Acts 20:35 I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus… 1. After this there was nothing more to be said; from such words there is no appeal. But the elders had heard them before, and were asked to "remember" what had become a proverb among them. 2. The saying is unequivocally in the style and manner of our Lord. It is another beatitude. As there were many things that Jesus did which could not be written, so with many things that He said. 3. Meanwhile this saying, like a flower from the early gospel time, floating down the stream of Church life, has been caught by an apostle's hand, and because so caught is as fresh and fragrant as at the first. It comes to us, not increased in value, for it is already priceless, but recommended and enforced by the great apostle. The manner of quoting it is unmistakably St. Paul's. "The Lord Jesus" is a designation he frequently uses, full both of reverence and tenderness. 4. The proverb has many sides, and touches human and Christian life at every point. It is true in reference to — I. THE PRODUCTION OF HAPPINESS. We are blessed in doing good, even if we gain no reward. I knew a man of immense wealth, but his mind was always uneasy, his face always anxious. He was not without conscientious feelings in regard to his property; but he could not make up his mind to give largely. And then death came when his wealth ceased to be of use: but it might have been of use here, and then there would have been a reaction upon himself. Another I knew, far less wealthy; but his life was laid out in diffusing happiness, and there was a perpetual smile upon his face. II. THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER. The highest qualities of heart and life can be acquired only through active exercise. A man is not really unselfish unless he acts unselfishly. By giving we obtain the power of giving. No natural object is more full of characters than a river; but it is by reason of its motion that it becomes beautiful and beneficent. The tree by putting forth its leaves in confident profusion this year grows firmer and larger for next year. The harvest suggests deeper analogies. The dying of the seed corn is set before us as the law of self-sacrifice; and how grandly Paul teaches this analogy from Psalm 112. (2 Corinthians 9:8, etc.). III. THE EXERTION OF INFLUENCE. If we desire to be great and godlike by exercising a power for good, it must be by the diffusive power of our religion. Our Lord says, "Ye are the salt of the earth," etc., immediately after the beatitudes whose spirit is carried into these sayings also. IV. THE SUSTENTATION OF CHURCH WORK. True Church prosperity is secured by the perpetual habit of giving, and not simply our money, but our service, sympathy, time, etc. For the Church is a cooperative society in and for which each member is appointed to give out that which he has to give, and to find and create happiness in so giving. Many think they can be quite good Christians while they are mere recipients; but it is a great mistake. No one can be holy or happy without giving. V. THE VIGOUR OF MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. Christianity is in its very conception an aggressive and converting religion. If not this, it is nothing. Who ever gave so much to the world as Paul, and received so little from it? And who has been more truly blessed? VI. THE STANDARD AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. This office consists in perpetual giving, and hence must be preeminently blessed. This is a danger lest it should degenerate into the discharge of certain functions. But let there be a sincere self-consecration for Christ's sake, and with all his anxieties no position is so really happy as that of a Christian minister. It is his very trade to do all the good he can. (Dean Howson.) Parallel Verses KJV: I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. |
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