Abounding Grace
J. Irons. 2 Corinthians 9:7-8 Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.… I. THE EXHAUSTLESS TREASURE — "All grace." You know if a man has got a little money, and he lives upon the principal, he may get rid of it all and be reduced to want; but here is a treasure that you may live upon — the interest and principal too — as long as life lasts. 1. This is treasured up by God the Father in His infinite, paternal love; and it can no more be plundered than it can fail or be exhausted. 2. It is held officially and responsibly by our covenant Head. He is the Treasure, and He is the Treasurer. 3. It is imparted by the Holy Ghost. It is His province first to implant all His own graces, and then to impart supplies to those graces to call them into lively exercise. II. THE ABOUNDINGS OF THE SUPPLY. "God is able to make all grace abound towards you." It is of no use for a man to tell me that he has abundance of gold locked up in an iron chest, and he has lost the key; but let it be brought out, and it may be of some importance. So also with the statement of my text. God does not deal as parsimoniously with us as as we with Him. It is abounding grace that He bestows. 1. He does not always meet the caprice, the carnal desire of His people, but He always makes His grace abound in everything they really need. 2. God makes all grace to abound for the replenishing of the exhausted child of God. Those of you who have been at all accustomed to sharp exercises will be prepared at once to recognise the seasons in which you have felt exhausted, just like the man that is running a race, and bids fair to win the prize, but his strength is exhausted, just like the man that has been hungering and thirsting a long while, and is almost wishing to die. Now, in such cases as these, what is the abounding of grace for but to replenish? "He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." (J. Irons.) Parallel Verses KJV: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. WEB: Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart; not grudgingly, or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.