Matthew Henry

In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.

“It was a time of great affliction with them, as may be seen, Acts xviii. The Christians in these parts met with ill treatment, which had reduced them to deep poverty; yet, as they had abundance of joy in the midst of tribulation, they abounded…”

they earnestly pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

“Note, How cautious ministers should be, especially in money-matters, not to give occasion to those who seek occasion to speak reproachfully! (4.) Their charity was founded in true piety, and this was the great commendation of it.”

So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it.

“6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.”

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you—see that you also excel in this grace…

“Observe here, What it was that the Corinthians abounded in. Faith is mentioned first, for that is the root; and, as without faith it is impossible to please God ( Heb. xi.”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become…

“He was born in poor circumstances, lived a poor life, and died in poverty; and this was for our sakes, that we thereby might be made rich, rich in the love and favour of God, rich in the blessings and promises of the new covenant…”

And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a…

“Many a thing which is good for us to do, yet can not be said to be, by express and indispensable commandment, our duty at this or that time. Another argument is taken from the consideration of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a…

“What else did their good purposes and good beginnings signify? Good purposes, indeed, are good things; they are like buds and blossoms, pleasant to behold, and give hopes of good fruit; but they are lost, and signify nothing, without performances.”

Along with Titus we are sending the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in the gospel.

“He commends another brother, who was sent with Titus. It is generally thought that this was Luke. As a man whose praise was in the gospel through all the churches,”

Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.

“Persons sometimes will give merely to satisfy the importunity of those who ask their charity, and what they give is in a manner squeezed or forced from them, and this unwillingness spoils all they do.”

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good…

“His righteousness, that is, his almsgiving, endureth for ever. The honour of it is lasting, the reward of it eternal, and he is still able to live comfortably himself and to give liberally to others. (3.)”

You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, so that through us your giving will produce thanksgiving to God.

“Besides these, others also would be thankful; the poor, who were supplied in their wants, would not fail to be very thankful to God, and bless God for them; and all who wished well to the gospel would glorify God for this experiment, or proof…”

Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them…

“Note, (1.) True Christianity is a subjection to the gospel, a yielding of ourselves to the commanding influence of its truths and laws. (2.) We must evince the sincerity of our subjection to the gospel by works of charity.”

And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

“And thus should we recompense the kindnesses we receive when we are not in a capacity of recompensing them in any other way; and, as this is the only recompence the poor can make, so it is often greatly for the advantage of the rich.”

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

“It should seem rather that he means Jesus Christ, who is indeed the unspeakable gift of God unto this world, a gift we have all reason to be very thankful for.”

You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.

“A man may seem to be learned who has not learned Christ, and appear virtuous when he has not a principle of grace in his heart. However, the apostle asserts two things of himself:-- I.”

For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.

“Concerning this observe, 1. The nature of his authority: it was for edification, and not for destruction. This indeed is the end of all authority, civil and ecclesiastical, and was the end of that extraordinary authority which the apostles had, and of all church-discipline.”

We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you.

“His commission as an apostle was to preach the gospel every where, especially among the Gentiles, and he was not confined to one place; yet he observed the directions of Providence, and the Holy Spirit, as to the particular places whither he went or where…”

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

“Of all flattery, self-flattery is the worst, and self-applause is seldom any better than self-flattery and self-deceit.”

I hope you will bear with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that.

“He calls this folly, because too often it is really no better. In his case it was necessary; yet, seeing others might apprehend it to be folly in him, he desires them to bear with it.”

Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast.

“But he would not glory in those things, though he had as much or more reason than others to do so. But he gloried in his infirmities, as he tells them afterwards.”

Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings…

“Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and for that reason was hated of the Jews. They did all they could against him; and among the Gentiles also he met with hard usage.”

in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

“Thus was he, who was one of the greatest blessings of the age, used as if he had been the burden of the earth, and the plague of his generation.”

Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

“He mentions this last, as if this lay the heaviest upon him, and as if he could better bear all the persecutions of his enemies than the scandals that were to be found in the churches he had the oversight of.”

Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?

“Nor was he ashamed of all this, but, on the contrary, it was what he accounted his honour; and therefore, much against the grain as it was with him to glory, yet, says he, if I must needs glory, if my adversaries will oblige me…”

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

“In the last two verses , he mentions one particular part of his sufferings out of its place, as if he had forgotten it before, or because the deliverance God wrought for him was most remarkable; namely, the danger he was in at Damascus, soon…”