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loving devotion to Christ; while in the other he bears w itness th a t because these Macedonian saints “ first gave th eir own selves,” th e ir liberality could scarcely be restrained. H ere is set forth th e g reat principle lying a t th e h eart of sp iritual progress. It teaches th a t while in th e calculations of men money is omnipotent, w ith God gifts of money are of value solely as th e by-product of a consecrated life. This reasoning is a manifest challenge to th e sp irit of the present age. In its u ltim ate term s we are brought face to face w ith th e conviction th a t no vital in terest of the cause of Christ is retard ed through lack of sufficient money, bu t only by th e in complete and halting devotion of those who bear th e Christian name. We thu s need a new type of campaign in the Church, in which our text will be the guiding sta r and in which the enlist m ent of lives for Christ will be the sole objective. Intensely P ersonal These term s, “ not yours, bu t you,” are intensely personal. They are ad dressed to h ea rt and conscience and compel an answer to th e question whether we have merely given Christ a tith e of our possessions or have yielded Him the sceptre over our lives. Such a searching and all-im portant inquiry may not be dismissed by a few cant phrases about regu lar church attend ance, or by a certain smug satisfaction growing out of th e number of offices and comm ittee appointments we may hold in connection w ith organized Christian work. There are certain Scriptural tests to be applied which will infallibly indicate the measure of our consecration. Let us consider one of th e most obvious of these for a moment and ask to what extent we are ful filling th e Great Commission by which we are called to become w itnesses for Christ. This is a d ire c t. and inescap able call to every Christian disciple. To devote a fortune to missions or support
far from any ta in t of selfish interest, he had deliberately denied himself th e proper support which was due him as th e ir m inister, lest he should give any basis for th e charge of having a mer cenary spirit. There is a degree of irony as well as deep pathos in the language of verse 13, when he says: “F o r what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be th a t I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me th is w rong.’’ It is w ith th is _background th a t the words in th e following verse will be best understood, “ I will not be burden some to you; for I seek not yours, but you.” As a tru e m inister of Christ, and as an inspired apostle, he saw w ith un erring vision th a t th e g reat end of evangelism and all sp iritu al teaching was to secure th e complete su rrender, to Christ of the life of each believer. He who yields nothing more th an earth ly possessions may be a liability ra th e r th an an asset to th e cause of Christ; while a fully yielded life must inevitably include all one’s gifts and powers, as well as possessions, w ith the cultivation of a sp irit of tru st and obe dience, th rough which alone all of these can find effective use. There is an in teresting connection between th is text and a related passage in 2 Corinthians 8:5. Here the Apostle, referring to th e Macedonian Christians and th e ir abounding liberality, te sti fies th a t they actually gave beyond th e ir ability, so th a t he and his fellow laborers were relu ctan t to. accept the responsibility of adm inistering a fund representing so much of sacrifice. He adds th is tender and expressive tribu te as th e only possible explanation of such unexampled devotion, “They first gave th e ir own selves to the Lord.” The tex t in chapter 8 is a concrete illu stration of th a t of chapter 12. In the one case he testifies th a t he is seek ing, not money, bu t lives laid down in
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