Matthew Poole and continuators on 2 Corinthians 8:12

12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not .

He had before directed them to give out of that which they had, that is, in a proportion to what God had blessed them with; for he tells them that it is the willing mind which God accepteth, not the quantity of the Gift. God doth not require of people things not in their power; yet bare velleities, or pretended willings are not accepted: there must be an acting according to our power to justifie the sincerity of our willing mind; and men vainly pretend to will that towards the performance of which they never move. Though God requireth not of us things that are not within our power, yet he requireth of us the putting forth of our power in doing what he hath commanded us, so far as we are able; which indeed can alone justifie the willingness of our mind to be more than a mere pretence. A present impotency, if contracted by our own fault, will not excuse us from the performance of those Acts as to which it doth extend, to which some are bound by the just Laws of God or men: but it is very unreasonable to think, it should excuse as to those Acts to which it doth not extend, and as to which it cannot be pleaded.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 12.43. [illegible: 1 word] 21.3.