2 Corinthians 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us by the will of God. I. TO CONSIDER WHAT IS NECESSARILY SUPPOSED IN THE EXERCISE HERE MENTIONED. 1. We would observe that this giving of ourselves to the Lord must certainly suppose our having cordially believed on and embraced the Lord Jesus Christ, with our whole heart and soul, in all His saving offices and relations. 2. It supposeth our having, by grace, made a free and hearty choice of God in Christ as our God and portion (Psalm 73:26; Psalm 16:1). 3. It supposeth our hearty approbation and embracing of God's well-ordered Covenant (2 Samuel 23:5). II. WHAT MAY BE IMPLIED IN GIVING OURSELVES UNTO THE LORD. And on this we would notice — 1. That there are some things which cannot, strictly speaking, be said to be this giving of ourselves to the Lord. 2. What of ourselves we are to give unto the Lord; and — 3. Upon what grounds and principles we should thus give ourselves unto the Lord. 1. It cannot properly be said that we can, by any act or disposition of our own, make ourselves to be God's creatures; for no creature can give existence to itself; He made us, and not we ourselves. 2. Neither can we, by any act of our own wills or exercise of our own power, make ourselves God's redeemed. 3. Neither can we, by any act of our own, make ourselves more to be God's than we were before, nor add anything to the moral obligations we were under, antecedent to any such giving of ourselves; for, by our very nature, we should be wholly for God. 1. It implieth our giving all the powers and faculties of our souls to God. 2. It implieth that we give our hearts to God. 3. It implieth that we give our consciences to God — give them up wholly to His will and authority. Some give their consciences to their friends. 4. All real Christians give their wills to God to be wholly directed and influenced by His authority, and they firmly resolve to have no will but His. 5. Real Christians give all the authority, power, and influence God has given them wholly to His service, whether it be as a head of a family, an elder, a minister, or a magistrate, to be all employed in the service and on the side of religion. 6. We should, and all real Christians do, give their name and reputation to the Lord. 7. Real Christians give their walk and conversation to the Lord, aiming by grace to conform their external walk to the letter of the law, and their internal walk agreeably to the Spirit of God's holy law. 8. Real Christians give their spirits to the Lord, that is, the temper, frame, and disposition of their souls. Oh, how many are a disgrace to religion by their haughty, stiff, untractable spirits and dispositions. 9. Real Christians will give unto the Lord all they have — all the substance the Lord has made them stewards of. 10. As said before, real Christians give their bodies, and all the members thereof, to the Lord. 11. Christians should, and real Christians do, give their time to the Lord; for as all the time they have is from the Lord, it is surely their duty to dedicate it to Him, to be employed in His service. III. Which was to consider UPON WHAT GROUND REAL CHRISTIANS GIVE THEMSELVES UNTO THE LORD. And — 1. Real Christians give themselves to the Lord upon the ground of God's giving Himself in Christ unto them, to be their God and portion; "I will be your God." 2. Real Christians give themselves to the Lord, on the ground of God Incarnate giving Himself for them; "He suffered the just for the unjust." 3. They give themselves to the Lord, upon the ground of a three-one God giving Himself to them. 4. They give themselves to the Lord on the ground of the Covenant, fulfilled in all its legal conditions, as ratified in and with the blood of Christ (Ezekiel 16:6; Isaiah 55:1, 3, 4). 5. They give themselves to the Lord upon the ground of the promise. 6. Real Christians give themselves to the Lord on the ground of the sweet, efficacious, and powerful influences of the Spirit of all grace. 7. Real Christians give themselves unto the Lord on the ground of its being the will and command of the Lord, and in obedience to His authority; and without this all the other grounds would be to no purpose. IV. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CHRISTIAN IS TO GIVE HIMSELF UNTO THE LORD. And — 1. The Christian is to give himself unto the Lord in faith. 2. The Christian must do it with knowledge and understanding. 3. The Christian is to do this evangelically, that is, upon gospel principles, in a gospel spirit, and to gospel uses and ends. 4. Real Christians give themselves to the Lord in love. It is not a work of their understandings only, but also of the heart — of the whole soul. 5. They do it publicly, openly, and avowedly. Application: 1. Hence we may learn who they are, who we may expect will give themselves unto the servants of the Lord, and yield a cordial subjection to every ordinance of the Lord. They are just such as have first given themselves unto the Lord. 2. Hence we may learn in what sense, and upon what grounds, and how far Christians are to give themselves unto the servants of the Lord, even to the Apostles of the Lord, in conformity with His will and command. They are to do so in so far, and no farther than as they keep by the will of the Lord revealed in His Word. 3. We may learn that as real Christians ought not, so neither will they be averse to, nor backward in giving themselves unto the Lord. (Alex. Dick.) Parallel Verses KJV: And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. |
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