( As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
Scattering what has been received by giving freely to the poor is itself a righteousness that lasts forever. It was given as the written proof that sparing sowing brings a sparing harvest and generous sowing a generous harvest, that giving is to be purposed in the heart without grudging because God loves a cheerful giver, and that God is able to make all grace abound to give full sufficiency for every good work while multiplying the seed sown and increasing the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. God Himself supplies the seed that is shared, and He multiplies the little that is brought to Him, enriches the willing giver unto all liberality, and opens the way for more means to come in so that the more is given the more can be given again. Such giving meets temporal need, deepens love to God, awakens thanks and praise in needy hearts that flows back to God, and stands as tangible evidence of sincere faith and love for Christ and neighbor without which Christian character cannot be complete. It therefore calls for faithful stewardship with self-denial and sacrifice rather than sparing sowing or selfish spending, using what belongs to God to advance soul-saving, relieve suffering, and sustain His cause.
Setting in Corinthians
The words stand as written proof for the promises around them, that sowing sparingly brings a sparing harvest and sowing generously brings a generous harvest, that each is to give as purposed in the heart without grudging or compulsion because God loves a cheerful giver, that God is able to make all grace abound to give full sufficiency in all things for abounding in every good work, that He who supplies seed to the sower also supplies food and multiplies the seed sown and increases the fruits of righteousness, and that being enriched in everything for generous giving causes thanksgiving and glory to God. The one who scatters abroad and gives to the poor has a righteousness that remains forever, and this lasting righteousness belongs to the cheerful, purposeful, bountiful giver whom God supplies with seed and bread, enriches to liberality, and uses to supply the saints and to awaken thanksgiving for subjection to the gospel and liberal distribution. It is God's promise to all who reveal a working faith, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul and prompts the receiver to good actions, not a faith without works which is dead when alone.
Paul wrote this to the brethren at Corinth to kindle their zeal and stir them to make a contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem, presenting the example of the churches in Macedonia to inspire them to benevolent action.
The verse belongs to the instruction of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 about giving that is to be studied and practiced. That practice means not constantly spending money for things that can be done without but practicing self-denial, putting means cruelly wasted in selfish gratification into the treasury of God, and giving offerings to support God's work even when the gift is small, and giving in this way brings abundant blessing from the Lord in return.
Generosity as Enduring Righteousness
The one who has dispersed abroad and given to the poor has a righteousness that remains forever, and giving freely and generously to the poor is itself an expression of lasting, enduring righteousness. The generous giver practices righteousness and displays it, is counted righteous, and that righteousness endures forever rather than passing away.
To disperse abroad means to sow beside all waters by continually sharing the gifts received from God. Such free giving to the poor requires the light of heaven in the heart and the grace of God constantly supplied so as to abound in every good work. The disperser is one in whom Christ abides as a well that never runs dry, so that Christian principles become visible in overflowing beneficence, in acts of love for the needy, and in provision for the destitute. This is especially needed as the close of earth's history approaches and when the perfect love of God is in the heart.
The principle applies both to material help and to the sharing of spiritual gifts. It calls for ministering the truths of the gospel in word and deed in the simplicity of Christ, speaking the truth and praying the truth. It is a message from the Lord carrying rich promises to all who do their best and reveal by good works in daily life the virtue and power of faith and self-denial.
God's Supply for Givers
God supplies grace and resources so that believers can keep on doing good and keep on giving generously, giving full sufficiency in all things to the cheerful, willing giver to abound in every good work. Generous giving is not to be grudging or forced, for God loves the cheerful giver and meets what is needed so that generosity produces thanksgiving to Him. He gives a heart of tenderness and love for souls, and makes generous giving a fruit of His grace that supports the proclamation of the message. This giving flows from working faith that moves the heart to relieve the needs of others, and its principle applies both to material help and to the sharing of spiritual gifts.
What little means, time and ability are brought to Christ are multiplied in His hands like small barley loaves, so that what could feed only one feeds many and a meager supply becomes a rich feast for the multitude through honest, simple reliance. God supplies seed for sowing and bread for food, multiplies the seed sown, increases the fruits of righteousness, and enriches givers unto all liberality in everything. Giving to the poor in this way is sowing bountifully, bringing God's abundant provision and reward, and the righteousness of such generosity remains forever.
The gifts shared are seed first supplied by God, and those who share them with those in need serve as His co-workers returning to Him what He entrusted to them. Those who give to the poor and impart constantly receive more to impart, because the Lord blesses them by opening a way before them whereby more means come in to give out again. The more a person gives the more the Lord enables that person to give, for the Lord remains rich in resources to advance His work and provides for givers so they can give still more to spread the gospel and reach souls. God provides enough for faithful stewards to continue this work.
God shows faithfulness in rewarding obedience in giving by enriching the church with His grace and giving her means as a talent so she has wherewith to supply His treasury. This enrichment calls for thanksgiving to the Lord rather than murmuring and complaining, which darkens the pathway of the murmurer and the pathway of others.
Fruit Thanksgiving and Reward
Generosity toward the poor produces good works and thanksgiving to God, for the liberal giver displays a righteousness that endures forever. Such liberality is a fruit and sign of God's grace at work, reflecting a transformed and unselfish character and bringing joy. Those who impart God's grace to others are themselves blessed, receiving increased grace for further service. This service meets temporal needs, including food and clothing and help for widows and orphans alongside preaching, and thereby shows faith to be sincere and unselfish.
Dispersing abroad and giving to the poor to relieve the poor and oppressed are good works that deepen love to God through the kindness and love expressed. Caring for the hungry and oppressed expresses love for God and awakens thanks and praise in the hearts of His needy ones that flow back to God. Angels join the songs of praise from human lips that glorify God for subjection to the gospel of Christ and for liberal distribution to them and to all men.
Such giving is the test of genuine love for Christ and for neighbor. It is the very best tangible evidence of sincerity of faith and of love and appreciation for God's rich endowment, revealing the power of truth in counterworking selfishness and self-indulgence. Right giving both sustains the cause of God and joins personal attention and help to relieve suffering and break every yoke of oppression that comes under notice, and in both ways represents the character of Christ before the world. Fruit-bearing benevolence that returns to God His due from His vineyard is required of everyone who has received God's great gift, and without it Christian character cannot be complete. Support for the cause never justifies sinful actions toward brethren or neglecting the help they require.
Giving what God has entrusted to advance the truth sustains the work in its different branches and provides a fund to draw from when the cause and work of God needs help. This generous life, scattering abroad and giving to the poor and using God-given abilities in a way that strengthens and ennobles spiritual energy, shows the Spirit of Christ ruling the heart and life. It uplifts and strengthens the giver in this world and increases love for the truth. Its deed lives in the record of heaven to bring reward in the future eternal world. Its enduring righteousness also secures a decision in pending individual cases in the courts of heaven that causes angels to rejoice.
This giving flows from working faith, for God makes all grace abound to give full sufficiency in all things so the believer may abound to every good work of generous giving for the needs of fellow men. It belongs to faith that prompts the receiver to do good actions, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and not to faith without works, which is dead when alone. It springs from a benevolent spirit as the Holy Spirit moves the heart, and through giving Christians both share grace and grow in it. Giving is part of Christlike service, not dependent on wealth or education.
Stewardship Calls to Action
The scattered generous giver answers a call that reaches believers in every place to meet the needs of the work with self-denial, sacrifice and willing gifts. The call is to sustain the cause and advance soul-saving work by using what belongs to God as faithful stewards, giving to fields ready for the message and supporting the proclamation of present truth. Harvest follows sowing in proportion, so sowing must not be sparing, and liberality is to be joined with personal attention to relieve suffering and break every yoke. The Spirit moves hearts to such generous self-denial so that gifts can carry present truth forward.
Faithful stewardship is helping and encouraging people in need and representing the divine character through works of love. It meets temporal needs with food and clothing and helps widows and orphans alongside preaching, so that needs are supplied, thanks rises to God, and faith is shown sincere and unselfish. Entrusted gifts are to be made a blessing to the needy by watching over spending to make wise investments with an eye single to divine glory. That requires bringing the will into conformity with the divine will, refusing the habits, practices and customs of the world as the standard, refusing extravagance from personal inclination, and conforming to Christian principles so as to be of greatest benefit and usefulness to fellow men.
This love is tested by erecting churches, feeding every little flock with meat in due season, and carrying the last message of mercy to the uttermost part of the earth. It is tested also by laboring with physical strength to earn means for the cause, faithfully improving opportunities to work, and helping those who cannot obtain labor. Such givers abound to every good work because all-sufficiency in all things is given, with a heart of tenderness and love for souls purchased at great cost.
The lesson applies to continual giving of gifts and offerings, with the seed sown cared for by the divine Provider who gives stewards enough to do good. It applied to a heavily indebted school crowded with students and needing still other buildings erected, where even poor believers gave generously to the amount of fifty pounds in response to the call for donations. It applied to the destitute Southern field needing substantial help and to the entire profits of books designated for it, to the poor believers at Rockhampton who gave generously to support the work, and to a donation for building a house of worship received with gratitude as an answer to prayer and evidence of the Spirit moving the giver's heart. It applies likewise to institutions sharing abundance with struggling ones to increase success with divine help, and to faithful labor whose seed-sowing brings abundant returns of material and spiritual food for students trained as Christian workers.
Indifference to suffering humanity is indifference to Christ in the person of His suffering saints. Enclosing the soul in selfishness and self-caring and neglecting the souls and bodies of those for whom Christ gave His life saps spirituality and leaves the soul dry and fruitless. Diverting means designated for the destitute field to fields with much better advantages is deception and increased wrong after light given, to be met in judgment and requiring restitution, since the design for the work and its facilities originate from the divine treasury and reward follows regard or neglect of appointed purposes and methods. Meeting the need from another source without the people's giving deprives those ready to deny themselves of the rich blessing that flows in upon them through self-denial and self-sacrifice.
Scattering what has been received by giving freely to the poor is itself a righteousness that lasts forever. It was given as the written proof that sparing sowing brings a sparing harvest and generous sowing a generous harvest, that giving is to be purposed in the heart without grudging because God loves a cheerful giver, and that God is able to make all grace abound to give full sufficiency for every good work while multiplying the seed sown and increasing the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. God Himself supplies the seed that is shared, and He multiplies the little that is brought to Him, enriches the willing giver unto all liberality, and opens the way for more means to come in so that the more is given the more can be given again. Such giving meets temporal need, deepens love to God, awakens thanks and praise in needy hearts that flows back to God, and stands as tangible evidence of sincere faith and love for Christ and neighbor without which Christian character cannot be complete. It therefore calls for faithful stewardship with self-denial and sacrifice rather than sparing sowing or selfish spending, using what belongs to God to advance soul-saving, relieve suffering, and sustain His cause.
Setting in Corinthians
The words stand as written proof for the promises around them, that sowing sparingly brings a sparing harvest and sowing generously brings a generous harvest, that each is to give as purposed in the heart without grudging or compulsion because God loves a cheerful giver, that God is able to make all grace abound to give full sufficiency in all things for abounding in every good work, that He who supplies seed to the sower also supplies food and multiplies the seed sown and increases the fruits of righteousness, and that being enriched in everything for generous giving causes thanksgiving and glory to God. The one who scatters abroad and gives to the poor has a righteousness that remains forever, and this lasting righteousness belongs to the cheerful, purposeful, bountiful giver whom God supplies with seed and bread, enriches to liberality, and uses to supply the saints and to awaken thanksgiving for subjection to the gospel and liberal distribution. It is God's promise to all who reveal a working faith, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul and prompts the receiver to good actions, not a faith without works which is dead when alone.
Paul wrote this to the brethren at Corinth to kindle their zeal and stir them to make a contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem, presenting the example of the churches in Macedonia to inspire them to benevolent action.
The verse belongs to the instruction of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 about giving that is to be studied and practiced. That practice means not constantly spending money for things that can be done without but practicing self-denial, putting means cruelly wasted in selfish gratification into the treasury of God, and giving offerings to support God's work even when the gift is small, and giving in this way brings abundant blessing from the Lord in return.
Generosity as Enduring Righteousness
The one who has dispersed abroad and given to the poor has a righteousness that remains forever, and giving freely and generously to the poor is itself an expression of lasting, enduring righteousness. The generous giver practices righteousness and displays it, is counted righteous, and that righteousness endures forever rather than passing away.
To disperse abroad means to sow beside all waters by continually sharing the gifts received from God. Such free giving to the poor requires the light of heaven in the heart and the grace of God constantly supplied so as to abound in every good work. The disperser is one in whom Christ abides as a well that never runs dry, so that Christian principles become visible in overflowing beneficence, in acts of love for the needy, and in provision for the destitute. This is especially needed as the close of earth's history approaches and when the perfect love of God is in the heart.
The principle applies both to material help and to the sharing of spiritual gifts. It calls for ministering the truths of the gospel in word and deed in the simplicity of Christ, speaking the truth and praying the truth. It is a message from the Lord carrying rich promises to all who do their best and reveal by good works in daily life the virtue and power of faith and self-denial.
God's Supply for Givers
God supplies grace and resources so that believers can keep on doing good and keep on giving generously, giving full sufficiency in all things to the cheerful, willing giver to abound in every good work. Generous giving is not to be grudging or forced, for God loves the cheerful giver and meets what is needed so that generosity produces thanksgiving to Him. He gives a heart of tenderness and love for souls, and makes generous giving a fruit of His grace that supports the proclamation of the message. This giving flows from working faith that moves the heart to relieve the needs of others, and its principle applies both to material help and to the sharing of spiritual gifts.
What little means, time and ability are brought to Christ are multiplied in His hands like small barley loaves, so that what could feed only one feeds many and a meager supply becomes a rich feast for the multitude through honest, simple reliance. God supplies seed for sowing and bread for food, multiplies the seed sown, increases the fruits of righteousness, and enriches givers unto all liberality in everything. Giving to the poor in this way is sowing bountifully, bringing God's abundant provision and reward, and the righteousness of such generosity remains forever.
The gifts shared are seed first supplied by God, and those who share them with those in need serve as His co-workers returning to Him what He entrusted to them. Those who give to the poor and impart constantly receive more to impart, because the Lord blesses them by opening a way before them whereby more means come in to give out again. The more a person gives the more the Lord enables that person to give, for the Lord remains rich in resources to advance His work and provides for givers so they can give still more to spread the gospel and reach souls. God provides enough for faithful stewards to continue this work.
God shows faithfulness in rewarding obedience in giving by enriching the church with His grace and giving her means as a talent so she has wherewith to supply His treasury. This enrichment calls for thanksgiving to the Lord rather than murmuring and complaining, which darkens the pathway of the murmurer and the pathway of others.
Fruit Thanksgiving and Reward
Generosity toward the poor produces good works and thanksgiving to God, for the liberal giver displays a righteousness that endures forever. Such liberality is a fruit and sign of God's grace at work, reflecting a transformed and unselfish character and bringing joy. Those who impart God's grace to others are themselves blessed, receiving increased grace for further service. This service meets temporal needs, including food and clothing and help for widows and orphans alongside preaching, and thereby shows faith to be sincere and unselfish.
Dispersing abroad and giving to the poor to relieve the poor and oppressed are good works that deepen love to God through the kindness and love expressed. Caring for the hungry and oppressed expresses love for God and awakens thanks and praise in the hearts of His needy ones that flow back to God. Angels join the songs of praise from human lips that glorify God for subjection to the gospel of Christ and for liberal distribution to them and to all men.
Such giving is the test of genuine love for Christ and for neighbor. It is the very best tangible evidence of sincerity of faith and of love and appreciation for God's rich endowment, revealing the power of truth in counterworking selfishness and self-indulgence. Right giving both sustains the cause of God and joins personal attention and help to relieve suffering and break every yoke of oppression that comes under notice, and in both ways represents the character of Christ before the world. Fruit-bearing benevolence that returns to God His due from His vineyard is required of everyone who has received God's great gift, and without it Christian character cannot be complete. Support for the cause never justifies sinful actions toward brethren or neglecting the help they require.
Giving what God has entrusted to advance the truth sustains the work in its different branches and provides a fund to draw from when the cause and work of God needs help. This generous life, scattering abroad and giving to the poor and using God-given abilities in a way that strengthens and ennobles spiritual energy, shows the Spirit of Christ ruling the heart and life. It uplifts and strengthens the giver in this world and increases love for the truth. Its deed lives in the record of heaven to bring reward in the future eternal world. Its enduring righteousness also secures a decision in pending individual cases in the courts of heaven that causes angels to rejoice.
This giving flows from working faith, for God makes all grace abound to give full sufficiency in all things so the believer may abound to every good work of generous giving for the needs of fellow men. It belongs to faith that prompts the receiver to do good actions, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and not to faith without works, which is dead when alone. It springs from a benevolent spirit as the Holy Spirit moves the heart, and through giving Christians both share grace and grow in it. Giving is part of Christlike service, not dependent on wealth or education.
Stewardship Calls to Action
The scattered generous giver answers a call that reaches believers in every place to meet the needs of the work with self-denial, sacrifice and willing gifts. The call is to sustain the cause and advance soul-saving work by using what belongs to God as faithful stewards, giving to fields ready for the message and supporting the proclamation of present truth. Harvest follows sowing in proportion, so sowing must not be sparing, and liberality is to be joined with personal attention to relieve suffering and break every yoke. The Spirit moves hearts to such generous self-denial so that gifts can carry present truth forward.
Faithful stewardship is helping and encouraging people in need and representing the divine character through works of love. It meets temporal needs with food and clothing and helps widows and orphans alongside preaching, so that needs are supplied, thanks rises to God, and faith is shown sincere and unselfish. Entrusted gifts are to be made a blessing to the needy by watching over spending to make wise investments with an eye single to divine glory. That requires bringing the will into conformity with the divine will, refusing the habits, practices and customs of the world as the standard, refusing extravagance from personal inclination, and conforming to Christian principles so as to be of greatest benefit and usefulness to fellow men.
This love is tested by erecting churches, feeding every little flock with meat in due season, and carrying the last message of mercy to the uttermost part of the earth. It is tested also by laboring with physical strength to earn means for the cause, faithfully improving opportunities to work, and helping those who cannot obtain labor. Such givers abound to every good work because all-sufficiency in all things is given, with a heart of tenderness and love for souls purchased at great cost.
The lesson applies to continual giving of gifts and offerings, with the seed sown cared for by the divine Provider who gives stewards enough to do good. It applied to a heavily indebted school crowded with students and needing still other buildings erected, where even poor believers gave generously to the amount of fifty pounds in response to the call for donations. It applied to the destitute Southern field needing substantial help and to the entire profits of books designated for it, to the poor believers at Rockhampton who gave generously to support the work, and to a donation for building a house of worship received with gratitude as an answer to prayer and evidence of the Spirit moving the giver's heart. It applies likewise to institutions sharing abundance with struggling ones to increase success with divine help, and to faithful labor whose seed-sowing brings abundant returns of material and spiritual food for students trained as Christian workers.
Indifference to suffering humanity is indifference to Christ in the person of His suffering saints. Enclosing the soul in selfishness and self-caring and neglecting the souls and bodies of those for whom Christ gave His life saps spirituality and leaves the soul dry and fruitless. Diverting means designated for the destitute field to fields with much better advantages is deception and increased wrong after light given, to be met in judgment and requiring restitution, since the design for the work and its facilities originate from the divine treasury and reward follows regard or neglect of appointed purposes and methods. Meeting the need from another source without the people's giving deprives those ready to deny themselves of the rich blessing that flows in upon them through self-denial and self-sacrifice.