Author: Rev. Lek Aik Wee

2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

The Apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthian church by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Christ’s meekness speaks of His obedience to the Father’s will. Christ’s gentleness describes how He is good and forbearing, kind and forgiving even toward the ungrateful. He was pleading for the church in Corinth to be persuaded to the veracity his exhortations in this letter and of his time spent with them when he brought the gospel to them and sought to ground them in the faith. But there was disparaging opposition in Corinth to the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

Matthew Henry applied well, “He addresses them in a very mild and humble manner… When we find ourselves tempted or inclined to be rough and severe towards anybody, we should think of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, that appeared in Him in the days of His flesh, in the design of His undertaking, and in all the acts of His grace towards poor souls.”

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

The Apostle Paul exhorted in this concluding thought on the exhortation to giving to forget not our God, our Giver, by which we have been greatly blessed. The gift of Jesus Christ, our Creator, Sustainer and Saviour must be received with utmost gratitude. We cannot fully account for the benefits that we have received through Christ. For in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). Indeed, such knowledge of our blessings cannot be told because it is too wonderful for words – indescribable, inexpressible.

For indeed, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17). Here is an exhortation to thanksgiving!

2 Corinthians 9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.

The kindness of the church in Corinth through their gift will be remembered in the prayers of the saints in Jerusalem. There is a kindred spirit of co-labouring in the gospel work and mutual care that flourishes as a result of the much-needed supply sent forth. In the prayer list of the church in Jerusalem will be the praise item and prayer for God’s strengthening upon the saints in Corinth.

The church in Corinth will be remembered for God’s exceeding grace, God’s surpassing enabling that binds them together in gospel ties sealing and confirming in the hearts of the saint in Jerusalem the gospel’s power in the lives of converts to serve sacrificially. What a blessed testimony!

2 Corinthians 9:13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

The Corinthian Church in their giving to the saints in Jerusalem has, in a sense, proven the work of Christ in the lives of Gentile converts. The Jewish Church in Jerusalem was sceptical over the conversions that took place in Corinth. But this kindness would be to them a great proof of the reality of the faith of the Corinthians so that they will glorify God. [MacDonald]

God is praised when Christian kindness and love is shown towards the brethren. It is the Spirit’s fruit in the believer’s life. The giving was described as a liberal distribution. There was substantial weight in the giving that will go a long way in alleviating the poverty experienced by the persecution church in Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

The giving to the saints in Jerusalem provided a much needful boost to the gospel work. The ogranising work, the coordination, was a concerted effort that will supply the want of the saints in Jerusalem. It was there that the gospel came forth.

This was the promise of our Lord before His ascension that the power of God will descend upon His disciples gathered who gathered later at the Upper Room.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:12-14 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the sonof Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brotherof James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

2 Corinthians 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

This is the promise of God to His people who trust in Him and sought to walk with Him wholeheartedly. The psalmist says in Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. The people of God shall have no lack because they are supplied by the grace of the Almighty God. Therefore, we are bound to give thanks to God. Our God is so good to the people He covenanted to care for.

The Apostle Paul asked that His people will not forget Him having been enriched by Him in everything to all bountifulness. And to return thanks to Him through their giving is God’s way by which His people expressed their gratitude for God’s care to them.

2 Corinthians 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

The Apostle Paul cited the words of the Isaiah in Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: God is the subject of this verse. He is the Nourisher and Supplier of the rain and the snow from heaven to bring forth the harvest that gives the bread on our table for each meal.

Another verse alluded to is Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

2 Corinthians 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

Elijah the Tishbite came to the town Zarephath in Zidon. The Lord instructed him to hide earlier in the brook Cherith after he defeated the prophets of Baal to escape the persecution of Jezebel the wicked wife of Abab, king of Israel. After the water in the brook dried up, he left for Zidon at the beckoning of the Lord.

The Lord said to Elijah in 1 Kings 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

It is interesting that the widow was preparing the last meal to partake with her son and that’s all they had. This was the story…

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Giving is to be from the heart. The prompting of the heart, the giving according to the leading of the heart.

Indeed, as Jowett observed well, “Cheerful giving is born of love, and therefore it is a lover loving a lover and rejoicing in the communion. Giving is the language of loving; indeed, it has no other speech. “God so loved that He gave!” Love finds its very life in giving itself away. Its only pride in possession is the joy of surrender. If love has all things, it yet possesses nothing. ”

There is not a reluctance or unwillingness in the process of the giving. The giver should not be compelled or pressurized into giving. Rather, he makes a happy decision to give because it has been laid upon his heart. The Apostle Paul makes no commandment of necessity rather, giving should be voluntary and made on an individual basis.