selected and appointed by them to a work of labour and responsibility. Comp. Phil. ii. 25. The words here rendered "messengers of the churches," are in the original "apostles of the churches," (aπÓGTOλOL EKKληov.) The word apostles here is used evidently in its proper sense, to denote one who is sent out to transact any business for others, or as an agent or legate. These persons were not apostles in the technical sense, and this is an instance where the word is applied in the New Testament to those who had no claim to the apostolic office. It is also applied in a similar way to Apollos and Barnabas, though neither, strictly speaking, were apostles. And the glory of Christ.— That is, they have a character so well known and

established for piety; they are so eminent Christians, and do such honour to the Christian name and calling, that they may be called the glory of Christ. It is an honour to Christ that he has called such persons into his church, and that he has so richly endowed them. Every Christian should so live as that it would appear to all the world that it was an honour and glory to the Redeemer that he had such followers: an honour to his gospel that it had converted such and brought them into his kingdom. It is sufficient honour, moreover, to any man to say that he is "the glory of Christ." Such a character should be, and will be, as it was here, a recommendation sufficient for any to secure them the confidence of others. VER. 24. Wherefore show ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.

Chap. vii. 14.

Wherefore show ye to them, &c.-By a liberal contribution in the cause in which they are engaged, and for which they have come among you now, furnish the evidence that you love me and the Christian cause, and show that I have not boasted of you in vain. The proof of your love. -Your love to me, to God, and to the cause of religion. See Note on ver. 8. And of our boasting, &c.-My boasting that you would give liberally to the object. See Note, chap. vii. 14. it now be seen that my boasting was well founded, and that I properly understood your character, and your readiness to contribute to the objects of Christian benevolence.

REMARKS.

Let

1. Let us bear in mind that a disposition to be liberal proceeds only from God. (Ver. 1.) The human heart is by nature selfish, and indisposed to benevolence. It is only by the grace of God that men are excited to liberality; and we should therefore pray for this as well as for all other graces. We should beseech God to remove selfishness from our minds; to dispose us to feel as we should feel for the wants of others, and to incline us to give just what we ought to give to relieve them in trouble, and to promote their temporal and eternal welfare.

2. It is an inestimable blessing when God gives a spirit of liberality to the church. (Ver. 1.) It should be regarded as a proof of his special favour; and as an evidence of the prevalence of the principles of true religion.

3. Men are often most liberal when in circumstances of distress, perplexity, and affliction. (Ver. 2.) Prosperity often freezes the heart, but adversity opens it. Success in life often closes the hand of benevolence, but adversity opens it. We are taught to feel for the sufferings of others by suffering ourselves; and in the school of adversity we learn invaluable lessons of benevolence which we should never acquire in prosperity. If you want the tear of sympathy; if you want aid in a good cause, go to a man in affliction, and his heart is open. And hence it is that God often suffers his people to pass through trials in order that they may possess the spirit of large and active benevolence.

5. When Christians have honestly devoted themselves to God, it will be easy to contribute Therally to the cause of benevolence. (Ver. 5.) They will find something to give; or if they have nothing now they will labour and deny themselves in order that they may have something to give. If every professed Christian on earth had bonestly given himself to God, and should act in ace Flance with this, the channels of benevolence would never be dry.

6. We should compare ourselves in the matter of benevolence with the churches here referred to. (Ver. 3.) They were poor; they were in deep affliction, and yet they contributed all in their power, and beyond their power. Do we do this? Do we give according to our ability? Do we deny ourselves of one comfort? withhold one gratification? curtail one expense which fashion demands, in order that we may have the means of doing good? Oh! if every Christian would give according to his ability to the sacred cause of charity, how soon would the means te ample to place the Bible in every family on the globe, to preach the gospel in every country, and to maintain all the institutions which the cause of humanity needs in this and in other lands.

7. The Christian character is incomplete unless there is a spirit of large and liberal beneficence. (Ver. 7.) This is indispensable to the proper symmetry of the Christian graces, and this should be cultivated in order to give beauty and completeness to the whole. Yet it cannot be denied that there are true Christians where this is wanting. There are those who give every other evidence of piety; who are men of prayer, and who evince humility, and who are submissive in trials, and whose conversation is that of Christians, who are yet sadly deficient in this virtue. Either by an original closeness of disposition, or by a defect of education, or by a want of information in regard to the objects of Christian benevolence, they are most stinted in their benefactions, and often excite the amazement of others that they give so little to the cause of benevolence. Such persons should be entreated to carry out their Christian character to completion. As they abound in other things they should abound in this grace also. They are depriving themselves of much comfort, and are bringing much injury on the cause of the Redeemer, while they refuse to sustain the great objects of Christian charity. No Christian character is symmetrical or complete unless it is crowned with the spirit of large and comprehensive benevolence towards every object that tends to promote the temporal and eternal welfare of man.

8. The sincerity of our love should be tested, and will be, by our readiness to deny ourselves to do good to others. (Ver. 8.) The love of the Lord Jesus was tested in that way; and there can be no true love to God or man where there is

9. Let us imitate the example of the Lord Jesus. (Ver. 9.) He was rich, yet he became poor; and, oh, how poor! Let the rich learn to copy his example, and be willing to part with | their abundant and superfluous wealth in order that they may relieve and benefit others. That | man is most happy, as well as most useful, who most resembles the Redeemer: that man will be most happy who stoops from the highest earthly ́ elevation to the lowest condition, that he may minister to the welfare of others.

10. Charity should be voluntary. (Ver. 12.) It should be the free and spontaneous offering of the heart; and the first promptings of the heart, before the pleadings of avarice come in, and the heart grows cold by the influence of returning covetousness, are likely to be the most correct.

11. Charity should be in an honest proportion to our means. (Ver. 12.) It should be according to what a man hath. God has left the determination of this proportion to every individual, responsible to him alone. He has not told us how much we shall give, or in what proportion we shall give; but he has left it for every individual to decide what he may give, and what he ought | to give.

12. If men do not give according_to_their | means they must answer for it to God. Every man may have opportunity to contribute to relieve others, if he will open his heart and ears to the cries of a suffering and a dying world. No man can complain that he has no opportunity to give; or that he may not procure for his own soul all the blessings which can be produced by the most large and liberal benevolence.

13. Men have no excuse for being lost. (Ver. 12.) If God required more of them than they could render, they would have. They would not be to blame. They might be sufferers and martyrs in hell, but no one would blame them. But the sinner can never have any such excuse. God never required any more of him than he hal power to render; and if he dies it will be his own fault, and the throne of God will still be spotless and pure.

14. God's government is an equal, and just, and good government. (Ver. 12.) What can be more equitable than the principle that a man is accepted according to what he has? What ground of complaint can the sinner have in regard to this administration?

15. The churches should bear their just proportion in the cause of Christian beneficence. i (Ver. 13-15.) There are great interests of charity which must be sustained. The world cannot do without them. Not only must the poor be provided for, but the cause of temperance, and of sabbath-schools, and of missions, must be sustained. Bibles must be distributed, and men must be educated for the ministry, and the widow and the fatherless must be the objects of Christian benevolence. These burdens, it they

are burdens, should be equally distributed. The rich should furnish their fair proportion in sustaining them; and those in more moderate circumstances must do their fair proportion also in sustaining them. If this were done, all the objects of Christian benevolence could be sustained, and they would in fact not be burdensome to the churches. With infinite ease, all might be contributed that is necessary to send the gospel around the world.

16. Ministers of the gospel should have as little as possible to do with money matters. (Ver. 19-21.) While they should be willing, if it is necessary, to be the almoners of the churches, and should esteem it a privilege to be the means of conveying to the poor and needy, and to the great cause of benevolence, what the churches may choose to commit to them, yet they should not covet this office; they should not show any particular desire for it, nor should they do it unless, like St. Paul, they have the most ample security that the voice of slander can never be raised in regard to their management. Let them see to it that they have persons associated with them who have the entire confidence of the churches; men who will be responsible also, and who will be competent witnesses of the manner in which they discharge their duty. In all things ministers should be pure. On few points is there more danger that the enemy will endeavour to take advantage, and to injure their character, than in regard to their abuse of funds intrusted to their care.

17. Let all Christians so live that it may be honestly said of them they are "the glory of Christ." (Ver. 23.) Let them aim so to live, that it will be esteemed an honour to the Redeemer that he called them into his kingdom, and that he so richly endowed them by his grace. This would be a commendation to all men where they might go; to say this is enough to say of any man. None can have a higher character than to have it said with truth of him, "He is the glory of Christ; he is an honour to his Redeemer and to his cause."

CHAPTER IX.

a

VER. 1. For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; a Chap. viii. 4, &c.

In this chapter the apostle continues the subject which he had discussed in chap. viii.—the collection which he purposed to make for the poor saints in Judea. The deep anxiety which he had that the collection should be liberal; that it should not only be such as to be really an aid to those who were suffering, but be such as would be an expression of tender attachment to them on the part of the Gentile converts, was the reason, doubtless, why Paul urged this so much on their attention. His primary wish undoubtedly was, to furnish aid to those who were suffering. But in connexion with that, he also wished to excite a deep interest among the Gen

tile converts in behalf of those who had been converted to Christianity among the Jews. He wished that the collection should be so liberal as to show that they felt that they were united as brethren, and that they were grateful that they had received the true religion from the Jews. And he doubtless wished to cement as much as possible the great body of the Christian brotherhood, and to impress on their minds the great truths, that whatever was their national origin, and whatever were their national distinctions, yet in Christ they were one. For this purpose, he presses on their attention a great variety of considerations why they should give liberally, and this chapter is chiefly occupied in stating reasons for that, in addition to those which had been urged in the previous chapter. The following view will present the main points in the chapter.

(1.) He was aware of their readiness to give, and knowing this, he had boasted of it to others, and others had been excited to give liberally from what the apostle had said of them. (Ver. I, 2.) The argument here is, that Paul's veracity and their own character were at stake, and depended on their now giving liberally.

(2.) He had sent the brethren to them in order that there might by no possibility be a failure. (Ver. 3-5.) Though he had the utmost confidence in them, and fully believed that they were disposed to give liberally, yet he knew also that something might prevent it, unless messengers went to secure the contributions, and that the consequence might be, that he and they would be "ashamed" that he had boasted so much of their readiness to give.

(3.) To excite them to give liberally, Paul advances the great principles that the reward in heaven will be in proportion to the liberality evinced on earth, and that God loves one who gives cheerfully. (Ver. 6, 7.) By the prospect, therefore, of an ample reward, and by the desire to meet with the approbation of God, he calls upon them to contribute freely to aid their afflicted Christian brethren.

(4.) He further excites them to liberal giving, by the consideration, that if they contributed liberally, God was able to furnish them abundantly with the means of doing good on a large scale in time to come. (Ver. 8-11.) In this way he would enable them to do good hereafter, in proportion as they were disposed to do good now; and the result of all would be, that abundant thanks would be rendered to God-thanks from those who were aided, and thanks from those who had aided them, that they had been enabled to contribute to supply their wants.

(5.) As a final consideration inducing them to give, the apostle states that not only would they thus do good, but would show the power of the gospel, and the affection which they had for the Jewish converts; and would thus contribute much in promoting the glory of God. The Jewish converts would see the power of the gospel on their Gentile brethren; they would feel that they now appertained to one great family; they would praise God for imparting his grace in this manner; and they would be led to pray much for those who had thus contributed to alleviate their wants. (Ver. 12—14.)

(6.) Paul closes the whole chapter, and the whole discussion respecting the contribution about which he had felt so deep an interest, by rendering thanks to God for his "unspeakable gift," Jesus Christ. (Ver. 15.) Paul was ever ready, whatever was the topic before him, to turn the attention to him. He here evidently regards him as the author of all liberal feeling, and of all true charity; and seems to imply that all that they could give would be small, compared with the "unspeakable gift" of God, and that the fact that God had imparted such a gift to the world, was a reason why they should be willing to devote all they had to his service.

For as touching the ministering to the saints.In regard to the collection that was to be taken up for the aid of the poor Christians in Judea. See Notes on Rom. xv. 26. 1 Cor. xvi. 1. 2 Cor. viii. It is superfluous, &c.-It is needless to urge that matter on you, because I know that you acknowledge the obligation to do it, and have already purposed it. For me to write to you. -That is, to write more, or to write largely on the subject. It is unnecessary for me to urge arguments why it should be done; and all that is proper is to offer some suggestions in regard to the manner in which it shall be accomplished. VER. 2. For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. For I know the forwardness of your mind.I know your promptitude, or your readiness to do it. See chap. viii. 10. Probably Paul here means that he had had opportunity before of witnessing their readiness to do good, and that he had learned in particular of Titus that they had formed the plan to aid in this contribution. For which I boast of you to them of Macedonia.-To the church in Macedonia. See chap. viii. 1. So well assured was he that the church at Corinth would make the collection as it had proposed, that he boasted of it to the churches of Macedonia as if it were already done, and made use of this as an argument to stimulate them to make an effort. That Achaia was ready a year ago.— Achaia was that part of Greece of which Corinth was the capital. See Note, Acts xviii. 12. It is probable that there were Christians in other parts of Achaia besides Corinth, and indeed it is known that there was a church in Cenchrea, (see Rom. xvi. 1,) which was one of the ports of Corinth. Though the contribution would be chiefly derived from Corinth, yet it is probable that the others also would participate in it. The phrase "was ready" means that they had been preparing themselves for this collection, and

doubtless Paul had stated that the collection was already made and was waiting. He had directed them (I Cor. xvi. 1,) to make it on the first day of the week, and to lay it by in store, and he did not doubt that they had complied with his request. And your zeal,-Your ardour and promptitude. The readiness with which you entered into this subject, and your desire to relieve the wants of others. Hath provoked.-Has roused, excited, impelled to give. We use the word

"provoke" commonly now in the sense of “to irritate," but in the Scriptures it is confined to the signification of exciting, or rousing. The ardour of the Corinthians would excite others not only by their promptitude, but because Corinth was a splendid city, and their example would be looked up to by Christians at a distance. This is one instance of the effect which will be produced by the example of a church in a city.

VER. 3. Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf: that, as I said, ye may be ready;

Yet have I sent the brethren.-The brethren re

ferred to in chap. viii. 18, 22, 23. Lest our boastimg of you.-That you were disposed to contribute, and that you were already prepared, and that the contribution was ready. Should be in vain.-Lest any thing should have occurred to prevent the collection. I have sent them, that they may facilitate it, and that it may be secure and certain. In this behalf.-In this respect. That is, lest our boasting of you, in regard to your readiness to contribute to relieve the wants of others, should be found to have been illgrounded.

VER. 4. Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.

b Chap. viii. 24.

Lest haply if they of Macedonia.-If any of the Macedonians should happen to come with me, | and should find that you had done nothing. He does not say that they would come with him, but it was by no means improbable that they would. It was customary for some of the members of the churches to travel with Paul from place to place, and the intercourse was constant between Macedonia and Achaia. Paul had, therefore, every reason to suppose that some of the Macedonians would accompany him when he should go to Corinth. At all events it was probable that the Macedonians would learn from some quarter whether the Corinthians were or were not ready when Paul should go to them. We (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed, &c. "In this," says Bloomfield, "one cannot but recognise a most refined and delicate turn, inferior to none of the best classical writers." Paul had boasted confidently that the Corinthians would be ready with their collection. He had excited and stimulated the Macedonians by this consideration. He had induced them in this way to give liberally. (Chap. viii. 1—4.) If now it should turn out, after all, that the Corinthians had given nothing, or had given stintedly, the character of Paul would suffer. His veracity and his judgment would be called in question, and he would be accused of trick, and artifice, and fraud, in inducing them to give. Or if he should not be charged with dishonesty, yet he would be humbled and mortified himself that he had made representations which had proved to be so un