Section. ._O.J. CL(o 
 
 No, 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLES TO 
 THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
GEORGE BELL & SONS 
 
 LONDON : YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN 
 NEW YORK : 66, FIFTH AVENUE AND 
 BOMBAY : 53, ESPLANADE ROAD 
 CAMBRIDGE : DEIGHTON, BELL & CO. 
 
THE FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLES 
 
 TO THE 
 
 COKINTHIANS 
 
 WITH NOTES CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 BY THE REV. M. F. SADLER 
 
 LATE RECTOR OF HONITON AND PREBENDARY OF WELLS 
 
 LONDON 
 GEORGE BELL AND SONS 
 
 1898 
 
First published, December, 1888. 
 Reprinted, 1890, 1896. 
 Re-issue, 1898. 
 
INTEODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE 
 TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 I. TIME AND PLACE OF WKITING. 
 
 WE learn from 1 Cor. xvi., 8, "But I will tarry at Ephesus until 
 Pentecost," that this Epistle was written from Ephesus, and 
 shortly before Pentecost. Many have supposed, and with some reason, 
 that on account of the allusion to the old leaven in v. 7, it was 
 written at the time of the Passover, when the searching for leaven 
 in Jewish houses would be fresh in his mind. Such an abrupt 
 allusion to a purely Jewish custom seems to require some such ex- 
 planation. Most expositors agree that it was written in 57, but 
 Alford places it in 56, and Usher in the margin of our Bibles 
 in 59. 
 
 II. OCCASION OF WKITING. 
 
 Two reasons seem to have united in causing St. Paul to write it. 
 (1) Accounts had been brought to him of serious declensions in the 
 Corinthian Church. They were distracted by parties, some calling 
 themselves by the name of Paul, others of ApoUos, others of 
 Peter or Cephas, others of Christ. Some refused to acknowledge 
 his Apostleship ; some who desired mere human eloquence and a 
 commanding presence, spoke disparagingly of their father in 
 Christ ; a fearful crime of such a character that it was not even 
 named by the profligate Gentiles in whose midst they lived, was 
 committed by one of their number, and apparently no notice had 
 been taken of it, and the offender was suffered to continue in Church 
 fellowship. And so far from entertaining proper brotherly feelings 
 to one another as members of the same body, they dragged each 
 other before the heathen tribunals. 
 
VI INTEODUCTION. 
 
 (2) At the same time that he heard these reports, a letter wa» 
 brought to him eontainiDg certain questions, respecting the solution 
 -of which they desired to have his opinion ; such as whether a state 
 of marriage or celibacy was preferable ? — what restrictions were to- 
 be put on the partaking of things offered to idols ? — for what 
 reason did he refuse to receive that maintenance from them which 
 other Apostles claimed as their right ? Then he had heard that 
 they observed with some degree of faithfulness the traditions 
 (probably respecting the conduct of their religious assemblies) 
 which he had delivered to them, except, apparently, on two points^ 
 concerning their neglect of which he has to blame them severely — 
 one, the veiling of women in their Church assemblies, the other, 
 their disorderly conduct at the Agape, which apparently for 
 schismatical or sensual purposes (xi. 20, 22) they had not kept dis- 
 tinct from the celebration of the Blessed Sacrament. They had 
 also, it appears, sent him some questions respecting the relative 
 value of their spiritual gifts, or perhaps he had heard that they 
 abused one spiritual gift, that of tongues, through vanity or love of 
 display. And he had also heard that there were some among them 
 who had so declined from the faith which he first taught them as ta 
 deny the Kesurrection of the Body, and, by consequence, the Eesur- 
 rection of the Lord Himself. 
 
 To meet these evils, and to solve these questions, St. Paul was 
 inspired by the Spirit of God to write this letter. 
 
 III. THE SPECIAL TEACHING OF THIS EPISTLE. 
 
 We have now to consider what is the Christian truth which St» 
 Paul brings forward to meet these evils. 
 
 The dominant truth of this Epistle is, that Christ is the Head of 
 a mystical Body, the Church, and that this Church is so the Body 
 of Christ, that each member of the Church is a member of Christ, 
 spiritually and sacramentally united to Him in one Divine 
 organism. We will briefly review the Epistle in regard to this. 
 
 The whole Church is a body of men sanctified in Christ Jesus 
 (i. 2). Grace is diffused throughout it, but *' in " Christ Jesus* 
 This, as it appears in the opening verses, is not so plain in our trans- 
 lation as it ought to be : for instance, "the grace given to you by 
 Christ Jesus" (i. 4) ought to be "the grace given to you in Christ 
 
INTEODUCTION. vii 
 
 Jesus ; " " enriched by Him " should be " enriched in Him." 
 Then he has to mention their divisions, and he significantly asks, 
 *' Is Christ divided ? " Then the Corinthians are of God in Christ 
 Jesus (i. 30). Then, as Christ is the one true temple of God (John 
 ii. 19, 20, 21), so are they the temple of God, and they must take 
 heed how they destroy or defile such a temple (iii. 17). They are 
 St. Paul's spiritual children, but "in " Christ (iv. 15). They must 
 purge themselves from the old leaven, because they have not 
 ten thousand paschal lambs, but One Paschal Lamb, of Whom 
 all partake (v. 7, 8). They must keep their bodies pure, not merely 
 because by impurity they contravene high ideas of morality, but 
 because they defile bodies which are members of Christ (vi. 15). 
 All members of the Church are one bread and one body, because 
 they are all partakers of One Inward Part in the great Sacrament 
 of Christian unity (x. 16, 17). Men are not to partake of things 
 presented on the altars or tables of demons, because, if so, they can- 
 not partake savingly of the Lord's Body (x. 21). Because the Head 
 of every man is Christ, women are not to pray or prophesy unveiled 
 in the Christian assemblies (xi. 3-16). In judging respecting 
 spiritual gifts the first principle to be taken into account is that 
 *' by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body " (xii. 13), that all the 
 members are endowed by the Spirit with spiritual gifts and faculties, 
 but all in subordination to the unity of the One Body. We are all 
 the body of Christ and members in particular or severally (xii. 27). 
 The offices of the mystical body, just as the members of the natural 
 body, are manifold, but the Spirit is the same, only manifesting 
 Himself differently in each. And lastly, this unity of the body of 
 Christ is not confined to this world, but has its issues in the spiritual 
 and eternal world : for we shall rise again, not hy, or in ourselves, 
 but in Christ ; He is the Second Adam, and as by receiving not the 
 soul only, or the spirit, but the flesh of the first Adam we all die, so 
 in Christ, the Second Adam, Who rose from the dead in a life- 
 giving Body so capable of transfusion that it is, though a Body, 
 called a life-giving Spirit, we shall all be made alive (xv. 21-23). 
 
 All these remarkable things are said to the whole body of the 
 baptized without any limitation or reservation. It is assumed that 
 each baptized Corinthian maintaining a profession of the faith of 
 Christ, as distinguished from the denial of the same faith by Jews 
 or heathen (xii. 1-4), is a member of the Body of Christ. If any 
 Corinthian has fallen into sin he is assumed to sin, not only against 
 
Viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his conscience, not only against his superior hght, not only against 
 his profession, but against the Body of Christ. Now this is actually 
 said to be true of such a sin as fornication. " Know ye not that 
 your bodies are the members of Christ ? Shall I, then, take the 
 members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot ? 
 God forbid." I must refer the reader to my note on this place 
 (page 92), and also my notes on Eomans vi. 1-12, on pages 
 114-124. 
 
 An attempt is made to get rid of the application of all this 
 to the whole body of the baptised in our own day by calling 
 the baptism of the early converts "believers'" Baptism, as dis- 
 tinguished from Infant Baptism, but all our Lord's words re- 
 specting the children of parents in outward covenant with God 
 (who would naturally bring them up in the profession of the 
 covenant) are such that we are compelled to believe that He would 
 look upon them as just as capable of receiving grace from God 
 suited to their years as those who could profess their faith. They 
 come into union with the Second Adam for purposes of salvation, 
 in the same state of unconsciousness as they came into union with 
 the first by their conception and birth. 
 
 This truth of union with Christ through faith and Sacraments is 
 the great leading doctrine of St. Paul ; it pervades his Epistles to 
 the Eomans, Ephesians, and Colossians, as it does this Epistle, and 
 I may say that of all Churches it is most explicitly declared by 
 the Church of England in her formularies. It pervades our Bap- 
 tismal Services, but, strange to say, is not alluded to in the 
 Baptismal Service of the Eomish Church. It is referred to in the 
 Catechism as the first truth in which the Christian child has to be 
 grounded. It is very distinctly recognized in the Eucharistic 
 service (though totally ignored in the Canon of the Mass). It has 
 a place in the Solemnization of Matrimony (" keep themselves un- 
 defiled members of Christ's Body ") and in the Visitation of the 
 Sick (" continue this sick member in the unity of the Church.") 
 
 IV. CHEONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 It may be well to give a short table of the leading events in St. 
 Paul's life, which took place between his first arrival at Corinth and 
 his final departure. 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 A.D. 
 
 ^1 or 52. St. Paul's second Missionary journey, at the ter- 
 mination of which, after passing through Mace- 
 donia and Athens, 
 •63 or 54. He arrives at Corinth, Acts xviii. 1. 
 
 Continues at Corinth a year and a half. 
 
 Here he finds Aquila and Priscilla ; lodges with 
 them, xviii. 3. 
 
 Joined by Silas and Timotheus. Writes his 
 Epistles to the Thessalonians. 
 
 Left the synagogue and preached at house of 
 Justus, verse 7. 
 
 Converts Crispus ; had a vision from Christ to en- 
 courage him, 9, 10. 
 
 Gallio refuses to hear the accusation of the Jews, 16. 
 
 After this tarries a good while with them, but how 
 long is not mentioned, xviii. 18. 
 
 Sailed into Syria and came to Ephesus, 18, 19. 
 
 Continued there but a short time; sailed from 
 Ephesus, 21. 
 
 Landed at Caesarea, went up to Jerusalem, saluted 
 
 ^ the Church, and then went down to Antioch, 22. 
 64 or 55. Starts on his third Miss, journey from Antioch, 23. 
 
 Passes through Galatia and Phrygia, 23. 
 
 Apollos appears on the scene, is fully instructed in 
 the truths of the Gospel by Aquila and Priscilla, 
 and departs for Corinth, xviii. 24-28. 
 64 or 55 to 57. Paul arrives at Ephesus, where he stays two years, 
 xix. 10. 
 
 Purposes to go to Jerusalem through Macedonia 
 and Achaia (Corinth). 
 
 Sends before him to Macedonia Timotheus and 
 Erastus, xix. 22. 
 
 But himself stays in Asia for a season, i.e., till 
 Pentecost, 1 Cor. xvi. 9. 
 
 Writes First Epistle to the Corinthians. (During 
 his stay at Ephesus he seems to have paid a 
 short visit to Corinth, see notes on 2 Cor. i. 1, 
 and on 2 Cor. xii. 14 ; xiii. 1.) 
 
 Departs from Ephesus to Macedonia, xx. 1. 
 
X INTEODUCTION. 
 
 A.D. Sends Titus to the Church at Corinth to ascertain 
 
 67. its true state. 
 
 Passes through Troas in much anxiety about this. 
 Meets Titus in Macedonia, and is reassured by him 
 
 respecting their state, 2 Cor. vii. 5, 6, 7. 
 Sends his Second Exjistle by the hands of Titus. 
 67 (late in year). Arrives at Corinth, and spends three months there^ 
 Acts XX. 2. 
 Takes a circuit through Macedonia to avoid the 
 
 "lying in wait " of the Jews, xx. 3. 
 Passes through Philippi, Troas, Miletus, and 
 thence by Tyre to Caesarea and Jerusalem^ 
 Acts XX. xxi. 1-17. 
 
 V. AUTHENTICITY. 
 
 The authorship of the First Epistle to the Corinthians has never 
 been doubted. 
 
 It is referred to as written by St. Paul, by Clement of Eome, 
 who was the contemporary of the Apostle, in the words, " Take up 
 the Epistle of the blessed Apostle Paul. What did he write to you 
 at the time when the Gospel first began to be preached? Truly 
 under the inspiration of the Spirit, he wrote to you concerning 
 himself, and Cephas, and ApoUos because even then parties (pre- 
 ferences) had been formed among you." (Ch. xlvii.) 
 
 Poly carp, " But who of us are ignorant of the judgment of the 
 Lord? Do we not know that the Saints shall judge the world? 
 (1 Cor. vi. 2), as Paul teaches ? " (ch. xi.). Irenaeus, " He proceeds 
 to say, and such indeed were ye, but ye are washed, but ye are 
 sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our 
 God . . . and we have the precept, * If any man that is called a 
 brother be a fornicator,' " &c. Adv. Haer. iv. 27. 
 
 Clement of Alexandria quotes the Epistle above one hundred and 
 fifty times. I give one place, " Writing in this wise, ' Brethren I 
 could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as to carnal, to 
 babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk not with meat,' " &c. 
 Miscellanies, book v., ch. 4. 
 
 TertuUian quotes this Epistle an enormous number of times. 
 One will suffice : " You have the Apostle enjoining people to marry 
 in the Lord." " De Corona," ch. 13. 
 
 It would be impossible to forge such a document, for every line 
 is stamped with the marked individuality of its autha*. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EPISTLE 
 TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 ST. PAUL wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians to pre- 
 pare the Church for his coming to them at the end of his third 
 journey. He did not desire — indeed, he dreaded to come to them 
 as a severe reprover and stern judge ; he would rather visit them 
 as a loving spiritual father in Christ. 
 
 The circumstances under which it was written were these. He 
 had received whilst in Ephesus very unfavourable reports of their 
 factions and divisions — of their toleration of the incestuous person, 
 of their going to law before the heathen tribunals, and other 
 matters ; and so he wrote to them his First Epistle, fall of severe 
 and well merited rebuke. This was not actually the first letter he 
 had written (1 Cor. v. 9), but the first of the two which have been 
 preserved. He despatched this Epistle so that it should arrive 
 before the coming of Timothy, whom he sent, as he tells us, to 
 bring to remembrance his ways in Christ — what he taught in every 
 Church (1 Cor. iv. 17). 
 
 Timothy appears to have arrived in Corinth, and left before the 
 arrival of this Epistle, or, if otherwise, the report of their reception 
 of it was very unfavourable. Upon this he sent Titus, one whom 
 he supposed would represent better the sterner aspect of his own 
 character, to bring a report to him of their spiritual state : he him- 
 self setting out to come to them by way of Macedonia, Titus being 
 ordered to meet him at Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12, 13). Finding that Titus 
 had not arrived there, he was much discouraged, and instead of 
 remaining some time at Troas, crossed over to Macedonia, and met 
 him at one of the cities there, and sent Titus, and with him, perhaps, 
 Luke, to Corinth with the present Epistle (2 Cor. \dii. 17-24). The 
 report which Titus had brought had reassured him of the loyalty of 
 
Xil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the great body of the Church, but had by no means set him at rest: 
 for he learnt that his principal opponents, the Judaizing faction, 
 were as malignant and as active as ever. 
 
 The contents of this second letter are very chequered. He thanks 
 God for much, he praises them as far as he can ; he gladly seizes 
 the opportunity of speaking to them lovingly and hopefully respect- 
 ing the collection for the saints at Jerusalem, but he must deal 
 faithfully with them, for he had become painfully aware that their 
 true hold on Christ, and their profession of the true Gospel of 
 Christ depended much on his personal influence over them, and so 
 on their allegiance and obedience to him as their only true Apostle. 
 To this end he is forced to assert himself — his Apostolical power, 
 his Apostolical labours, and his Apostolical visions and revelations. 
 In writing all this he is, one might almost say, morbidly sensitive 
 as to how they would receive this self-assertion, and the handle 
 which his adversaries would make of it against him ; but this 
 matters not, his one object in writing in the way he did is given at 
 the very end of the letter : " I write these things being absent, lest, 
 being present, I should use sharpness, according to the powers 
 which the Lord hath given me to edification and not to destruc- 
 tion" (xiii. 10). 
 
 Such is this second canonical letter to the Church of Corinth. 
 "What was its effect we know not. St. Paul stayed but a short time . 
 with them, and then went to Jerusalem by Macedonia. No doubt 
 he intended to return to them — perhaps again and again: for they 
 were "in his heart," but his long imprisonments — first at Csesarea, 
 then at Eome — would doubtless change all his plans. Clement of 
 Home writes to them as if, after St. Paul's departure, they con- 
 tinued free from the evils for which he rebuked them. Thus, in 
 chap, ii., " Moreover ye were all distinguished by humility, and 
 were in no respect puffed up by pride . . . thus a profound and 
 abundant peace was given to you all, and ye had an insatiable 
 desire for doing good . . . every kind of faction and schism was 
 abominable in your sight. Ye mourned over the transgressions 
 of your neighbours, their deficiencies ye deemed your own." And 
 the seditions and deficiencies against which Clement wrote had 
 arisen, he seems to imply, shortly before the writing of his own 
 letter. 
 
 This Second Epistle is distinguished above others — even above 
 those written by this Apostle — for its extraordinary personality. Ho 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 seems to let the Corinthians — and, through them, the world — into 
 every secret of his soul. The transparency of the revelation of 
 himself is to me something imequalled in all sacred literature. 
 Let us run over a few examples of it in some of the first few 
 chapters. 
 
 *' God who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be 
 able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort 
 wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God " (i. 4). 
 
 " Our consolation aboundeth by Christ " (i. 5). 
 
 " We had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not 
 trust in ourselves, but in God " (i. 9). 
 
 " Our rejoicing is this — the testimony of our conscience " (i. 12). 
 
 " We are your rejoicing — ye are our's " (i. 14). 
 
 " I call God for a record for my soul, that to spare you, I came 
 not," &c. (i. 23). 
 
 ** I determined I would not come again to you in heaviness " (ii. 1). 
 
 " Out of much afifliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you 
 with many tears " (ii. 4). 
 
 " I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my 
 brother" (ii. 13). 
 
 " We are the savour of life unto life — of death unto death '* 
 (ii. 16). 
 
 " Such trust have we through Christ to Godward" (iii. 4). 
 
 " As we have received mercy we faint not ... by manifestation 
 of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience " 
 (iv. 1, 2). 
 
 *' We have this treasure in earthen vessels " (iv. 7). 
 
 *' Death worketh in us, but life in you . . . We also believe, and 
 therefore speak " (iv. 12, 13). 
 
 •' Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us,'^ 
 &c. (iv. 17). 
 
 " In this we groan, earnestly desiring," &c. (v. 2). 
 
 "We walk by faith, not by sight " (v. 7). 
 
 " We give you occasion to glory on our behalf" (v. 12). 
 
 " Whether we be beside ourselves it is to God, or whether we be 
 sober, it is for your cause " (v. 13). 
 
 " In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in 
 much patience," &c. (vi. 4). 
 
 " As deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, and yet well known '* 
 (vi. 8, 9). 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Our mouth is opened unto you, our heart is enlarged. Te are 
 not straitened in us," &c. (vi. 11, 12). 
 
 Now the question arises, how is it that a letter so almost purely 
 personal, forms by God's providence a book, and by no means the 
 smallest book, of the Canon of Scripture ? We answer, because of 
 these very personalities with which it abounds. It shows us how 
 God, Who has endowed us with personal qualities, with hearts, 
 affections, sympathies, sensitiveness, yearnings after a requital of 
 our love, does not intend these sensibilities to be hidden under a 
 dignified reserve, but to be brought to bear on that which answers 
 to them in our fellows. If there is a motto to be chosen for this 
 letter — a human motto, touching the inmost spirit of its teaching — 
 it should be "heart to heart." 
 
 It teaches us that such a type of Churchmanship as was exhibited 
 in former times, and in some specimens reaching down to this time, 
 the dignified ecclesiastic, wrapping himself up in his mantle of 
 ■chilling reserve,^ doing all he can to avoid the possibility of being 
 called upon to give an opinion, always on the look-out to snub, to 
 put down, to bow out — that such an one is in heart and soul 
 utterly alien from the type set forth by the Spirit of God in the New 
 Testament. 
 
 But there is another remarkable lesson to be learnt from this 
 Epistle. How one and the same man, in the same letter, to the 
 same persons, can at times, with the utmost sincerity, abase him- 
 self almost beneath the feet of his children, and yet at the same time 
 threaten them, if they do not obey him, with the severest spiritual 
 punishments, and these, too, in combination with temporal punish- 
 ments, for no word of "fulmination " has ever gone beyond "to 
 deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that 
 the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1 Cor. v. 5. 
 
 Consider the abasement. " Ourselves your servants for Jesus* 
 
 1 A poor country clergyman, well nigh broken hearted with disconragement, imagined 
 that his bishop was the man to whom he might properly unburthen his griefs, so he speeds 
 to the palace of one of the first — if not the first scholar in the kingdom— and begins his 
 pitiful story ; but is speedily cut short with the question, " My dear Sir, is there not in 
 your Tillage a shop or office with a blank pane or two of wood, and a slit in the pane with 
 the words ' letter box ' over it ? Could you not have sent what you wish to tell me through 
 that and — " Well, we need not finish. But would not a Bishop's time be thaa unduly 
 taken up? "Would he not lose more than half an hour ? Yes, but in that half hour he 
 would at least learn patience, forbearance, and how this may lead to God's teaching him 
 charity and sympathy, and so foi'theriug his salvatioa 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 sake." " We have this treasure in earthen vessels " (we are like 
 Gideon's pitchers and lamps). "Death worketh in us, but life in 
 you." "All things are for your sakes." " Whether we be beside 
 ourselves it is to God, or whether we be sober it is for your sakes." 
 " Receive us, we have wronged no man." "Ye are in our hearts 
 to live and to die with you." "We were comforted in your 
 comfort." 
 
 But consider the assertions of Church power : " I will come to 
 you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them 
 which are puffed up, but the power." " Shall I come to you with 
 a rod?" (1 Cor. iv. 19, 20). "I beseech you that I may not be 
 bold when I am present with that confidence wherewith I think to 
 be bold against some." " Being ready to revenge all disobedience 
 when your obedience is fulfilled." " Being absent now, I write 
 to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that if I 
 come again I will not spare." 
 
 Now this abasement and this assertion is only natural. It is the 
 outcome of his distrust and of his faith — his distrust of himself, as 
 being nothing and less than nothing, apart from Christ : and his 
 faith in Christ, as the Head of the Church, as the Ordainer of 
 Sacraments, as the Institutor of severe, yet merciful discipline, as 
 the Strength of His Ministers, accompanying their word, whether 
 of binding or loosing, with His own power. 
 
 Altogether it is a study is this Epistle — a study in the school of 
 Christ — a study of weak human nature, abiding as human nature, 
 but to the uttermost sanctified, ennobled, informed, inhabited by 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 After all this it seems impertinent almost to speak of the genuine- 
 ness of this Epistle, and its place in the Canon from the first. 
 
 It seems to be quoted at least three times in the Epistle of Poly- 
 carp, thus : (chap. iv. 14) " He who raised Him from the dead will 
 raise up us also," ch. ii. " also (viii. 31) providing for that which is 
 becoming in the sight of God and men," (ch. vi.) also (v. 10) "we 
 must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ " (ch. vi.). 
 
 Also several times in Ignatius, thus : " For the things which are 
 seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 
 (Epistle of Ignatius to Romans : iii.) 
 
 Irenseus quotes it many times (in an index now before me about 
 twenty-five times), thus : " For as the Apostle does say in the second 
 (Epistle) to the Corinthians ; 'For we are unto God a sweet savour 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of Christ ; in them which are saved and in them which perish.' '* 
 (Adv. Haer. iv. xxviii. 3.) 
 
 Clement of Alexandria quotes the Epistle above forty times, thus : 
 "Only let us preserve free will and love: troubled on every side, 
 yet not distressed ; perplexed, but not in despair ; persecuted, but 
 not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed." (Miscellanies, iv. 21.) 
 
 Tertullian above seventy times, thus : " But further, in recount- 
 ing his own sufferings to the Corinthians, he certainly decided that 
 Bufferings must be borne. ' In labours,' he says, ' more abundant, 
 in prisons very frequent, in deaths oft ; ' ' Of the Jews five times re- 
 ceived I forty stripes save one.' " (Scorpi^ce, ch. 13.) 
 
 For MSS. and Versions, see the Introduction to the Eomans, 
 
 p. la 
 
A COMMENTARY. 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PAUL, * called to he an apostle of Jesus Christ ^ through 
 the will of God, and ^ Sosthenes our brother, » Rom. i. i. 
 
 b 2 Cor. i. 1. 
 Eph. i. 1. 
 
 Col. i. 1. 
 
 c Acts xviii. 17. 
 
 1. "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the 
 will of God." " Called to be an apostle," literally " a called 
 apostle." No doubt emphasis is to be laid on " called." He was 
 not a self-appointed Apostle, as some were, but in writing to the 
 Corinthians he thought it good to assert that he was an Apostle by 
 special calhng, as some among them had thrown doubts on this 
 (ix. 1-6). 
 
 " By the will of God." All things take place by God's will : but 
 in an extraordinary way God showed His will in the selection of St. 
 Paul to the ApostoUc ofi&ce. With respect to the eleven, Christ had 
 recognized them as the peculiar gift of His Father to Himself, 
 "Thine they were, and thou gavest them me " (John xvii. 6) ; and 
 so it was with St. Paul. This election or selection on the part of 
 God the Father is asserted very markedly by him in Gal. i. 15 : 
 " It pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and 
 called me by his grace." In 1 Tim. i. 1 his Apostolate is "by 
 the commandment of God our Saviour." In the economy of 
 Kedemption Christ does nothing apart from His Father : He does 
 not even of Himself— of His separate Will — select His own special 
 representatives. 
 
 "And Sosthenes our brother." Kather the brother, the well- 
 
 B 
 
2 THE CHURCH OF GOD AT CORINTH. [I. Cor. 
 
 2 Unto the cliurcli of G-od whicli is at Corinth, ^ to them 
 djudei. that ^are sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^called to 
 
 e John xvii, 19. 
 Acts XV. 9. 
 
 f Rom. i. 7. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 9. 
 
 known brother. He is supposed hj some to have been the Sosthenes 
 of Acts xviii. 17, who was beaten by the mob before the judgment- 
 seat of GaUio ; but this is doubtful. He could not well have been 
 an obscure private person, if he was thus associated with St. Paul as 
 a joint sender of the Epistle, but must have been someone well 
 known to the Corinthian Church as a companion and fellow-helper 
 of the Apostle. A more interesting question is, Why did St. Paul 
 thus associate him with himself? Was he a prophet or evangelist ? 
 but even if this were the case, still it does not answer the question, 
 for, from beginning to end, the Epistle bears the impress of one 
 mind and one will. We should say without fear of contradiction that 
 Sosthenes, or anyone else, did not add one idea to it, or compose of 
 himself one line ; and yet jointly with the great Apostle he is sup- 
 posed to send the letter. The explanation seems to be that St. 
 Paul had certain brethren of eminence amongst his disciples, whom 
 he associated with himself and invested as far as possible with 
 his own authority, that in his absence or on his removal they 
 should take his place as rulers or presidents of local churches. 
 And this, as I have shown elsewhere,^ was the real foundation 
 of the local Episcopate. He was certainly not the mere amanuensis, 
 whose position appears, from Eom. xvi. 22, to have been very 
 subordinate. 
 
 2. "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that 
 are sanctified," &c. The Church of God is the mystical Body of 
 Christ which exists in its entirety in all parts of the world, and 
 is the Church in each particular place. It consists of those who 
 are sanctified in Christ Jesus, that is, those who have been 
 taken out of the first Adam, and grafted in Baptism into Him, 
 the Sicond Adam. It is quite clear that by " sanctified " here the 
 Apostle cannot mean effectually sanctified in heart and life, for 
 many of the members of this Corinthian Church were not so puri- 
 fied, but needed internal holiness, and by being in Christ's Church 
 were in the sphere, so to speak, of attaining complete sanctifi cation 
 
 I " Church Doctrine Bible Truth," chap. vii. 
 
Chap. 1] THEIRS AND OURS. 3 
 
 he saints, with all that in every place * call upon the 
 name of Jesus Christ ^our Lord, ^both theirs eActsix. ii, 
 
 - 21. & xxii. 1(3. 
 
 and ours : 2 Tim. ii. 22. 
 
 . . h ch. viii. 6. 
 
 1 Rom. iii. 22. 
 & X. 12. 
 
 if they would but seek it. Their sanctification, then, consisted in 
 their dedication to God — their membership in the one mystical 
 Body, their possession of the means of grace. The Word of God 
 and all its promises belonged to them — in the sense recognized by 
 the Saviour when He speaks of those being " gods to whom the 
 Word of God came " (John x. 35). But with all this some of them 
 were unholy, some wilful sinners, especially led away by sins of 
 the flesh, as was natural in a city so given to wickedness as was 
 Gorinth. Some had fallen from the faith so far as to say that 
 there was no resurrection, and these all, throughout the Epistle, 
 are warned by the Apostle to repent and BeJ)arate themselves from 
 sin because of their first sanctification, when they were first 
 brought under the Covenant of Christ. The Apostle never ignores 
 this first sanctification or dedication, but considers it always in 
 force. To cite one instance out of many : " Know ye not," he 
 writes, "that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God 
 dwelleth in you ? If any man defile [or destroy] the temple of 
 God, him will God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which 
 temple ye are" (iii. 16, 17). 
 
 " Called to be saints." Called to belong to a holy calling, and 
 to make good that calling by constant acts of self-dedication. 
 
 "With all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ 
 our Lord." It has been supposed that this " in every place " is to 
 be taken literally, as referring to the whole world, but must it not 
 be rather interpreted by the phrase in the parallel passage in 
 2 Cor. i. 1 : " All the saints which are in all Achaia." The Epistle 
 has now become, in the widest sense, a Catholic Epistle, being 
 part of the Scriptures of the Catholic Church ; but it is very im- 
 probable that it would be understood in this sense by those to 
 whom it was addressed — indeed, so very general a designation 
 would perhaps have hindered their prompt circulation of it through 
 the neighbouring cities and villages. 
 
 " Call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Here Christians 
 are described as those who worship Christ. The reader will re- 
 member Pliny's description of them as those who sung hymns to 
 
4 GRACE AND PEACE. [I. Cor, 
 
 3 ^ Grace he -unto you, and peace, from Grod oiir Father^ 
 k Rom. i. 7. and from tlie Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Eph.*i.'2.' 4 ^I thank my God always on your behalf, for 
 
 iRom.i.8. tlie grace of God which is given you by Jesus 
 Christ ; 
 
 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him» 
 m ch. xii. 8. ™ in all utterance, and in all knowledge ; 
 
 2 Cor. viii. 7. 
 
 Christ as to God, This is a very direct proof of the Godhead of 
 the Lord. To call upon the name of the Lord is an Old Testament 
 phrase, denoting the worship of the one true God, thus Gen. iv. 26,. 
 Ps. cxvi. 17, Joel ii. 32 ; so that if Christ is thus invoked, it must 
 be because He is with the Father and the Holy Ghost, the on© 
 true God. 
 
 " Both theirs and ours." Here we have the common Lordship 
 of Jesus over the whole, and every particular Christian's interest and 
 property in Him. 
 
 3. " Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and 
 from the Lord Jesus Christ." Godet writes : " Grace is the Divine 
 good-will, bending compassionately toward the sinner to pardon 
 him ; toward the reconciled child to bless him. Peace is the pro- 
 found tranquillity with which faith in this Divine love fills the 
 believer's heart." But this is much short of the truth. Grace is 
 the Holy Spirit of God, given by God, and making the Christian 
 partaker of all life from Christ. Peace is not only inward tran- 
 quilhty in the heart, but outward tranquillity amongst the mem- 
 bers of the Lord's mystical body. If there be not this peace — if 
 there be enmity and divisions — all internal feelings of peace are 
 delusive. That St. Paul meant to include this peace of the Church 
 is evident from all that follows. 
 
 4, 5. " I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace 
 . . , . all knowledge." Why should he thank God always on the 
 behalf of these Christians, that they had received gifts such as- 
 utterance and knowledge, which we consider mental rather than 
 moral ? Evidently for this reason, that such gifts were open 
 manifestations to the world, both heathen and Christian, that 
 the only true God, the Author of all good gifts, whether of mind or 
 body, was among them and working in them, through that new 
 system of Divine agency which on Pentecost had appeared amongst 
 
€nAP. L] YE COME BEHIND IN NO GIFT. 5 
 
 6 Even as "the testimony of Christ was confirmed in 
 
 you : n ch. ii. 1. 
 
 7 So that ye come behind in no gift ; ° waiting Rev. i. 2. ' 
 for the t coming of our Lord Jesus Christ : Ti till' li "1.3.^*^' 
 
 2 Pet. iii. 12. 
 
 t f^r. revela- 
 
 ' tion. Col. iii. 4. 
 
 men. "When were these Divine Gifts conferred upon them ? Not 
 on their conversion, for we never read of these gifts (except in one 
 very special case, Acts x. 44-47) being conferred on conversion, nor 
 at their Baptism (compare Acts viii. 16), but on the laying on of 
 the Apostles' hands (Acts viii. 18, xix. 6 ; Eom. i. 11). 
 
 " In all utterance." [XoyyJ " Iq ^H word." It may have a 
 more subjective meaning, " the word of tmth within us ; " but is 
 usually translated as having the same meaning as in our Authorized, 
 ■" In every form of utterance " (Ellicott), " In all discourse, and all 
 knowledge, so that no kind of Christian aptitude of speech, or of 
 Christian intelligence, is wanting among you." (Meyer.) 
 
 6. "Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you." 
 The testimony of Christ was the testimony of Paul and those with 
 him to the Person and Eedemptive work of Christ. Its con- 
 firmation was the supernatural gifts of knowledge, utterance, 
 miracles, tongues, prophecy, &c,, which were communicated by the 
 hands of him who preached, thereby confirming the truth of what 
 he preached, that it was from above, from the God of all power 
 and wisdom. 
 
 7. " So that ye come behind in no gift." This does not mean 
 that ye come behind in no gift of spiritual and sanctifying grace, 
 i.e., in responding to it : but it rather refers to the Church as a 
 whole. No Church excelled them in the variety of their spiritual 
 gifts. 
 
 " Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." An un- 
 necessary difficulty has been made of this by not remembering that 
 the universal hope of all Christians was fixed by the Apostles and 
 early teachers on the Second Advent, rather than on the day of 
 each Christian's death. If the expectations of the future life enter- 
 tained by any body of Christians had now to be described, some 
 cold and worldly persons would say that they looked forward to a 
 future state, others that they had bright hopes of eternity, others 
 that they one and all expected to go to heaven at death ; whereas 
 
G UNTO THE END. [I. Cor. 
 
 8 PWho shall also confirm you unto the end, "^that ye 
 p 1 Thess. iii. may he blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus 
 q Col. i. 22. Christ : 
 
 1 Thess. V. 23. 
 
 in the first or Apostolic age death was ignored, and the one hope of 
 all Christians who had any hope at all was the Second Advent. 
 Whatever belief we express out of Church, in the Church we are 
 certainly one with the Apostolic Christians in confessing our hopes 
 in the Second Coming. " He shall come again with glory to judge 
 both the quick and the dead." "At whose coming, all men shall 
 rise again in their bodies, and shall give account for their own 
 works." " We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge ; we 
 therefore pray thee help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed 
 with thy precious blood : make them to be numbered with thy 
 saints in glory everlasting." 
 
 8. "Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may h& 
 blameless in the day," &c. " Who shall confirm you." No doubt 
 it is Christ Who shall confirm or stablish them. Some suppose that 
 it is God Who will thus confirm, but the Name of the Lord Jesus 
 is the one last mentioned. 
 
 " To the end," i.e., to His coming to judgment. It does not 
 mean to the day of your death, but to the end of the dispensation, 
 which is always connected with the Second Advent. 
 
 " You .... that ye may be blameless." Here he speaks not to 
 individuals so much as to the Church or Body of Christ. Indi- 
 viduals may fall from it as they will be added to it ; but the Church 
 is the same, and will be presented at last to Himself as " a glorious 
 Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy 
 and without blemish " (Ephes. v. 27). This the Predestinarian may 
 pronounce to be cold comfort ; but the Apostle assumes that those 
 to whom he writes will do their best by faith and prayer to con- 
 tinue in a body to which such grace has been assigned. He can 
 give no comfort apart from continuance in faith and prayer. It is 
 God's will, if we are to be guided by the writings of the New Testa- 
 ment, that salvation should belong to a fellowship. In it is accep- 
 tance, in it is pardon, in it is grace, in it is growth, in it is the 
 Divine Food and Sustenance. Owing to the declensions,the divisions, 
 the superstitions in the Church, we may have difficulty in realizing 
 this, but in the pages of the New Testament it is so. It is the will 
 
Chap.l] god is faithful. 7 
 
 9 ^ Grod is faithful, by whom je were called ' isa. xiix. 7. 
 •unto Hhe fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our 1 Thess.v. 24. 
 
 -r T 2 Thess. iii. 3. 
 
 -Lord. Heb. X. 23. 
 
 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name &*^^°^° ^J'; '^• 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, Hhat ye all speak the ^fv^^s''^" 
 
 ' Rom. xii. 16. 
 & XV. 5. 2 Cor. 
 
 xiii. 11. Phil. 
 
 ii. 2. &iii. 16. 
 1 Pet. ill. 8. 
 
 of God that individuals should to a great extent sink their indi- 
 viduality in the mystical fellowship. It is not to be constantly 
 " I," " I," " Christ died for me," " I am saved." But it is, " He 
 died for us," "We are saved," "We are in Him," "Our Father." 
 We are to look to ourselves (2 John 8), but never, if possible, to 
 assert ourselves. Constant self-assertion is a wretched sign. 
 
 9. " God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellow- 
 ship," &c. Notice here, too, how the calling is not to a heaven above 
 the sky, but to a fellowship here on earth. If God has called you 
 to the fellowship of His Son, He will assuredly show faithfulness in 
 keeping His promises made to that Holy Fellowship. As long as 
 you are in It you shall partake of its life, enjoy Its spiritual gifts, 
 partake, if you wiU, of Its spiiitual Food, and be animated by Its 
 hope. 
 
 10. " Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ .... same judgment." Observe the extreme serious- 
 ness and earnestness of the Apostle, " I beseech you by the name 
 which is above every name, the name of the Saviour, the Son of 
 God incarnate." It is quite clear, if he so beseeches them, that the 
 matter respecting which he beseeches them cannot be of small im- 
 portance, and indeed it is not. It is no other than this, that in 
 them should be fulfilled the prayer of the Son of God, that all that 
 beheve in Him through the word of the Apostles should be one^ 
 even as the Father is in Him and He in the Father ; and that this 
 unity should not be merely a unity of spirit, but of outward expres- 
 sion — of word, that ye all speak the same thing on religion, on your 
 common faith, on your common hope, on your duties. Now I do 
 not think that this means that they should use the same words, but 
 that the words which they used, though such words might express 
 the same truth in different lights, or express different sides of the same 
 doctrine, should mean or should have reference to one and the same 
 
8 PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER. [I. Cor. 
 
 same thing, and that there "be no t divisions among yon ; but 
 tliat ye be perfectly joined togetl 
 mind and in the same judgment. 
 
 t Qt. schisms, that ye be perfectly joined together in the same 
 
 thing. Dean Stanley translates it, " call yourselves by one common 
 name;" but this cannot be, because, if so, the Apostle would have 
 designated the common name. " Call yourselves Christians only. 
 Let no one call you anything else than brethren." " Ye are called 
 to be saints, call yourselves saints only." Their sin of calling 
 themselves by the name of men could not have existed except as the 
 expression of some difference of opinion respecting the truth, or re- 
 specting what is truth, on the part of those who ranged themselves 
 under the names of particular leaders. 
 
 " And that there be no divisions among you." No schisms, in the 
 sense of parties or factions. Attention is called by Stanley and 
 others to the fact that what the Apostle reprobates are parties or 
 factions within the Church, and not so much sects or bodies of 
 men who had separated from the Church, thereby assuming that 
 the one is not so evil or detrimental to Christianity as the other ; 
 but this is absurd. Just as factions in a particular national church 
 prevent it acting together as one man, and so weaken it ; so sects or 
 schisms external to the catholic body weaken it, and are very rarely 
 found on the side of that body in the assertion of the great truths 
 of the faith. 
 
 " But that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and 
 in the same judgment." Stanley notices that the noun of the verb, 
 *'that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind," Karap- 
 ri(rr»)p, was the acknowledged phrase in classical Greek for a re- 
 conciler of factions, and Godet remarks that the verb generally 
 implies the rectification of a disordered state of things, such as the 
 re-establishment of social order after a revolution, or the repairing 
 of an instrument (Mark i. 19, fishing-nets) ; but the signification 
 here is probably rather that of making perfect. The Apostle 
 does not exhort that the axiajxara should be repaired, but that there 
 should be none ; and this could only be by unanimity as perfect as 
 possible. " Mind " seems to mean, according to Godet, the Chris- 
 tian way of thinking in general — the same mind, full harmony of 
 view in regard to Christian truth: and "judgment," or opinion, 
 yvwuT], perfect agreement in the way of solving particular ques- 
 
Chap.L] contentions AMONG YOU. 9 
 
 11 For it hatli been declared unto me of you, my brethren, 
 by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are con- 
 tentions among you. 
 
 tions. Men say that this is impossible, but how can that be im- 
 possible for which the Lord prayed, and which the Holy Spirit by 
 the mouth of the Apostle commanded ? If men of opposite parties 
 or schools of thought would meet together, and not part till they 
 had probed to the very root the reason of their differences — if they 
 would never use ambiguous phrases, never charge their opponents 
 with holding what they cannot really mean, never impute un- 
 worthy motives, never dogmatically pronounce that if a man holds 
 what they think wrong he may be lawfully and charitably assumed 
 to hold all the possible inferences from it — if men would also re- 
 member that upon a large number of Scripture doctrines there are 
 in Scripture statements and counter- statements — if men would 
 but act thus, the divisions in our own Church would be reduced 
 to a minimum. 
 
 There seems, however, to have been less excuse for the existence 
 of party divisions in the Church of Corinth, seeing that some 
 among them had gifts of wisdom, others of knowledge, others of 
 prophecy, others of discerning of spirits — all the giftg of one and 
 the same Spirit. 
 
 11. " For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren . . . . 
 contentions among you." It is doubtful, and indeed immaterial, 
 whether this Christian lady was of Corinth or of Ephesus. It is to 
 be noticed that the Apostle gave the name of his informant. In 
 this case, no doubt, he acted with the consent of those who had 
 brought the information. But if in similar cases it was the rule 
 always to give the name of those who brought information re- 
 Fpecting character and conduct, much slander would be prevented, 
 as weU as much suspicion. A says to B, " I tell you in confidence 
 that people are saying such things of you." B asks for the name of 
 one of those who had said the obnoxious things. A says he is not 
 at hberty to give it, and the matter ends for the time with B enter- 
 taining evil surmisings against twenty persons, instead of, perhaps, 
 having an amicable explanation with one. 
 
 12. " Now, this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; 
 and I," &c. We are not to suppose that these were parties analo- 
 
10 EVERY ONE OF YOU SAITH. [I. Cor, 
 
 « ch. iii.4. 12 Now tliis I Say, " that every one of you saith^ 
 
 gous to our parties or schools of thought. It is probable that the- 
 divisions were personal, and arose naturally; but however they 
 arose, they were typical of all party divisions and schisms, and- in 
 their effects very evil. An immense amount of learning and 
 ingenuity has been expended in defining these marks of distinction^ 
 especially by German critics. 
 
 With respect to the first two, we have no ground whatever for 
 supposing that there was the least difference between the theo- 
 logical or practical teaching of Paul and ApoUos. If there had been^ 
 we may be sure that a man of the courage and zeal for truth of St. 
 Paul would have asserted the difference : for in such a case, seeing 
 that St. Paul was so especial an instrument of the Spirit, Apollos 
 would have taught false doctrine. Is not the party feeling among 
 the Corinthians amply accounted for by the difference between 
 their gifts? Apollos was an eloquent man, Paul was not; Paul 
 took no account of the way in which he presented the truths he 
 was commissioned to teach ; he presented them earnestly, fer- 
 vently, at times, perhaps, passionately, whereas Apollos captivated 
 by his eloquence, his admirable choice of words and phrases and 
 rounding of sentences. 
 
 And in a mixed Church, which that of Corinth undoubtedly was, 
 there would be many who would look to the expression of the 
 truth more than to the truth itself. Those of Paul, then, would be 
 those who owed themselves to him (Philemon 19), and would not 
 hear of — perhaps fiercely resented — any comparison of him with 
 other teachers. Those of Apollos would be constantly asserting — 
 often as against Paul — his more eloquent setting forth of the same 
 truth. Thus there would be a constant bringing-up of personalities 
 and odious comparisons which would be the occasion of constant 
 breaches of charity and goodwill, and misunderstandings, and 
 scandals.^ 
 
 1 With respect to the opinions of Apollos, there is not the smallest ground for supposing 
 that he was attached to the Alexandrian school of philosophy as represented in the 
 •writings of Philo. He was converted to the truth of Christ by the preaching of John, 
 was baptized by him, and afterwards instructed in the faith more perfectly by A^uila and 
 Priscilla. Not a syllable which he either spoke or wrote has come down to us. Some 
 suppose, though without any reason, that he is alluded to somewhat disparagingly by St. 
 Paul when he speaks of such things as " not with wisdom of words " or " I came not unto 
 
Chap. I.] I AM OF PAUL. 11 
 
 I am of Paul ; and I of '^ Apollo s ; and I of * Acts xTiii. 
 ^ Cephas ; and I of Christ. ch'.xvi. 12. * 
 
 y John i. 42. 
 
 "With respect to those who said, " I am of Cephas," a correspond- 
 ing party seems always to have existed in every Church where there 
 was any Jewish element. The Jews never seem to have taken 
 cordially to the doctrine of the equality of the Gentiles with them- 
 selves in the body of Christ. They would submit to it, rather than 
 receive it. Such persons would never recognize with absolute 
 cordiality the Apostolate of St. Paul. They would always be, at 
 least, hinting the superiority of Cephas, in that he had seen and 
 lived with the Lord, in that he had had the keys committed to him ; 
 such persons would always be trying, perhaps covertly, to bring the 
 Gentiles under the yoke — if not in matters of importance, at least 
 in minor matters, purifications, meats, drinks, &c. And they 
 would appeal to the example of St. Peter, who was absent, for if he 
 had been present, he would certainly have energetically repudiated 
 such a use of his name. For, if we are to judge from his Epistles, 
 there were not the smallest doctrinal or practical differences 
 betwixt himself and St. Paul. They both held prominently the 
 same doctrines of grace, and expressed them in very nearly the 
 same way. 
 
 " And I of Christ." With respect to this party or faction, com- 
 mentators are beyond measure divided. Godet has ten closely- 
 printed pages upon it, and refers to the opinions of above five-and- 
 twenty commentators. It may suffice to notice two. 
 
 (1.) Those who asserted their superior spirituality, or their unique 
 holding of Christ and Christ alone. Doubtless they prided them- 
 selves on their spirituality and inward light, and looked down with 
 contempt on those who professed to follow the opinion of any 
 teacher. Perhaps they ignored the Apostolic teaching altogether, 
 and proclaimed the doctrine of direct communion with God, 
 without the aid of ministry or ordinances, like modern Quakers or 
 Plymouth Brethren ; and these, as well as the others, the Apostle 
 rebuked. 
 
 you •with excellency of speech or of wisdom ; " others that he was the anthor of the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, as if an Alexandrian Jew, dwelling in Asia Minor or Greece, 
 without any Apostolical authority on the one hand, or connection with Palestine on the 
 other, would write such aa Epistle for the use of Palestinian Jews, 
 
12 IS CHRIST DIVIDED t [I. Cor. 
 
 13 ^Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or 
 E^^'iv ^5' ^' were je baptized in the name of Paul ? 
 
 13. " Is Christ divided ? " Some translate this as an assertion, " Christ is divided." 
 The Revisers give this translation in margin ; but see below. 
 
 (2.) Others, however, as Godet, regard them as ultra Judaizers — 
 not allowing to the Gentiles the hberty asserted for them in 
 the Council at Jerusalem, but appealing to the example of Christ, 
 "Who was born under the law, was circumcised, was a constant 
 attendant in the Temple, and "Who said respecting the law that not 
 one jot or tittle of it should pass away. Such would assert that not 
 only St. Paul but the older Apostles had declined from the example 
 and teaching of Christ, and would proudly and scornfully proclaim 
 that they, and they alone, were *' of Christ," and would bind upon 
 the Gentiles everywhere every tittle of the law which Christ Him- 
 self observed. I incline to this latter view of the Christ-party, for 
 it seems to me that the Apostles nowhere recognize that such a 
 purely nineteenth centm-y perversion of Christianity as Plymouth 
 Brethrenism existed among their converts. 
 
 13. "Is Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye 
 baptized ? " &c. Some understand, " Is Christ divided ? " not as a 
 question, but as an indignant assertion, " Christ is divided," 
 answering to what we so often hear, "the seamless coat of Christ 
 is rent." Bishop Elhcott, however, gives strong reasons for con- 
 sidering it to be an indignant question, and asserts that it is so 
 translated by all the versions, all the Greek expositors, and the 
 majority of the best modern commentators. It may be paraphrased, 
 *' If the name of Christ implies one Atonement, one Mediation, one 
 Mystical Body, do not ye by your divisions do what in you lies 
 to tear Him to pieces? Ye act as if ye would appropriate to 
 yourselves Him Who is God's gift to all. Can this be without 
 deadly sin ? " 
 
 "Was Paul crucified for you?" This implies that by His 
 Bloodshedding Christ purchased the whole Church with His 
 Blood, that all should be the servants of Himself, their One 
 Master. 
 
 " Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ? " Baptism into 
 the name of Christ implied grafting into His Body, and Burial, 
 and Besurrection with Him. "By calling yourselves by the 
 
Chap. I.] I BAPTIZED NONE OF YOU. 13 
 
 14 I thank Grod tliat I baptized none of you, but ^ Crispus 
 and ^ Gains ; » Acts xviii. s. 
 
 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in °'"" ^''' ^^* 
 mine own name. 
 
 15. " I had baptized in mine own name." So D., E., F., G., L,, P., most Cursives (d, 
 q, r), Syriac; but S, A., B., C, some Cursives (e, f), Vnlg., Copt, read, "ye were 
 baptized." 
 
 names of men ye act as if they could be on your behalf what 
 Christ is." 
 
 It has been noticed that if Christ had died only as an example, and 
 not as a reconciling Sacrifice, there would have been no such great 
 incongruity in men calling themselves by the name of Cephas or 
 Paul, for they were both men who set examples of sm'passing 
 goodness. 
 
 14, 15. "I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus 
 and Gains ; . . . . baptized in mine own name." Crispus was the 
 ruler of the Synagogue, respecting whom it is said that "he 
 believed on the Lord with all his house " (Acts xviii. 8) ; and Gains, 
 or Caius, was the person at whose house St. Paul lodged. 
 
 It appears to have been the rule with the Apostles not to ad- 
 minister the Sacrament of Baptism themselves. Thus St. Peter, 
 even in the case of Cornelius and his household, did not baptize 
 them with his own hands, but commanded them to be baptized in 
 the name of the Lord (Acts x. 48). And so the twelve men at 
 Ephesus, who had been disciples of the Baptist, were probably 
 baptized, not by the Apostle, but by some inferior minister (Acts 
 xix. 5). 
 
 Paul assigns as the reason for his not personally administering 
 the Sacrament his wish to make it impossible that any should say 
 that he baptized in his own name, and the Apostles also may have 
 declined in their own persons to administer it, that men might not 
 be tempted to think that the Baptism of an Apostle was accompanied 
 with greater grace than that of an ordinary minister ; whereas, no 
 matter who was the baptizer, it was always a Death and Eesurrec- 
 tion with the Lord. 
 
 16. " And I baptized also the household of Stephanas," &c. The 
 Apostle here suddenly remembered that there was one other whom, 
 with his household, he had himself baptized. Stephanas who, with 
 
14 THE HOUSEHOLD OF STEPHANAS. [I. Cor. 
 
 16 And I baptized also the houseliold of "^ Stephanas : 
 
 « ch. xvi. 15, besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 
 
 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to 
 
 his family, are called in chapter xvi. the first-fruits of Achaia, 
 was one of their foremost ministers, being commissioned by St. 
 Paul to rule as well as teach. His presence with St. Paul at the 
 time he wrote this letter would have recalled the well-nigh forgotten 
 fact to his memory. 
 
 17. " For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the 
 Gospel." How is it that the commission of St. Paul and of the 
 original Apostles was different ? They were sent to preach and 
 baptize (Matth. xxviii.) : " Go, ye, and disciple all nations, bap- 
 tizing them." He, on the contrary, seems to assert here that he was 
 sent to preach only. Now the full answer is to ask the question, 
 "What Gospel did he preach ? If we are to believe his letters, he 
 preached a Gospel, one chief article of which was that, in order to 
 partake of the Piedemption of Christ, we are to submit to be bap- 
 tized into His Death, and in order to partake of His Life, wo are, 
 by the same act, to be baptized into His Eesurrection. St. Paul 
 preached a Christ Who laid it upon His followers that by one most 
 holy rite they were to be brought into His mystical Body ; and by 
 another they were to partake of His Flesh and Blood as their 
 Spiritual Food and Sustenance. It is certain that if St. Peter had 
 had to face the same error which St. Paul had, he would have ex- 
 pressed himself in the same way. Like St. Paul, he would have 
 first preached a Christ into whose Body all believers, if they would 
 be saved, must be baptized ; and, like St. Paul, he would (as we 
 know he did) order that they should be baptized by the hands of 
 others. As Meyer well expresses it : " In the assured consciousness 
 that the design of his Apostolic mission was teaching, Paul recog- 
 nized that baptizing, as an external office, and one that required no 
 special gift, should as a rule be left to others." None could preach 
 with the plenitude of inspiration which St. Paul had ; but the 
 baptism by the hands of any minister whatsoever would equally 
 admit the catechumen into the same kingdom of grace. 
 
 It is miserable to think that this passage should have been used 
 to perpetuate the misunderstandings in the Church of England 
 respecting the Sacrament of Baptism, and that by one, at least, of 
 
€nAP. L] THE CROSS OF NONE EFFECT. 15 
 
 2:)reacli the gospel : ^ not with, wisdom of || words, lest the 
 cross of Christ should be made of none effect. ^ eh. ii. i, -j, 
 
 13. 2 Pet. i. 
 
 16. 
 
 I Or, speech. 
 
 her own bishops. It has been used to set Baptism against preach- 
 ing, and to discourage the use of constant reference in our teaching 
 to the grace we have therein received, as a grace for which we 
 must hold ourselves to be answerable. It would be well if persons 
 offending thus were to remember the words of Bishop Butler: "As 
 it is one of the peculiar weaknesses of human nature where, upon a 
 comparison of two things, one is found to be of greater importance 
 than the other, to consider this other as of scarce any importance 
 &t all : it is highly necessary that we remind ourselves how great 
 presumption it is to make light of any institution of Divine 
 -appointment; that our obligations to obey all God's commands 
 whatever are absolute and indispensable ; and that commands 
 merely positive, admitted to be from Him, lay us under a moral 
 •obligation to obey them — an obligation moral in the strictest and 
 most moral sense." 
 
 "Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made 
 •of none effect." The word Gospel at once brings to his mind the 
 perversions of the Gospel, which in all probability had already be- 
 gun, for about five years after this he has to put the Colossian 
 Christians on their guard against them. (Coloss. ii, 18.) He cannot, 
 we repeat again, allude to the preaching of Apollos, for this man is 
 •described by St. Luke as " mighty in the Scriptures," and so far 
 from "making the cross of Christ of none effect," he helped them 
 much " that had believed through grace " (Acts xviii. 24-28). The 
 Apostle, as he goes on to say in the next verse, would consider the 
 Gospel a message of life or death, and would abhor with his whole 
 ■soul any preaching of it which would divert men's minds from the 
 message itself to the setting of it. It was from his point of view 
 exceedingly simple — the Son of God incarnate, crucified, risen, 
 ascended, and returning to judge. All words and ideas derived 
 from Greek or Oriental philosophy merely obscured it, and blunted 
 the sharpness by which it would penetrate the heart (Heb. iv. 12). 
 Quesnel has an admirable remark : "It is to the humility of the 
 preaching of the cross that God has annexed the grace of the con- 
 version of sinners, and His power to save His elect. It is a 
 -deplorable abuse of preaching to have more regard to the taste 
 
16 THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS. [I. Cor. 
 
 e 2 Cor. ii. 15. 18 For the preaching of the cross is to * them 
 
 ch.ii.M'/' ' that perish ^foolishness; but unto us * which are 
 
 g ch. XV. 2. g^^g^ it is ^.^e h g^ ()f (^o(J^ 
 
 h Rom. i. 16. ^ 
 
 ver. 24. 
 
 18. " The preaching of the cross ; " lit. '* the word of the cross." So Revisers, Vulg. 
 verbum. 
 
 and judgment of a small number of worldly persons, who will never 
 profit by it, than to the spiritual advantage of those whom God 
 desires to save." .^,,^^^^.\,., 
 
 18. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish 
 foolishness ; but," &c. No_ words could express the scorn with 
 which an educated Greek would regard the message that a^mor 
 despised Galilean had reconciled the world to God by His Death, 
 ^nd that the only way of being delivered from all evils of body-and 
 soul, temporal and eternal, was by believing that this crucified 
 Man was not held by death, but was raised from the dead thatJHJ& 
 might be the present powerof life to all, and the future Judge of_all 
 men. This, of course, would be utter folly and nonsense to him as 
 long as he was in the way of destruction — as long as he was perish- 
 ing by refusing to believe the abundant evidence presented to him 
 that the Supreme Kuler of the visible and invisible worlds had in- 
 terfered to save men from ruin. 
 
 "But unto us which are saved." "Unto us who are being 
 saved." The same participle as in Acts ii. 47, where see note. 
 
 The power of the preaching of the cross is twofold. It is the 
 power of God to draw to God all who hear it, because it exhibits as 
 nothing else does the love of God, and love attracts, and the love 
 of God, as displayed in the gift of His Son to die for us, attracts us 
 to God, according to the words of St. John, "We love him because 
 he first loved us ;" and, again, the Lord says, " I, if I be lifted up 
 from the earth, will draw all men unto me." 
 
 But, again, it is the power of God, because the Death of the Lord 
 was never preached by the Lord apart from His Kesurrection, and 
 by His Kesurrection He makes over to us the power of His New 
 Life ; and so the Apostle desires to know the power of his Lord's 
 Resurrection (Phil. iii. 10). 
 
 19. "For it is written, I wiU destroy the wisdom of the wise," 
 &c. This place, which St. Paul cites, is from Isaiah xxix. 14, but 
 follows the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew. The Hebrew runs, 
 
Chap. I.] WHEllE IS THE WISE? 17 
 
 19 For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the 
 wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding ^ Job t. 12, 13. 
 
 Isa. xxix. U. 
 
 of the prudent. Jer. viii. 9. 
 
 20 "^ Where is the wise? where is the scribe? ^^i^a. xxxm. 
 
 *' The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understand- 
 ing of their prudent men shall be hid." The Septuagint reads, " I 
 will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understand- 
 ing of the prudent." 
 
 But the place in Isaiah has primary reference to the deliverance 
 of the Israelites from the Assyrian invasion ; how is it applicable to 
 redemption from sin ? In this way. The Jews placed their hopes 
 of dehverance in the politicians who had counselled alhance with 
 Egypt. No worldly policy could seem wiser ; but it was, or if the 
 Lord had not Himself intervened it would have been, for their de- 
 struction. " The strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and 
 the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion," &c. " And when 
 they were on the point of complete national ruin, the Lord inter- 
 vened and saved them. And God now proceeds on the same prin- 
 ciple 'in saving the world. He snatches it from perdition by an 
 act of His own love ; and without deigning in the least to conjoin 
 with Him human wisdom, which, on the contrary, He sweeps 
 away as folly." (Godet.) 
 
 20. " Where is the wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the dis- 
 puter of this world? " &c. "Where is the wise ? " i.e., where is 
 mere human philosophy ? What power could it afford against 
 sin, what assurance of immortality and judgment, what proof of 
 the efficacy of repentance, what atonement, and reconciliation to 
 God? 
 
 " Where is the scribe ? " The Jewish teacher or rabbi can only 
 be here referred to. What had he to bring forward ? Only glosses 
 and false interpretations, which made void the law of God, and so 
 prevented that law from leading men to Christ. 
 
 " Where is the disputer of this world ? " Most probably the 
 Apostle had in his mind the Greek sophists. Indeed, having men- 
 tioned Jewish human wisdom in the scribes, he cannot but here 
 allude to the sophists, who, for purposes of gain, made the same 
 bad use of philosophy as the cavilling and disputing Eabbis did 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 
 where 
 
 ( is 
 
 Job xii 
 20, 24. 
 xliv. 25. 
 i. 22. 
 
 Isa. 
 Rom, 
 
 m Rom. 
 21, 28. 
 Matt, xi 
 Luke X. 
 
 i. 20, 
 See 
 .25. 
 21. 
 
 THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD. [I. Cor. 
 
 the disputer of this world ? ^ hath not Grod made 
 foolish the wisdom of this world ? 
 
 21 ™For after that in the wisdom of Grod the 
 world by wisdom knew not Grod, it pleased God by 
 the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe. 
 
 20. " Of this world ;" rather, " of the world." So N, A., B., C, D. ; hut E., F., G., 
 L., most Cursives, Syriac, Copt., Arm., d, e, f, g, r, Vulg., read as in Text. Rec. 
 
 21. "After that." " Seeing that," Revisers. 
 
 " Preaching." Not so much " preaching " as the matter preached. 
 
 The form of the verse seems to be a reminiscence of Isaiah xxxiii. 
 18, "Where is the scribe ? where is the receiver? where is he that 
 counted the towers? " but only the form. And St. Paul so alters 
 the latter clause, as to make it embrace all the departments of 
 human speculation and wisdom whose spirit was opposed to the 
 teaching of the Cross. 
 
 "Of this world?" refers to all three. St. Paul does not ask, 
 *' Where is the wise ? " for he was in this very Epistle teaching the 
 Church the highest wisdom ; but this was a wisdom not having its 
 origin in this world, but from above ; and that there might be 
 scribes not of this world, the Lord Himself asserts, when in Matth. 
 xiii. 52, He speaks of " every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 " Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world ? " He 
 hath made it foolish by showing that in the things of most impor- 
 tance to man, such as his deliverance from moral e^il, and his 
 eternal hopes, it had nothing to say which could be relied on. 
 
 And He made it foolish by the presence amongst us of the 
 highest wisdom which it is possible for a creature to possess, a 
 wisdom which unites us to God, and makes us partakers of His 
 holiness. 
 
 21. " For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom 
 knew," &c. " In the wisdom of God." Two meanings have been 
 given to this clause. Some have held that in the unsearchable 
 wisdom of God He did not allow the world to know Him by wis- 
 dom, i.e., by philosophy, or by the evidence of His own works of 
 creation. He reserved the true knowledge of Himself to be given 
 through revelation — particularly the revelation of Himself in His 
 
CifAP. I.] THE JEWS REQUIRE A SIGX. 19 
 
 22 For tlie ° Jews require a sign, and tlie G-reeks « Matt. xii. 
 
 , £, . , 38. & xvi. 1. 
 
 seek alter wisdom : Mark viii. ii. 
 
 Luke xi. 16. 
 John iv. 48. 
 
 22. "A sign." So L., most Cursives, &c.; but s. A., B., C, D., E., F., G., P., 46, 52, 
 63, 80, d, e, f, q, r, Vulg., Syr., Copt., ^Eth. read, "signs." 
 
 Son. Others, recoiling from the too predestinarian significance of 
 this, consider the wisdom of God to be that displayed in the works 
 of creation, and understand it as meaning that notwithstanding that 
 the wisdom of God was so gloriously displayed in His works, the 
 world, by its wisdom, which sought not to apprehend the Divine 
 Wisdom, knew not God, i.e., practically. 
 
 *' It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
 that believe." It pleased God no more to approach them with 
 what they deemed wisdom, but through what in their natural 
 unregenerate state they would deem folly — the preaching of a 
 crucified Jew as being tkrough His Death the Deliverer from sin 
 and death. 
 
 Preaching {Kijpvyixa) signifies rather the contents of the message 
 than the form of its delivery. 
 
 22. "For the Jews require a sign [or signs], and the Greeks 
 seek after wisdom." This was the constant practice of the un- 
 believing Jews in our Lord's time. After He had traversed their 
 land, healing in an instant all manner of sickness and all manner 
 of disease — after He had fed the five thousand and the four thou- 
 sand — they asked of Him " a sign from heaven." His miracles, 
 they objected, were all done in the lower sphere of this earth ; if 
 He could do one which manifestly had its origin in heaven, as they 
 falsely supposed the manna had, then they would believe. But 
 they would not have believed. For He exhibited a power which 
 could only have proceeded from the Supreme Lord of life and 
 death when He raised Lazarus from the dead ; and the power of 
 the Supreme God alone could have raised Him from the dead ; and 
 yet these most perverse men still asked for signs. Even in Corinth, 
 where so many exercised miraculous gifts, bestowed upon them by 
 ihe hands of Paul, they asked for yet more signs. 
 
 "And the Greeks seek after wisdom." That is, instead of the 
 Gospel, the account of the Son of God Incarnate, born of a 
 virgin, dwelling in obscurity, speaking words of power to reach 
 iihe heart and rectify the conscience, crucified, risen, ascended, and 
 
20 WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED. [I. Cor. 
 
 isa. viii. 14. 23 But we preacli Christ crucified, ** unto tlie 
 xiilsi'^^'Luke Jews a stumblingblock, and unto tlie G-reeks 
 
 ii. 34. Johu ^ „ T. T 
 
 vi. 60, 66. P looiisnness ; 
 
 Garv! n!^* 24 But unto tliem wliicli are called, both Jews 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 8. 
 
 P ver. 18. 
 
 ch. ii. 14. 
 
 23. "Unto the Greeks." So most Cursives; but S, A., B., C, D., E., F., G., L., P., 
 several Cursives (5, 10, 17, 23»*, 31, 37, 46, 71. 73, 80, 93), d, e, f, q, r, Vulg., Cop., Arm., 
 ^th., &c., *• unto the Gentiles." 
 
 speaking to the world through men of no commanding intellectual 
 power, they required a Plato or an Aristotle, who should present 
 to them an intellectual view of things. " The Greek ideal is quite 
 different (from the Jewish) : it is a masterpiece of wisdom : the 
 Divine intellectualized in a system, eloquently giving account of 
 the nature of the Gods, the origin, cause, or end of the universe." 
 (Godet.) 
 
 23. " But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling- 
 block," &c. That is, we preach Christ in the lowest depth to which 
 for our sakes He descended. " Taking the form of a slave, and 
 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became 
 obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The Apostle 
 did not for a moment conceal or put in the background the extreme 
 humiliation to which the Lord of Glory descended. On the con- 
 trary, he put it in the foremost place of all, well aware that it 
 would be a stumblingblock to his own countrymen, and the occa- 
 sion of unbounded scorn and ridicule to the proud, self-sufficient, 
 intellect- worshipping Greeks ; but aware also that it would not 
 fail in bringing about God's purpose — it would prosper in the thing 
 whereunto God sent it, for he goes on — 
 
 24. " But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, 
 Christ the power of God." Those " which are called," i.e., effectually 
 called — those to whose innermost souls the call of God reaches, 
 and in whom it abides [" My words abide in you "], and must we 
 not say those who are described by the Lord in His parable of the 
 Sower? " They which in an honest and good heart having heard 
 the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience " (Luke 
 viii. 15). 
 
 " Christ the power of God." This is meant for the Jews who 
 require signs — that is, exhibitions of the power of God. Christ 
 Crucified is the power of God to attract sinners who feel the burden. 
 
Chap. L] CHRIST THE POWER OF GOD. 21 
 
 and Greeks, Christ *^ tlie power of Grod, and "■ the wisdom of 
 
 God. 1 Rom. i. 4, 
 
 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than r coi. u. 3. ' 
 men ; and the weakness of God is stronger than 
 men. 
 
 of sin, and Christ Crucified is the power of God to atone for sin 
 and remit it. Christ Crucified is the greatest power in the moral 
 and spiritual world, for He is the power of the Love of God, and 
 through His Resurrection, which can never be dissociated from 
 His Death, He is the power of Life to a dead world. St. Paul 
 desires to "know Him and the power of His Resurrection, and 
 the fellowship of His sufferings — being made conformable to His 
 Death." (Phil. iii. 10.) The power of His Resurrection was exhibited 
 in His Apostles, when they did greater works than even He did — 
 greater works both in conversion and sanctification, and in the dis- 
 tribution of miraculous gifts, such as the gifts of tongues and pro- 
 phecy : but all this was but the putting forth of His own power, 
 as when St. Peter said to ^Eneas, " Jesus Christ maketh thee 
 whole." 
 
 " And the wisdom of God." This was especially for those who 
 sought after wisdom. In Christ Crucified problems the most diffi- 
 cult and yet the most important for the interests of man are solved. 
 The reconciliation of the justice and mercy of God — the light in 
 which God regards humility as opposed to pride — self-surrender as 
 opposed to self-assertion, self-denial as opposed to self-love, the 
 efficacy of repentance, the power of faith, the surpassing grace of 
 patience, the virtue of the forgiveness of enemies and persecutors, 
 the strength of weakness, the indomitable courage of true reliance 
 on God. This is all exhibited on the human side of the Crucifixion. 
 On its Divine side is the love of God to sinners, the intense interest 
 which God takes in the warfare between good and evil, the bound- 
 less compassion of the Eternal Father even to His enemies. 
 
 25. " Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men ; and the 
 weakness," &c. The foolishness and weakness of God means that 
 which is foolish and weak in the eyes of the worldly wise. Now 
 the preaching of the Cross with the view of saving men from the 
 guilt and power of moral evil, folly though it be in the eyes of the 
 world, is the highest wisdom and power. "The Apostle means 
 wiser than men with all their wisdom, stronger than men with all 
 
22 NOT MANY WISE MEN. [I. Cor. 
 
 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that ^not many 
 « John vii. 48. wiso men after the flesh, not many mighty, not 
 
 many noble, are called : 
 t Matt. xi. 25. 27 But *God hath chosen the foolish things of 
 See Ps. viu". 2. the worlcl to confound the wise ; and Grod hath 
 
 chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
 
 the things which are mighty j 
 
 their strength. When God has the appearance of acting irra- 
 tionally or weakly, that is the time when He triumphs most cer- 
 tainly over human wisdom and power." 
 
 26. "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise 
 men after the flesh." "Your calling," not your calUng in life, i.e., 
 your station — but your calling in the Gospel, the effectual calling 
 by which the Gospel reaches and converts the heart. 
 
 " That not many wise men after the flesh," i.e., not many of the 
 Sophists, the rhetoricians, the teachers of philosophy : not many 
 mighty, i.e., not many magistrates or rulers of men, or captains, 
 propraetors, &c. : not many noble, that is, not many of noble 
 families. 
 
 Some of the Fathers, however, apply the word to the callers as 
 well as to the called. Thus Ambrose on Luke vi. : " He chose 
 the Twelve. Observe His Divine wisdom. He chose not the 
 wise, nor rich, nor noble, but fishermen and publicans, lest He 
 might appear to have drawn the world to Himself by wisdom, or 
 to have redeemed it by wealth, or to have allm-ed men by the 
 influence of power or rank ; and in order that the power of Divine 
 truth, not the dreams of disputation might prevail." Chrysostom 
 applies it to both callers and called : " Behold your calling, saith 
 he : that not only teachers of an untrained sort, but disciples also 
 of the like class, were objects of His choice." 
 
 27. " But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to 
 confound the wise," &c. This was apparent at the very beginning 
 of the Church, when the High Priests and Sanhedrim perceived 
 that the Apostles were "unlearned and ignorant men." But was 
 it so afterwards ? Was not St. Paul one who had profited in the 
 Jews' rehgion, and was he not " exceedingly zealous of the tradi- 
 tions of his fathers " ? Yes : but in preaching the Gospel, Paul, as 
 
Chap. I.] BASE THINGS OF THE WORLD. 23 
 
 28 And base things of the world, and things which are 
 despised, hath God chosen, yea, and "" things » Rom. iv. 17. 
 which are not, ''to bring to nought things that '^ """ ' 
 are: 
 
 28. "Yea, and things." "Yea, and" omitted by H, A., C, D., F., G. ; retained by 
 B., E., L., P., most Cursives, Vulg., Syr., Copt., Arm., &c. 
 
 far as was possible, laid aside all this, and devoted himself to the 
 simple proclamation of the Crucified, and Salvation through Him. 
 
 " And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound," 
 &c. Nothing was weaker in the eyes of men than the Gospel as an 
 instrument for converting the world, and destroying heathenism 
 and false philosophy ; for we must remember that the Gospel was 
 the message of Salvation through the Crucifixion and Kesurrection 
 of the Lord. It was not even the moral teaching of the Lord, 
 expressed in well-chosen words and well-rounded sentences, so as 
 to commend itself to the fastidious Greeks. It was " Christ Cruci- 
 fied " which came with power and light. He was " crucified through 
 weakness," and that weakness confounded the might of Satan. 
 
 28. "And base things of the world, and things which are despised," 
 &c. — i.e., low-born Jews, despised by their own flesh and blood, not 
 worthy of the smallest notice. 
 
 " Yea, and things which are not." This is the climax — " no- 
 things " and " nobodies " — to bring to nought things that are. But 
 was this the fact ? Were the great powers and existences of the 
 world brought to nought? Yes, it was soon felt by all heathendom 
 that there was a new power in the world, and the more it was 
 ignored the better ; and about a century and a half afterwards a 
 great Christian writer thus speaks of the Church, taking root down- 
 wards, and bearing fruit upwards : *' Men cry out that the State is 
 beset ; that the Christians are in their fields, in their forts, in their 
 islands. They mourn as for a loss, that every sex, age, condition, 
 and now even rank is going over to this sect." (TertuUian, Apol. i. 
 ch. i.) And Eusebius, speaking of the times of Commodus, writes : 
 " So that now many of those eminent at Eome for their wealth and 
 kindred, with their whole house and family yielded to their salva- 
 tion." ("Eccles. Hist." v. ch. 21.) All this — that God had chosen 
 the foolish, the weak, the base, the despised, the nothings, to con- 
 found the wise, the mighty, the great self- asserting, self- worship- 
 ping world — St. Paul, of course, said in faith. He saw but the 
 
24 NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY. [L Cok. 
 
 29 ^ That no flesh should glory in his presence. 
 •L^o'".-^*'-27. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who oi' 
 
 Epa, n. 9. *' 
 
 beginnings ; but those beginnings were such that he knew that the 
 stone was being " cut out without hands," which would become 
 the great mountain, and fill the whole earth (Dan. ii. 45). 
 
 29. "That no flesh should glory in his presence." This "no 
 flesh" is an Hebraism for no human being, and, of course, it 
 equally applies to every intelligent creature, as flesh and spirit 
 equally derive their existence from Him. But that which makes 
 them unable to assert themselves before Him is that at times He 
 makes their weakness to confound their strength. The weakness 
 of the Lord Jesus in His utter desolation on the cross overcame 
 the might of all evil. Then was He stronger than the strong man. 
 Then He took from him all his armour, and divided the spoils. 
 
 30. " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto 
 us wisdom," &c. This "but" signifies that though there is no 
 boasting in self, or human wisdom, or power, there are those who 
 have whereof to glory, not in themselves, but in what God has done 
 and given. 
 
 " Of him " — that is, of God the Father — " of whom are all things, 
 and we in him." 
 
 If things that were not have now become something, it is due 
 to God alone. And very great things — the greatest things which 
 the creature can receive — are " of him ; " but we receive them not 
 singly, not as separate, independent units, but in Christ Jesus, in 
 union with Him. 
 
 " Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness," &c. 
 This passage would be clearer if the order was adhered to, and 
 the force of the particles observed. The Eevisers translate : " Who 
 was made unto us wisdom from God, as also righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption." It is as if the Apostle, having 
 mentioned wisdom, suddenly remembered that wisdom was not 
 all — there was righteousness too, and sanctification combined with 
 it, and also redemption. 
 
 Christ of God, or from God, or on the part of God, is made unto 
 us wisdom. He is the Word of God, the Wisdom of the Book of 
 Proverbs, Whom " the Lord possessed in the beginning of His way," 
 and Whose " delights were with the sons of men." But in a more 
 excellent way He became wisdom from God to us, when He became 
 
Chap. L] WISDOM. RIGHTEOUSNESS. 25 
 
 Ood is made unto us 'wisdom, and " righteousness, ' ver. 24. 
 and ^ sanctification, and ^ redemption : e. ^Rom"iv.^' 
 
 25. 2 Cor. V. 
 21. Phil. iii. 9. 
 
 b J„hnxvii.l9. 
 
 c Eph. i. 7. 
 
 incarnate, when He taught the people with authority — above all, 
 when He exhibited the union of God's attributes of justice and 
 mercy on the cross; and when He sent down the Spirit, and made 
 men members of His body, that the wisdom of the Head should be 
 infused into them. 
 
 But not only did He become to us wisdom, He became righteous- 
 ness also. " God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." " He is 
 the end of the law for righteousness " (Kom. viii. 4 ; x. 4). 
 
 And not only righteousness, but along with it sanctification. 
 This does not mean merely purity of heart and life, but the dedica- 
 tion to God of all our faculties, so that we should be priests to God, 
 offering up to Him spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The sanctification of the Old Testament especially signifies 
 dedication — separation from all profane uses to the service of God 
 alone. Thus the whole people were sanctified or dedicated to be a 
 kingdom of priests — an holy nation. The altar, the tabernacle, its 
 vessels, the priests were all sanctified — i.e., set apart from profane 
 to holy uses. 
 
 The Christian Sanctification is in Christ. He gave Himself for 
 His Church, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the 
 washing of water by the word : " We are washed, we are sanctified, 
 we are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of 
 our God " (vi. 11). 
 
 "And redemption." There can be little doubt but that St. Paul 
 means by this redemption the redemption of the body, to which he 
 alludes in Kom. viii. 23 : *' Waiting for the adoption — to wit, the 
 redemption of our body." The all-reconciling redemptive work 
 upon the Cross, which is the foundation of all else, preceded, of 
 course, our righteousness and sanctification in Him. And here re- 
 demption is mentioned last, whereas, if we are to confine the word 
 to our Lord's purchase of us by His Blood upon the Cross, it would 
 have come first. It signifies the final redemption at the day of 
 Resurrection : thus, " Until the redemption of the purchased posses- 
 
26 LET HIM GLOKY IN THE LOKD. [I. Cor, 
 
 31 That, according as it is written, ^ He that glorieth, let 
 d Jer. ix. 23, him fflory in the Lord. 
 
 24. 2Cor. X. ° *' 
 
 17. — 
 
 sion," and " The Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day 
 of redemption " (Ephes. i. 14 ; iv. 30). 
 
 Thus Bishop Ellicott : " Eedemption, not merely from past sins 
 and present sufferings, but also with a more inclusive reference to 
 the final and complete redemption from sin, Satan, and death 
 eternal." And Godet: "The Apostle seems to have in mind the 
 principal phases of Christ's being — wisdom, by His hfe and teach- 
 ing ; righteousness, by His Death and Eesurrection ; sanctijicationy 
 by His elevation to glory ; redemption, by His future return." 
 
 31. " That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him 
 glory in the Lord." The place where this is written is no doubt 
 Jeremiah ix. 23, 24 : " Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man 
 glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in hi8 
 strength, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let hina 
 that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, 
 that I am the Lord which exercise loving- kindness, judgment, 
 and righteousness, in the earth : for in these things I delight, saith 
 the Lord." 
 
 How is it that the Apostle regards boasting as so evil ? He con- 
 stantly speaks against it ; and, in doing this, he goes much deeper 
 than Jeremiah, for the prophet will not have men boast in their 
 wisdom, their might, their riches, whereas the Apostle will not 
 have men boast of their virtue, their righteousness, their keeping 
 of the law. Evidently for this reason, that all boasting arises from 
 two very evil things in the heart — pride and self-dependence. Men 
 boast because they constantly contemplate themselves ; men boast 
 because they have no feeling of dependence ; they never ask the 
 question, "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if 
 thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not 
 received it?" (iv. 7.) 
 
 In this condemnation of boasting the Apostle is only carrying on 
 the teaching of his Master, for Christ's first words were, *' Blessed 
 are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ; " His 
 second, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com- 
 forted ; " His third, " Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
 the earth." 
 
CHAP.n.] I DETERMINED. 27 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 AKD I, brethren, when I came to yon, *came not with 
 excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring 
 unto you ** the testimony of God. 
 
 2 For I determined not to know any thing 
 among you, ''save Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
 fied. 
 
 » ch. i 
 
 . 17. 
 
 ver. 4, 
 
 1.3. 
 
 2 COTr 
 
 X. 10. 
 
 &xi. 6 
 
 
 b ch. i 
 
 .6. 
 
 c Gal. 
 
 vi.l4. 
 
 Phil. iii. 8. 
 
 1. "The testimony of God." So B., D., E., F., G.. L., P., most Cursives, d, e, f, g» 
 Vulg., Sah., JEih., Arm. ; but N, A., C, Syr., Copt., read, " the mystery of Goi." 
 
 1. "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with ex- 
 cellency of speech," &c. As was the Gospel, so was its deliveiy. 
 He did not wrap up that which was extremely simple in high- 
 flown words and phrases, which would have destroyed the power 
 of its simplicity. 
 
 " Declaring unto you the testimony [or mystery] of God." The 
 authorities for the two words are very evenly balanced, but the 
 meaning and force are the same in either case, for the testimony 
 of God — that which He testified by the Eesm'rection, viz., the true 
 Sonship of the Only Begotten, and His Atoning Death — was mystery 
 and must ever be : and the mystery of God was not wrapped up in 
 a philosophy, but was a testimony, a testimony to the gift of His 
 Son for the salvation of the world. 
 
 2. " For I determined not to know any thing among you, save 
 Jesus Christ," &c. This does not mean that he determined to 
 preach only the Crucifixion, because from all the first part of 
 1 Cor. XV. we gather that the principal fact of his Gospel, on which 
 he laid most stress, was the Lord's Eesurrection : but it means 
 that in all his preaching of Jesus Incarnate, Dying and Kising 
 again, he never kept back, but put in the foreground Jesus as 
 Crucified. He never allowed any human motives or prudential 
 considerations to make him keep back the offence of the Cross. 
 "Whatever temptations he might have to speak with reserve of the 
 shame and indignity which the Lord suffered, he never yielded to 
 
28 NOT WITH ENTICING WORDS. [I. Cor. 
 
 d Acts xviii. 1, 3 And ^ I was witli you ^ in weakness, and in 
 
 e'2 Cor. iv. 7. fear, and in mncli trembling. 
 & X. 1, 10. & 
 
 xi.30. & xii. 5, 
 9. Gal.iv. 13. 
 f ver. 1. ch. 
 
 4 And my speecli and my preaching ^ was not 
 with II enticing words of man's wisdom, ^ but in 
 
 i. 17. 2 Pet. demonstration of the Spirit and of power : 
 
 II Or, per- 
 
 suosible. 
 
 g Rom. XV. 19. 
 1 Thess. i. 5. 
 
 4. "Of man's wisdom." So A., C, L., P., most Cursives ; but a, B., D., E., F., G., 
 
 d, e, f, q, r, Vulg. (Cod. Amiat.), Syr., Sah., Arm., Mth., omit " man's." 
 
 them for a moment, but held up the Cross as the power of God for 
 remission of sin and attraction of hearts to God. 
 
 3. "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much 
 trembling." No doubt this took place because of those personal 
 infirmities to which he so often alludes : thus in 2 Cor. x. 10 he 
 makes his adversaries say of him (and no doubt they did say it) 
 *' that his bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible." 
 And also in xi. 30: "If I must needs glory, I will glory of the 
 things which concern mine infirmities." Again, " I will not glory 
 but in mine infirmities." He seems to have had a painful con- 
 sciousness of these infirmities, whatever they were, and dreaded 
 exceedingly lest they should hinder the reception of the truths 
 which he preached. Perhaps this dread also, for some wise reason, 
 was permitted to have especial hold on him when he com- 
 menced his ministry in Corinth, for the Lord Himself appeared 
 to him in a vision, supporting him with the words, " Be not afraid, 
 but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee" (Acts 
 xviii. 9). Someone has remarked that a peculiar undefined dread 
 hanging over a preacher is very frequently the prelude to a par- 
 ticular blessing attending his ministry. 
 
 4. *' And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing 
 words," &c. The Corinthians seem especially to have expected 
 these honied, enticing words from those who would move them, 
 and so " Corinthian words " was a popular expression for exquisite 
 phrases. (Stanley.) 
 
 ''^My speech" {XSyog), the form and words of speech; "my 
 preaching," the thing preached, the substance of what he pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 " In demonstration of the Spirit and of power." " In demonstra- 
 
Chap, n.] NOT IN THE WISDOM OF MEN. 29 
 
 5 That your faitli should not f stand in the wisdom of 
 men, but ^ in the power of God. t Gr. be. 
 
 h 2 Cor. iv. 7. 
 & vi. 7. 
 
 tion " means in clear proof, recognizable by all, that the Spirit of 
 God accompanied his preaching. 
 
 Commentators are divided as to what this " demonstration of 
 the Spirit " is. Some say that we must exclude from our view 
 the mu-aculous gifts of the Spirit, and confine it to the internal 
 working of the Spirit of God upon the soul, according to the 
 words of the Lord, " He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of 
 mine, and shall show it unto you." And no doubt conversion, 
 especially that of one brought up in heathenism, is as manifest a 
 work of the Holy Ghost as any miracle of bodily healing. Godet, 
 a commentator who generally takes a believing view of Scripture, 
 and so cannot be credited with a rationalistic dislike of miracles, 
 goes so far as to write, " Chrysostom, and in our day Beet, apply 
 these expressions to the outward miracles which St. Paul some- 
 times (?) wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. xii. 12 ; 
 Rom. XV. 19). Such an interpretation, allowable in the infancy of 
 exegesis, should now no longer be possible." But did not the Spirit 
 of God actually accompany the preaching of St. Paul with outward 
 mighty signs and wonders ? The Apostle, in the two places cited 
 by Godet, expressly declares that He did. Take 2 Cor. xii. 12 : 
 " Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in signs* 
 and wonders, and mighty deeds." These signs and wonders were 
 wrought in Corinth before their eyes. They were the means, not 
 perhaps by which they believed, but by which their attention was 
 directed to the preaching of an obscure foreign Jew, as St. Paul 
 was. Freely allowing that the miracle of miracles was the resur- 
 rection of a dead soul to the life of Christ, still this was a miracle 
 in the compass of the heart only, and could, for a time at least, be 
 known only to a few, whilst the outward miracles brought directly 
 to the notice of thousands the working among them of the unseen 
 Euler of the universe. Considering the very great stress which 
 the Apostle laid upon his miracles as the signs of his Apostleship, 
 it is impossible to doubt but that he had them principally in his 
 mind when he wrote this passage. 
 
 5. " That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but 
 in the power of God." That your faith should not stand in the 
 
^0 WE SPEAK WISDOM. [I. Cor. 
 
 ^\ fv 1?* ^ Howbeit we speak wisdom among them ' that 
 
 n'b' "'iF' ^^^ perfect : yet not ^ the wisdom of this world, 
 
 k ch. i. 20. & nor of the princes of this world, ^ that come to 
 
 iii. 19. ver. , , 
 
 1, 13. 2 Cor. noiio^ht : 
 
 o 
 
 i, 12. James 
 
 iii. 15. 
 
 eh. i. 28. 
 
 exhibition of the Gospel as a philosophical system expressed in the 
 terms of human science and logic, but in the power of God, in the 
 power of God within you, making you new creatm-es in Christ, 
 with new views of God, and His Son, and His Spirit, and the 
 eternal world, and confirming the truth and reality of this mighty 
 change of all within you by signs and wonders which were in reahty 
 the effects of the Eesurrection of Christ, and which took place in this 
 visible state of things, so that you might be assured that your 
 internal change was not a mental delusion, but a true work of 
 Almighty God. 
 
 6. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect." 
 The Apostle here corrects a misapprehension which might arise 
 from what he had been saying. He had been speaking of God 
 saving men " by the foolishness of preaching," of " the foolishness 
 of God being wiser than men," of " God having chosen the foolish 
 things of the world to confound the wise," of " not having come to 
 them with excellency of speech and of wisdom." And from all 
 this, they might think that there was no true wisdom, no deep 
 philosophy, in the Cross : but here he assures them that if they 
 thought so they would be wrong indeed, for amongst those fit to 
 receive such instruction, whom he calls the perfect, ?.e., the full- 
 grown, as opposed to the babes, they spoke wisdom, but not of 
 this world, nor, he adds, of the princes of this world, that come to 
 nought. 
 
 Why does he mention the princes of this world ? Because the 
 rulers of this world, i.e., the heads of the Jewish Church and 
 State, were directly instrumental in the crucifixion of the Lord, and 
 he had just been speaking of knowing nothing among them save 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The mention of the Cmcified 
 brings to his mind the earthly wisdom to which the Cross was 
 opposed, and this in its turn makes him revert to the fact that the 
 Lord's crucifiers — Chief Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees — were, so 
 far as his own nation were concerned, the possessors of the world's 
 wisdom. 
 
Chap. II.] IN A MYSTERY. 31 
 
 7 But we speak tlie wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 
 
 " That come to nought." This probably means that they were 
 doomed to disappear, and be destroyed in the swift approaching 
 destruction of their city and temple. 
 
 7. *' But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 
 hidden wisdom." " The wisdom of God in a mystery." What is 
 this wisdom of God, and how is it in mystery [Iv ixvarjjplq)) ? 
 
 The wisdom of God is the knowledge of the greatest and highest 
 matters which can be presented to the human intellect, such as the 
 human andtlie Divine in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, as set forth 
 in the Epistles to the Colossians and Hebrews ; the calling of the 
 Gentiles and the casting away of the Jews, in that to the Eomans ; 
 the Headship of Christ in the Epistle to the Ephesians, as well as 
 the Eevelation of the Anomos in the Thessalonians. These are the 
 leading mysteries or leading parts of the one great mystery of 
 Christ which we learn from the Epistles. 
 
 But how is this spoken in a mystery, or in mystery ? There 
 fieems to be but one answer. This wisdom differs from human 
 wisdom in that it is unsearchable by the human intellect. Men, 
 in other respects apparently believers, tell us, or as good as tell us, 
 that there is now no mystery in the usual sense of the word in the 
 New Testament — that a mystery is a thing which was once hidden 
 in God's foreknowledge, but being now revealed becomes a mystery 
 no longer, but is brought into the domain of the human intellect. 
 But let us take the Incarnation of our blessed Lord ; this was pro- 
 phesied of in Isaiah, and so was in the Divine foreknowledge. It 
 was in due time made known to men ; to the Virgin, in the words 
 of the angel (Luke i. 35) ; to the Church, in the words of St. Paul, 
 in Coloss. i., Phil, ii., also in Hebrews i., and in the first chapters 
 of St. John's Gospel and Epistle. But when thus revealed, was it 
 robbed of its mysteriousness, and brought down to our comprehen- 
 sion? No, it was made tenfold more mysterious, for then the 
 human intellect first became thoroughly aware of the unfathomable 
 depth with which it was brought face to face — the perfect union of 
 the Divine and human in the Crucified.' 
 
 1 Godet writes thus respecting the absence of a mystery properly so called in the New 
 Testament. " The word mystery has taken, in theological language, a meaning which 
 it has not in the New Testament, to wit, a truth which human reason cannot fathom, 
 lu Paul's writings it simply signifies a truth or a fact which the human understanding 
 
32 UNTO OUR GLORY. [I. Cor. 
 
 m Rom. XVI. hidden wisdom, ™ whicli God ordained before the 
 
 25.26. Eph. T, , 1 
 
 iii. 5, 9. Col. world Tinto our glory : 
 
 j."9." ' 8 ""Wliicli none of tlie princes of this world 
 
 joifn "i.^'ls^^* knew : for ° had they known it, they would not 
 
 2 cor'ui.'ii liave crucified the Lord of glory. 
 
 o Luke xxiii. 
 
 34. Acts iii. 
 
 17. See John ~ 
 
 xvi. 3. 
 
 " The hidden wisdom," that is, hidden in the Divine foreknow- 
 ledge which God ordained before the world, i.e., before the ages — 
 from all eternity. 
 
 "Unto our glory." This is an astonishing assertion: it seems at 
 first sight to say that the one object of the revelation of these 
 mysteries was for the glory of certain human beings. Now we know 
 that these mysteries were revealed for the salvation of all men, and 
 not only for the glory of the Apostles (Ephes. iii.). But one of the 
 objects of this revelation assuredly was the glory of the Apostles 
 and of those who believed in Christ through their word : and it is 
 an astonishing honour put upon human beings that they should be 
 able to apprehend in any degree the Trinity in Unity, and the 
 wisdom and love of God in the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection 
 of Jesus Christ the Son of God. (See my notes on Rom. viii. 30.) 
 
 8. "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had 
 .... the Lord of glory." Such a title could not have been 
 
 cannot of itself discover, but which it apprehends as soon as God gives the revelation of 
 it. Thus Jesus says, Luke viii. 10, ' It is given to you to know the mysteries of the 
 kingdom ; ' and Paul applies the word mystery to things which we can perfectly com- 
 prehend ; for example, Rom. xvi. 25." But is this true ? When the Lord says, ' To you it is 
 given to know the mysteries of the kingdom,' what does He proceed to make known ? 
 Why, the absolutely unsearchable mystery of the difference between souls which causes 
 some to accept the truth and others to reject it. Some of these souls are compared to the 
 roadside, some to stony ground, some to good ground, but how came it to pass that souls 
 should have these inherent differences ? The great body of the Jews did not realize that 
 there were such differences. The Apostles were told it as a fact, and accepted it because 
 He told them, but in their case the mystery was only removed one step back. The state 
 of particular souls so different, and yet all loved by the Creator, is as much a mystery as 
 ever. Then in Rom. xvi. 25, the mystery which was hid is now made manifest, but 
 surely the mystery of God, giving divine knowledge to one small nation only, and letting 
 all the rest walk in blindness and ignorance, is as great a mystery as can well be pre- 
 sented to man. When St. Paul says, ' Behold I show you a mystery,' he proceeds to assert 
 the reality of the spiritual body; for the mystery in the words "we shall be changed" 
 is a mystery ' which human reason cannot fathom.' The reason why some good men thus 
 repudiate mystery in the New Testament is transparent— they desire to be rid of the 
 Eacharistic mystery. 
 
Chai'.IL] eye hath not SEEN. 33 
 
 9 But as it is written, ^ Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the p is. ixiv. 4. 
 things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 
 
 accorded to the Lord by a sincere IsraeHte Hke St. Paul, unless he 
 believed in the Lord's Godhead. " Who is the King of glory ? " 
 asks the Psalmist : *' The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." 
 9. *' But as it is written," &c. I have considered in a foot- 
 note ^ (the substance of which comes from Neale) the difficulty 
 attached to this quotation — as to the exact place from which it was 
 taken. The Apostle quotes the passage according to his version 
 of it as expressing the three great means of acquiring natural know- 
 ledge, sight, hearing, and reflection or imagination ; and none of 
 them have enabled men to attain to the knowledge of the things 
 which the wisdom of God in a mystery — the hidden wisdom — has 
 given the knowledge of to the regenerate. The description, 
 as it most frequently is, may be applied to the joys of the unseen 
 and eternal world, of which the Lord will put the faithful into 
 possession at His coming : but the Apostle quotes the passage as 
 referring to what God gives us to know and realize, not hereafter, 
 bat here. 
 
 ' The Greek is aXXa xafla/f ylypaTrra*' S o4>3aXju.of oux sTSe, xa» ouf oux ^xotio-e, xai im KctpSiav 
 av&po/irov olx. avs^n, « rnoifMie-ev o ©ecj ToTf a.yaviu<riv cciiriv. Now, on comparing this with the 
 Septuagint version of Isaiah Ixiv. 4 (airo tou aiwvof oCx ^xovo-a/u-ey, ovSe o« otpiaXfjui) tf/xwv elSov 
 Qeoy iT\r]V (TOU, xa» toc. epycc (ro\j, u votri<rei; roTf uTroftivouo-jv e'Mov), which St. Paul is supposed to 
 have qHOted, it will be found that there is not one word the same in the two clauses, and 
 yet this present passage is plainly meant to be a textual quotation : further, the relative 
 a, with which it opens, has no antecedent. It is remarkable that these difficulties are 
 solved by a reference to the Liturgies of SS. James and Mark, in which occur prayers con- 
 taining words exactly identical, mutatis mutandis, with the present verse, and giving also the 
 antecedent (Soapr.fjiara. in St. James, and ayafla in St. Mark) which St. Paul omits. It must 
 therefore be concluded, either that St. Paul may have intended to quote Isaiah, and fell 
 into the form of words as generally used in the Church, or else that he meant to quote 
 directly from the Liturgies ; and that we are to infer that the Liturgies were so generally 
 accepted that he does not hesitate to quote from them as from the Scriptures themselves. 
 Neale adopts the latter view, and I agree with him ; and it is remarkable, too, that 
 Clement of Rome (Ep. ii. 11) uses exactly the same form of words as SS. Paul, James, 
 and Mark, only he puts the ear before the eye (" which ear hath not heard nor eye seen "), 
 a variation to be readily expected, when he is quoting from a Liturgy probably learnt by 
 heart in the first instance. 
 
 If the reader wishes to pursue the matter further, he must refer to Neale's " Essays 
 on Liturgiology," p. 414, sq. 
 
 D 
 
34 THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD. [I. Cor. 
 
 10 But "^Grod hatli revealed them unto us by his Spirit: 
 q Matt. xiii. for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
 
 11. &xvi. 17. ^-i . ^>, n 
 
 John xiv. 26. thlUgS 01 Uod. 
 
 & xvi. 13. 
 
 1 John ii. 21. 
 
 10. "But God," So U, A., C, P., E., F., G., L„ P., most Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., 
 Syriac, Arm., .^th. ; but B., with eight Cursives, Sah., Copt., read, " for God." 
 
 10. " But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit," &c. 
 The Spirit bere, of course, can be no other than the Third Person 
 in the Godhead — the Holy Spirit. Eationalistic commentators 
 either deny this, or pass it over as if the organ of communication 
 on God's part was the spirit in man. But this is impossible, for 
 the Christian Eevelation did not rise up spontaneously, as it were, 
 in the breasts of a number of good men, but spread from a local 
 centre, and was propagated by preaching, which was witnessed 
 to by marvellous works, which cleariy proved that the Revelation 
 was from the Lord of the whole universe, spiritual and natural. 
 
 This was in accordance with the word of prophecy, as Joel ii. 
 28, and, above all, with the word of Christ : " The Comforter .... 
 shall teach you all things." "He will guide you into all truth " 
 (John xiv. 26 ; xvi. 13). 
 
 " For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of 
 God." The reader will notice a remarkable antithesis between 
 this passage and Eomans viii. 27. There we read, " He that 
 searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.'' 
 Here, on the contrary, the Spirit searcheth the deep things of God. 
 Chrysostcm remarks well upon this : " The word to search is here 
 indicative, not of ignorance, but of accurate knowledge ; at least if 
 we may judge from the fact that this is the same mode of speaking 
 which he bath used even of God, saying, ' He that searcheth the 
 hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.' " 
 
 "Searcheth all things." He searches in the sense of knowing 
 accurately all the works of God, especially His work in the crea- 
 tion and continued existence of spiritual beings, such as angels and 
 men : but above all. He knows accurately the deepest things of Him 
 from Whom He proceeds — His being and attributes,.the generation 
 of that Eternal Word or Son from Whom also He proceeds, the 
 Incarnation, the Atonement, and Intercession, as things in the 
 Godhead between the Father and the Son, than which we can 
 imagine nothing deeper or higher. 
 
€hap. II.] WE HAVE RECEIVED. 35 
 
 11 For what man knowetli the things of a man, "" save the 
 
 spirit of man which is in him ? ® even so the ■• Prov. xx. 27. 
 
 T 1 n • • c ^ ''^^'"- la- 
 things of God knoweth no man, hut the Spirit of Jer. xvii. 9. 
 
 rsi -, * Rom. xi. 33, 
 
 <x0a. 34. 
 
 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the 
 
 11. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save . . . 
 Spirit of God." The human subject has that within him, viz., his 
 highest part, his self-consciousness, which he can, as it were, at 
 times project out of himself, so that it can look into him as from 
 without, and examine into the whole state of his interior, his 
 animal soul, and his mind, understanding, and will ; and so the 
 Spirit of God, proceeding from God, yet in God searcheth (or 
 accurately knoweth) all that is in God. 
 
 I need hardly remark that nothing can go beyond this in proving 
 the true and eternal Godhead of the Holy Spirit. " It is clear that 
 the Spirit which searcheth the deep things of God, cannot be a 
 creature or less than God " (Athanasius ad Serapion, i, sect. 22), 
 quoted in Wordsworth, who also quotes a passage from Water- 
 land, in which occurs : " He is in God, and knows the mind of 
 God as perfectly as a man knows his own mind, and that in re- 
 spect of all things, yea the deep things of God." ^ 
 
 12. " Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the 
 spirit which is of God ; that we might know," &c. '* Now we have 
 received." This " we " is emphatic, and may refer either to St. 
 Paul and his brother Apostles, or to St. Paul and his fellow- 
 teachers, most probably the latter, because the Corinthian Chris- 
 
 1 Principal Edwards has an admirable note. He asks, "Does * Spirit of God' here 
 mean more than the self-consciousness of God.? is not the force of the Apostle's argument 
 in the analogy between the self-consciousness of man, knowing what is in man, and the 
 «elf-conscionsness of God, as it knows what is in God? Yes, say Osiander, Meyer, Kling 
 after Banr ('New Test. Theol.,' p.207). But it would be palpably absurd to say that 
 Ood reveals anything to man through His own self-consciousness, unless the self-con- 
 sciousness of God is identical with the Holy Spirit. This, again, would involve that the 
 procession of the Spirit is prior in idea to God's self-consciousness — whereas His self- 
 consciousness as Deus must be prior, in order of ideas, to His self- consciousness as fons 
 deitatis. We must not, therefore, press the analogy. If we admit that the Holy Spirit 
 knows the things of God, it is not necessary to the validity of the Apostle's reasoning that 
 He should know them as man knows the things of man, by self-consciousness. Both are 
 
 knowledge through introspection, and this is enough If the Spirit is neither the 
 
 human spirit, nor the Divine self-consciousness, a more decisive declaration of His Per- 
 sonality cannot be." 
 
36 THE THINGS FREELY GIVEN. [I. Cor. 
 
 world, but * the spirit wliicli is of God ; that we might know 
 * Rom. viii. 15. the things that are freelj given to us of God. 
 u 2 Pet. i. 16. 13 " Which things also we speak, not in the 
 ver. 4.* * * words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which 
 the Holy Ghost teacheth ; comparing spiritual things with 
 spiritual. 
 
 13. " Which the Holy Ghost teacheth." So E., L., P., and most Cursives ; but H, A.» 
 B., C, D., F., G., seven Cursives, d, e, f, g, r, Vulg., Syriac, &c., omit " Holy." 
 
 tians were brought more into contact with them than with tha 
 Apostles of the Circumcision. 
 
 •' Not the spirit of the world." " This has been taken to mean 
 Satan, the god of this world, or the principle of evil which binds 
 together the kingdom of darkness, and makes it not a chaos, but a 
 cosmos, an organization contrived to subvert the kingdom of 
 Christ " (Edwards). But is it likely that the Apostle would feel 
 it necessary to disclaim having received his inspiration from such 
 a source ? I think we must rather look to some spirit or spiritual 
 influence which was not so absolutely opposed to the Spirit of God,. 
 but that it might be supposed to be the fountain of some Divine' 
 knowledge, and this we might take to be what Dean Stanley inter- 
 prets it as being, " the spirit of mere human wisdom." This would 
 be the highest form which the spirit of the world could take, but 
 that was not the spirit which St. Paul and his fellows had received,, 
 for they had received 
 
 " The spirit which is of God ; that we might know the things,'* 
 &c. Might not " freely given to us of God " be translated " given 
 by grace," not by knowledge or human endeavour, but by grace ? 
 For the whole system of the Gospel, or the Church, or Christianity, 
 or by whatever name it is called, is a system of grace freely given 
 on God's part, and received without human science or education or 
 merit by us. The things thus given to us freely are, first of all, 
 Christ Himself to the world ; then Christ to each member of the 
 Church, His mind, His will. His righteousness, His truth, His 
 very human nature through His Body and Blood. 
 
 13. " Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's 
 wisdom teacheth," &c. Not only are the things freely given to us — the 
 things of grace, themselves taught by the Holy Spirit, but the same^ 
 Spirit has taught us words wherein to give them fitting expression. 
 
 " Comparing spiritual things with spiritual." Great difficulties- 
 
Chap.II.] the natural MAN. 37 
 
 14 ^ But the natural man receiveth. not the things of 
 the Spirit of Grod : ^ for they are foolishness unto * Matt. xvi. 23. 
 
 J ch. i. 18, 23. 
 
 have been supposed to attach to this verse : first, from some uncer- 
 tainty attaching to the meaning of the word comparing (o-yy/cptVovrff), 
 of which Bishop Ellicott gives three renderings — combining, com- 
 paring, explaining : and secondly, from uncertainty as to whether 
 the last word translated " spiritual " is masculine or neuter, and so 
 whether it means explaining spiritual things by spiritual things, 
 or explaining spiritual things to spiritual men ; the last seems to 
 agree best with the next verse. 
 
 But various passages in the Epistle itself seem to direct us to the 
 true meaning, which is " explaining spiritual things by spiritual," 
 which in point of fact amounts to the same as that indicated in our 
 Authorized, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, for we com- 
 pare in order to explain. I think that St. Paul means we bring down 
 spiritual things, as far as we are able, to the level of human appre- 
 hension, by the teaching of that which is most spiritual in the Old 
 Testament — the teaching of the types. All through his Epistles 
 St. Paul illustrates the New Testament truths by the significance 
 of Old Testament types. Thus Christ our Passover in ch. v. 7, 8, 
 and Christ our manna and spiritual drink in ch. x. 3, 4 ; and Isaac 
 and Ishmael, and Hagar and Sarah as typical of the two Jerusalems 
 in Gal. iv. 
 
 14. " But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 
 of God," &c. The natural man is the psychical man, rpvxncbgj the 
 man under no higher influence than his animal soul, though that 
 fioul may have its intellectual or rational, as well as its sensual 
 side. The spiritual man is the man in whom the spirit, his noblest 
 part, does not lie buried under the weight of the animal, or merely 
 mental or intellectual, but is alive to God, and takes in the things 
 of God. We must remember that St. Paul, as we learn from 
 1 Thessal. v. 23, considers man to be of a tripartite nature : — 1. The 
 body ; 2. The soul, which is intermediate between the body and 
 the spu'it, and has its animal side which looks to the bo ly, and its 
 intellectual or even moral side, which looks to the spirit ; and 3. 
 The spirit, the Trvewjua, which is that in him which looks to God, 
 and is that part which the Spirit regenerates, and into which He 
 infuses the knowledge of God, and of spiritual and eternal things. 
 
 So that, according to St. Paul, a philosopher may reason deeply 
 
38 SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED. [L Cor. 
 
 him : ^ neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
 
 « Rom. viii. 5, rlidPPrnPfl 
 
 6,7. Jiidei9. <iiscernea. 
 
 respecting intellectual and even ethical truths, and yet be ^pyxncbg^ 
 natural, since all may minister to his pride ; as the Apostle says in 
 Colos. ii. 18, he may be " vainly puffed up with his fleshly mind," 
 and so with all his intellect he may be no nearer to God ; but 
 when, through the power of the Spirit of God, the true functions of 
 his highest part, his spirit, are revived or regenerated, then he 
 begins to apprehend God and the things of the Spirit of God. 
 
 Now the question arises, is the psychical or natural man here the 
 unconverted individual person, and the spiritual man (he that is 
 spiritual) of the next verse, the spiritual or enlightened person ? I 
 think not, and for this reason, the terms natural or psychical, and 
 spiritual man, are used in the sense of the old man and the new 
 man of Ephes. iv. 22, 24. The man, natural or spiritual, signifies- 
 the Adam, or, as we say, the spiritual principle which is in each man. 
 None are perfectly spiritual, as we learn from Eom. vii., and many 
 whom from their conduct or opinions we should pronounce only 
 natural, show some spiritual perceptions. Again, we cannot in- 
 fallibly pronounce respecting the good and virtuous heathen 
 (Eom. ii. 14, 15), that they have no pneuma, and whether that 
 pneuma may not be in some degree acted upon for good by " the 
 law written on their hearts " by " the Light which lighteth every 
 man that cometh into the world." Again I trust I shall be for- 
 given in what I say, but I firmly believe that when an Evangelical 
 commentator asserts that there is no such thing as a mystery in 
 the ordinary sense of the word in the New Testament, he makes 
 that assertion at the inspiration of the natural or psychical man 
 remaining within him, and not of the spiritual. For the first 
 action of Christ through the Spirit on the human spirit is te 
 liumble it, and so put it in possession of the three first blessings 
 wherewith He blesses His people. 
 
 What, then, the Apostle means is that the natural man — the 
 psychical principle within each of us — does not apprehend the mys- 
 teries of the Kingdom of God. He has not the organ by which 
 they are apprehended, or if he has such an organ, i.e., the pneuma, it 
 is in a dormant state : the Incarnation, the Atoning Death, the life- 
 imparting Eesurrection, the perpetual Intercession, the truths of 
 the Mystical Body, the resurrection of the spiritual body, the true 
 
Chap. 11.] JUDGED OF NO MAN. 39 
 
 16 ^But he that is spiritual || judgeth all things, ^ ^rTheS'v* 
 yet he himself is || judged of no man. 21. Uohniv.i. 
 
 li Or, discerneth. 
 II Or, discerned. 
 
 discerning of the Sacramental Body, are foolishness unto him. 
 He may acquiesce in them, or not deny them, because they may 
 be a part of the Creed or body of divine truth of the Church to 
 which he belongs, but he does not see them. He cannot know 
 them, because they are spiritually discerned — till the Spirit takes 
 of the things of Christ, and shows them to him, he cannot realize 
 their amazing significance. 
 
 15. " But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is 
 judged of no man." Judgeth ought perhaps to be rendered " dis- 
 cerneth." Judging in our language implies that we are superior, 
 or for the moment take a superior position, to the things which we 
 judge. The word is the same as that in the last verse, " they are 
 spiritually discerned." 
 
 "He that is spiritual judgeth (or discerneth) all things." The 
 spiritual man discerneth all things, even the deep things of God. 
 His enlightened and strengthened spirit cannot altogether appre- 
 hend them, or compass them. They are to him as some vast 
 object in some deep unfathomable abyss. He discerns that it is 
 there. He discerns that side which is presented to him, but he 
 cannot compass it or take the measure of it. 
 
 "All things." In this must be included human and worldly 
 things. The spiritual man estimates at their right value the 
 things of time and sense, the characters of men so far as one can 
 do who cannot read the hearts, the relations of men to God, to 
 Christ, and to one another. When any worldly scheme or political 
 change is proposed, he instantly regards it in its relations to the 
 Kingdom of God. 
 
 "Yet he himself is judged of no man." This means, of course, 
 that the spiritual man — the new Adam within him — is judged by no 
 unspiritual man. " The spiritual man has a new faculty by which 
 he judges all, but cannot be judged by any who have it not. He 
 understands the language in which other men speak, but they 
 understand not the language in which he speaks." This, of course, 
 applies not to the individual s^jiritual person, who partakes of the 
 mixed character which there is in the best, but to the spiritual 
 man or Adam in each. If the spiritual or enlightened person 
 commits sin, or falls from grace, or acts contrary to what even the 
 
40 WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHKIST. [I. Cor. 
 
 b Job XV. 8. 16 ^ For wlio hath known the mind of the Lord, 
 
 jer. xxiii! 18. that ho f may instruct him? "But we have the 
 t X". Tkaii.' mind o£ Christ. 
 
 c John XV. 15. — ^ 
 
 16. "Of Christ." So H, A., C, E., L., P., most Cursives, d, e, Vulg., Syriac, Copt, 
 Arm. ; but B., D., F., G., f, g, r, read " of the Lord." 
 
 world acknowledges to be the highest principles of Christianity, 
 then the worldly, unspiritual man rightly judges and condemns him. 
 
 Principal Edwards writes upon this : — " The judgment of the 
 spiritual man is at once the widest and the highest. All things 
 are subject to it, from it there is no appeal. It is unhesitating, 
 authoritative, absolute, final." Now, however this may be true of 
 the spiritual man — that is, the new Adam in each — it is not true of 
 any particular spiritual person, for this reason, that those who 
 from their language we should account the most highly spiritual 
 people, constantly differ from one another. Again, it is exceed- 
 ingly seldom that a spiritual man takes in the whole circle of 
 spiritual knowledge. He has constantly a habit of discerning 
 some truths, and shutting his spiritual eye to others. The will, in 
 fact, constantly makes itself felt in the domain of the spirit. So that 
 we have always need to adopt for ourselves the words of the Apostle, 
 " I pray God that my whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved 
 blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ " (1 Thess. v. 23). 
 
 16. " For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may 
 instruct him ? " &c. This is a remarkable assertion of the Divine 
 sphere of knowledge into which the spiritual man has been up- 
 lifted. Who can instruct God ? and God through the Spirit has 
 made known to us His mind, and we through the Spirit dwell- 
 ing in us have the mind of Christ or of the Lord, meaning Christ ; 
 80 that so far as the things of God are concerned, who can judge 
 us ? who can even instruct us ? who can impart to us truth which 
 we have not in and through Christ ? 
 
 The " we," however, is emphatic and must be applied only to St. 
 Paul, and those who, like him (as the Apostles), have plenary 
 divine knowledge of all things which the Church needs to know, 
 Godet observes well, " In the ?7/i6Tf, we, there is a well-marked con- 
 trast to the v/xeTg, you, of iii. 1-3. It is obvious how profoundly, in 
 virtue of the revelation he has received, the Apostle distinguishes 
 himself from the Church." 
 
 "We have the mind of Christ," i.e., upon all things which it is 
 necessary for the Church to be instructed in. 
 
Chap. III.] BABES IN CHKIST. 41 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 AND I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto 
 * spiritual, but as unto ^ carnal, even as • cb. u. is. 
 unto ''babes in Christ. e Heb. V. 13. 
 
 2 I have fed you with *milk, and not with f„^fH;^/^?'„ 
 
 •^ 13. 1 Pet. u. 2. 
 
 1. " As unto carnal." H, A., B., C, D., 17, 67**, 71, read, o-ofxivo.f, fleshy ; E., F., G., 
 L., P., and most Cursives read, <rapxUo4^, fleshly, i. e. sensual. 
 
 1. "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiri- 
 tual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." This 
 means that though he did not speak unto them as unto those 
 wholly unregenerate, for such could not be even babes in Christ — 
 if they were babes in Christ they must have been brought into 
 Him — but he spoke to them as those in whom the spiritual man 
 was as yet scarcely at all developed ; and so they were carnal, that 
 is, the lower nature yet predominated in them. 
 
 " Carnal." The word is, according to the amended texts, 
 founded on what are supposed to be the best manuscripts, aapKivotc, 
 and is translated fleshy, whilst the word in the Kec. Text is (rapKiKoig, 
 translated fleshly. In the former the idea of natxu-e (flesh) is sup- 
 posed to predominate — in the latter, character. St. Paul, however, 
 evidently means to assert that there was something wrong in them 
 which hindered their spiritual growth from infancy to manhood in 
 Christ, and so he was only able to speak to them as to infants in 
 grace, and not as to grown men. 
 
 2. "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat : for hitherto 
 ye were," &c. What is this " milk " and what the " meat " ? The 
 question is more difficult than many suppose. Milk, according to 
 Godet, " denotes the preaching of Christ crucified, with its simplest 
 contents, and its most immediate consequences, expiation, justifica- 
 tion by faith, the sanctification of the justified believer by the Holy 
 Spirit," but surely the dullest Corinthian Christian must have 
 asked. How could the Crucifixion of an unknown Jew make 
 expiation for all sin ? how could behef in such an One justify ? It 
 is quite clear that St. Paul must have preached to them how it was 
 
42 NEITHER YET AEE YE ABLE. [I. Cor. 
 
 meat : ^ for hitherto ye were not able to hear it, neither yet 
 • John xvi. 12. now are ye able. 
 
 that the Blood of Christ, as distinguished from that of any other 
 man, could expiate, and what warrant he had for saying so. Now 
 when we look to the latter part of this Epistle we find what it was 
 which the Apostle preached to them first of all. " I dehvered unto 
 you first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our 
 sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day," &c. 
 This was the milk with which beyond all doubt he began to feed 
 them. It was his Gospel, and he could scarcely declare this with- 
 out some reference to the relations of Christ to the unseen and 
 unknown God — that He was His true, proper, and only Son. And 
 all this was proved and enforced by miracles, and not only by 
 miracles performed by the Apostle, but even by some among them- 
 selves. This, then, was the milk — the doctrine of Christ Incarnate, 
 crucified, risen, ascended, and coming again to judge, if, that is, St. 
 Paul preached the same Gospel doctrine to the Corinthians as he 
 wrote to the Christians at Kome. But what would be the meat ? 
 Are we to look for any indication of what it is in this Epistle, or 
 are we to suppose that because the Corinthians were yet carnal, we 
 must look for it in Epistles addressed to more spiritual churches ? 
 We should have supposed that the great truth of Christians being 
 one body in Christ, or of the resurrection of Christians in a spiritual 
 body, would be meat for those full-grown in Christ : but both of 
 these are treated more fully in this letter to " babes " than in any 
 other Epistle. Again, the Eucharistic Mystery is more fully set 
 forth in this Epistle than in any other ; indeed, it is the only one 
 in which specific mention is made of it. 
 
 It may be that the higher aspects of Election as set forth in 
 Ephes. i.-iii., may be this strong meat, for unquestionably the view of 
 election in Ephes. i. is higher than the view in the Epistle to the 
 Romans even ; or that the relations of Christ to God on the one side 
 and the Church on the other, as set forth in Coloss. i.-iii., are higher 
 doctrines, that is, require more spiritual power to assimilate them, 
 than what are found in this Epistle. 
 
 It seems that as St. Paul advances in the writing of this Epistle, 
 he finds himself compelled to set forth what only the more spiritual 
 could apprehend and retain, just as pastors now must preach higher 
 
Chap. III.] YE ARE YET CARNAL. 4S 
 
 3 For ye are yet carnal : for ' whereas there is f ch. i. ii. & 
 
 . , . . . xi. 18. Gal. 
 
 amongj you envyinsr and strife, and II divisions, v. 20, 21. 
 
 \ 1 T n 4. Q James iii. 16. 
 
 are je not carnal, and walk f as men r I ot. factions, 
 
 t Gr. accord- 
 ing to man ? 
 
 truths to mixed congregations than they would if they could make 
 some selection or separation amongst those who listen to them. 
 
 " Ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." The 
 latter clause seems to imply that they were, notwithstanding their 
 declensions, somewhat advancing ; and so he can now venture, as 
 it were, to teach them what at his first sojourn among them h© 
 could not. 
 
 3. " For ye are yet carnal : for whereas there is among you 
 envying and strife," &c. No passage of Scripture that I know 
 of, brings out so sharply the difference between the Apostolic 
 teaching in the primitive Church, and the state of Christian 
 opinion amongst us as this. The Apostle regards envying, strife, 
 and divisions as carnality, whereas this is the last thing to 
 which such sins as envyings and strifes would now be attributed. 
 Such things as drunkenness and fornication, and self-indulgence 
 in food are now held to be carnal, and, as far as I know, only 
 these ; whereas it is not at all uncommon to hear religious strifes 
 and divisions and factions vindicated. They are vindicated as 
 assertions of the right of private judgment as inseparable from true 
 freedom, and so on. There are sects whose one reason for their 
 existence seems to be their profession of superior spirituality — they 
 themselves being the sole judges of it. Now the Apostle treats re- 
 ligious strifes and party divisions as " of the flesh." They seem 
 to us to be " of the Spirit," because so frequently have they to do 
 with spiritual religion ; but the Apostle denounces them as " of 
 the flesh." How can this be? It is because the i^wx^), the soul, 
 the carnal principle, having its intellectual side or part, intrudes 
 into the domain of the spirit ; or, it may be, that the spirit itself 
 falls from its high estate, and suffers itself to be led by the flesh, 
 by that which is lower, by self, by vain-glory, by desire of emi- 
 nence, by the yet imperfectly subdued will. As Godet well says, 
 ** Such a state can only arise from self-complacency, either on the 
 part of the leaders, or their adherents ; and that is thejleshy 
 
 " Walk as men." According to the way of the world, according 
 to man, for the world strives to bring about many of its ends> 
 
44 MINISTERS BY WHOM YE BELIEVED. [I. Cor. 
 
 4 For while one saith, * I am of Paul ; and another, I am 
 g ch. i. 12. of Apollos ; are ye not carnal ? 
 
 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but 
 H ch. iv. 1. ^ ministers by whom ye believed, ^ even as the 
 
 2Cor.iii.3. -^ \ 
 
 i Rom. xii. 3, liord gave to every man r 
 
 6. IPet. iv. 11, 
 
 4. " Are ye not carnal? " So L., P., most Cursives, Syriac ; bnt ^f, A., B., C, D., E., 
 F., G., 17, 67**, 71, d, e, f, g, r, Vulg., Copt., .<Eth., read, •' are ye not men," 
 
 5. " Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers," &c. So L., P., most Cur- 
 sives, Syriae ; but S, A., B., C, D., E., F., G., 67, 71**, 177, d, e, f, g, r. Vulg., Copt., 
 Arm., read, " Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul Y (They are) ministers by whom," 
 &c. 
 
 notably its political ones, by the use of party spirit and party 
 organizations. 
 
 4. " For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I am of 
 Apollos: are ye not carnal?" As it is not to be supposed that 
 there was any difference between the views of Paul and Apollos 
 respecting Divine truth, it is very probable that this ranging of 
 themselves under these two leaders arose from mere personal con- 
 siderations, such as the weight of St. Paul's teaching, and the 
 eloquence of that of Apollos. " The carnal man neglects the truth, 
 and is filled with the empty sound of words, which strikes his 
 sense ; this is no other than to despise and let go a treasure, and 
 to hold fast the earthen vessel which contained it " (Quesnel). 
 
 " Are ye not carnal ? " The oldest authorities have " Are ye not 
 men? " ie., mere men, acting only on the principles, and following 
 the example, of unregenerate men ? 
 
 5. "Who then is Paul, or who is Apollos, but ministers by 
 whom ye believed ?" Apollos and Paul are ministers of Christ. They 
 speak not in their own name, nor do they preach their own word, 
 nor baptize into their own bodies. They are the mere instru- 
 ments in the hands of One Who assigns to each minister his 
 work, and accompanies that assignment with the exact success 
 which He sees fit. 
 
 6. " I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the increase." 
 St. Paul first preached the Gospel in Corinth, and so founded the 
 Church. Apollos having been instructed in the way of God more 
 perfectly by Aquila and Priscilla, went to Achaia (Corinth), and 
 *' helped them much which had believed through grace." 
 
CuAP. III.] I PLANTED, APOLLOS WATERED. 45 
 
 6^1 have planted, ^ Apollos watered ; ^ but Grod ^ Acts xviii. 4, 
 gave the increase. i5. & ix. i. &' 
 
 XV, 1. 2 Cor. 
 
 7 So then "" neither is he that planteth any x. 14,' 15. 
 thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that 2tT^K!'u^* 
 giveth the increase. ^^%i- f^ &^ 
 
 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth "'• ^^ 
 
 ^ n 2 Cor. xii. 11. 
 
 Gal. vi. 3. 
 
 " God gave the increase." It was only through the Spirit of 
 God acting according to His Sovereign Will that souls were either 
 converted, and then baptized into the Church, or grew up "in the 
 unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God into per- 
 fect men" (Ephes. iv. 13). 
 
 Wordsworth has a note drawing attention to the force of the 
 Greek tenses here — " planted " and " watered " are in the aorist, 
 denoting transitory acts ; but God " was giving the increase " (in 
 the imperfect), not by one act, but by a continuous bestowal of grace. 
 
 7. " So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he 
 that watereth," &c. Neither of these ministers are anything of 
 themselves, so that men should attach themselves specially to 
 them, or call themselves by their names. They are neither called 
 by themselves, nor did they come of their own mere will, neither 
 do they preach their own message, nor, if they are faithful, do they 
 add anything to it or take away anything from it; neither is any 
 success which accompanies their labours to be put down to their 
 account, as all is of God . 
 
 8. " Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one : and 
 every man," &c. That is, they are one thing, one instrument, as 
 if one human instrument had two or more parts, each having its 
 own function, and yet so perfectly fitted together that all is but one 
 in the hands of him who handled it. 
 
 The unity of action is not in themselves, of course, but in the 
 mind of God. 
 
 But notwithstanding this unity in the hand and mind of God in 
 using the instrument, it is not for a moment to be regarded as a 
 mere lifeless machine. Each part has its distinct individuahty, 
 and, by consequence, its separate distinct responsibility ; and this 
 will be revealed at the last day, when 
 
 " Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own 
 
46 HIS OWN REWARD. [I. Cor. 
 
 oPs. ixii. ]2. are one: °and every man shall receive his own 
 •ch. i-v. 5. Gal. reward according to his own labour. 
 
 Ti. 4, 5. Rev, 
 ii. 23. & xxii. 
 12. 
 
 labour." This is a tremendous statement of the Holy Spirit, parti- 
 cularly when we take into account that labour {kottoq) means not 
 only working, but the toil, and trouble, and anxiety, the pains (as 
 we say), and diligence, and industry, which should accompany 
 work which is worth anything. As Quesnel says : " God does not 
 -crown the success, but the labour." Wesley has a noble note, 
 which I will give in full : " Not only according to his success : but 
 he who labours much, though with small success, shall have a great 
 reward. Has not all this reasoning the same force still? Ministers 
 are still barely instruments in God's hand, and depend as entirely 
 as ever on His blessing to give the increase to their labours. With- 
 out this they are nothing, with it their part is so small, that they 
 hardly deserve to be mentioned. May their hearts and hands be 
 more united. And retaining a due sense of the honour God doth 
 them, in employing them, may they faithfully labour, not as for 
 themselves, but for the great Proprietor of all, till the day comes 
 when He will reward them in full proportion to their fidelity and 
 diligence." 
 
 Two or three remarks more on this verse. 
 
 First, the principle involved in it requires that the reward will 
 he according to the self-denial exercised by the worker in his work. 
 What is very hard work to some is easy to others ; what is to the 
 taste of some is distasteful to others. What some commence and 
 continue with fear and trembling, others rush into without a par- 
 ticle of misgiving, for the one regards more than the other the de- 
 mands of the Master and the awfulness of the account. 
 
 Again, it is plain that work in the Church or Christian society 
 must be in accordance with the declared intention of God respect- 
 ing the Church, that it is to be a visible unity — one body as well as 
 one spirit. Many labour much for the conversion of souls after 
 their idea of conversion, who altogether disregard the prayer of 
 €hrist (John xvii. 21), and the injunctions of the Apostles respect- 
 ing all being one. 
 
 Lastly, this passage shows how exceedingly wrong those are who 
 presume to say that believers are above judgment. The persons 
 who are here supposed to labour must be believers, but if they re- 
 
Chap. III.] LABOURERS WITH GOD. 47 
 
 9 For P we are labourers together with God : ye p Acts xv. 4. 
 are G-od's || husbandry, ye are ^ God's building. p ov,' tillage. 
 
 10 'According to the grace of God which is Jof 'i^ t'' ^^' 
 given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid f pej^^' 5' ^' 
 
 *■ Rom. i. 5. 
 & xii. 3. 
 
 10. " I have laid" (rs^f.xa). So D., E. L., P., most Cursives ; but H, A., B., C, 17, 
 S7*, 39, read, " I laid " (tfljixa). 
 
 ceive their own reward according to their own labours, it must be 
 because both their work and themselves will have passed through a 
 very scrutinizing judgment indeed. 
 
 " Stir up, we beseech thee, Lord, the wills of thy faithful people, 
 that they plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may 
 of thee be plenteously rewarded." 
 
 9. " For we are labourers together with God : ye are God's 
 husbandry, ye are God's building." The word " God " is empha- 
 sized very strongly by being put at the beginning of each of the 
 three clauses, " God's feUow-labourers are we ; God's husbandry, 
 God's building are ye." 
 
 "What an astonishing honour put upon men that they should be 
 fellow-labourers with God ! and yet in all natural labour in the 
 fields there is an analogous working together of God and man. 
 Man must labour in the field in ploughing, sowing, and reaping ; 
 and yet God must work along with all in making the seed to 
 germinate and the plant to blossom and bear fruit, and the grain 
 to ripen. 
 
 " God's husbandry," " God's building." Here allusion is made 
 not to the field or the actual building, but to the operations of 
 husbandi-y and of building. God is at work upon you (and we 
 under Him) as the plants in His field or vineyard, and the stones 
 which are being builded together for His habitation through the 
 Spirit. 
 
 10. "According to the grace of God which is given unto me," 
 &c. " The grace of God," i.e., the ministerial grace (compare 
 Eom. xii. 3). 
 
 *' As a wise masterbuilder." By applying to himself the term 
 *' wise," he does not arrogate to himself special wisdom, but simply 
 asserts that he did what every competent builder would do, he laid 
 the foundation, the one only secure foundation which it was given 
 
48 LET EVERY MAN TAKE HEED. [I. Cor. 
 
 • Rom. XV. 20. " the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. 
 
 ver. 6. ch. iv. 
 
 15. Rev. xxi. But *let every man take heed how he buildeth 
 
 14. * 
 
 1 1 Pet. ir. 11. thereupon. 
 
 Mitt^xvf'is^' ^^ -^^^ other foundation can no man lay than 
 
 2 Cor. xi.'4. * n that Is laid, ^ which is Jesus Christ. 
 
 Gal. 1. 7. 
 
 » Eph. ii. 20. 
 
 to him by God to lay, and upon which alone those who came 
 after him could build, if, that is, they built the Christian Church 
 at all. 
 
 "And another buildeth thereon." This does not mean that St. 
 Paul had ceased to build, for the whole of this Epistle is for the 
 edification, that is, the building up, of the Church of Corinth. But 
 having laid the foundation of this Church, he went and laid the 
 foundation of other churches, and left others to do the work of 
 building upon the foundation which he had laid. 
 
 " But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon." It 
 is very often assumed that all that we have to do is to look to the 
 foundation ; that if the Foundation — Christ Jesus — be right, then 
 the superstructure must also be right ; but if we are to believe the 
 Apostle, this is a very serious mistake, as we shall see in examin- 
 ing the next verses. Preachers on the One Foundation, Jesus- 
 Christ, may preach that which will not save souls in the day of the 
 Lord. 
 
 11. " For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid^ 
 which is Jesus Christ." ** Than that is laid," i.e., by God Himself^ 
 This Foundation was decreed from eternity ; its first enunciation 
 is from the lips of Christ Himself to St. Peter, " "Whom say ye that 
 I am ? " " Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." " On 
 this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
 vail against it." 
 
 "Can no man lay." Christ is the historical Christ, and the 
 Church is historically derived from Him, and rests solely on Him 
 as its foundation, so that no matter how wrongly any man builds^ 
 he cannot build on any other foundation. If he does, what he 
 erects is not the Church, the house or temple of God, but a building^ 
 planned out of himself, a creation of his own imagination. What 
 an unspeakable cause of thankfulness it is that God has so ordered 
 the founding of Christianity, so planted it as the foremost fact in 
 the history of the world, that no other foundation is possible — I 
 
Chap. III.] IF ANY MAN BUILD. 49 
 
 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, 
 silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble ; 
 
 was going to say, conceivable. If the foundation is laid then the 
 plan is laid, and we have to build according to the plan. 
 
 " Than that is laid." Eather, beside that laid by God. " When 
 St. Paul preached Christ crucified and risen to the Corinthians, he 
 used for them the one foundation on which alone their Church or 
 any other Church could safely rest " (Ellicott). 
 
 12. " Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, 
 precious stones, wood," &c. Three different interpretations have 
 been given to these materials. 
 
 (1.) They have been supposed to be doctrines ; but as Godet rightly 
 asks, is not this to forget that the edifice to be built is not a book 
 of dogmatics, but the Church itself, composed of living per- 
 sonalities ? 
 
 (2.) Then they have been supposed to be persons, but neither 
 does this meet the point, for how would any builder knowingly 
 build up such worthless persons as those which are indicated by 
 hay and stubble into the fabric of the Church ? 
 
 (3.) They are supposed to be good or worthless works produced 
 by preaching in those joined to the Church — but evidently the 
 building is a building of persons, not of things such as good works, 
 and that persons are alone meant, is clear from the application of the 
 contents of verse 16, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God," &c. 
 No passage of Scripture which I have yet come across has more 
 variety of interpretations of every part of it, and so I hope I may 
 be forgiven if I put forth a view of it differing from most. 
 
 What is the building ? Evidently some part of the Church of 
 Christ. The foundation being laid, parts of the edifice are given 
 to various builders. 
 
 What is the act of building ? Evidently preaching and teaching. 
 It must include both : by preaching, additional stones are laid in the 
 foundation; by teaching, they are worked into shape, chiselled, and 
 laid securely in their places. 
 
 But what are the stones ? Are they materials lying about from 
 which the particular builder can choose what he pleases ? This does 
 not seem likely, for at first sight it would seem that no one having 
 at his disposal gold and silver, and costly stones, such as marble, 
 jasper, or agate, would reject them and build with such materials 
 
 E 
 
50 WOOD, HAY, STUBBLE. [T. Cor. 
 
 as wood and hay. And again, supposing that the various materials, 
 gold, silver, costly stones, on the one hand, and wood, hay, stubble, 
 on the other, were not yet built into the fabric, but were lying 
 about, or otherwise at hand ready to be used by the builders, they 
 must represent unconverted Gentiles of various moral characters. 
 Now is it supposable that the various builders would have power 
 to select these and put them into their places as they pleased ? 
 
 Now I asked, Is it at all likely that one having gold and precious 
 stones ready to his hand wherewith to build, would deliberately 
 choose to build with wood and hay ? and I answered in the negative; 
 but this depends on the disposition of the builder and the sort of 
 erection he desires to put up. Gold, silver, and precious stones 
 are very expensive, and very intractable materials wherewith to 
 work. If the stones are costly they are stones of exceeding hard- 
 ness, and a temple, or part of one, erected of such materials would 
 require years to be perfected, whereas a hovel or shanty of wood, 
 with the interstices filled up with hay, and a roof of reeds, could be 
 run up in a few days. 
 
 Now these considerations will, I think, at least point us to the 
 true interpretation. Let us take the preaching of Christ crucified. 
 What was the Apostolic preaching of Christ crucified ? It was not 
 only the preaching of Christ bearing our sins upon the cross, but 
 also of Christ delivering us from sin so that we should live to God. 
 It is all comprehended in the words, " He himself bare our sins in 
 his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live 
 unto righteousness " (1 Pet. ii. 24). Again, St. Paul writes, " They 
 that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and 
 lusts" (Gal. v. 24). What is this but the being made conformable 
 to His death of Phil. iii. 10 ? 
 
 There are, then, no less than three ways of preaching Christ cru- 
 cified. There is the preaching of Christ crucified merely as a sin- 
 bearer. There is the preaching of Christ in His Crucifixion setting 
 us an example, but virtually leaving out the atoning value of His 
 Death, and there is the primitive Apostolic preaching — the preach- 
 ing of Christ as SS. Peter and Paul preached Him, Sin-Bearer and 
 Sanctifier at once, the Sin- Bearer never apart from the Sanctifier, 
 the Sanctifier never apart from the Sin-Bearer. 
 
 Now these three sorts of preaching would attract different cha- 
 racters. The first would attract those who look for mere pardon 
 without any deep concern about being crucified with Him in their 
 
Chap. III.] EVERY MAN's WORK. 51 
 
 13 y Every man's work shall be made manifest : r ch. ?.v, 5. 
 
 flesh with its lusts. The second would attract those whose idea of 
 Christianity was some small improvement in natural virtue, and 
 who knew not, nor did they much desire to know, the love of God 
 in the gift of Christ ; the third would attract those for whom 
 genuine Christianity was intended, those who desired to possess 
 peace with God, and to be filled with the righteousness of God, 
 
 When, then, St. Paul said, "Let every man take heed how he 
 buildeth thereupon," he seems to me to mean, Let every man take 
 heed how he preaches Christ crucified, for he may so preach Him 
 as to attract the wood and hay rather than the gold and silver — 
 the light-hearted, the inconstant, the frivolous, rather than the 
 earnest, the serious, and the devout.^ 
 
 Now to this it maybe replied. Does not the preaching, that is the 
 building, change the materials — change the wood into precious stone? 
 I answer that St. Paul here puts this out of sight, for the time. He 
 speaks of it elsewhere abundantly, but not here. I take it that this 
 figure, or, as we may call it, parable of St. Paul, resembles in this 
 respect that of his Master, Who, in His parable of the Sower makes 
 the seed fall into four sorts of ground without changing the ground, 
 but really being changed by it ; for instance, the casting in of the 
 seed does not remove the rock, but the seed itself withers ; the cast- 
 ing in of the seed does not make the fertile and good ground, but 
 the seed is effectually fertilized by it. 
 
 13. " Every man's work shall be made manifest : for the day 
 shall declare it," &c. The real quality of every man's work in the 
 Church of Christ shall be manifested ; not now, but hereafter, at 
 the day — i.e., the day of the Lord's Second Coming to Judgment. 
 The value of each man's work cannot be manifested till that 
 
 1 Godet, of all the commentators I have consnlted, seems to me to come nearest to the 
 trne meaning — " Either the pastor, by his preaching, his conversation, his example, the 
 daily acts of his ministry, succeeds in developing among his flock a healthy religions life, 
 drawn from communion with Christ, abounding in the fruits of sanctification and love ; 
 and it is this strong and normal life which St. Paul describes under the figure of precious 
 materials, or the pastor by his pathetic discourses, his ingenious explanations, succeeds 
 indeed in attracting a great concourse of hearers, in producing enthusiastic admiration 
 and lively emotions ; but all this stir is only external and superficial ; with it all there is 
 no real consecration to the Saviour. This faith without energy, this love without the 
 spirit of sacrifice, this hope without joy or elasticity, this Christianity saturated with 
 egoism and vanity ; such are the wood, hay, stubble." 
 
52 THE FIRE SHALL TRY. [L Cor^ 
 
 for the day ^ shall declare it, because * it f shall be revealed 
 
 « 1 Pet. i. 7. & by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work 
 
 iv. 12. *p 1 • . ^ 1 
 
 » Luke ii. 35. 01 what SOrt it IS. 
 
 t Gr. is 
 
 repealed. 
 
 13. "And the fire shall try." So \, D., E., L., most Cursives, d, e, f, Vulpr., Sah., 
 Copt., Arm. ; but A., B., C, P., some Cursives (eight), and Syriac, read, " the fire 
 itself shall try." 
 
 day, for the real state of the souls which he has added to the Church 
 or built up in the fabric of the Church, cannot be known till that 
 day. This St. Paul sets forth in the next chapter, " Judge nothing 
 before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light 
 the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels 
 of the hearts." It is clear that until the light of Christ's presence, at 
 His appearing, reveals the real value of each man's work, we can- 
 not speak certainly concerning it ; and, indeed, we are expressly 
 forbidden to judge it. (" Judge nothing before the time.") 
 
 *' The day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by [or in] 
 fire." The day shall be revealed in fire, because it is the day of the 
 Lord's coming, and the appearances of God in the present state of 
 things are always accompanied with the brightness and searching 
 power of fire. Thus the Lord descended on Mount Sinai in fire. 
 The theophany of Psalm xviii. 13 is in fire, and that of Psalm 1. is 
 *' Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence, a fire shall 
 devour before him." Also in Isaiah xxx. 30, " With the flame of a 
 devouring fire ; " and in Malachi iv. 1, " The day cometh, that shall 
 burn as an oven." 
 
 And the fire itself shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 
 
 The day will be revealed in material fire ; but can this fire try 
 spiritual work ? At first sight, we should say not : the fire that 
 can try spiritual work — the quality of souls, the value of their 
 works, and their sincerity before God — must be itself spiritual. It 
 must be the all-sifting and unerring judgment of Him Whose eyea 
 are like a flame of fire. But we must not pronounce too dogmati- 
 cally upon this, for we are profoundly ignorant of the relations 
 which God may choose to bring about betwixt Matter and Spirit. 
 Within the compass of our bodies what is material is constantly 
 acting upon what is spiritual, and vice versa. Pain occasioned by 
 ■what is material has often a spiritual efi'ect. So we may not judge 
 too hastily of what the fire proceeding from God may do or may^ 
 
Chap. III.] SO AS BY FIIIE. 53 
 
 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built there- 
 iij)on, ^ he shall receive a reward. b ch. iv. 5. 
 
 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall 
 
 suffer loss : but he himself shall be saved ; ° yet <= Jade xxiii. 
 so as by fire. 
 
 not do. "What is material and what is spiritual in form are here 
 apparently knowingly and deliberately mixed together, and in our 
 haste we must not separate them. 
 
 14. " If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon," 
 &c. If any man's work abide, it shows that he has taken pains to 
 ascertain and constantly to set forth the true doctrine of Christ ; 
 that he has applied the Word faithfully " for doctrine, for reproof, 
 for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; " that he has " re- 
 proved, rebuked, exhorted with all long-suffering and doctrine ; " 
 that he has " taken heed to himself and to the doctrine, and has con- 
 tinued in them, and so has saved himself and those who (effectually) 
 heard him." 
 
 " He shall receive a reward " — that is, the special reward due to 
 a faithful teacher and preacher, over and above the reward to those 
 who have made their own calling and election sure (see Dan. xii. 3), 
 *' They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, 
 and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and 
 ever." 
 
 15. " If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss," 
 &c. That is, the loss of his expected wages or reward. He is not 
 so much punished as mulcted ; though it must be a severe punish- 
 ment at that day, and in the presence of his Saviour and Judge, to 
 see his work consumed. This implies that he could have done 
 better. He had not taken heed how he builded on Christ. But he 
 is not finally cast away : he is saved. 
 
 "Yet so as by fire." The figure seems to imply that he was 
 employed in building when the conflagration came, and it con- 
 sumed as in a moment the part of the building upon which he was 
 employed, and he was only able to rush through the flames which 
 were enwrapping all the building, and so escape. 
 
 What will be the precise reality of all this it is impossible to 
 declare. It seems to me a matter of some uncertainty whether, if 
 the part of the building of wood, hay, and stubble be souls, that 
 
54 YE AEE THE TEMPLE OF GOD. [I. Cor. 
 
 d ch. vi 19. 16 ^ Know ye not that ye are tlie temple of God> 
 
 2 Cor. VI. 16, J J r ' 
 
 Eph. ii. 21, 22. and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? 
 
 Heb. iii. 6. 1 ^ ^ 
 Pet. ii. 5. 
 
 their everlasting destruction in hell is here foretold. In ways un- 
 known to us, the work which is burned, whether it be souls, or 
 their character, or their works, may be proved worthless, and yet 
 they may not be for ever with Satan and his angels. 
 
 The fire seems not to torment for ever, but to sweep rubbish 
 away. This passage, almost every well-informed reader is aware, 
 has been cited by Eomanist divines as proving the doctrine of 
 Purgatory ; but this is impossible, for the fire of Purgatory is sup- 
 posed to be a purging or cleansing fire which persons in their dis- 
 embodied state have to undergo before the Day of Judgment, and 
 the action of this fire, which, in all other places, is supposed to 
 herald or accompany the appearance of God, does not take place 
 till the Day of Judgment, and reveals that day ; and the action of 
 this fire is not purgatorial, but destructive. 
 
 16. " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that," &c. 
 "Know ye not." The Apostle appeals to their knowledge of this 
 as if it were a first truth. And yet it is a truth almost unknown 
 amongst us in these latter days, certainly till of late years. What 
 Church in a place, what congregation would now attempt to 
 realize, that unitedly, and also in the case of each separate member 
 (vi. 19), they are the temple of God, because the Spirit of God 
 dwelleth in them ? In the eyes of the Apostle it is an undoubted 
 and withal a fundamental truth. 
 
 •' Temple of God." The word here is not hieron, signifying the 
 whole sacred edifice, but naos, signifying the most sacred part — 
 answering to the Holy of Holies of the Jewish temple, in which 
 God was supposed more especially to dwell. 
 
 The article is wanting before " temple ;" so we should not trans- 
 late it, " the temple of God," as if the Corinthian Church was itself 
 the Catholic Church ; neither should we translate it, " a temple of 
 God," as if it was separately and apart from the rest of the Church, 
 a temple. The rendering which best preserves the sense is, God's 
 temple. 
 
 How is it that the Corinthian Church was God's temple ? Be- 
 cause of the indwelling of the Spirit. The fact which made the 
 Temple of Jerusalem so holy was the dwelling of God therein ; and 
 
Chap. III.] THE TEMPLE OF GOD IS HOLY. 55 
 
 17 If any man || defile the temple of God, him shall God 
 destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which i Or, destroy. 
 temple ye are. 
 
 18 ® Let no man deceive himself. If any man e Prov. iii. 7. 
 among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let ^" ' * ^^* 
 him become a fool, that he may be wise. 
 
 the fact that made the Corinthian Church so holy was the in- 
 dwelling of the Holy Spirit. God dwelt in it by the Spirit ; and 
 this clearly sets forth the true Godhead of the Spirit. 
 
 17. *' If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." 
 The translation of the Authorized is unfortunate, for the word 
 rendered " defile " in the first clause, and " destroy " in the second 
 is the same. The Eevisers render it, " If any man destroy the 
 temple of God, him shall God destroy." By defiling or destroying 
 the Apostle evidently alludes to those who introduce or foment 
 factions in the Church, or those who do not take heed how they 
 build on the one foundation, and so undermine the connection of 
 the whole with Christ, or sap the holiness of individual members. 
 
 The temple of God is holy, not in the sense of each member being 
 absolutely holy in thought, word, and deed, but in the sense 
 in which a temple is holy, because dedicated to God by being set 
 apart from all profane uses. This holiness is sinned against by 
 factions and divisions as well as by false doctrine, and the toleration 
 of impurity of life. 
 
 The question, of course, arises. How can a body of men be holy, 
 and so called the holy temple of God, which has within it a greater 
 or less number of unholy members ? To which we answer, Just as 
 a temple may be holy, though some of its rafters be unsound, and 
 some of its stones decaying. What is decaying has to be taken out 
 and replaced with what is sound, and this is the work of each 
 Church, and is effected through wholesome disciphne, and God 
 only knows what we lose by the abeyance of this discipline, as we 
 acknowledge when, in our Commination Service, we confess its 
 abeyance and desire its restoration. 
 
 18. " Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you," &c. 
 This verse shows us that those who were destroying the Church 
 were those who were introducing into it worldly maxims, and 
 mixing up the Gospel of Christ crucified with some system of 
 
56 FOOLISHNESS WITH GOD. [I. Cor. 
 
 19 Eor *^the wisdom of this world is foolislmess with God. 
 f ch. i, 20. & ii. For it is written, ^ He taketh the wise in their 
 g Job V. 13. own craftiness. 
 
 this world's philosophy. The leaders of parties in that age would 
 be those who would despise the humble and humbling doctrines of 
 the Cross, and would be themselves unhumbled, and desirous of 
 being looked up to by their fellows. Now the Apostle warns such 
 that if they would desire to be wise in this world, i.e., in this their 
 state of probation, with the true wisdom, they must submit to the 
 yoke of Christ. " Evangelical wisdom consists in renouncing the 
 false knowledge of the wisdom of this world, in believing what this 
 world judges to be impossible, in adoring what seems to this world 
 contemptible, and in loving that which seems contrary to one's 
 happiness, viz., humiliation and suffering." (Quesnel.) 
 
 19. *' For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." 
 This is literally true. If there be a Being, such as God is, Who 
 sees all things as they really are, and knows all things perfectly, 
 He sees the imperfection of all human wisdom. All mere human 
 speculations, whether philosophical, or moral, or scientific, are to 
 Him as the science or philosophy of a thousand years ago is to us. 
 If there be any truth in them it is from Him, whether from His 
 word or from the law written originally on the heart, but all that 
 man has added to this (what the Apostle calls " of this world ") 
 partakes of his own ignorance and imperfection. 
 
 The leaders of parties in such a city as Corinth would, as I said, 
 be, in all probability, those who added to the truth of Scripture 
 human speculations such as those alluded to in Coloss. ii. 17-20. 
 And in this our age, with what scorn must God regard those who lay 
 themselves out, who bend all their energies, to deprive Him of the 
 glory of His own creation, who teach that mere evolution without 
 will, or design, or reason, has brought into being and orders all 
 things : so that that which requires high intellect to apprehend it, is 
 the product of mere unreasoning forces acting blindly, and utterly 
 unconscious of what they are bringing about. 
 
 The quotation is from Job v. 13. The translation which St. Paul 
 adopts is nearer to the original than that of the Septuagint, which 
 he usually takes. 
 
 God sees the injury to themselves, into which their own craftiness 
 
CiiAP. in.] LET NO MAN GLORY IN MEN. 57 
 
 20 And again, ''The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the 
 wise, that they are vain. ^ Ps. xciv. ii. 
 
 21 Therefore ^ let no man glory in men. For • ch. 1. 12. & 
 
 k n .1 . J Jv. 6. ver. 4, 
 
 ^ all things are your s ; 5. 6. 
 
 k 2 Cor. iv. 5, 
 15. 
 
 will lead them, and to show them their weakness and folly, permits 
 them to be taken or snared by it. 
 
 20. " And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise," 
 &c. This is from Ps. xciv. 11, only the Apostle changes "the 
 thoughts of man" into " the thoughts of the wise," and the Psalmist 
 proceeds to speak of the blessedness of those who submit themselves 
 entirely to the teaching of God : " Blessed is the man whom thou 
 chastenest Lord, and teachest him in thy law." 
 
 21, 22. " Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are 
 your's ; whether Paul, or Apollos," &c. "Why should you glory 
 in men, and call yourselves after their names ? For you do not be- 
 long to them, but they belong to you. And they belong to all of 
 you. Paul, Apollos, Cephas, belong not to a section of the Church, 
 but to the whole Church. Nay, they belong in their teaching, their 
 ministrations, their gifts, their example, to every member of the 
 Church alike. ^ 
 
 1 A strange inference is drawn from this place by Principal Edwards (p. 91), "The 
 world's wisdom, says St. Paul, is conquered by the Church. No man, therefore, can be 
 sovereign over conscience." Now one of the worst things for Christianity is that so many 
 men are sovereign over their own consciences. Many and many a man domineers over 
 his own conscience. He treats it as a captive, he does not allow it to speak. When it 
 asserts itself he silences it : and so his conscience is subdued to his will. And then the 
 Principal proceeds :—" We may add, as a legitimate corollary, that the Apostle's argu- 
 ment is fatal to the theory that the Church consists, in so far as it has authority in con- 
 troversies of faith, not of ' a congregation of faithful men,' or 'all who profess and call 
 themselves Christians,' but only of a select number of the teachers." Now St. Paul says 
 that, amongst other teachers, he belonged to the Corinthians ; does he mean by this that 
 the congregation of faithful men with which he had now especially to do, i.e. the Corin- 
 thians, had power to sit in judgment on his Epistles, and to put it to the vote whether 
 they should be read in the Church as a message from the Holy Ghost, or not? The 
 Apostle himself seems to allow no such power to the Church when he writes, " If any 
 man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I 
 write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" (xiv. 37). II " all who profess and 
 tall themselves Christians " are the ultimate judges, how are the decisions of such a 
 multitude to be ascertained, and in such a case the office of teachers, a work of the 
 Spirit, be it remembered, goes for nothing; and men who, in all probability, cannot find 
 the places in their Bibles veto the decisions of those who have been prayerfully studying 
 the Scriptures all their lives. 
 
58 ALL ARE YOURS. [I. Cor, 
 
 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or 
 life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are 
 your's ; 
 
 21. 22. " All things are your's ; whether Paul, or Apollos," 
 &c. First he makes mention of those whose names they claimed 
 — these were the common possession of all, being ministers, not of a 
 section of the Church, but of the Church ; then he speaks of the 
 world — all things in the world, if received as from God, and sanc- 
 tified by His Word and Spirit, belong to the Christian, or it may 
 mean that God makes all things, even the things of the world, work 
 together for good to them that love God. 
 
 22. " Or life, or death." In his measure every true Christian 
 can say " To me to live is Christ, to die is gain." " "Whether we live 
 we live unto the Lord, or whether we die we die unto the Lord ; 
 whether, therefore, we live or die, we are the Lord's" (Phil. i. 21 ; 
 Eom. xiv. 8). 
 
 " Or things present." If God gives you happiness it will make 
 you thankful : if He gives you unhappiness or disappointment it 
 will drive you closer to God, the God of all comfort. The changes 
 of the world will make you the more rely upon Him Who is un- 
 changeable, the opposition of the world will make you realize the 
 more that " greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world " 
 (1 John iv. 4). 
 
 " Or things to come." The glories of the eternal world are yours, 
 because you are sure of them, or at least it is in your power to be 
 sure of them. 
 
 " All are your's." 
 
 23. " And ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's." ''Whatever is 
 created, and whatever happens in the world, it is all disposed and 
 ordered by the providence of God, and made subservient to the 
 forming of the Church, and to the salvation of the elect : as the 
 whole Church and all the elect are designed only to form a body 
 for Jesus Christ, and to compose One Single Christ (xii. 12), con- 
 sisting of the Head and of the members : and as Jesus Christ made 
 perfect and complete in all His members, is designed only to be an 
 eternal priest to God and a Victim worthy of Him, and to offer up 
 the Grand Sacrifice of eternity (and humanity) to Him in heaven 
 .... The Church belongs to Christ, but the ministers to the 
 Church." (Quesnel.) 
 
Chap. IV.] YE ARE CHRIST's. . 59 
 
 23 And ^ ye are Christ's : and Christ is Grod's. ' Rom. xiv. s. 
 
 •' ch.xi.3. 2Cor. 
 
 X. 7. Gal. iii. 
 29. 
 
 " Christ is God's." Not merely as man, as when He says, " I 
 ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and 
 your God," but as being in the Godhead, as the Son Who is " of 
 God " and is " in God." The Father being the Father of the Son, 
 possesses that Son : the Son, though His equal in the Divine Nature, 
 tenders to Him all loving obedience. " I came down from heaven, 
 not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." " If ye 
 keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love, even as I have 
 kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." 
 
 CHAP. ly. 
 
 LET a man so account of us, as of * the minis- » Mat. xxiv. 45. 
 ters of Christ, ^ and stewards of the mysteries i7.' 2 cor. yi. 
 
 o r> A •'4. Col. i. 25. 
 
 01 UOa. b Luke xii. 42. 
 
 Tit. i. 7. 1 Pet. 
 iv. 10. 
 
 1. " Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ," &c. 
 The first clause may be translated so as to join it more immediately 
 with the preceding. " So then [from what we have said] let a man 
 account of us, as the ministers of Christ." But the Authorized 
 seems the more natural rendering. 
 
 " Stewards of the mysteries of God." In these descriptions the 
 emphasis is to be laid on Christ in the first clause, and God in the 
 second. They are not to be accounted ministers and stewards of 
 men, but of Christ and of God. 
 
 These two ofi&ces are at the root the same. God has committed 
 all the dispensations and mysteries of grace into the keeping of 
 His Son, and so, by the fact of their being ministers of Christ, they 
 are dispensers of the mysteries of God. 
 
 Stewards signifies dispensers. Whether these mysteries are the 
 
60 IT IS EEQUIEED IN STEWARDS. [I. Cor. 
 
 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, tliat a man be 
 found faithful. 
 
 2. " Moreover "(oJeXoiTTov). So E., L., most Cursives; b^t^f, A., B., C, D., F.,G.,P., 
 17, 31, 39, t57**, 71, d, e, f, g, Vnlg., Syr., Copt., Arm., read, " here moreover " (SJfXoiTrov). 
 
 mysterious truths of the Gospel, or the Sacraments, or Absolution, 
 they have wisely, yet generously, to disj)ense them. They have 
 not to throw pearls before swine, but yet they have to see that the 
 wants of Christian souls are supplied. 
 
 It is often said that the ministers of God are not priests. But 
 if they are in any real sense dispensers of Sacraments, they are 
 more than priests — more, that is, in the sense which the rationalism 
 of this unbelieving age repudiates. Never respecting the body of 
 any sacrifice which Aaron was commissioned to offer did God say, 
 " This is my Body," " Give it to my people," nor respecting any 
 blood of any victim did He say, " Drink ye all of it, for this is my 
 Blood." 
 
 Priests are but ministers and dispensers. But what do they 
 minister, and what do they dispense ? If they dispense the mystery 
 of the Incarnation either by word of mouth, or through Sacraments, 
 they dispense infinitely more than Aaron was ever commissioned 
 to do. And if they do this on the behalf of Christ, then by the 
 very necessity of their office and function, they, by God's appoint- 
 ment, stand between Christ and His people. God, if He had so 
 willed it, might have dispensed with all stewardship. He might 
 have preached the Gospel to His people Himself with His own 
 voice, as He gave them the law on Sinai ; or He might have Him- 
 self with His own hand given to them the pledges of His love and 
 grace. So that when we despise and deny the priesthood of the 
 Christian ministry, we must take heed what we do, for we may 
 despise and speak against that which all stewardship involves, viz., 
 the dispensing of some, at least, of God's gifts through our fellow- 
 sinners, whom God has commissioned so to do. 
 
 2. " Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found 
 faithful." Instead of ** moreover " the oldest uncials require us to 
 read " Here moreover," here, that is, in this state of things. 
 
 " It is required " [or " ye require "J " in stewards, that a man 
 be found faithful." The office of steward is not that of an owner, 
 or landlord, but of an agent ; and so the property of which he is 
 the steward, not being his own, he has to give account of. None of 
 
Chap. IV.] I KNOW NOTHING BY MYSELF. 61 
 
 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be 
 judged of you, or of man's f judgment: yea, I tOr.c/.'/y. 
 judge not mine own self. 
 
 4 For I know nothino^ by myself ; ^ yet am I not " ^"^^ \^-f- ^s. 
 hereby justified : but he that j udgeth me is the xx-'"2 ^' r'^^''* 
 
 Lord. iii.20.'&iv. 2. 
 
 the things which we have to dispense are ours — they are all God'a 
 and Christ's. 
 
 3. •' But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged 
 of you, or of man's judgment," &c. We see here the true import 
 of the verses of the last chapter, " All things are yours, whether 
 Paul or Apollos," &c. All ministers of God belong to the Church, 
 so that they should labour not for themselves, but for the Church 
 — so that all their energies should be devoted to the advancement 
 and edification of the Church ; but they are not under the Church, 
 that is, the private members of a particular Church, that they 
 should be judged by the majority. St. Paul speaks, if it may be 
 lawful to say so, with something like contempt of such a notion. 
 
 "Or of man's judgment." Literally " of man's day," contrast- 
 ing, by implication, the day of man's judgment with the day of the 
 Lord's. 
 
 " Yea, I judge not mine own self," i.e., in the sense of condemn- 
 ing or acquitting myself after due examination, as if my judgment 
 even of myself was final. What a contrast is this avowal of the 
 Apostle's of his inability to judge himself, with the cool, self-con- 
 fident way in which such numbers express themselves, as if they 
 were quite sure what judgment Christ will pronounce upon them 
 — in fact they go so far as to deny that He wUl judge them at all 
 ■ — being believers, being elect, God's dear ones, they are above 
 judgment. They will stand by and see Apostles judged, but they 
 will not be judged. Terrible mistake, as they will find ! 
 
 4. " For I know nothing by [or against] myself; yet am I not," 
 &c. Here we have an obsolete use of "by" as meaning against. 
 Mr. Blunt gives two instances, one in a letter of Cranmer's re- 
 specting Anne Boleyn : " I am exceedingly sorry that such faults 
 can be proved by the Queen as I heard of their relation." 
 (Jenkyns' " Cranmer," i. 165.) And in Hollingshead's " Chronicle" 
 Throckmorton says, " I then knew no more by Wyatt than by any- 
 other man." 
 
62 UNTIL THE LORD COME. [L Cor. 
 
 5 ^ Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the 
 dMatt.vii. 1. ijord come, ^who both will bring to light the 
 
 Kom. 11. 1, 16. " ^ 
 
 & xiv. 4, 10, 13. 
 
 Rev, XX. 12. 
 
 e ch. iii. 13. 
 
 The clause means that the Apostle, after strict examination of 
 his conscience, mind, and motives, can find no unfaithfulness in 
 the matter of his stewardship as entrusted with the mysteries of 
 God. 
 
 " Yet am I not hereby justified." In the sense of acquitted, 
 declared free from blame — not, of course, justified in the Christian 
 or Pauline sense, which is through belief in the Eesurrection of 
 the Lord and the implantation of His nature, and the gift of His 
 life to be ours. 
 
 "But he that judgeth me is the Lord." Here the Apostle 
 declares that God, the Judge of all — all universally — now judges, 
 and win judge him, Apostle though he is. An attempt is made to 
 get rid of this by translating, "He that judgeth," by "He who 
 maketh the only valid examination " (Godet), but what does the 
 judge make the valid examination for, except for purposes of judg- 
 ment ? We need not for a moment give to this examination and this 
 judgment the sense of examining with a view to find materials for 
 condemnation. Quite the contrary — the rewards of the righteous are 
 all supposed to be the result of judgment. It must have been so, 
 if St. Paul wrote, " Every man shall receive his own reward 
 according to his own labour," and if he represented his crown of 
 righteousness, as given him by the " Lord, the righteous Judge " 
 (2 Tim. iv. 8). 
 
 5. " Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord 
 come," &c. "We must not take this as precluding all judgment, for 
 a Christian must now judge what is contrary to the declared will 
 of God to be sinful, and the Apostle himself, we shall soon find, 
 severely blamed the Corinthian Church for not, after due investiga- 
 tion, putting away from among them a wicked person ; but the 
 judgment which he reprobates is that whereby they judged some 
 leaders to be followed as worthy of all confidence, and others 
 not. 
 
 "Until the Lord come." Does this mean that at the Second 
 Coming they will exercise judgment ? It may so mean, because 
 the Apostle says, " We shall judge angels," but I think it is 
 rather to be restricted to the pronouncing of judgment upon the 
 
Chap. IV.] THE COUNSELS OF HEARTS. 63 
 
 hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the 
 
 counsels of the hearts: and ^then shall every fRom. ii. 29. 
 » ^ -, 2 Cor. V. 10. 
 
 man have praise of Grod. 
 
 6 And these thinsrs, brethren, ^ I have in a f..'^^- i- 12. & 
 
 ° ui. 4. 
 
 figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for 
 
 5. " Every man ; " rather, " each man." 
 
 gifts and conduct of leaders and teachers, which was such a snare 
 to them. 
 
 " Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, 
 and will," &c. The hidden things of darkness do not necessarily 
 mean secret sins or insincerities, but include the good thoughts 
 and intents and deeds which have been thought in the recesses of 
 the heart, and done so secretly that none know them ; but accord- 
 ing to the Lord's assurance, these will then be rewarded openly. 
 
 "And then shall every man have praise of God." This is not 
 the usual view which men take of the judgment of Christ. Many 
 speak of it as if it was only to be associated with condemnation 
 and hell, whereas here it is joined with praise and reward. The 
 fact, as revealed in Scripture, is, that the judgment is as much for 
 the righteous (or, if you please, for believers), that all men may see 
 that they do not receive their crown out of mere favour, but that 
 (under grace) they have won it. " How much good and how much 
 evil lie concealed under the darTcness of this present world, and in 
 the secret recesses of the heart of man ! how many blind judg- 
 ments ; how many unjust censures ; how many ill-placed commen- 
 dations, and how many false reputations 1 Let us wait with 
 faith and patience for the light of the world to come." (Quesnel.) 
 
 6. " And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to 
 myself," &c. He means by this, I have not named all the party 
 leaders, who are troubling you, but have represented myself only and 
 Apollos (we who in all things teach the same and act together) as 
 if we were the offenders and were causing the divisions. This I did 
 when I wrote "Who then is Paul, or who is Apollos, bnt ministers 
 by whom ye believed," &c. If he had mentioned Cephas, or those 
 who unduly exalted him, it would have been represented that he had 
 .a sinister motive in so doing. But when he put himself and his co- 
 
64 WHO MAKETH THEE TO DIFFER ? [I. Cor. 
 
 your sakes ; ^ tliat ye miglit learn in ns not to think of men 
 h Rom. xii. 3. above that which is written, that no one of you 
 y\2, T.' ' ^ he puffed up for one against another. 
 + Gr. distin- 7 For who f makcth thee to differ /rom another ? 
 
 kTohn iii. S. ^^^ ^ what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? 
 i^p^t'iv^io. ^^^ ^^ thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, 
 as if thou hadst not received it ? 
 
 6. "To think." Omitted by H, A., B., D., E., F., G., 46, d, e, f, g, Vnlg.; but 
 retained by L., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Copt., Arm. 
 
 Revisers translate, " that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things," &c. 
 
 worker, Apollos, forward as exemplifying the evils of party foUow- 
 Ings, he, as far as he could, disarmed his traducers. 
 
 " That ye might learn in us not to think of men above that 
 which," &c. Some MSS. omit "think;" but the omission or 
 retention scarcely affects the sense. " That ye might learn in us,'* 
 that is, in the example of us — by considering myself and Apollos as 
 cases in point — "not to think of men above that which is written." 
 What is written, and where is it written ? No doubt the Apostle 
 here alludes to the general tenor of the Scriptures, which set forth 
 all ministers of God as mere servants, ministering only what 
 God has commissioned them to minister, speaking only Hi& 
 Message. 
 
 " That no one of you be puffed up for one against another." The 
 Apostle here speaks as if he considered pride as the root of all party 
 divisions, such, that is, as those which he blamed in the Church of 
 Corinth, and so it is. In exalting another man, one takes credit 
 to himself for the admiration which he feels ; one glories in being 
 able to appreciate a superiority which others fail to know. The 
 pride of the head of the party thus becomes the pride of the 
 whole. 
 
 7. " For who maketh thee to differ from another ? and what hast 
 thou," &c. Thou canst not boast as if thou madest thyself, and 
 enduedst thyself with excellences either of nature or of grace. 
 Who maketh thee to differ ? God only. " Let us suppose," says- 
 Chrysostom, " that thou art really worthy of praise, and that thou 
 hast indeed the precious gift, and that the judgment of men is not. 
 corrupt : yet not even in this case were it right to be high-minded 
 for thou hast nothing of thyself, but from God didst receive it."" 
 
Chap. IV.] YE ARE FULL, YE ARE RICH. 65 
 
 8 Now ye are full, ^now ye are rieli, ye have reigned as 
 kings without us : and I would to Grod ye did ^ Kev. ui. 17. 
 reign, that we also might reign with you. 
 
 Again : " For not to thee belong these excellences, but to the 
 grace of God. Whether you name faith, it came of His calling ; or 
 whether it be the forgiveness of sins which you speak of, or the 
 gifts of grace, or the word of teaching, or the miracles ; thou didst 
 receive all from thence. Now what hast thou, tell me, which thou 
 hast not received, but hast rather achieved of thine own self? 
 Thou hast nothing to say. Well, thou hast received, and does that 
 make thee high-minded ? Nay, but it ought to make thee shrink 
 back into thyself." 
 
 8. " Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings 
 without us." " Now ye are full," i.e., filled to repletion with all 
 the good things of the kingdom of grace. " Now ye are rich," in 
 all spiritual gifts. 
 
 " Ye have reigned as kings without us." The kingdom of God 
 in which ye will reign with Christ is already come to you, though 
 it has by no means come to us. I would to God, I wish with all 
 my heart (for in the original there is no invocation of the Divine 
 name) ye did reign. 
 
 " That we also might reign with you." This is, as it were, the 
 climax of absurdity to which he shuts them up — that they, the 
 children, the disciples, the converts, should reign and their fathers 
 in God, their instructors, those through whose faith and labour 
 they believed, should not reign, but be well nigh overwhelmed with 
 distress and worldly dishonour and disparagement. 
 
 This is irony, severe, cutting sarcasm, but it was good for them, 
 and they richly deserved it. " It was therefore in mockery that he 
 said to them, ' So quickly have ye come to the end,' which thing 
 was impossible in the time ; for all the more perfect things wait 
 long in futurity : but to be * full ' with a little betokens a feeble 
 soul; and from a little to imagine one's self *rich,' a sick and 
 miserable one. For piety is an unsatiable thing ; and it argues a 
 childish mind to imagine from just the beginnings, that you have 
 obtained the whole : and for men who are not even yet in the pre- 
 lude of a matter to be high-minded as if they had laid hold on the 
 end." (Chrysostom.) 
 
66 WE ARE FOOLS, YE ARE WISE. [I. Cor. 
 
 II Or, us the last 9 For I think tliat Grod hatli set forth || us the 
 
 nfps. xiiv! 22. apostles last, "" as it were appointed to death : for 
 
 ?h.™vy 30, 3L ° we are made a f spectacle unto the world, and to 
 
 2.6or.-iv. 11. & a^^gig^ an^ to men. 
 
 n Hebr. x. 33. iQ o ^g ^^^ p f^^jg f^j. Qhrist's Sake, but ye are 
 
 o ch." ii.l'. '^^' wise in Christ ; ^ we are weak, but ye are strong ; 
 
 & xx?i ^2i' ^^' J^ ^**^ honourable, but we are despised. 
 
 ch. i. 18, &e. 
 
 & ii. 14. & iii. 
 
 18. See 2 Kings 
 
 ^^- !!• 9. " And to angels and to men." Revisers, in margin, " both to angels 
 
 q 2 Cor. xiii. 9. and to men." 
 
 9. " For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as 
 it were," &c. Here St. Paul illustrates the lordly ideas of the 
 Corinthians, and the worldly degradation of their fathers and 
 teachers in Christ by the games or shows in the amphitheatre. He 
 imagines that they were in conspicuous places amongst the spectators, 
 whilst the Apostles were not merely amongst the gladiators or 
 more honourable combatants, but were amongst the most degraded 
 criminals, who were reserved to the last to be torn in pieces and 
 devoured by wild beasts. Thus Tertullian translates this place, 
 *' God hath selected us, the Apostles [as] hindmost ; like men 
 appointed to fight with wild beasts, since we have been made a 
 spectacle to this world, both to angels and to men." (Tertullian 
 on *' Modesty," chap, xiv.) 
 
 " To the world, and to angels and to men." The world, Kocr/ioe, 
 is here used in the sense of the universe, all things visible and in- 
 visible. " The vast range of an amphitheatre, under the open sky, 
 well representing the magnificent vision of all created beings from 
 men up to angels, gazing on the dreadful death-struggle ; and then 
 the contrast of the selfish Corinthians sitting by unconcerned and 
 unmoved at the awful spectacle." (Stanley.) 
 
 10. " We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ ; we 
 are weak," &c. The Apostle and his fellows determined to abide 
 by " the foolishness of preaching," presenting the Gospel of Christ in 
 all its simplicity, and not daring to make it a handle whereby to 
 display their human wisdom. 
 
 " We are weak, but ye are strong." They assumed all the airs 
 of those who claimed to be strong, to be perfect in Christ ; whereas 
 the Apostle was among them "in weakness, and in fear, and in 
 
Chap. IV.] WE HUNGER, THIRST, ARE NAKED. 67 
 
 11 '"Even unto this present hour we both hun- •• 2 cor. iv. s. 
 
 & xi 23-27 
 
 ger, and thirst, and ^ are naked, and * are buffeted, Phii'. iv. 12. 
 and have no certain dwellingplace : Rom. vh!.' 35. 
 
 12 "^ And labour, working with our own hands : * ^''^^ ^''"*- ^• 
 
 ° « Acts xviii. 3. 
 
 & XX. 34. 
 
 1 Thess. ii. 9. 
 
 2 Thess. iii. 8. 
 1 Tim. iv. 10. 
 
 much trembling." The Apostle thought not of himself, but of his 
 Master, and that Master's message, and this instead of exalting 
 him, humbled him, as he says in 2 Cor. xii. 10 : "I take pleasure 
 in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in 
 distresses for Christ's sake : for when I am weak, then am I 
 strong." 
 
 " Ye are honourable, but we are despised." Ye, on account of 
 your assumption of worldly wisdom, and your pretence of know- 
 ledge and power — it may be by your vainglorious display of your 
 spiritual gifts — are honoured by the heathen around you ; we, who 
 make no such pretensions, who dare not use for purposes of self- 
 exaltation what God has given to us — we are despised. 
 
 11. " Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst* 
 .... no certain dwelhng place." No place in Scripture exhibits 
 more fully the power of the Cross than these two or three verses. 
 The world was subdued to God by men whose hves were lives of 
 want, and distress, and contumely. 
 
 " We hunger, and thirst, and are naked." Not that we continue 
 hungry and thirsty, and shiver with cold because of the scantiness 
 of our clothing ; but God makes us constantly to feel these priva- 
 tions, that He may show to all how entirely we depend upon Him, 
 and that He may subdue the world by those who have so little of 
 the goods of the world. 
 
 " And are buffeted." We are constantly struck by insolent men, 
 who would not dare to inflict upon us such outrages unless they 
 knew that the protection of the law would be withheld from us. 
 
 " And have no certain dwellingplace." As yet there were no 
 monasteries, no clergy-houses, no parsonages, in which those who 
 preached the Gospel might be sure of finding a shelter at least, and 
 a place in which to lay their weary limbs. 
 
 12. " And labour, working with our own hands." This appears 
 from Acts xviii. 3: " Because he was of the same craft, he abode 
 with them and wrought ; for by their occupation they were tent- 
 
68 BEING REVILED, WE BLESS. [L Cor. 
 
 X Matt. V. 44. » beiner reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we 
 
 Lukevi. 28.& ^^ ° 7 o r 
 
 xxiii. 34. Acts suiter it : 
 
 xii. i4,"20. i' 13 Being defamed, we intreat : ^we are made 
 iii! 9."* " as tbe filth of the world, and are the offscouring 
 7 Lam. iii. 45. ^f ^^l things unto this day. 
 
 14 I write not these things to shame you, but 
 *iThess.ii.ii. ' as my beloved sons I warn you. 
 
 makers." And, again, he asks (ix. 6), "I only and Barnabas, have 
 not we power to forbear working ? " 
 
 " Being reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer it." They 
 obeyed to the letter the words of the Lord, " Bless them that curse 
 you." When ill-treated, they prosecuted not those who wronged 
 them, but bore it all patiently. 
 
 13. " Being defamed, we intreat." It is doubtful whether thi& 
 means, *' We entreat God for them." It is explained by Godet : 
 " They oppose to calumnies kindly intreating ; they beseech men 
 not to be so wicked, to return to better feelings, to be converted 
 to Christ." 
 
 " We are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all 
 things," &c. The words filth and offscouring signify the sweep- 
 ing out of a room, rubbish {quisquilicB). They are also supposed to 
 refer to a piacular victim (or scapegoat) thrown into the sea to 
 appease the anger of the gods ; the off-scouring was the word 
 addressed to those thus thrown into the sea, Trepixprj/jia r]}iS)v ytvov^ 
 *' Be thou our sin-bearer ; " but Godet and others think the allu- 
 sion improbable. The words may contain a reference to Lamen- 
 tations iii. 45, " Thou hast made us as the off-scouring and refuse 
 in the midst of the people." 
 
 14. "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved 
 sons I warn you." He now drops the tone of cutting irony, hoping 
 that what he has written will have had the effect of showing their 
 folly. " I write not these severe things for the mere purpose of 
 putting you to shame, and leaving you in your shame, but I do all 
 as a father. Take my words as not words of scorn and contempt, 
 but of fatherly love." 
 
 15. " For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ," 
 &e. By ten thousand teachers (pedagogues or tutors) he seems to- 
 
Chap. IV.] I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU. 69 
 
 15 For thougli ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, 
 yet have ye not many fathers : for ^ in Christ ' ^<^^s xviii ii. 
 
 •*' *' *' Rom. XV. 20. 
 
 Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. '^^•}i}- ^uP*'* 
 
 o J o o i iy_ 19 philem. 
 
 16 Wherefore I beseech you, ^ be ye followers ^- ^'•^^^'^ '• is. 
 
 „ b ch. xi. 1. 
 
 or me. Phu. iii. 17. i 
 
 17 For this cause have I sent unto you '^ Timo- itleS! iii. 9. 
 
 c Acts xix. 22. 
 
 ch. xvi. 10. 
 
 Phil. ii. 19. 
 1 Thess. iii. 2. 
 
 allude to the vast multiplication of teachers, or rather of those 
 who considered themselves qualified to teach. This is the danger 
 of all times of spiritual, as distinguished from moral activity. It 
 is recognized by the Apostle in a later Epistle as a common danger 
 of all Churches : " The time will come when they will not endure 
 sound doctrine ; but after their own lusts shall they heap to them- 
 selves teachers, having itching ears ; " and by St. James : " My 
 brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the 
 greater condemnation." (2 Tim. iv. 3 ; James iii. 1.) 
 
 "In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel." The 
 father is the instrument of engendering life : and as there can be 
 but one natural father, so there could be but one spiritual father of 
 the Corinthians, viz., the Apostle, who by his preaching moved 
 them to " turn from idols to the living and true God," and to seek 
 entrance by baptism into His Son's Church. (John iii. 5 ; Acts ii. 
 S8 ; Eom. vi. 1-6.) 
 
 16. "Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me" — since 
 you are my children, and it is natural for children to follow their 
 fathers. What a conscience void of offence the blessed Apostle 
 must have had to give such a direction to his spiritual children. 
 
 17. " For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus," &c. " For 
 this cause." That is that they might, in all respects, be followers : 
 of him. 
 
 "Have I sent unto you Timotheus." In Acts xix. 21, 22, we 
 read " Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through 
 Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have 
 been there I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two 
 of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus ; but he 
 himself stayed in Asia for a season." 
 
 No doubt this is the visit of Timothy alluded to. In the Acts it 
 is only said that he sent Timothy to Macedonia, but inasmuch as 
 
70 WHO IS MY BELOVED SON. [I. Cor. 
 
 theus, ^ who is mj beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who- 
 d iTim. i. 2. shall bring you ^into remembrance of my ways- 
 e ch"'xi'.'2^." which be in Christ, as I ^ teach every where ^ in 
 f ch. vii. 17. every church. 
 
 h ch! v/2. 18 ^ Now some are puffed up, as though I would 
 
 not come to you. 
 
 Erastus, supposed to be a Corinthian and to hold high office in th& 
 city, was sent along with Timothy, no doubt they would go to- 
 gether to Corinth. In order that they might receive Timothy as 
 became one who had been sent by the Apostle to supply his place 
 for a time, he sent this letter, no doubt by sea, so that it should 
 be read before Timothy arrived.^ 
 
 " Who is my beloved son." He had called them sons, and so it 
 was fitting that one who was begotten in Christ by his preaching, 
 as they were, should be sent to represent him. 
 
 " Who shall bring you into remembrance .... every where in 
 every church." Not to instruct you, so much as to remind you. 
 Timothy had been St. Paul's companion on his first visit to Corinth, 
 and was his constant fellow-helper in evangelizing everywhere, so 
 no one would be more fitted to remind them of how he taught and 
 what he taught. 
 
 " My ways which be in Christ." My ways which are in Christ 
 is a phrase which at first seems not applicable to what the Apostle 
 taught, but see Acts xviii. 26, " They expounded unto him the way 
 of God more perfectly." The truth and walking in the truth 
 should be inseparable. 
 
 "As I teach every where in every church." This is said to 
 assure them that in laying upon them the necessity of unanimity 
 and humbleness of mind, he did not inculcate what he did not 
 universally teach and practise himself every where. His public 
 teaching and private life were the same everywhere, 
 
 18. " Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to 
 you." As if some said, " We are of Cephas, we are of Christ. He 
 dare not face us, he will only write severe letters ; so he sends- 
 Timothy to bear the brunt of the conflict." 
 
 1 Several undesigned coincidences are brought out hj Paley in the " Horae Paolinae' 
 on this passage. 
 
Chap. IV.] I WILL COME TO YOU SHORTLY. 71 
 
 19 *But I will come to you shortlj, ^ if the Lord will, 
 and will know, not the speech of them which are ' Actsxix. 21. 
 
 ^ eh. XVI. 5. 
 
 puffed up, but the power. 2 Cor. i. 15, 23. 
 
 20 For ^ the kingdom of God is not in word, but Rom', xv. 32' * 
 
 Heb. vi. 3. 
 m power. James iv. 15. 
 
 1 ch. ii. 4. 
 
 1 Iheas. i. 5. 
 
 19. " But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will," &c. He 
 somewhat delayed his coming that they might repent and come to 
 a better mind. He visits Macedonia first, and his reason is to be 
 found written in 2 Cor. i. 23, " Moreover I caU God for a record 
 upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth." 
 
 " And will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but 
 the power." 
 
 20. " For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." 
 What is this power by which the Apostle, when he comes, will try 
 the false apostles, the deceitful workers who oppose themselves to 
 him? 
 
 Commentators are disagreed upon this. Godet and Edwards 
 say that it is the spiritual power of converting souls ; so Godet, 
 "The power; by which he designates the effectual virtue of the 
 Divine Spirit which brings back souls to themselves, makes them 
 contrite, leads them to Christ, and begets them to a new life." Bishop 
 EUicott writes, " What power ? Certainly not their power in refe- 
 rence to any miraculous manifestations (Chrysostom), and scarcely 
 their power in its moral and ethical aspect (Osiander), or in spread- 
 ing the Gospel (Meyer), but as verse 20 seems to suggest their 
 power in its spiritual character." Yes, but if this power be neither 
 manifested in miracles or in conversion, or in " moral and ethical 
 aspects," how was it manifested, for manifested it must be ? Dean 
 Stanley actually takes no notice of the passage. Dean Alford, how- 
 ever, is wiser, *' he (the Apostle) leaves it general and indefinite." 
 There can be no doubt, I think, that he alludes to some miraculous 
 manifestation, perhaps in the way of present judgment (see chap. 
 v. 5, and 1 Tim. i. 20). It is exceedingly improbable that the 
 Apostle would enter into some sort of contest with these men as to 
 who should convert the greatest number of souls. Let the reader 
 remember that the Apostle constantly refers to his exercise of 
 miraculous powers as manifestations of his commission. (Eom, 
 XV. 19 ; 2 Cor. xii. 12 ; Gal. iii. 5 ; also Acts xv. 12.) 
 
72 FORNICATION. [I. Ccr. 
 
 21 What will je ? ™ shall I come unto you with a rod, or 
 m 2 Cor. X. 2. jj^ lovG, and in the spirit of meekness ? 
 
 & xm. 10. ' ■»■ 
 
 21. "What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod," &c. 
 Shall I come to you as a stern master, or as a father in Christ, 
 with all affection and gentleness ? 
 
 It is impossible that St. Paul could have written this if he had 
 recognized in the congregation or church any inherent authority 
 apart from the Apostolic ministry. According to every line of his 
 writings bearing on the subject, all authority was from above, not 
 from beneath; not from the Church ruling by the majority, but from 
 Christ, first through the Apostles, then through their subordinates. 
 
 This verse is often considered as beginning a new paragraph or 
 chapter, that, namely, which gives directions respecting the disci- 
 pline to be exercised on the offending member. 
 
 CHAP. Y. 
 
 IT is reported commonly that there is fornication among 
 you, and such fornication as is not so mucli as "^ named 
 a Ephes. V. 3. amonff tlie Gentiles, ^ that one should have his 
 
 b Lev. xviii, 8. ^ . 
 
 Deur. xxii. 30. '^ father S Wife. 
 
 & xxvii. 20. 
 
 c 2 Cor. vii. 12. 
 
 1. '* Not so much as named." So L., P., most Cursives, Syriac ; but " named " omitted 
 by S, A., B., C, D., E., F., Q., a few Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Copt. 
 
 1. "It is commonly reported that there is fornication among 
 you," &c. " Commonly," rather " absolutely, actually." "Forni- 
 cation is beyond all doubt reported (as being) among you." The 
 fact is so notorious that the Apostle does not name his informants 
 as he did in respect of the divisions or factions : " It has been 
 declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the 
 house of Chloe" (i. 11). 
 
 " And such fornication as is not so much as named among the 
 Gentiles." The abhorrence in which such an act of incest was 
 
Chap. Y.] YE ABE PUFFED UP. 73 
 
 2 ** And ye are puffed up, and have not rather ^ mourned, 
 that he that hath done this deed might he taken ^ ch. iv. is. 
 awaj from among you. 
 
 3 ^ For I verily, as absent in body, but present f coi. a. 5 
 
 « 2 Cor. Tii. 7, 
 
 10. 
 
 3. "As absent." So E., F., G., L., most Cursives, d, e, f, g; but "as" omitted by ti, 
 A., B., C, D., P., 17, 37, 39, 67, 80, 116, Vulg., Sjriac, Copt., ^th., &c. 
 
 held by the Eomans is apparent from the words of Cicero respect- 
 ing a similar case, in his defence of Cluentiiis : "0 incredible crime 
 of a woman, and such as has never been heard of in this world, in 
 any other than her solitary case." From the fact that such a mar- 
 riage was forbidden both by the Eoman and the Jewish law, it is 
 probable that such an union had not been sanctioned by any legal 
 form of marriage. The man only seems to have been a professing 
 Christian, since no word is said of the woman's excommunica- 
 tion or restoration. 
 
 It has also been doubted whether the husband was alive. If 
 2 Cor. vii. 12 (" Not for his cause that hath done the wrong, nor 
 for his cause that suffered wrong "), refer, as seems certain, to this 
 case of adultery, then the son had seduced his father's second wife 
 and was living with her in incest. 
 
 2. " And ye are puffed up," &c. That is, ye are self-satisfied and 
 self-complacent, and behave yourselves as if ye were kings in 
 spiritual matters, instead of hiding your heads for very shame at 
 your connivance, even for a moment, at such extreme wickedness. 
 
 "And have not rather mourned, that he hath done," &c. Have 
 not humbled yourselves by a public Church act of penitence, and no 
 doubt of fasting, and at such a solemn assembly separated such 
 an one from your fellowship. 
 
 Godet, however, supposes that the words " might be taken away," 
 are not suitable to an act which the Corinthians might have done 
 themselves, but are rather more in keeping with some act of God 
 in striking the guilty one ; but it is very improbable that the 
 Apostle should blame them for not invoking so extreme a penalty 
 from the Almighty. It was sufficient cause of blame that they had 
 connived at the act by taking no public notice of it. 
 
 3. " For I verily, [as] absent in body, but present in spirit, have 
 judged already," &c. *' For I verily," the personal pronoun being 
 expressed, shows the decision to be not of the Church, but of the 
 
74 I HAVE JUDGED ALREADY. [I. Cor, 
 
 in spirit, have || judged already, as thongli I were present, 
 II Or. deter- conceminq him that hath so done this deed, 
 
 mined. '' 
 
 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when 
 6 Matt.xvi.i9. ye are gathered together, and my spirit, ^ with the 
 John XX. 23. power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 2 Cor. ii. 10. & ^ 
 xiii. 3, 10. 
 
 Apostle, as overruling the action (or want of action) of the 
 Church. 
 
 " Present in spirit." No doubt the case of Elisha and Gehazi is 
 strictly one in point, " Went not mine heart with thee, when the man 
 turned again from his chariot to meet thee ?" (2 Kings v. 26). St. 
 Paul was informed by the Spirit of God of all the circumstances, 
 and instructed by Him in the way in which he was to act. 
 
 "Have judged already, as though I were present, concerning 
 him." This is a remarkable assertion of plenary Apostolic power. 
 There is a story told of some prince who was absent from his 
 capital on some expedition, and hearing that his counsellors were 
 about to meet and call in question some action of his, sent his sword 
 and ordered that it should lie on the table before them during the de- 
 bate; and though the Apostle sent no such visible sign of his autho- 
 rity, after reading this letter they would know that he who had 
 wrought with such power, both of miracle and conversion, among 
 them, was spiritually and effectually present, and weak though he 
 was in personal appearance and speech, was able to exercise sharp 
 discipline on the whole body, unless they submitted to the voice 
 of God speaking through his mouth. 
 
 4. "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered 
 together," &c. " In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." All was 
 to be done in the Lord's Name, and by invoking the Lord's power to 
 carry into effect the sentence both so far as it was outward or 
 miraculous (for the destruction of the flesh) and spiritual or eccle- 
 siastical, for the separation of the offender from the community of 
 the faithful not only before men, but before God. 
 
 "When ye are gathered together." What does this mean? 
 Does it mean that they were to call together a special assembly, or 
 that it was to take place at the next ordinary assembly, just as in 
 our Church at any ordinary Sunday after the Nicene creed " briefs, 
 citations, and excommunications (are to be) read"? I think the 
 
Chap. V.] TO DELIVER UNTO SATAN. 75 
 
 5 ^ To deliver sucli an one unto * Satan for tlie ^ Job ii. 6. 
 
 Ps. fix. 6. 1 
 
 Tim. i. 20. 
 
 I Acts xxvi. 18. 
 
 latter, because then the whole body of the faithful were most likely 
 to be present. 
 
 But another question of far more importance is, Does the 
 Apostle by the words, "When ye are gathered together" mean 
 that he waits for their assent to his ruling in this matter? Im- 
 possible. The whole tone, not only of the passage which is now 
 before us, but of the whole Epistle up to this point, is that he 
 would have them look upon him as the Apostle, t.e., the special 
 messenger of Christ, standing towards them in the place of 
 Christ. 
 
 Godet puts it admirably. *' There is not the faintest hint of 
 making the pronouncing of the sentence dependent on the vote of 
 the assembly which is to be held at Corinth, as if the Apostle's de- 
 cision could be annulled by the contrary opinion of a majority. For 
 his part everything is decided, and with his Apostolic competency 
 he has judged to deliver over the offender ; there will be joined to 
 him, in the assembly which he convokes to take part in this 
 terrible act, whoever wishes or dares." 
 
 " And my spirit." As if his spirit was present, and presided 
 over their deliberations, which in fact was the case. The presence 
 of his spirit was not by an act of sympathy or accord with what 
 they were doing, but by a supernatural act, which if there was any 
 place for supernatural acts in the Hfe of the Apostle, seems to have 
 been called for by the gravity of the occasion. 
 
 "With the power of our Lord Jesus Christ." What follows in 
 the next verse seems to imply that this was to be something over 
 and above an ordinary excommunication ; and so the Apostle, by 
 these words, pledges that Christ's power wiU follow upon their 
 taking action, so that except there be almost immediate repentance 
 on the part of the offender the sentence will be carried out in its 
 utmost severity. 
 
 5. " To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the 
 flesh," &c. What does this sentence import ? Not mere excommu- 
 nication, though it is, doubtless, included. It was a delegation to 
 the Corinthian Church of a special power, reserved to the Apostles 
 themselves, of inflicting corporeal death, or disease, as a punish- 
 ment for sin. Of this we have notable instances in the case of 
 
76 THE SPIEIT SAVED. [I. Cor. 
 
 destmction of the flesh, that the spirit maj be saved in the 
 •day of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Ananias and Sapphira, and Elymas, and another hinted at in 1 Tim. 
 i. 20 : " Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto 
 Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme " (Alford). " This 
 was the highest degree of punishment in the Christian Church. 
 And we may observe, the passing this sentence was the act of the 
 Apostles, not of the Corinthians " (Wesley). 
 
 "For the destruction of the flesh." Whatever disease, or bodily 
 pain, or weakness, or " thorn in the flesh " was inflicted it would 
 very speedily have terminated in death, had it not been averted by 
 a timely repentance. 
 
 " That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 
 There can, I think, be no doubt that the Apostle assumed that 
 the guilty person would be cut off by death, but that this death 
 would not be followed by eternal death, for the punishment of 
 temporal death would be remedial, and either bring about a re- 
 pentance, though a very late one, before he was taken away, or 
 else his temporal death would be taken in mitigation of his punish- 
 ment in the unseen world. Now we must fairly face this difficulty. 
 If what was inflicted brought about repentance, which in this case 
 it did, then the deadly blow was averted, and in this case there 
 was no destruction of the flesh, and the offender survived, and the 
 salvation of his spirit took place in the ordinary way, by an after 
 life of penitence and faith : but if the blow took effect, then, in the 
 view of the Apostle, it would be a sufficient punishment — suffi- 
 cient, so far, that his spirit should be saved — perhaps saved as by 
 fire, yet still saved. No doubt what the Apostle expected was the 
 latter. His words, "that the spirit," &c., seem capable of no 
 other meaning. Now suppose that the man had been cut off more 
 or less suddenly. What should we have said ? Why, that so great 
 a criminal must have been, at the moment of his death, consigned 
 to everlasting destruction ; but it would not have been so at all : the 
 temporal death, in the intention of the Apostle, was to avert 
 eternal death. 
 
 Now this ought to show us how presumptuous we are in pro- 
 nouncingupon the state of the departed. Eespecting anyonetaken off 
 suddenly and in the flower of his days, we are utterly incompetent to 
 
Chap, v.] DISCIPLINE. 77 
 
 pronounce whether he has been taken off in judgment or in mercy.. 
 One may suddenly be cut off without apparently time for repen- 
 tance, and the life of another may be prolonged, and he may die 
 calmly and peacefully (may go off like a lamb, as the poor say), 
 and yet all his life may have been that of one of the covetous, 
 whom God abhorreth. 
 
 This place has received nothing like the attention which its im- 
 portance demands, in our attempts, if such they may be called, to 
 settle the eschatology of the New Testament. It takes its place by 
 the side of the words of the Lord when (in Matth. xii. 32) He speaks 
 of a sin which shall not be forgiven, " neither in this world, nor in 
 the world to come," implying distinctly that sins may be forgiven 
 in the future world. 
 
 Before leaving this most important passage we must make two 
 further remarks. 
 
 First respecting the incredible laxity of the Corinthian Church 
 in taking no notice of so enormous a crime in one of their 
 members. One would be tempted to think that the Church, as 
 such, could have had no specific directions given to it respecting 
 the exercise of discipline. To all appearance, unless the Apostle 
 had so sharply intervened, no action would ever have been taken, 
 for unless that action was taken at once, at the first, their feelings 
 of shame would have been more and more blunted as time passed 
 on, and in a comparatively short time tbe expulsion would have 
 been, humanly speaking, impossible. The man must have been a 
 powerful man, either from his wealth, or worldly status, or per- 
 haps from his having taken the lead as the head of one of their 
 principal factions. 
 
 Another matter is. How does all this bear upon us of the Church 
 of England ? It teaches us, I think, that there ought to be in 
 every congregation or parish, a Church court, not of the clergy 
 only, but of the communicants, and of the fittest among them, on 
 account of age, intelligence, and spirituality — not a Church council 
 to deliberate upon vestments, or changes in the service, or such 
 things, which would only represent the factiousness of the parish 
 or congregation ; but a court to which no one would belong except 
 under a deep sense of Christian obligation, knowing the odium to 
 which he might be exposed, if he conscientiously did his duty. 
 
 But we are also taught by the example of St. Paul and the 
 Corinthian Church respectively that there should be an external. 
 
78 PURGE OUT THE OLD LEAVEN. [L Cor. 
 
 6 ^ Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that ^ a little 
 k ver. 2. ch.iii. leavon leavenotli the whole lump ? 
 James iv. 16. 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye 
 
 I ch. XV. 33. 
 
 Gal. V.9. 2 
 
 Tim. ii, 17. 
 
 7. " Purge out therefore." So C, L., P., most Cursives ; but ^f, A., B., D., E., F., 
 G., thirty Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Sjriac, Copt., Goth., omit " therefore." 
 
 power, such as the bishop, to order the investigation of cases of 
 open sin, where the parochial Church court failed in its duty, which, 
 as the human nature of the Corinthians and of Englishmen is the 
 game, it probably frequently would. 
 
 6. "Your glorying is not good." How hollow is your boasting 
 of spiritual gifts or Divine knowledge, whilst you complacently 
 tolerate such extreme wickedness ! 
 
 " Know ye not that a little leaven leaven eth the whole lump ? " 
 The contagion of such unreproved licentiousness and open impurity 
 must spread and contaminate more or less the whole Church. 
 
 7. " Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new 
 lump." *' Purge out the old leaven — that is, this evil one. Not 
 that he speaketh concerning this one only : rather he glanceth at 
 others with him. For the old leaven is not fornication only, but 
 also sin of every kind. And he saith not ;purge, but purge out. 
 * Cleanse with accuracy, so that there be not so much as a 
 remnant, nor a shadow of that sort.' In saying, then, 'purge 
 out,' he signifies that there was still iniquity among them. But 
 in saying, ' that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened,' he 
 af&rms and declares that not over very many was the wickedness 
 prevailing. But though he saith, as ye are unleavened, he means 
 it not as a fact that all were clean, but as to what sort of people 
 ye ought to be." (Chrysostom.) 
 
 In using this figure of leaven, and of purging it out, some have 
 supposed that the Apostle alludes to the Jewish Passover then near, 
 and the scrupulous searching of each house, that there may be no 
 crumb of leavened bread in any corner of it, which it is assumed that 
 the Corinthians who observed the Passover would not omit. But St. 
 Paul is not likely to urge such purely Jewish considerations on a 
 <ji entile Church. Christ is our Passover — the Passover of the world, 
 in a heavenly and spiritual way ; and Paul being the great Apostle 
 of this truth, would not be likely to recognize any such remnants 
 
Chap, v.] CHRIST OUR PASSOVER. 79 
 
 may be a new lump, as ye are -unleavened. For even ^ Clirist 
 our "" passover || is sacrificed for us : "^ isai. liii. 7. 
 
 8 Therefore ° let us keep 11 tlie feast, ^ not with xv. 3. '1 Pet' u 
 
 ■^ " 19. Rev. V.6, 
 
 12. 
 
 n John xix. 14. 
 
 II Or, is slain, 
 o Exod. xii. 15, 
 7. " Sacrificed for us." So L., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Goth. ; but & xiii. 6. 
 K, A., B., C, D., E., F., G., 17, 46, omit " for us." |1 Or, holiday. 
 
 P Deut. xvi. 3. 
 
 of Judaism in an almost purely Gentile body. He would, no 
 doubt, have in his mind the ancient law of the Passover, "Ye 
 shall eat nothing leavened ; in all your habitations shall ye eat un- 
 leavened bread " (Exod. xii. 20) ; but nothing further. Reference 
 to such Jewish customs would not suit his purpose, which was to 
 raise the Paschal view of Christ's Sacrifice above all mere Judaical 
 forms, and make it Catholic. 
 
 " For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Christ is 
 our Passover, because, as the destroying angel, when he saw the 
 blood of the Lamb over the door, passed over that house, and did 
 not destroy the first-bom of the family, so the wrath of God 
 passes over the soul which has sought refuge from the guilt of sin 
 in the Blood of the Son of God. 
 
 " Is sacrificed " — that is. He is slain as an all-atoning Sacrifice. 
 
 If Christ, then, be sacrificed, what follows? The Apostle 
 tells us, 
 
 8. " Let us keep the feast." In order to realize this, we must 
 remember that every Jewish sacrifice (except one, the burnt- 
 offering) was partaken of, either by the priests or the sacrificers. 
 In the case of the Passover, the whole was eaten as a Feast by the 
 people. 
 
 If, then, the offering of Christ be a true Sacrifice, there must be 
 means ordained whereby it is to be partaken of; and so there are. 
 Christians have by Christ's own ordinance a means by which they 
 may perpetually partake of Him as their Paschal Lamb ; and this 
 feast is to be partaken of after examination of their hearts and 
 consciences. " Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of 
 that bread, and drink of that cup " (xi.). 
 
 Calvin has a remarkable exposition : " Now in the solemnity of 
 this sacred feast we must abstain from leaven, as God commanded 
 the fathers to abstain." But from what leaven ? As the outward 
 
80 NOT WITH THE OLD LEAVEN. [L Cor. 
 
 old leaven, neither '^ witli tlie leaven of malice and wicked^ 
 
 q Matt. XV). 6, ness : but with the unleavened bread of sincerity 
 
 12. Mark viii. ' *' 
 
 15. Luke xii. 1. and truth. 
 
 r See rer. 2,7. 9 1 wrotc unto vou in an epistle ^ not to com- 
 
 2 Cor. vi. 14. ^ '' ^ 
 
 Ephes. V. 11. pany with fornicators : 
 
 2 Thess. iii. 14. ^ -^ 
 
 9. " In an epistle." Properly, "in the epistle." Some epistle well known to you. 
 
 Passover was to them a figure of the true Passover, so its appen- 
 dages were figures of the reality which we this day possess. If, 
 therefore, we would wish to feed on Christ's Flesh and Blood, let 
 us bring to this feast sincerity and truth. Let these be our loaves- 
 of unleavened bread. Away with all malice and wickedness, for it 
 is unlawful to mix up leaven with this Passover. Again, Edwards: 
 *' But while the reference is to the Christian's hfe, the Apostle 
 aUudes especially to the Lord's Supper." 
 
 *' Not with the old leaven," i.e., by indulging the sinful desires of 
 the first Adam, or old man. 
 
 " Nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness." If malice here 
 is to be understood in the sense usually attached to it, then St. 
 Paul probably alludes to the envy and ill-feeling which occasioned 
 the factions or parties, and which was increased by such divisions. 
 
 *' And wickedness " would probably mean the fornication for 
 which he had to reprove them (2 Corinth, xii. 21). 
 
 " Sincerity and truth." Sincerity, according to Godet, means 
 "transparency, and so the purity of a heart perfectly sincere before- 
 God," Truth can only mean truthfulness, straightforwardness,, 
 integrity of purpose. " Sincerity and truth seem to be put here for 
 the whole of true inward religion " (Wesley). 
 
 9. " I wrote unto you in an [the] epistle not to company with 
 fornicators." Many suppose that the epistle alluded to here is the 
 first epistle to the Church ; but there has as yet been no definite 
 precept respecting the exclusion of such sinners from their com- 
 pany. It is alleged in favour of this \dew that if there had been 
 such an epistle we should have heard more about it ; but very pro- 
 bably it was a veiy short letter which he wrote to them, upon 
 hearing of their laxity in associating with impure persons. Since- 
 St. Paul first visited Corinth in 54, and this first Epistle was- 
 written four or five years after at the leasts it is probable that many 
 
Chap, v.] YET NOT ALTOGETHER. 81 
 
 10 ^Yet not altogether with, the fornicators *of tliis world, 
 or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with • ch. x. 27. 
 idolaters ; for then must ye needs go "out of the 1 j^hnx^i 15. 
 world. 1 ^^^°- ^- 19. 
 
 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, 
 
 communications by letter had passed between the Apostle and the 
 Chm-ch of Corinth, which was in many respects the most important 
 which he had planted. In all probability, considering the anxiety 
 which he had respecting the welfare of every Church which he had 
 planted, and his constant communications with them through his 
 subordinates (Timothy, Titus, Trophimus, &c.), we have not a 
 twentieth part of the letters which he wrote to them now remain- 
 ing. Such a passage as 2 Corinth, x. 10 — " His letters, say they, are 
 weighty and powerful" — imphes that he gave much instruction by 
 letter to the Churches. 
 
 If it be asked how it is that these letters have not been pre- 
 served, it may be answered that they would have so added to the 
 bulk of the sacred volume that it would have rendered it the 
 property of a few, not of all, as it now is. 
 
 10. " Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with 
 the covetous," &c. But I did not mean by what I wrote that you 
 should have no intercourse in the matter of business, or the neces- 
 sary concerns of life, with the heathen around you, amongst whom 
 this practice is not accounted to be sin — "nor with the covetous, 
 nor with extortioners," for these sins also are tolerated, and those 
 who commit them are not excluded from society as criminals — 
 "nor with idolaters," for if the heathen have any openly professed 
 religion, it takes some form of idolatry. 
 
 " For then must ye needs go out of the world." It was not the 
 intention of God that the Church should exist altogether aloof from 
 the world. On the contrary, whilst living in the world, and taking 
 part in all its lawful business — in the court, in the camp, in the 
 forum, in the markets — it was to bear testimony against its sin by 
 the example of men living in it, and yet uncontaminated by it. 
 
 11. " But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if 
 any man," &c. There is some doubt about the way in which we 
 are to understand this. Either we must take the "now" as it is 
 usually understood : " but now (in this present letter) I write 
 
 a 
 
82 WITH SUCH NO NOT TO EAT. [I. Cor. 
 
 ^if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or 
 X Matt, xviii. covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, 
 
 1/. Rom. XVI. ' ' ' 
 
 1 ' • 2 Thess iii. Qj. a^jj extortioner; witli such an one ''no not to 
 
 6, 14. 2 John ' 
 
 10- eat. 
 
 y Gal, ii. 12. 
 
 (Epistolary Aorist) unto you not to keep company," &c. ; but if the 
 
 " I wrote " refers to what he had written in the former letter, 
 then we must understand it as meaning, " but really I wrote," or 
 "but, as it is, I wrote." They seem to have taken generally 
 what he only meant to apply to those making a Christian pro- 
 fession. *' Really I wrote to lay upon you not to eat with any pro- 
 fessing Christian who is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, 
 or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner." Notice how, whilst 
 limiting the prohibition to those calling themselves Christians, he 
 extends its application to those practising many evU things besides 
 fornication — to covetous, idolaters, extortioners, &c. It has been 
 asked, how could any idolaters be reckoned amongst professing 
 Christians? But is it not very probable that in such a mixed 
 society of heathen and Christian, many professing believers should 
 take part in idolatrous shows or feasts ? In chap. viii. 10 he sup- 
 poses the case, as if it were not by any means unknown, of Christians 
 sitting at meat in an idol's temple ; and many, in order not 
 absolutely to break with their idolatrous relations and friends, 
 might go even further, and affect some semblance of worship. I 
 have heard of Christian Englishmen in India attending feasts in 
 honour of Vishnu.^ 
 
 A question also has arisen whether by the words "with such an 
 one no not to eat," the Apostle alludes to the partaking of the 
 Agapas, or even of the Eucharist, with such sinners. His injunc- 
 tion seems to me to refer to private life, and it would seem most 
 incongruous to exclude sinners from the Eucharist, and yet eat with 
 them in private. This would be undoing privately what they had 
 attempted to do publicly by Church censures. Eschewing the com- 
 
 1 Dean Stanley and others understand this idolatry, not of worshipping false gods, but 
 (rf sensuality and impurity : such sensuality and impurity being called idolatry because it 
 was characteristic of the worship of such deities, as Aphrodite ; but, in the first place, is 
 it at all likely that the Apostle would veil fornication and lasciviousness under another 
 name? Why should he? And, again, if Christians were under temptation to compro- 
 mise themselves by taking part in idolatrous worship, surely it was the duty of the 
 Apostle to denounce it. 
 
Chap, v.] PUT AWAY THAT WICKED PERSON. 83 
 
 12 For what have I to do to judge ^ them also that are 
 without ? do not ye judge ^ them that are within ? ^ Mark iv. n. 
 
 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Thess.'iv." 12. 
 Therefore ^put away from among yourselves that afh!vu"2,3,4. 
 wicked person. ^^^.^*„^:"-'^' 
 
 -•■ &XVII. 7. &XX1. 
 
 21.&xxii. 21, 
 
 22, 2i. 
 
 12. " Them also." So D. (Greek), E. (Greek), L., most Cursives, Arm., Goth. ; but 
 a. A., B., C, F., G., P., 17, 31, 39, 46, 67, 73, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Copt., Syriac, .-Eth., omit 
 "* also." 
 
 13. •/ God judgeth," or " shall judge." 
 
 " Therefore put away." " Therefore " omitted by N, A., B., C, D., F., G., P., fifteen 
 -Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Copt., Arm. 
 
 pany of fornicators, covetous persons, and di-unkards, would form a 
 necessary part of " purging out the old leaven " which he had just 
 been pressing upon them. 
 
 12. "For what have I to do to judge them that are without ? " 
 As if he said, " Ye need not have misunderstood my meaning, for I 
 have nothing to do in the way of judgment with those without, 
 those external to the Church ; but ye yourselves, by Church cen- 
 sures or excommunication, judge your fellow-members of the 
 Church, and so ye might have known that I referred solely to 
 them." 
 
 13. " But them that are without God judgeth." Either judgeth 
 in the present, inasmuch as He now passes a judgment upon all, 
 and in some cases exercises a present judgment, for He is " the Judge 
 of all the earth " — or " shall judge," i.e., at the last day. 
 
 " Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked per- 
 son." These words are taken verbatim from Deut. xxiv. 7 : " If a 
 man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, 
 and maketh merchandise of him or selleth him, then that thief 
 •ehall die ; and thou shalt put evil away from among you." 
 
 The " therefore " is perhaps not genuine. If it is not, it seems to 
 read as if the Apostle dismissed the subject somewhat abruptly: " I 
 have written enough. Put away at once the cause of offence." 
 
84 DARE ANY OF YOU ? [I. Cok. 
 
 D 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 AEE any of you, having a matter against another, go 
 to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 
 » Ps. xiix. 14. 2 Do ye not know that * the saints shall judge 
 Matt. xix. 28. the world ? and if the world shall be judged by 
 Rev. ii. 26. &' you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest 
 
 iii. 21. & XX. 4. '' ^^ ^ "^ 
 
 matters : 
 
 1. *' Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to 
 law," &c. Bengal, who is quoted by most expositors, notices that 
 the Apostle uses here a very lofty expression, as if going to law in 
 heathen courts against one of the brethren is treason against tho 
 Church, the Body of Christ. (" Grandi verbo notatur laesa majestas 
 Christianorum.") 
 
 If any Christians dared such a thing they came short in this 
 matter of the faith and piety of the Jews, amongst whom it was a 
 law that all disputes should be referred to the arbitration of approved 
 men of their own faith and nation. This seems to have been recog- 
 nized by Gallio, when he said to them, " If it be a question of 
 words and names, and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no 
 judge of such matters" ' (Acts xviii. 15). 
 
 " Go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints." Tho 
 unjust, most probably because, being unbelievers, they were not 
 justified. It can scarcely allude to any essential injustice in their 
 modes of judicial proceedings, and this is confirmed by the heathen 
 as adiKoi, and the saints as uyioi, being opposed : the saints here can 
 only mean those dedicated to God, the members of the Church of 
 Christ, and so the unjust are those beathens whom God has at 
 present not seen fit to make partakers of His righteousness. 
 
 2. "Do ye not know that the saints sball judge the world?" 
 There seems here a clear reference to Daniel vii. 22 : " Until the- 
 Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the 
 
 1 The Rabbinical prohibitions against going to law before Gentiles may be seen in 
 Wetstein, e.g. " Statutum est ad quod omnes Israelitae obligantur, enm qui litem cum 
 alio habei non debere earn tractare coram Gentilibus " (Tauchuma, xcii. 2). 
 
€hap. VI.] WE SHALL JUDGE ANGELS. 85 
 
 3 Know ye not that we shall ^ judge angels ? how much 
 more things that pertain to this life ? judf ?' "' *' 
 
 most High ; and the time came that the saints possessed the king- 
 dom." This place shonld not be explained away as if the saints 
 should judge the world in the sense of condemning it by the mani- 
 festation of their superior righteousness, nor that they should judge 
 the world by the Imperial throne belonging, in the course of events, 
 to a Christian Emperor as Constantine. It must refer to the saints 
 being called by Christ, to be in some sort His assessors at the last 
 day. Against this it is urged that Christ alone will judge, for He 
 Himself said, "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all 
 judgment unto the Son : " but it is not meant, when we plead for 
 the literal meaning of this verse, that the judgment by the saints 
 will be in the least degree apart from Christ, but simply under Him, 
 by an act of His grace, and a sort of extension of His judgment. 
 
 As Godet remarks, *' The idea of a real judicial act is demanded 
 by the context." The Apostle speaks throughout of the judgment 
 administered in this world by judges and courts of law, and his 
 argument is that they who will actually take part in the judgment 
 of the world are certainly competent to settle between themselves 
 comparatively trivial matters of dispute which may arise among 
 themselves. 
 
 3. " Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? how much more 
 things that," &c. Fallen angels must here be meant. It is scarcely 
 conceivable that we shall pass sentence upon, or otherwise judge 
 those who have, as ministering spirits, assisted us as heirs of salva- 
 tion. Twice (2 Pet. ii. 4 ; Jude 6) we are told that evil angels have 
 not yet been consigned to their final doom, and we may be called 
 npon under Christ to judge them. 
 
 This also is one of those numerous places of Scripture which is 
 taken little or no account of in our popular Eschatology. The 
 circumstances under which we shall exercise this judgment are not 
 told us, nor can we well imagine them ; but the fact is revealed as 
 one of the wonders of the Great Day. If men in the Name of 
 Christ could cast out these evil spirits — if our conflict is not with 
 flesh and blood, but with these principalities and powers — if they 
 are (the very chief of them) even now bruised under our feet, it is 
 no marvel if the Lord chooses to make those who were once their 
 •victims through sin, the instruments of His triumph over them. 
 
86 I SPEAK TO YOUR SHAME. [I. Cor. 
 
 4 ^ If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this 
 cch. V. 12. life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in 
 the church. 
 
 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise 
 man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge 
 between his brethren ? 
 
 6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before 
 the unbelievers. 
 
 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, be- 
 d Prov. XX. 22. cause jB go to law one with another. '^ Why do 
 Luke' vi! 29'. * ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather 
 19. i Thess. suffer yourselves to be defrauded ? 
 
 V. 15. 
 
 7. "A fault among you." So many Cursives ; but N, A., B., C„ D., E., L., P., most 
 Cursives, &c., read, " to you" (u/^Tv), omitting Jv. 
 
 4. " If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life. 
 Bet," &c. Many understand this as an interrogative, " do ye set 
 them to judge," &c. ; others as if it was imperative, but spoken 
 ironically. Taken in connection with the next verse it makes good 
 sense either way. 
 
 5. " I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise 
 man," &c. They boasted of their knowledge and spiritual gifts, and 
 yet acted as if there was not a prudent and intelligent person among 
 them whom they could constitute arbiter in these secular matters. 
 
 6. "But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the 
 unbelievers." Here those who were in verse 1 called unjust are 
 here called unbelievers. Quesnel remarks, " The good things of 
 this world divide those who are most closely united to one another. 
 The good things of heaven will reunite those who are most opposite 
 and divided." 
 
 7. " Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because 
 ye go to law one with another," &c. Translated by the Revisers, 
 " Nay, already it is altogether a defect in you, that ye have lawsuits 
 one with another." 
 
 The mere fact of your having these lawsuits is a loss of Christian 
 grace to you. They manifest a loss of mutual forbearance and 
 charity amongst those who by God's grace are one in Christ, and 
 
Chap. VI.] YE DO WRONG AND DEFRAUD. 87 
 
 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, ® and that your 
 brethren. e i xhess. iv. 6. 
 
 9 Know ye not that the -unrighteous shall not inherit the 
 
 they cannot be tolerated amongst you without a loss of vitality to 
 the whole Christian body (xii. 26). The word translated loss, 
 ij-rnfia, signifies deficiency, or coming short. 
 
 Why do ye not rather take wrong ? Why do ye not rather suffer 
 yourselves to be defrauded ? This is in the spirit of the Lord's 
 words : " I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever 
 shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also," 
 &c. (Matth. V. 39.) 
 
 8. "Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren." 
 Notice how the Apostle here speaks to the whole Church, as if all 
 were implicated. It might be rejoined by the Church that only a 
 few had gone to law, just as only one had committed incest ; but 
 the Apostle looked upon the whole Church as one organic unity. 
 It was one in grace, because all having been baptized into the unity 
 of the same body, and partaking of one Bread, were one Body(x. 17) ; 
 and so if sin in any member was not at once and energetically re- 
 pudiated, the whole body was held responsible by the Apostle. 
 
 9. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the 
 kingdom of God ? " He speaks of it as a first principle which every 
 Christian should know, that the kingdom of God being a king- 
 dom of righteousness (Eom. xiv. 17), cannot have unrighteousness 
 within it. In this imperfect state of its development the evil will 
 be ever mingled with the good, but it will not be so when the perfect 
 kingdom shall appear at the Second Coming — then the words of 
 Christ will be fulfilled, " Then shall the Son of Man send forth his 
 angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that 
 offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a 
 furnace of fire." He begins with mentioning the unrighteous, 
 which properly signifies those who act unjustly towards their 
 neighbour, and then he naturally extends the meaning of the word, 
 BO as to cover every form of wickedness. 
 
 *' Be not deceived." As if the Gospel gave you Hcense to live in 
 sin, instead of being intended to deliver you from its power. 
 
 " Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers." How is it 
 that idolatry comes immediately after fornication? Evidently 
 
88 BE NOT DECEIVED. [I. Cob. 
 
 kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : ^ neither fornicators, 
 f ch. XV. 50. nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
 Ephes. v.'o. 1 abusers of themselves with mankind. 
 xii™i4. & xiu.^" 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, 
 15. ''"*"• ''^"- nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the 
 kingdom of Grod. 
 
 because the Idolatry of Corinth was so inextricably joined with 
 filthiness and lewdness. 
 
 " Fornication, adultery." Notice how he distinguishes between 
 the two. Though both will exclude from the inheritance, the 
 latter is in many respects the worst crime, because through it the 
 family is broken up, and a third person is irretrievably injured. 
 
 *' Nor effeminate." fiaXaKoi are not the dainty or luxurious, those 
 so enervated as to become like the weaker sex, but persons guilty of 
 nnnameable crimes. It would scarcely mean merely effeminate, 
 if put as it is here, between adulterers and dpffsvoKoiTai.^ 
 
 Assuming that it means effeminate in the ordinary sense, Wesley 
 has an admirable note : — " Nor the effeminate. Who live in an 
 easy, indolent way, taking up no cross, enduring no hardship. 
 But how is it that these good-natured, harmless people are ranked 
 with idolaters and Sodomites ? We may learn hence — that we are 
 never secure from the greatest sins, till we guard against those 
 which are thought the least, nor, indeed, till we think no sin is 
 little, since every one is a step towards hell." 
 
 10. " Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards," &c. These two 
 verses mention by name almost all the common sins of our natural 
 state which men have to renounce before they can be admitted into 
 the Church of Christ here, and which if persisted in will exclude 
 from the kingdom of blessedness hereafter. The list, of course, is 
 not exhaustive. Many more are enumerated amongst the works 
 of the flesh in Gal. v. 
 
 11. "And such were some of you." God may have granted for- 
 giveness and restoration to some who had in times past committed 
 
 1 It is used in its darker sense by heatfaen writers, snch as Dion. Halicarn. Ant., vil. 
 p. 418, and Diogenes Laert., vii. c. 5, sec. 4. The Romans also used the term malacus 
 in the same sense. In some later Lexicons this meaning is ignored. See also a remarkable 
 description of such in Josephus, " Wars of the Jews," iv. ch. ix. sec. 10. 
 
Chap. VI.] YE ARE WASHED. 89 
 
 11 And such were ^some of you; ''but ye are washed, 
 hut ye are sanctified, hut ye are justified in the ^''hg/'/jl o^ 
 name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of '/^s-.&v. 8. 
 
 *' ^ Col, lu. 7. Tit. 
 
 our G-od. »i- 3- 
 
 hch. i.30. 
 
 Hebr. x. 22. 
 
 the greatest of these abominations — such is the freedom of His 
 Grace. 
 
 " But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified." 
 The neglect of giving the right force to the Aorist has well-nigh 
 deprived this verse of its point and significance. It is " ye were 
 washed (or washed yourselves), ye were sanctified (or consecrated 
 to God), ye were justified (or were made partakers of the Life of 
 Christ), in the name," &c. All these things took place at a definite 
 moment in past time when ye were converted, and baptized in the 
 Name of Christ, and by the Spirit were engrafted into the One 
 Body (ch. xii. 13). 
 
 " Ye were washed." Therefore ye ought not to befoul yourselves 
 again, as some of you are doing. Ye were sanctified or dedicated 
 to God in your Baptism, and so ye became the temple of God ; but 
 some of you, I am afraid, have need to be told (as I have told you, 
 iii. 17), that, "if any man defile the temjjle of God him will God de- 
 stroy." Ye were justified or united to Christ as the Vine or Olive- 
 tree of grace, but " you must continue in his goodness, otherwise 
 you also shall be cut off" (Eom. xi. 22). 
 
 " Ye were sanctified " cannot possibly mean the sanctification of 
 modern Evangelical language, otherwise it would not come be- 
 tween the washing of Christian Baptism and the Justification. It 
 must be the dedication by which those who believed were in the 
 act of Baptism set apart for ever to the service of God.^ 
 
 " In the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 
 Grafting into Christ in Baptism, sanctifying grace and our Justifi- 
 
 1 Many divines and pious writers are greatly exercised by the fact that St. Paul here 
 does not give the proper Evangelical sequence — Justification first, then (perhaps) Bap- 
 tism, then Sanctification ; but the Apostle constantly names these things in what many 
 good men now account to be the wrong order. In fact, it seems not the exception but the 
 rule with him to invert the order. I have given a number of instances in full in " Church 
 Doctrine Bible Truth," chap. xi. p. 375; I now merely give the references— 1 Cor. vi. 11 ; 
 2 Thess. ii. 13; 1 Tim. i. 5; 1 Tim. iv. 12; 1 Tim. vi. 11; 2 Tim. ii. 22; Tit. u. 2; Heb. 
 X. 16, 17. 
 
90 THE BODY FOR THE LORD. [I. Con, 
 
 12 'All tilings are lawful unto nie, but all tilings are not 
 i ch. X. 23. II expedient : all things are lawful for me, but I 
 V, profitable. ^^.-^-^ ^^^ -^^ brought Under the power of any. 
 
 k Matt. XV. 17. 13 ^ Meats for the belly, and the belly for 
 Col. ii. 22", 2:3. meats : but Grod shall destroy both it and them. 
 1 ver. 15 19, j^qw the bodv IS not for fornication, but ^ for the 
 
 20. 1 rhess. '' 
 
 iv. 3, 7. Lord ; "' and the Lord for the body. 
 
 » Eph. V. 23. 
 
 cation by Christ's Eisen Life, are all in the Name of Christ, and 
 through the operation of the Spirit of God. 
 
 12. "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expe- 
 dient." There is some dif&culty in making out the connection 
 between this verse and what immediately precedes, for in verses 9 
 and 10 he had been denouncing things which could not by any 
 possibility be lawful, because some were unnatural and degrading^ 
 and some struck at the root of human society itself. 
 
 I think the connection is something of this sort. He had been 
 speaking of things absolutely unlawful, and then it rises up in his 
 mind that the use of lawful things may become unlawful if they 
 are used wrongly, as, for instance, meats if eaten so as to give 
 needless offence to others (Rom. xiv. 21). In such a case the use 
 of such things would be unrighteous, and so go far to exclude the 
 person thus needlessly and wantonly giving offence, from the 
 Kingdom of God. 
 
 And then in another way things lawful may become the occasion 
 of sin, if they are used immoderately. The creatures are to be 
 our servants and not our masters. But we may so use them, that 
 we may be brought under their power. It is lawful to drink wine, 
 but men may so drink as to become slaves of it. And so the Apostle 
 means that all things are lawful, but that he will only use them 
 in subordination to his spiritual progress. 
 
 13. " Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats : but God 
 shall destroy," &c. Perhaps this is a proverbial saying, and was 
 used by the Corinthians to excuse the gratification of gluttonous 
 appetites, and St. Paul meets it by the fact that the sustentation 
 of the body by meats is only for this life — for the risen spiritual 
 bodies of the saints will not be sustained by food as their present 
 gross bodies are ; and if the nutritive functions of the body will be 
 done away with at the Resurrection, so also will the generative^ 
 
Chap. VI.] KNOW YE NOT. 91 
 
 14 And ° Grod liatli both raised up the Lord, " Rom. vi. 5, 
 -. .-.-.-. • m T • 8. cv viii. 11. 
 
 and will also raise up us bj his own power. 2 Cor. iv. 14. 
 
 15 Know ye not that ^your bodies are the pRomlxii's.* 
 
 fh. xii. 27. 
 Eiihes. iv. 12, 
 15, 16. & V. 30. 
 
 as the Lord said, " In the resuiTection they neither marry nor ai-e 
 given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven " 
 (Matt. xxii. 30). 
 
 Just then as the body is not made for gratification of one sort, 
 so much less is it made for sinful, soul-destroying gratification of 
 another sort, to which the Corinthians were so grievously 
 tempted. 
 
 For the body is " for the Lord," to be, when renewed and 
 spiritualized, the instrument for carrying out His holy and 
 heavenly purposes throughout eternity; and the Lord "for the 
 body," i.e., for the whole redeemed and renewed man, that He 
 should be in him as his eternal life. 
 
 12. " And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise 
 up us by his own power." This is the reason why the body is for 
 the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Our Lord's glorified body 
 and the glorified bodies of His Saints are in the same sphere of 
 being, as it were. God hath first raised up the Lord to be the type 
 and model of the resurrection of His Saints, and to be the power 
 of eternal life within them, and to rule the new state of things by 
 them ; and He will raise us up by His own power — by no power of 
 nature, but by His own power — to be conformed to the Lord in 
 body as well as in spirit, to be under Him as the Head, and to be 
 directed by Him and do His bidding in the future and eternal 
 world. 
 
 15. " Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? 
 shall I then," &c. You are not only joined to Christ in soul and 
 spirit, but also in body ; for your body is part of your personality. 
 The personality is not of the higher part only, but of the lower. 
 Now God by uniting us to Christ in one body, has made our bodies 
 members of Christ, so that we should be holy in body as well as in 
 spirit, and we can only be thus holy by keeping our bodies in sub- 
 jection, and not putting any member to a sinful use. And there is 
 another figure also used to exemplify the same holy union. Christ 
 is the bridegroom and the husband of His Church, and so each sepa- 
 
'92 GOD FORBID. [I. Cor. 
 
 members of Christ ? shall I then take the members of Christ, 
 and make them the members of an harlot ? God forbid. 
 
 rate member of the Church being in the one bride or body of 
 Christ, is so one with Him, that his body though comi)Osed of many 
 members, is a member of Christ's body, and each member must be 
 deemed consecrated to Him. 
 
 Before I go further I must say a word respecting the extreme 
 importance of believing in this union, and accepting it in the very 
 broad way in which it is delivered here by the Apostle, as appli- 
 cable to every baptized Corinthian. St. Paul cannot possibly limit 
 the application of it to only these Corinthians, who were, over and 
 above their Baptism, converted and sanctified in the sense held by 
 XQodern evangelical men ; for, if so, he would undo his own purpose. 
 His purpose was to bring about the holiness and purity of the 
 whole Church, and as all the baptized were accounted members of 
 the Church, and all the members of the Church accounted to be 
 baptized, it was of the utmost importance that every baptized 
 Corinthian should, on the assumption of his having been made a 
 member of Christ in Baptism, keep himself from all sin, but espe- 
 cially from that sin which, in the eyes of the Apostle, was the most 
 destructive to the soul and damaging to the whole Church, the sin 
 connected with the sexual relations. 
 
 And if sins are the same then as now, and their destructive 
 effects the same then as now, then the truth should be plainly de- 
 clared, that we have all been made in our Baptism members of 
 Christ, so that each baptized person (whether he has experienced 
 Buch a change as is commonly called conversion since his Baptism 
 matters nothing) should hold himself so a member of Christ, that 
 all his members are consecrated to the service of God. 
 
 No minister of Christ, no teacher of classes of young men and 
 young women, no catechist, can be accounted faithful to his 
 Divine Master unless he teaches the holiness of the bodies of 
 Christians owing to their Baptism into the Body or Church of 
 Christ. 
 
 And, as a necessary corollary, all true conversion ought to be on 
 St. Paul's principles — a conversion to the acknowledgment of, and 
 the beginning to live in accordance with, the fact of their having 
 been made members of Christ. 
 
 " Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the 
 
Chap. VI.] TWO SHALL BE ONE FLESH. 93 
 
 16 WTiat? know ye not that he which is joined to an 
 harlot is one body ? for ^ two, saith he, shall be ^ Gen. ii. 24. 
 
 Matt. xix. 5. 
 
 one flesh. Ephes. v. 31. 
 
 17 'But he that is joined unto the Lord is one 21! 22? 23.''' 
 
 . • , Ephes. iv. 4. 
 
 spirit. &*;. 30. 
 
 members," &c. I cannot express the lesson of this verse better than 
 in the words of the Evangelical commentator, Thomas Scott: " Our 
 bodies should be considered as 'for the Lord,' and be devoted to 
 His service, that they may at length share His Kesurrection, and 
 be made like to His glorious Body. How degrading, then, how 
 base, how ungrateful, how sacrilegious, to make the members of 
 Christ the members of a harlot ! Or to defile the temple of the 
 Holy Spirit, and to alienate the Lord's peculiar property to the vile 
 purposes of fornication." And again, a little before, " He did not 
 form the body to be employed in fornication, and the promiscuous 
 intercourse of the sexes, which counteract, and, if universal, would 
 entirely defeat the design of the Creator in making them male and 
 female, namely, the increase of the human species, the proper 
 training up of children, and all the comforts and advantages 
 of relative and domestic life, as springing from honourable 
 marriage." 
 
 16. "What ? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot 
 is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh." The Apostle 
 seems to anticipate an objection which he supposed someone 
 might make, that he was speaking too strongly in saying that a 
 man by sinning thus might make his members (which were the 
 members of Christ) the members of an harlot ; but he defends him- 
 self by reminding them of the words in which the mystery of the 
 marriage union is set forth at its original institution, Genesis ii.: 
 " The man shall be joined unto his wife, and they shall be one 
 flesh." If then man and wife are one in a lawful holy union, the 
 man and the harlot are one in an unholy deadly union. It is only 
 in God that the union of the sexes is holy. 
 
 17. " But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." "There 
 is one Body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of 
 your calling," Ephes. iv. 4. The Spirit proceeding from Christ, the 
 Holy Spirit, so renews Christians that their spirits are one in Christ. 
 They love and hate the same things, as our Apostle elsewhere says, 
 
04 , FLEE FORNICATION. [I. Cor. 
 
 18 ^Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doetli is with- 
 « Rom. Ti. 12, out the body ; but he that committeth fornication 
 
 1.3. Hebr. . -,*.'-,. ^ ^ 
 
 xiii.4. smneth ^against his own body. 
 
 t Rom. i. 24. 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 4. . 
 
 *' We have the mind of Christ," ii. 16. Here, of course, tlie Apostle 
 uses it as an additional argument against sins such as he here re- 
 probates. "By faith a man is one spirit with Christ, and shall he 
 make himself one flesh with an harlot? " (Wesley.) 
 
 18. "Flee fornication." It has been well said that we must con- 
 tend against other vices, but we must flee from fornication. Joseph, 
 in this respect, is our example. If we would truly flee from forni- 
 cation, we must not allow our minds to dwell even for a moment 
 upon thoughts of it, we must not look upon forbidden objects ; in- 
 deed, we must ever have in mind the words of the Lord, *' He that 
 looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery 
 with her already in his heart." And when we hear any filthy con- 
 versation we must reprove it, and even, if needful, stop our ears, 
 and always leave the company where such talk is tolerated. 
 
 " Every sin that a man doeth is without the body ; but he that 
 committeth," &c. This is a passage of extraordinary difficulty ; 
 scarcely any two commentators are agreed upon its meaning. 
 
 And the subject is such that I cannot mention the greater part 
 of them. It may be well, however, to notice what is certain in the 
 passage, and what is difficult. 
 
 It is quite certain that the Apostle means to assert that fornica- 
 tion is peculiarly deadly and malignant — that its malignity consists 
 in this, that it is a sin against, a dishonouring of, our bodies. 
 
 And the difficulty is in the saying that " every other sin which a 
 man doeth is without the body." Now the Apostle had expressly 
 mentioned drunkenness as a sin which will deprive those who 
 commit it of the kingdom of God, so that he must have had it in 
 his mind. But how can drunkenness be " without the body " as 
 compared with fornication ? It is a sinful or inordinate desire of 
 the body, which finds its gratification solely, apparently, in a bodily 
 gratification. 
 
 The only explanation I can hazard is, that in some mysterious 
 way the sin of fornication touches the mystery of man's coming 
 into being (Ephes. v. 30-33), which consists in man and wife being 
 one flesh, and undoes that mystery— a mystery which only apper- 
 
Chat.YL] ye are not YOUR OWN. 95 
 
 19 What ? " know ye not that your body is the temple of 
 the Holy Ghost tuJiich is in yon, which ye have of " eh. iii. i6. 
 
 ri 1 X \a ^ 2 Cor. vi. 16. 
 
 God, "" and ye are not your own r x Rom. xiv. 
 
 tains to man, and so more than any other sin reduces man to the 
 
 level of the brutes. Whether we acknowledge marriage to be a 
 Sacrament or not, there is a sort of Sacramental mystery about it. 
 It was ordained for the bringing into the world of a holy seed (see 
 particularly Malachi ii. 14-15), and fornication undoes this, and so 
 undoes the purj)ose of God more than any sin, and so more than 
 any other destroys the dignity of man. 
 
 Perhaps upon the whole Alford's explanation seems the most 
 reasonable. " The assertion .... is strictly true. Drunkenness and 
 gluttony, e.g., are sins done in and by the body, and are sins by 
 abuse of the body — but they are still kroe tov cw/xaTog — introduced 
 from without — sinful not in their act, but in their effect, which 
 effect it is each man's duty to foresee and avoid. But fornication 
 is the alienating that body which is the Lord's, and making it a 
 harlot's body — it is a sin against a man's own body in its highest 
 p)0ssible state. . . . When man and wife are one in the Lord, united 
 by His ordinance, no such alienation of the body takes place, and 
 consequently no sin." Bishop Wordsworth also gives a very similar 
 explanation, if not indeed the same, in other words. 
 
 19. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the 
 Holy Ghost which is in you." Here is another consideration to 
 make them keep their bodies holy. Not only are their bodies, 
 and so their members the members of Christ : but these same 
 bodies are the temple of the Spirit. He says "your body," •z'.e., 
 the body of each one, is the temple of the Spirit. It is designed 
 for the worship of the Spirit. He dwells in it as His shrine, His 
 Naos, 
 
 " Which ye have of God." Which comes to you and is given to 
 you from God — from the Father and the Son. They then who dis- 
 honour their bodies by fornication, defile not only the members of 
 the Son, but the shrine or dwelling-place of the Spirit. Mark how 
 this truth, thus insisted upon by the Apostle, condemns utterly 
 every approach to Antinomianism. Men say, " I do not sin in my 
 soul or spirit, I sin in my flesh only, which is yet corrupt, and so 
 what I do is no sin." Not so ; your members are the members of 
 
96 YE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. [I. Cok. 
 
 y Acts XX. 28. 20 For ^ ye are bou^lit with a price : therefore 
 
 ch. vu. 23. , •' ° -^ 
 
 gai.iii. 13 glorify G-od in your body, and in your spirit, 
 
 1 Pet', i. 18. 19. which are God's. 
 
 2 Pet. ii, 1. 
 Rev. V. 9. 
 
 20. "And in yonr spirit, which are God's." Omitted by ^f, A., B., C, D., E., P., G., 
 17, 46, 67**, 71, 109, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Copt., Bas., Arm., ^th. ; but retained by K., L., 
 P., 37, most Cursives, and Syriac. 
 
 Christ — your body is the temple of the Spirit, and eveiy sin which 
 you commit in your body is a sin against Christ Whose members 
 your members are, and against the Spirit Who dwells in your 
 bodies. 
 
 *' Ye are not your own." 
 
 20. " For ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in,'* 
 &c. If your members are the members of Christ, if your body is 
 the temple of the Holy Spirit, if you have surrendered yourselves 
 to God, then indeed ye are not your own, and in addition to all 
 this ye are bought, a ransom has been paid for you — the precious 
 Blood of Christ ; ye are " the Church of God which He hath re- 
 deemed with His own Blood." 
 
 " Therefore glorify God in your body." This is the conclusion 
 of all. You are to glorify God in your body. You are to keep 
 your body pure from sin as His temple. You are to give Him the 
 worship of your bodies. There must be lowly adoration of body as 
 well as soul. 
 
 The words " in your spirits," as the reader will see by turning ta 
 the critical note, are wanting in so many of the oldest MSS. and 
 Versions that they must be held to be doubtful. They give, it is 
 true, a more effective finish to the argument, but at the expense of 
 its point and pertinency, for the Apostle is writing upon the sins of 
 the body, and declaring the holiness of the body, and would have 
 men reverence a body which will be raised again in the likeness of 
 the glorious Body of Christ. 
 
Chap. VII.J MARRIAGE. 97 
 
 CHAP. YII. 
 
 NOW concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me : 
 * It is good for a man not to touch a » ver. 8, 26. 
 woman. 
 
 1. " Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me : It is 
 good for a man," &c. A considerable amount of words has been 
 expended upon the question as to what party wrote to him asking 
 him about marriage and celibacy. It is supposed that the Petrine 
 party advocated marriage because St. Peter was married, and the 
 Pauline advocated celibacy because St. Paul as evidently desired 
 that, consistently with maintaining chastity, all Christians should 
 be as free as he himself was from all bonds which would hinder 
 them from serving the Lord without distraction. 
 
 I do not think we have any need to entertain the question whether 
 it came from one of the "parties " or not. In a young community, 
 such as was the Church of Corinth at this time, with terrible 
 temptations to fall in with the prevailing licentiousness on the one 
 side, and with the beginnings of asceticism on the other, some 
 such question as this was sure to be asked of the inspired teacher. 
 
 " It is good for a man not to touch a woman," i.e., it is good for 
 a man to remain unmarried : for if he be married, he comes under 
 the law expressed in verses 3 and 4. 
 
 A contrast has been drawn between these words of St. Paul, and 
 those of God in Genesis ii., " It is not good that the man should be 
 alone ; " but such a comparison is absurd. It was not good that 
 the man should be alone when he had no creature to converse with, 
 and when the whole world required to be peopled ; but it might be 
 good for a man to be alone, i.e., unmarried, when the world was 
 crowded with people, and when those whose lot it was to evangelize 
 it were daily exposed to imprisonment and death in carrying out 
 their Master's orders. 
 
 " Good " is to be taken in its usual sense, not meaning that it is 
 most honourable on the one side, nor merely expedient on the 
 other, but that the state of celibacy in a man is absolutely be- 
 
 H 
 
98 TO AVOID FORNICATION. [I. Cor. 
 
 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have 
 his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband, 
 b Exod. xxi. 3 ^ Let the husband render Tmto the wife due 
 
 10. 1 Pet, 
 
 iii. 7. benevolence : and likewise also the wife unto the 
 
 husband. 
 
 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the 
 husband : and likewise also the husband hath not power of 
 iiis own body, but the wife. 
 joeiii.16. 5 <^ Defraud ye not one the other, except it he 
 
 Zech. vii. 3. -^ » r 
 
 See Exod. with couseut f or a time, that ye may give your- 
 
 Sam. xxi. 4, 5. 
 
 3. " Dne benevolence," &c. So K., L., most Cursives, Syriac ; bnt s. A., B., C, D., 
 E., F., Q., P., Q., 6, 17, 46, 67**, 71, 177, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Cop., Basra., Arm., .*:th., 
 read, " the debt." 
 
 coming and worthy, and nothing in it contrary to the moral 
 ideal. (Godet.) 
 
 2. " Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his 
 own wife," &c. Let " every man," i.e., every man who feels that, 
 it is better for him to marry, or, with the temptations of such a city 
 on every side, feels that it is dangerous for him to continue un- 
 married. (See verses 7, 8, 9.) 
 
 3. " Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence," &c. 
 The original word, no doubt (see Critical Note), is " the debt," the 
 marriage due. "Wesley has a pertinent remark : "Let not married 
 persons fancy that there is any perfection in living with each other 
 as if they were not married." 
 
 4. " The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband, 
 and hkewise," &c. Chrysostom writes: "When therefore thou 
 seest a harlot tempting thee, say, ' My body is not mine, but my 
 wife's.' The same, also, let the woman say to those who would 
 undermine her chastity, ' My body is not mine, but my hus- 
 band's.' " 
 
 5. " Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for 
 a time." The word defraud, as Bengel notices, has reference to 
 the debt or debitum. If any one is deprived of his due — of what 
 is owing to him— he is defrauded. " Except it be with consent for a 
 time, that ye may give yourselves to [fasting and] prayer." Fasting 
 
€hap. VIL] I SPEAK BY PERMISSIOIT. 99 
 
 selves to fasting and prayer ; and come together again, that 
 "* Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. d i Thess. 
 
 6 But I speak this by permission, ^ and not of e ver. xii. 25. 
 commandment. Axr*!?" ' 
 
 7 For ' I would that all men were ^ even as I g/*^*^ "^* 
 myself. But ^ every man hath his proper gift of e ch. \x. 5. 
 God, one after this manner, and another after i2!^^*ch! xif.* 
 that. ^^• 
 
 5. " Fasting and." Omitted by H, A., B., C, D., E., F., G., P., ten Cursives, d, e, f, 
 g, Vulg., Copt., Basm,, Arm., .(Eth. ; retained by K., L., most Carsives, Syriac, &c. 
 
 seems to have been suggested to early scribes from Acts xiii. 2, and 
 xiv. 23, but the manuscript authority is decisively against it. 
 
 " And come together again." Notice how in all this the Apostle 
 allows no ascetic consideration to come in. The permission is not 
 to contravene the intention of marriage. 
 
 " That Satan tempt you not for your incontinency." That is, on 
 account of your incontinency. One of the chief purposes of mar- 
 riage being that you should be safe from this particular temptation. 
 
 6. " But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment." 
 ■**By permission," that is, by way of allowance or indulgence. 
 "What does the Apostle allude to by the " this " ? I speak this. 
 Some, as Edwards and Bishop Ellicott, take it as referring to aU 
 that has gone before respecting the conjugal relations ; others, as 
 Alford, limit it to verse 5: "The recommendations all depended 
 upon the possibility of their being tempted by incontinence ; he 
 gives it not, then, as a command in all cases, but as an allowance 
 for those to whom he was writing, whom he knew and assumes to 
 he thus tempted." 
 
 7. "For I would that all men were even as I myself." "I 
 would that all believers who are now unmarried should remain 
 eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake (Matth. xix. 12). St. 
 Paul having tasted the sweetness of this liberty, wished others to 
 enjoy it as well as himself; but everyone hath his own proper gift 
 from God. According to our Lord's declaration, all men cannot 
 receive this saying, save they, the happy few, to whom it is given " 
 (Matth. xix. 11). fWesley.) 
 
 " Even as I am." This has been taken, as by Godet, to signify 
 •that St. Paul was not then married, and never was. For he asks, 
 
100 LET THEM MARRY. [I. Cor. 
 
 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, * It is good 
 Ter. 1, 26. for them if they abide even as I. 
 k 1 Tim. V. 14. 9 But ^ if they cannot contain, let them marry : 
 for it is better to marry than to bum. 
 
 "How could he have expressed the desire that all men were^ 
 widowers ? " But if St. Paul had been married, he would, when God 
 was pleased to deprive him of his wife, have become celibate, and 
 able to " serve the Lord without difitraction," as single and unen- 
 cumbered, and that is all that is meant. It is most probable that 
 St. Paul never was married, but his words here are no proof of it. 
 " But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this 
 manner," &c. This means that God hath given to one aptitude for life 
 in celibacy, to another aptitude for married life. Dean Stanley says 
 that gift (xapiafia) signifies here moral and natural gifts, but else- 
 where preternatural gifts; but no doubt all gifts by which men 
 are distinguished from their fellows are special gifts of God, and 
 being gifts and not wages, are of grace or particular favour, though 
 God may have hidden from us the mode in which He gives them. 
 
 8. " I say therefore to the unmarried and widows," &c. Some 
 suppose that " the unmarried " here means widowers, but no reason 
 whatsoever can be alleged for the restriction. A more probable 
 supposition respecting the mention of widows is that, by becoming 
 widows, they became more especially the servants of the Church. 
 " We may with some confidence infer that in the Apostle's advice 
 to widows not to contract a second marriage, we have a reference 
 to those widows, for whose support the Church had already made 
 provision (Acts vi. 1), and who afterwards acquired a more official 
 position as deaconesses, or in a later age as members of the viduate 
 {xvPt^Kov). The present passage marks an intermediate stage in the 
 growth of that office." (Edwards.) 
 
 "It is good for them if they abide even as I." That is, in a state 
 in which there are none dependent upon them, to whose interests 
 they are bound to look, so that in this state of celibacy they may 
 "serve the Lord without distraction." 
 
 9. "But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better 
 to marry," &c. That is, if they have not continency, if they have 
 not power over themselves, let them marry. 
 
 " It is better to marry than to burn," that is, to be consumed in- 
 wardly with evil desires. 
 
€h4p. VIL] let him not PUT HER AWAY. 101 
 
 10 And unto the married I command, ^ yet not I, but the 
 Xord, ™ Let not the wife depart from her husband : ^ See ver. 12, 
 
 25, 40. 
 
 11 But and if she depart, let her remain un- m Mai. ii. h, 
 married, or be reconciled to her husband : and let 32'. & xix. "ej* 
 not the husband put awaj his wife. li^ i2.*'^Luke 
 
 12 But to the rest speak I, "^ not the Lord : If ^ver-^e. 
 any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and 
 
 she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her awaj. 
 
 13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth 
 not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave 
 him. 
 
 10. *' And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the 
 Lord." He now takes up questions of separtion and divorce. 
 
 The words, "yet not I, but the Lord," refer to the commands of 
 the Lord in the Gospels respecting divorce (Matth. v. 32 ; xix. 9 ; 
 Mark x. 11 ; Luke xvi. 18). It is remarkable, however, that the 
 Apostle should make prominent mention of the wife as being the 
 one who desired to depart. And this, I think, refers to mixed mar- 
 riages. If a Christian woman was married to a heathen man, she 
 would very probably desire to leave a house where heathen idola- 
 tries and pollutions took place, which she had no power to prohibit 
 or even to withdraw herself from, whereas the Christian man would 
 be the ruler in his own house. 
 
 11. *' But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be re- 
 conciled," &c. The marriage contracted when both parties were in 
 an heathen state, was the same, so far as its binding obligations on 
 each party was concerned, as if contracted when they were Chris- 
 tians. It brought both under the law of Christ, that if the husband 
 put away his wife he committed adultery against her, and if 
 the wife put away her husband, she committed adultery (Mark x. 
 11, 12). 
 
 12, 13. " But to the rest speak I, not the Lord .... let her not 
 leave him." I believe that in verses 10 and 11 he has an eye to 
 mixed marriagee (though not, perhaps, wholly), because, as I said, 
 it was natural for the believing wife not to wish to live in an 
 heathen household ; now he considers the case of mixed marriages, 
 where both parties had a desire to dwell together, but one or both 
 Had scruples respecting the continuance of intercourse with an 
 
102 SANCTIFIED BY THE WIFE. [I. Cok. 
 
 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife. 
 
 heathen. He declares that, so far as he knows (for he has had no 
 special revelation respecting it), there is no ground for such scruples, 
 and he gives a remarkable reason. 
 
 14. " For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and 
 the unbelieving," &c. This sanctification is not, of course, to be 
 taken in the sense of being internally and spiritually holy, but re- 
 latively holy in so far as this, that their matrimony is holy matri- 
 mony ; their intercourse is not sinful, and if they have children,, 
 the holiness of one parent saves the children from being considered 
 or treated as heathen children ; they are entitled to Baptism just 
 as if both the parents were baptized Christians. We mistake alto- 
 gether St. Paul's religious position, so to speak, if we conceive him 
 to be a precursor of Luther or Calvin, much less of Zwingle or Knox. 
 If ever man did, he believed in the Holy Catholic Church. He 
 believed that the outward visible Church of Christ took the place 
 of the Jewish body, and much more. Though its members might 
 be very deficient in heart-sanctification or self-dedication, they 
 were still in a real sense holy, and they were to believe this and 
 act upon the belief, in order that they might attain to a higher 
 sanctification. They were to hold not only their souls but their 
 very bodies to be holy, because those bodies were the members of 
 Christ. This Church is sanctified not merely by the preaching of 
 the "Word, but by the washing of water by the Word (Ephes. v. 
 26). The Church is one, not only because it is one in Chris- 
 tian opinion, or one in knowledge, or one in the possession 
 of the Scriptures, but because it partakes of one Eucharistio 
 Bread (1 Cor. x. 16, 17). Even what Christians eat is "sancti- 
 fied by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. iv. 5). Angels 
 are in their assemblies (xi. 10 ; Heb. xii. 22). Even whilst on earth 
 they belong to the heavenly Jerusalem, they are in communion 
 not only with one another, but with the general assembly and 
 Church of the first-bom, and with the spirits of just men made 
 perfect (Heb. xii. 23). Such is St. Paul's idea of the Church, even 
 of such a branch of it so imperfect as the Corinthian part of it ; 
 and we must carry with us all this in the reading of every verse of 
 his Epistles. If we commit the folly of measuring him by Luther 
 or Calvin, or the Puritans, or even by our best English Keformers, 
 we mistake him and his teaching. 
 
CiiAP. VII.] NOW ARE THEY HOLY. 103 
 
 and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by tlie husband : else 
 ** were your children unclean ; but now are they « Mai. u. 15. 
 lioly. 
 
 14. "By the hnsband." s. A., B., C, D., E., F., G., P., 17, 19, 46, d, e, f, g, Copt., 
 Basra., read, "by the brother;" K., L., most Cursives, Vulg., Syriac, Arm., .^Eth., 
 Goth., read, "husband." 
 
 Now let US apply these ideas of the Apostle of a great mixed body, 
 being holy because of its profession and dedication, to the elucida- 
 tion of the question : Has the Apostle the Baptism of Infants in his 
 mind when he writes, " Else were your children unclean, but now 
 are they holy " ? 
 
 It has been said that the passage is against the practice of Infant 
 Baptism in the Apostle's time, for he would have hardly founded 
 an argument on the derivation of the children's holiness from their 
 Christian parent or parents, if there had been a distinct act by 
 which the children had themselves been admitted into the Chris- 
 tian Society. (Stanley.) Now to this it may be answered, that 
 the Apostle knows of no holiness (among heathens, at least), apart 
 from the Christian Church, and he asserts very distinctly, that that 
 holiness comes not on the first act of belief, but through Baptism. 
 (Ephes. V. 26 ; 1 Corinth, xii. 13 ; Titus iii. 5.) But those who 
 thus lay down that this place is against the practice, assert equally 
 strongly that the passage asserts the principle on which Infant 
 Baptism is founded ; thus (from the same commentator), " The 
 children of Christian parents may therefore be considered as among 
 the people of God, and from this would follow the natural con- 
 sequence, that the whole family would participate in the same rites 
 as belonged properly, and in the highest sense, only to those mem- 
 bers, or that member of it who was strictly a believer." 
 
 But here we are asked to assume, that there was no practice of 
 Infant Baptism, and yet that the words of St. Paul contain the whole 
 principle of it. Surely he was a man who would understand the 
 principles which underlay what he wrote, and would carry them 
 out. If we bear in mind our Lord's treatment of infants, and what 
 He said about them, as in some spiritual respects superior to adults 
 — if we bear in mind the analogy of circumcision, and such a 
 prophecy as that cited by St. Peter in Acts ii. 39 — if we bear in 
 mind that the Baptism not only of individuals, but of whole house- 
 holds, is expressly mentioned, and that children are addressed in 
 
104 LET HIM DEPART. [I. Cor. 
 
 15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A 
 
 the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, as members of the 
 Christian Church just as much as their baptized elders (Ephes. vi. 1, 
 Colos. iii. 20), then we see that the assertion by St. Paul that 
 certain children of a Christian parent or parents were holy, postu- 
 lates their Baptism. Of course, if we believe that St. Paul's views 
 of the Church and its ordinances were those of Zwingle, then this 
 assertion of his does not assume Baptism ; but if his views respect- 
 ing the Church and its ordinances were those which the Catholic 
 Church has ever held, then it does. 
 
 This phce, if taken simply and barely by itself, without reference 
 to anything which St. Paul had written or our Lord had said, 
 does not pssume the practice of Infant Baptism ; but if it be taken 
 in connection with what St. Paul writes elsewhere respecting the 
 holiness of the whole body of the Church and the sanctity of the 
 several members of their bodies, and all this depending upon or 
 assuming Baptism, then it doeSc 
 
 15. " But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or 
 a sister is not," &c. This means, apparently, If the unbelieving de- 
 part, you are under no obligation to attempt to live with him against 
 his will, or to compel the unbehever to live with you. You are not 
 under such bondage in such cases. But the question further arises 
 (and it is doubtful to me whether it is contemplated by the Apostle), 
 do the words, '* not under bondage," mean that they are at liberty — 
 if finally deserted — to contract another marriage ? Commentators c f 
 decided Catholic opinions have pronounced that they may. Thus 
 Bishop Wordsworth : " Although a Christian may not put away his 
 wife, being an unbeliever, yet, if the wife desert her husband, he 
 may contract a second marriage." And Estius : " ut sensus sit, 
 Christianum et Christianam cum infidelibus matrimonio copulates, 
 inhujusmodi rebus seu casibus, cujusmodi videlicet sermo proximo 
 praecedens comprehendit, non esse subjectos servitute ; ut vel inupti 
 manere, vel cum conjugibus remanere, eisve digressis reconciliari 
 debeant." Also Cornelius a Lapide : " Nota Apostolum permittere 
 hoc casu non tantum thori devortium sed etiam matrimonii : ita ut 
 possit conjux fidelis aliud matrimonium in ire." 
 
 Chrysostom (here, at least), does not contemplate the Apostle 
 referring to the Christian party who is deserted being permitted to 
 marry again. '* But what is the meaning of let the unbelieving 
 
'Chap. VIL] GOD HATH CALLED TO PEACE. 105 
 
 brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases : but 
 God hath called us ^ f to peace. p Rom. xii. is. 
 
 . . &■ xiv. 19. 
 
 16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether ch. xiv. 33. 
 thou shalt '^ save thy husband ? or f how knowest t Gr. in peace. 
 thou, man, whether thou shalt save thy wife ? '^ ^ ^^*- "^' ^• 
 
 t Gr. what, 
 
 17 But as God hath distributed to every man, 
 
 15. "Called us." So B,, D., E., F., G., L., most Cursives, Ital, Vulg., Syriac, &c.; 
 tut N, C, K., read, "you." 
 
 depart ? For instance, if he bid thee sacrifice and take part in his 
 ungodliness on account of thy marriage, or part company, it were 
 better the marriage were annulled, and no breach made in godli- 
 ness. If day by day he buffet thee, and keep up combats on this 
 account, it is better to separate. For this is what he glances at. 
 Baying, * But God hath called us unto peace.' " 
 
 " God hath called us to peace," or, " in peace." This must be 
 taken in conjunction with " let him depart," i.e., rather than by his 
 presence and idolatrous practices be the constant occasion of 
 wrangling and division. Or it may mean, if taken in connection 
 with the usual meaning assigned to the next verse, Do what you 
 can, consistent with your duty to God, to maintain peace, even 
 when the husband or wife is unbelieving. 
 
 16. " For what knowest thou, wife, whether thou shalt save thy 
 husband? " There is a remarkable difference among commentators 
 respecting the meaning of this verse ; some asserting that it means, 
 Do all you can to preserve union, in order that you may convert 
 your unbelieving yoke-fellow, as St. Peter says, " If any obey not 
 the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversa- 
 tion of the wives " (1 Pet. iii. 1), Others, on the conti ary, interpret 
 it as meaning. Let the unbeliever depart : hazard not for an uncer- 
 tainty the peace in which you ought to be living as Christians, for 
 what assurance have you that you will convert your unbelieving 
 partners ? it is most unlikely. So Alford. I need hardly say that 
 the former way of taking the passage sounds the more Christian. 
 
 17. "But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord 
 hath called," &c. The connection of the verse with what precedes 
 is difficult and uncertain. Something of this sort seems to be the 
 meaning. I have (in verse 15) asserted your liberty, that you are 
 not in bondage, and so may change your state as regards your 
 
106 so LET HIM WALK. [L Cor. 
 
 as the Lord hatli called every one, so let him walk. And 
 •■ eh. iv. 17. ^ so ordain I in all churches. 
 
 2 Cor. xi. 28. 
 
 18 Is any man called being circumcised? let 
 him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in 
 ■ Acts XV. 1, nncircnmcision ? * let him not be circumcised. 
 
 5, 19, 24, 28. 
 
 Gal. V. 2. 19 * Circumcision is nothing, and uncircum- 
 
 vi. 15. ' ' cision is nothing, but " the keeping of the com- 
 1':k:SM'' mandments of God. 
 
 & iii. 24. 
 
 heathen partner ; but this is to be held with this reservation — that 
 God does not intend His religion to alter the social state of those 
 whom He calls. For instance, the military life had connected with 
 it much that seemed contrary to the Gospel, and yet it was quite 
 possible that Christian soldiers might continue loyal servants both 
 of God and of Caesar. And so, if a person was called being married, 
 he or she was not to seek occasion to change that condition, rather 
 the contrary. 
 
 " And so ordain I in all churches." I do not merely recommend 
 this as a Christian brother, but I ordain it as an Apostle, and would 
 have men observe the rule which I lay down, that Christian Hberty 
 is not to make men loose to social bonds or relations. And now he 
 gives two instances in point. 
 
 18. " Is any man called being circumcised ? let him not become,'* 
 &c. Let him not become so as to appear uncircumcised. Josephus 
 alludes to this as undergone by apostate Jews, who desired to live 
 as Gentiles : this happened in the time of Antiochus. (Ant. xii. v, 
 sec. 1. See also 1 Mac. i. 11.) 
 
 18. " Is any called in uncircumcision ? let him not be circum- 
 cised." That is, under the influence of Judaizing teachers. Let 
 him not put himself under a law from the bondage of which Christ 
 by His own obedience to the law has delivered him. 
 
 19. " Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing," 
 &c. This, of course, is said with reference to the new standing of 
 Christians in Christ. Before the coming of Christ it could not have 
 been said without contravening the express words of God in 
 Gen. xvii. 14 : " The uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his 
 foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people ; 
 he hath broken my covenant." But now that Christ was revealed 
 and preached, " neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncir- 
 
Chap. VII.] USE IT RATHER. 107 
 
 20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he 
 was called. 
 
 21 Art thoii called being a servant ? care not for it : but 
 if thou majest be made free, use it rather. 
 
 cumcisioD, but a new creature," and "in Christ Jesus neither cir- 
 cumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which 
 worketh by love " (Gal. v. 6, vi. 15). 
 
 20. " Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was 
 called." We are told that " calling " here cannot mean what we 
 now designate " calling," i.e., profession or manner of life. Gram- 
 matically it may not, but it is exceedingly difficult to explain it, 
 especially to an English reader, except as referring to the calling in 
 life. The calling, i.e., the Divine calling, was to be a Christian, 
 but the Apostle cannot possibly mean to say God's calling has 
 called you to be a Christian, continue a Christian, do not apostatize. 
 On the contrary he gives two illustrations of what this "calling" 
 is, calling in circumcision, or calling in liberty — that is as a free 
 man, in opposition to a slave, or vice versa. 
 
 21. " Art thou called, being a servant ? [rather, slave] care not." 
 " Be not over anxious to become a freedman. God will temper 
 thy servitude, and will make it, if thou committest thy way to Him, 
 the means of thy greater spiritual freedom, and thy progress in the 
 Divine life." 
 
 " But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather." This seems to 
 mean, "If thou hast the opportunity of becoming free, seize the 
 opportunity." But a singular diversity of opinion has prevailed 
 upon the meaning of the place, most of the ancients and some 
 moderns interpreting it as meaning, "If thou canst be made 
 free, still abide in thy former state — continue in slavery, rather 
 than not abide in the calling in which thou hast been called." 
 
 But verse 23 seems to render impossible stich a meaning of the 
 Apostle's words here. 
 
 Augustine (cited in Wordsworth) says that a man is to abide in 
 his calling, if it be not hurtful to faith or morals ; but slavery among 
 the heathen involved many requirements contrary to both. 
 
 Respecting the two interpretations, " Take advantage of the offer 
 of freedom," or "Remain in slavery though the offer is made," 
 Dean Stanley remarks, "It is one of the most evenly balanced 
 questions in the interpretation of the New Testament." The con- 
 
108 YE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. [I. Cor. 
 
 22 For lie that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is 
 X John viii. 36. ^the Lord's f freeman: likewise also he that is 
 
 Rom. vi. 18, 
 
 22. phiiem. Called, being free, is ^ Christ's servant. 
 
 t Gr. made 23 'Ye are bought with a price j be not ye the 
 
 iZh. ix. 21. servants of men. 
 
 Gal. v. is. ' 
 
 Eph.vi. 6. 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 16. 
 
 z ch. \i. 20.* 
 
 1 Pet. i. 18, 'l9, 23. « Ye are bonght." " Ye were bonght." 
 
 See Lev. xxv. 
 
 42. 
 
 duct of St. Paul himself in asserting his political freedom as a 
 Roman citizen, seems to assure us that he valued it very greatly ; 
 and, if so, he would hardly say, *' Even though thou canst be 
 emancipated continue in slavery," but rather, *' If thou art able, be 
 as free as I am." 
 
 22. " For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the 
 Lord's freeman." He has been made free by Christ from the 
 worst of all bondages, that of sin. He is free to serve God in his 
 body, as well as in his spirit, which are God's. He is free whilst 
 serving his earthly master to earn the highest possible reward — even 
 an eternal one ; for the Apostle teaches that if slaves do their duty 
 to their earthly masters as to Christ they will receive the reward of 
 the inheritance, for they serve the Lord Christ (Coloss. iii. 24). 
 
 "Likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant." 
 The yoke of sin is broken from his neck, but he comes under the 
 yoke of Christ. St. Paul was freeborn, and yet he delights to call 
 himself the slave of Christ. In body, soul, and spirit he held that 
 he belonged to Him Who had purchased him with His Blood. 
 
 23. " Ye are bought with a price ; be not ye the servants of 
 men." There seems to be an analogy between the emption of the 
 Christian, in that a price has been paid for him, and the emption 
 of the slave, in that he also has been bought, which decides the 
 meaning of this verse : " Ye have been bought with a price, even 
 with the precious Blood of Christ, that you should be His slaves. 
 Now you can serve Him in continuing in submission to your 
 earthly masters, for He will account that which you do for them as 
 done to Him (Ephes. vi. 7, 8 ; Coloss. iii. 22), but you can serve 
 Him best in a state of freedom. If free you can no more be com- 
 pelled to take part in idolatrous worship or live in a house where 
 all sorts of licentiousness prevails. Your time will be your own, 
 
Chap. VII.] THEREIN ABIDE WITH GOD. lO^" 
 
 24 Brethren, * let every man, wherein he is called, therein, 
 abide with God. • ^er. 20. 
 
 that you can in a greater degree employ it in the active service of 
 Christ." Such an interpretation is in accordance with what I can- 
 not but think is, on Christian grounds, the natural interpretation of 
 verse 21, *' If thou mayest be made free, use it rather." 
 
 Many, however, take a different view. Bengel takes it as mean- 
 ing, " If you are free do not sell yourself to be a slave." Principal 
 Edwards, after Chrysostom, takes it as signifying, " Though you 
 maybe slaves in external condition, be not slaves in spirit; " but the 
 whole context — indeed, the whole chapter, is occupied with external 
 conditions, not with inward spiritual states. 
 
 24. " Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide 
 with God." This is a re-assertion of verse 20. What is the signi- 
 ficance of the repetition ? Evidently this : That Christianity, 
 or the Church of Christ, should not have the ill name of being an 
 institution disorganizing human society, but rather binding it to- 
 gether. Whatever we may think of enforced servitude, it was not 
 only tolerated by God amongst His ancient people, but laws (some- 
 times severe ones) were laid down for its regulation. It could not 
 be then, at that time, wrong in heathendom. No worse accusation 
 could be brought against Christianity than that it unloosed what 
 were then held to be the first principles of society. It would in time 
 unloose them. Its first principles would first mitigate slavery, and 
 afterwards abolish it. But this, of necessity, must be a matter of 
 time, and postulated the conversion of the Empire to the nominal 
 profession of Christianity, before it could be brought about. 
 
 This verse is to be taken, not as if it forbade the Christian chang- 
 ing his state of servitude for that of freedom if he could lawfully 
 do so ; but that he was to be in no haste about it. He was to 
 remember that he could most effectually serve God whilst he was 
 serving his earthly master, and that he was not to bring a scandal 
 upon the Church by making men think that the spirit of the 
 Church was one of insubordination.' 
 
 25. " Now concerning virgins I have no conunandment of the 
 Lord : yet," &c. He now comes to the case of young unmarried 
 
 1 ** The principle has been of incalculable importance in the development of the Churi*h. 
 It is by means of it that Christianity has been able to become a moral power at once 
 sufficiently firm and sufficiently elastic to adapt itself to all human situations, personal 
 
110 I HAVE NO COMMANDMENT. [I. Cor. 
 
 25 Now concerning virgins ^ I have no commandment of 
 fcrer, 6. 10, the Lord : yet I give mj judgment, as one *^that 
 Tiii. 8, 10. ' hath ohtained mercy of the Lord ^ to be faithful. 
 d ch ^?' 2 ' 26 1 suppose therefore that this is good for the 
 
 I Tim. i. 12. present 11 distress, I say, ^ that it is ffood for a man 
 
 II Or. necessity. ^ " » ;/' to 
 • ver. 1. 8. SO tO be. 
 
 women hving in their fathers' houses : and who, it is to be re- 
 membered, were, as regards marriage, altogether under the control 
 of the father : but he does not specifically consider their case till 
 further on, in verse 36. His words till that verse .apply to the 
 unmarried in general, whether males or females. 
 
 " I have no commandment of the Lord." This has been taken 
 to mean, " There is no specific commandment of Christ which I 
 can cite as a general rule," as there was in verse 10 ; but need we 
 restrict the allusion to the words of Christ as found in the Gospels, 
 or in the current tradition ? May not Christ, amongst the abundant 
 revelations given to this Apostle, have given particular directions 
 upon some things, as upon the Lord's Supper (xi. 23), and left him 
 to his own enlightened judgment upon others ? And so he goes 
 on to say : — 
 
 "Yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of 
 the Lord to be faithful." " To be faithful." The mercy of the 
 Lord extends to this, that I should give a faithful, i.e., trustworthy 
 judgment upon things which are not matters of life and death, but 
 which still have to do with Christian and Church life. As he has 
 to say what he is about to say on his own authority, he puts that 
 authority on the humblest and most unassuming ground : " he has 
 obtained mercy to be faithful." 
 
 26. '* I suppose therefore that this is good for the present 
 distress." " The present distress." This has been taken as referring 
 to the " distress of nations and perplexity," prophesied of by the 
 Lord in Matthew xxiv., as immediately preceding His Second 
 Coming, which the Apostles thought to be very near at hand ; but 
 may it not also refer to the persecutions of the Church which had 
 begun before the writing of this Epistle, and which are always 
 
 domestic, national, and social. Thereby it is that, without revolution, it has worked the 
 greatest revolutions, accepting everything to transform everything, submitting to every- 
 thing to rise above everything, renewing the world from top to bottom, while condemning 
 all violent sobversion."— GoDET. 
 
Chap. VII.] TROUBLE IN THE FLESH. Ill 
 
 27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. 
 Art tliou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife. 
 
 28 But and if thou marry, tbou bast not sinned ; and if 
 a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such 
 shall have trouble in the flesh : but I spare you. 
 
 29 But ^ this I sav, brethren, the time is short : ' ^"fvfV'-. 
 
 •^ 11. 1 Pet. IV. 
 
 7. 2 Pet. iii. 
 
 assumed to be ready at any moment to burst upon it ? Thus in 
 Acts xiv. 22 we read of the Apostle long before the writing of this 
 Epistle, " Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them 
 to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribula- 
 tion enter into the kingdom of God." 
 
 They who have no wives or children are more independent of the 
 world : they have not given hostages to it, as the saying is. 
 
 27. " Art thou bound unto a wife ? seek not to be loosed," i.e., 
 by living separately, for the Apostle, in obedience to his Lord's 
 <5ommand, could allow no divorce. 
 
 ''Art thou loosed from a wife?" t.e., "art thou free from tho 
 marriage tie? " Not, of course, in any other sense. 
 
 28. " But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned ; and if a 
 virgin marry," &c. God instituted marriage, and therefore anyone 
 who enters into the state commits no sin by so doing. But though 
 perfectly lawful it may not be expedient, especially during times of 
 persecution, such as I foresee are coming. " Such as marry shall 
 have trouble in the flesh," i.e., in their human relationship. Their 
 partners and their children must in the ordinary course of things 
 share in the troubles and distresses which they themselves suffer 
 from the enmity of the world. 
 
 " But I spare you." The significance of this advice is also much 
 disputed. Dean Stanley mentions two meanings : 1. " I refrain 
 from dilating on these evils, to save you from the pain of hearing 
 them ; or, 2, I give you this advice to save you from these afflic- 
 iions." Meyer agrees with the latter. *' But I, for my part, 
 deal tenderly with you, in advising you rather to remain un- 
 wedded ; for by this advice, if you follow it, I spare you from such 
 trouble." 
 
 29. " But this I say, brethren, the time is short : it remaineth," 
 Ac. The time is short. The word translated short {avveaTaXfikvog) 
 occurs only once elsewhere in the New Testament — in Acts v. 6, 
 
112 IT REMAINETH. [I. Cor.. 
 
 it remainetli, that both they that have wives be as though: 
 they had none ; 
 
 with reference to the wrapping up of the body of Ananias, or, per- 
 haps, the making straight of his Kmbs. In accordance with this it 
 is used here in the sense of being contracted, and so shortened. 
 
 Most expositors take the word "that" (Iva) as indicating the 
 design of God ; the time is short (or shortened) that henceforth 
 *' both they that have wives," &c. 
 
 It may be asked. Was the Apostle in the words " the time is 
 short," referring to the nearness of the Lord's Second Coming, 
 which all through the Apostolic age was thought to be impending ? 
 If so, his mind was in accordance with the mind of Christ, Who 
 even in His own lifetime on earth, before He rose again and 
 ascended, laid it on His followers that they should look for His 
 Second Coming rather than for the day of their own deaths. They 
 were always to live in the constant expectation of an event which 
 might take place at any moment. In looking for this Coming then 
 even in their own lifetime they were not mistaken. They were 
 always in the very attitude of mind in which the Lord desired them, 
 to be — men who were waiting for their Lord, that the moment 
 He knocked they might run and open to Him, for it might be at 
 even, or at the midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning. 
 And what He said to them, He said to all, " Watch." They were to 
 regard the world then as if it had no certain lease of time, as it were, 
 given to it. So far as it knows, or so far as God has revealed, the 
 present state of things might have come, or now may come, to a 
 sudden termination at any moment. 
 
 Now the Christian who is alive to this — i.e., who has the mind 
 of Christ and His Apostle — will always be loose to a world which 
 has so uncertain a tenure of existence as this world has. 
 
 With respect to the marriage tie, the closest of all human bonds,, 
 he should ever remember that it is human, and the day will sud- 
 denly burst upon us, in which they who attain the resurrection 
 from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but 
 will be as the angels of God in heaven. Scarcely anything can be 
 added to the words of Wesley on the detachment from the world 
 set forth in these verses : " The time of our abode here is short. 
 It plainly follows that even those who have wives be as serious, 
 zealous, active, dead to the world, as devoted to God, as holy in all 
 
CuAP. VII.] WITHOUT CAREFULNESS. 113 
 
 30 And they that weep, as though they wept not ; and 
 they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they 
 that buy, as though they possessed not ; 
 
 31 And they that use this world, as not ^abusing s ch. ix. is. 
 it : for ^ the fashion of this world passeth away. e. Jam.'^L lo. 
 
 32 But I would have you without carefulness. PetT'i. 24. & 
 
 7. 1 John 
 
 *He that is unmarried careth for the things ii/if. 
 fthat belong to the Lord, how he may please the ' 17'™^ ^/f* 
 
 Lord : Lord, as ver. 
 34. 
 
 manner of conversation as if they had none. By so easy a transi- 
 tion does the Apostle slide from eveiything else to the one thing 
 needful ; and forgetting whatever is temporal, is swallowed up in 
 eternity." 
 
 30, 81. " And they that weep, as though they wept not " — though 
 sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing. " And they that rejoice, as though 
 they rejoiced not." Tempering their joy with godly fear. " They 
 that buy, as though they possessed not." Knowing themselves to 
 be only stewards, not proprietors. "And they that use this world, 
 as not abusing it." Not seeking happiness in it, but in God : using 
 everything therein only in such a manner and degree as most 
 tends to the knowledge and love of God. " For the whole scheme 
 and fashion of this world . . , this marrying, weeping, rejoicing, 
 and all the rest not only will pass, but now passeth away — is this 
 moment flying off like a shadow." ^ 
 
 " They that use this world, as not abusing it." Eevisers trans- 
 late in margin, " as not using it to the full." 
 
 82, 88. " But I would have you without carefulness . . . please 
 liis wife." The Apostle having fiinished this short digression upon 
 looseness to the world, because of its instability, as having no cer- 
 tainty of continuance, returns now to the subject of verse 28: "I 
 would have you to be unencumbered with earthly cares ; so that 
 
 1 St. Paul may possibly have had a reminiscence of a passage of the Second Book of 
 Esdras in his mind (xvi. 40-44) : " In those evils be even as pilgrims on the earth. He 
 that sitteth let him be as he that fleeth away, and he that buyeth as one that will lose ; 
 he that occupieth merchandise as he that hath no profit by it, and he that buildeth as he 
 that shall not dwell therein ; he that soweth as if he should not reap, so also he that 
 planteth as he that shall not gather the grapes. They that marry as they that shall get 
 no children, aud they that marry not as the widowers." 
 
 I 
 
114 A DIFFERENCE ALSO. [I. Coe. 
 
 33 But lie that is married careth for the things that are of 
 the world, how he may please Ms wife. 
 
 34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin, 
 k Luke X. 40, The unmarried woman ^ careth for the things of 
 
 the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and 
 in spirit : but she that is married careth for the things of the 
 world, how she may please her husband. 
 
 .33, 34. " How he may please his wife." Vulg. joins to this the first words of next verse • 
 " quomodo placeat uxori et divisns est." 
 
 The readings are very uncertain. I can only refer the reader to the notes in Tischen- 
 dorf and Tregelles, if he desire to compare them, which, however, make no difference to 
 the sense. The Revisers give two in their margin. 
 
 your thoughts may not be distracted by them, but may be more 
 continuously employed upon the things of God." 
 ■ The Apostle assumes here a very high standard of devotion to 
 Christ amongst the early Christian. It is not so now. Very fre- 
 quently an unmarried man is one of the most selfish of men, 
 spending most, if not all, his income upon himself, pleasing him- 
 self, giving nothing to others in comparison to what he might give : 
 whereas the married man has to spend all on others — on their food, 
 clothing, education ; and so, even though he may be comparatively 
 without religion, his selfishness at least is corrected in some 
 measure. He is forced, if he has any decent human feeling (putting 
 out of the question religious feeling), to think more about others 
 than about himself, and this is very much to his moral advan- 
 tage. 
 
 34 (and latter part of 38). " There is a difi'erence also between a 
 wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman," &c. The difference of 
 punctuation, and the various readings of this passage make its 
 meaning somewhat uncertain. The Kevised version (1881) in its 
 text is pretty nearly the same as the Authorized : " He that is 
 married is careful for the things of the world, how he may please 
 his wife. And there is a difference also between the wife and the 
 virgin. She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord." 
 But in the margin the words, "there is a difference also," are 
 rendered, " and is divided," and are taken with the latter part of 
 the thirty-third verse: "He that is married is careful for the 
 things of the world, how he may please his wife, and [so] is divided," 
 
Chap. YIL] WITHOUT DISTRACTION. 115 
 
 35 And tliis I speat for your own profit ; not that I may 
 cast a snare upon you, but for tliat wliicli is comely, and 
 that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. 
 
 36 But if any man think that he hehaveth himself un- 
 
 i.e., he is divided between the world and the Lord. And there fol- 
 lows, " So also the wife and the virgin : she that is unmarried is 
 careful," &c. 
 
 But there is also another difference of reading affecting the sense. 
 The Codex Alexandrinus, and the Vulgate, put the full stop after 
 *' is divided," and read, "And the unmarried woman and the un- 
 married virgin {kqI rj yvvrj rj dya/xog Kal rj TrapOevog 77 dyafiog) is careful 
 for the things of the Lord, that she may be," &c. 
 
 But whichever way we settle the punctuation and readings, the 
 Apostle's teaching is the same as prevails throughout the rest of 
 this part of this chapter, that the unmarried state, both of the male 
 and the female, has the advantage of being less in danger of being 
 influenced by " present things." 
 
 35. "And this I speak for your own profit" — not to assert my 
 authority in any way, or to force you to do as I am doing. 
 
 " Not that I may cast a snare upon you," i.e., throw a net or 
 noose over you. The metaphor is taken from hunting. Bishop 
 Elhcott explains it as pointing, not to any snare of conscience which 
 the Apostle might thus be laying for them, but simply to the 
 coercive character which the command might carry with it, but 
 which the Apostle here disavows. 
 
 " But for that which is comely" (or seemly). Meyer aptly ex- 
 plains this as such a manifestation of the inner life in all outward 
 embodiment, as corresponds with consecration to the Lord. 
 
 " And that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." 
 Commentators agree in supposing that St. Paul must have had 
 in his mind Martha and her distraction (TrepuciraTo, Luke x, 40 ; 
 cnrEpKrTrdarwg, here). 
 
 Again let me remind the reader that though St. Paul was 
 evidently on the side of celibacy, he had before him a state of 
 Bociety which was pervaded through and through with the desire 
 of serving Christ, and not, as at present, a society permeated with 
 the love of self. 
 
 06. " But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely 
 
116 LET HIM DO WHAT HE WILL. [L Cor. 
 
 comely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, 
 and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth 
 not : let them marry. 
 
 37 Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart> 
 having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and 
 
 toward his virgin, if she pass," &c. To realize this verse we must 
 remember that in Corinth, which was a colonia, the Koman law pre. 
 vailed, that a man had absolute power over his family, particularly 
 his unmarried daughters. It was not so much a matter of their 
 choosing to be married, as if they had free will in the matter, but 
 of his giving them in marriage. 
 
 And the Apostle seems to assume that there would be no diffi-? 
 culty about this — that there would be persons as ready to take his 
 unmarried daughter as he would be to give her. A man then living- 
 in this state of things would deliberate for his daughter, whether 
 she should serve the Lord by continuing unmarried, or whether he 
 should give her in marriage. If such an one takes into considera- 
 tion that his daughter is now of a marriageable age — in fact, that 
 she may be passing that time, and that he is treating her in an un- 
 seemly way by not giving her in marriage, and need so require 
 (i.e., as Alford suggests, there may be danger to her living in 
 chastity), "Let him do what he will." Since marriage is an 
 holy estate, and ordained by God, he sinneth not ; let them — i.e., the 
 maid and her lover — marry. 
 
 37. "Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having^ 
 no necessity." I confess that the meaning of the Apostle in this 
 verse is exceedingly difficult, because he here seems to pass from 
 the idea of keeping his virgin, i.e., his unmarried daughter, to the 
 keeping of his own state of chastity, or rather celibacy. It seems to 
 me as if through lapse of time or want of complete knowledge of 
 the state of heathenism on the one side, or the Church on the other, 
 we have lost some element necessary to the understanding of this 
 verse. 
 
 I will give, however, a paraphrase of the verse on each of these 
 two interpretations. 
 
 1. That the Apostle speaks of the father choosing for his virgin 
 daughter, or ward. " He that stands firm of character, and there- 
 fore is not swayed by apprehension of this kind, having no necessity^ 
 
CiiAi'.Vn.] HE WILL KEEP HIS VIRGIN. 117 
 
 liath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, 
 doeth well. 
 
 37. " Doeth well." So D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Itala, Vulg., Syriac, 
 &c, ; but N, A., B., 6, 17, 46, 67**, Copt., Basra., read, "will do." 
 
 i.e., having no compulsion from his daughter's character or tempta- 
 tions, but hath power over his own will, i.e., having the power of 
 doing what he likes without regard to external circumstances (such 
 as public opinion, which might severely blame him for keeping his 
 daughter unmarried), and hath so decreed or determined in his 
 heart that he will keep his virgin, i.e., from the marriage state, or 
 will keep her at home, doeth well." 
 
 2. That the Apostle speaks to a man himself with regard to his 
 own celibacy. " If a man has no necessity ; if, for example, he has 
 incurred no obligations to marry by engaging himself to a particular 
 woman, or if that engagement may be honourably dissolved, then 
 it is expedient for him not to marry. But in that case he must also 
 be sure that he has sufficient self-restraint to keep the virgin of 
 himself (n/v kavrov TrapOevov), 60 that his abstinence from a lawful 
 union may not lead him into unlawful excesses." 
 
 This last is from Mr. Blunt's annotations. It seems to me very 
 much in accordance with the wording of this verse, but not in such 
 accordance with what goes before, or comes after.-"- 
 
 38. " So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well ; but he 
 that giveth," &c. In this verse the Apostle seems somewhat to 
 
 1 The reader may thank me for giving the following from Godet : ** This long sentence, 
 loaded with incidental propositions, fully represents all the turnings which the father's 
 original wish will have to take in order to reach at length a definite conclusion. This 
 whole domestic drama has for its point of departure a firm conviction already formed in 
 the father's mind, that celibacy is preferable to marriage for his child (^imixsv IJpaiof) ; 
 he has become and remains firm .... the father has become and remains firm, because 
 there is nothing to hamper his liberty, neither the fear of opinion, nor the character and 
 
 indomitable will of the virgin, nor too ardent a wish on the part of the mother 
 
 After measuring himself with all the difiiculties of the situation, and finding none of them 
 insurmountable, the father remains master of his own deliberate will, and may thus .... 
 at length take the final resolution henceforth to refuse every offer for his daughter. 
 These long circumlocutions do not at all suppose in him an arbitrary will which takes 
 account of nothing but itself. On the contrary, they imply the fact that, before taking 
 
 the final decision, everything has been heard, examined, weighed The verb " to 
 
 keep " does not signify to maintain his daughter as a virgin, but to keep her for the end to 
 which she is consecrated — the service of Christ." 
 
118 IF HER HUSBAND BE DEAD. [T. Con. 
 
 38 ^ So then lie that giveth lier in marriage doeth well ; but 
 
 1 Heb. xiii. 4. he that giveth tier not in marriage doeth better. 
 
 m Rom. Yii. 2. 39 "" The wif e is bound by the law as long as 
 
 her husband liveth ; but if her husband be dead, 
 
 she is at liberty to be married to whom she will ;. 
 
 n 2 Cor. \\. 14. ° Only in the Lord. 
 
 38. "Doeth"— "will do." 
 
 39. "By the law." Omitted by ^f, A., B., 1)., Ea, 17, 67, Vulg. (Cod. Am.), Basm.^ 
 Arm., JEXh.., retained by E., F., Or., L., P., most Cursives, and Syriac. 
 
 quahfy what he had written in verse 36. There he had written 
 somewhat disparagingly of marriage, " let him do what he will he 
 sinneth not, let them marry : " here he writes, " he that giveth her 
 in marriage doeth well," ■i.e., he acts as a father, as a rule, acts in 
 giving his daughter in marriage, and so fulfils the original institu- 
 tion of God. 
 
 " He that giveth her not in marriage doeth better." That is, he 
 looks to the trials and temptations of life in the light of the " pre- 
 sent distress ; " he would have her "serve the Lord without distrac- 
 tion." In the then circumstances the one course of conduct is 
 more Christian than the other. 
 
 39. *' The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth ; 
 but if her husband," &c. The Apostle here most probably answers 
 very shortly a question which had been put to him respecting the 
 second marriage of widows. Both Jews and heathens looked with 
 somewhat of disapproval upon the second marriage of widows. The 
 Jewish priest was to take a wife in her virginity, " a widow, or a 
 divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take." 
 (Levit. xxi. 13, 14.) Again, the good example of the Jewish heroine 
 Judith is mentioned to her credit, and the case of Anna the pro- 
 phetess, who had continued a widow during a very long life, is re- 
 corded to her honour. Godet writes, that the heathen spoke con- 
 temptuously of the mulier multarum nuptiarum, and that they 
 went the length of inscribing this title of honour on the tombstone 
 of a woman, " univira." Here, however, the Apostle speaks with 
 no disparagement of the second marriage of a widow. She is at 
 liberty to be married to whom she will, but 
 
 " Only in the Lord," i.e., only to one in the Lord, to a Christian,. 
 a member, Hke herself, of the Church of Christ. 
 
Chap. VIII.] AFTER MY JUDGMENT. 119 
 
 40 But slie is happier if she so abide, "after my judg- 
 ment : and P I think also that I have the Spirit " ver. 25. 
 
 x: ri J PI Thes. it . 
 
 ot God. 8. 
 
 40. "But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment." 
 After my judgment, i.e., he had no specific command from Christ 
 either in His discourses preserved in tradition, or in the EvangeHstp, 
 so he is left by the Lord to act on his own enhghtened judgment. 
 
 *' And I think also that I have the Spirit of the Lord." This 
 "I think" does not mean that he is uncertain, but he is quite 
 assured that his private judgment is not alone, but is informed by 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 N 
 
 CHAP. YIII. 
 
 OW * as touching things offered nnto • Acts xv. 20, 
 idols, we know that we all have ''know- 19. 
 
 b Rom. xiv. 
 14, 22. 
 
 1. " Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we 
 all have knowledge." Here St. Paul proceeds to answer another 
 question put to him by the Corinthians, one respecting the lawful- 
 ness of partaking in things offered unto idols. In this day we 
 can scarcely realize how closely this question would affect the 
 whole social life of the early Christians. For not only was the 
 worship of the Gentiles sacrificial, but this worship was not con- 
 fined to the temple precincts, but extended itself to their social 
 gatherings, and even domestic meals. When an animal was offered 
 in sacrifice to an idol, or to a false god represented by the idol, 
 only a small part, such as the legs wrapped up in fat, or the intes- 
 tines, were consumed by fire on the altar. The remainder was 
 partaken of by the sacrificer and his friends, or those who were 
 invited to the sacrificial feast, which took place either in the temple 
 or in the adjoining grove, and to these sacrifices Christians might 
 and would often be called (verse 10) : or the remainder of the flesh, 
 after what was burnt in honour of the idol, was claimed as their 
 perquisite by the priests, and would be sold by them in the 
 
120 CHARITY EDIFIETH. [I. Cor. 
 
 c Rom. XIV. ledge. *^ Knowledge puffetli up, but charity edi- 
 fieth. 
 
 shambles, and labelled as sacrificial, and the heathen would partate 
 of it as meat of peculiar sanctity. The eating of these meats sacri- 
 ficed to idols had been forbidden at the council held at Jerusalem, 
 but this being the decree of a purely local Church would soon be 
 considered in a measure obsolete by distant Churches, such as that 
 at Corinth. Anyhow it seems from the question sent by the 
 Corinthians to St. Paul not to have settled the matter, and they 
 certainly wrote for the Apostle's direction as if they considered it 
 an open question. 
 
 From the wording of the first verses it seems as if it had been 
 put to the Apostle by those who took the side of liberty in this 
 matter. They had framed the question in terms which implied 
 that they thought there could be little doubt about the answer. 
 They had boasted somewhat of their knowledge respecting the abso- 
 lute nothingness of the objects of heathen worship, and St. Paul, 
 perhaps somewhat ironically, took them at their word. " We know 
 that we all have knowledge," if as Christians we know anything. 
 If the Eevelation of God in the Church has made us to know any 
 single thing, it is the vanity and folly of idolatrous worship. But 
 we have not compassed this knowledge of ourselves. God has given 
 it to us, and like all other gifts of God it may be used improperly 
 to our loss, or legitimately to our eternal gain. It is used to our 
 loss if we dwell complacently upon the difference which it has 
 made between us and the heathen. It then becomes the source of 
 pride and self-complacency. It puffs us up with self-conceit. It 
 is used to our eternal gain if it makes us regard those who worship 
 false gods with loving pity, and strive to do nothing which may 
 put a stumbhngblock in their way, so that they should think that 
 we regard their idolatry with indifference. And this our know- 
 ledge leads us into sin against our weaker brethren, if seeing us 
 partaking of meat offered to idols they are emboldened to do the 
 same, and eat with offence, I'.e., with sin, because they have a secret 
 persuasion that there is something in an idol, as the representative 
 or embodiment of a real evil existence. 
 
 " Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." This is a maxim 
 of universal truth. Mere knowledge, even of divine things, un- 
 sanctified by the Spirit of God, inflates its possessor — makes him 
 
CiiAr. VIII.] THE SAME IS KNOWN OF HIM 121 
 
 2 And ^ if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he 
 knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. d ch. xiii. s, 
 
 3 But if any man love God, ^ the same is known vj. 3! 1 Tim. 
 
 of llil^^- « Exod. xxxiii. 
 
 4 As concerning therefore the eating of those ,^V^'M;ftr'^' 
 things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we i^'g^^'sTfrn 
 
 ii.'l9. 
 
 constantly compare himself with others to his own advantage, 
 whereas love or charity builds him up. Mere knowledge isolates 
 him, and gives him tlie vices of isolation ; whereas love builds him 
 up as one stone in the great spiritual building of many stones. He 
 is not by himself. He rests upon others. He is surmounted by 
 others. He is encircled by others. He is cemented to those near 
 him and so to all in the building. Love does away with the in- 
 herent selfishness of our possession of knowledge in that such pos- 
 session leads a man to contemplate himself, whereas love leads him 
 to contemplate others with the view of benefiting them. 
 
 2. " And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth 
 nothing," &c. Here the Apostle is led to notice another defect of 
 knowledge, which, if duly realized, would hinder us from being 
 inflated by it. All knowledge is imperfect. The more real our 
 knowledge is of any thing, the more we feel that we know it only 
 in part. And this should make us humble. The idea entertained 
 in us that we know anything really, so as to have mastered it, is a 
 sign of our own ignorance. Now this applies to our knowledge of 
 God, the true God, as compared with the variety of false gods. 
 We can only know Him by love. No description of Him, no 
 definition of Him can make us know as those do who love Him. 
 They who love Him are known of Him, because they have inter- 
 course with Him, and this mutual intercourse enables them to 
 know Him personally (if we may so say), and there is no knowledge 
 that can come near to this. But this knowledge comes by love — not 
 by definition, not by mere contemplation of His attributes, but by 
 loving, trustful prayer. 
 
 4. " As concerning therefore the eating of those things that," 
 &c. In verses 2 and 3 he had been somewhat digressing. They 
 had asserted their knowledge {yvu>mg), and he turns aside for a 
 moment to tell them that this question required another element 
 
122 NONE OTHER GOD BUT ONE. [I. Cor, 
 
 f Is. xii. 24. know that ^an idol is nothing in tlie world, ^and 
 
 fh. X. 19. ^ ' 
 
 g Deu. iv. 39. that there is none other God but one. 
 
 xiivl's.* mS 5 For though there be that are ^ called gods, 
 
 xii. 29. rer. 
 6. Eph. iv. 6. 
 
 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 ^ John X. M. 
 
 for its solution, even love. Now he returns. " As concerning 
 what you wrote to me about, we know that an idol is nothing 
 in the world." He seems to mean by this that the Deity re- 
 presented by the statue or idol had no existence except in the 
 imagination of the worshippers. Ellicott translates it, " there is 
 no idol in the world," i.e., nothing corresponding to the repre- 
 sentation. The Kevisers render it, " no idol is anything in the 
 world." 
 
 But how is this to be reconciled with 1 Cor. x. 20, where it is said 
 in a quotation from Deut. xxxii. 17 (" They sacrificed to devils 
 (demons) and not to God)," that those who sacrifice to false gods do 
 not sacrifice to nonentities, but to demons having a real existence ? 
 The reconciliation seems easy. The Greek and Eoman deities, 
 Zeus, A-phrodite, &c., were not merely the creatures of poetical 
 imagination, but the inspirations of evil spirits. No personifying 
 of the powers of nature seems to me at all adequate to produce 
 mythologies so elaborate, so beautiful, and yet so intensely wicked. 
 The heathen then sacrificed to evil spirits, to images of the imagi- 
 nation, which were the creations of the enemy and his angels ; and 
 so the worship was rightly accounted to be demon-worship. Evil 
 spirits may have made use of natural phenomena to give some 
 colour or consistence of truth to the evil creations with which they 
 peopled sky, earth, and ocean, but that is all. All that is personal 
 in the conceptions of these gods seems to me not natural, but de- 
 moniacal. As Bishop Wordsworth well says, " Worship ofi'ered to 
 any but the one true God, is accounted by God to be offered to 
 devils which do exist, although it be offered by man to idols {eg., 
 Jupiter, Venus, Bacchus), which do not exist." 
 
 *' And that there is none other God but one." There is no being 
 in the whole universe, seen or unseen, who can act as God in 
 creating, preserving, restoring, saving, illuminating, sanctifying, 
 except the one God. 
 
 5. "For though there be that are called gods, whether in 
 heaven," &c. The Apostle's meaning in this verse is somewhat 
 
Chap. VIIL] ONE GOD, THE FATHER. 123 
 
 whetlier in heaven or in eartli, (as there be gods many, and 
 lords many,) 
 
 6 But ' to us there is hut one Grod, the Father, ' Mai. ii. lo. 
 
 Lph. IV. 6, 
 
 ^ of whom are all things, and we 11 in him ; and k Acts xvii. 28. 
 
 Rom. xi. 36. 
 II Ov, for him. 
 
 difficult to catch. He seems to mean something of this kind : " I 
 have said that an idol is nothing, and though there may be evil re- 
 presentations of things in heaven and earth which are called gods, 
 they possess nothing of Divine power ; and though in the Old Testa- 
 ment continual reference is made to ' gods ' and ' lords,' mean- 
 ing by these either the principalities and powers in heavenly places, 
 or the rulers of the darkness of this world." 
 
 " But to us," &c. The term *' gods " is constantly applied to 
 beings in the unseen world ; thus, " Ye shall be as gods, knowing 
 good and evil " (Gen. iii. 5) ; to human magistrates, perhaps, 
 "Thou shall not revile the gods" (Exod. xxii. 28). Again, when 
 the true God is constantly called " the God of gods," it seems to 
 mean much more than that He is the God of things which are non- 
 existent. Again, the witch says to Saul, " I saw gods ascending 
 out of the earth." Anyhow, the Apostle seems to imply that there 
 may be beings which from the supernatural power with which God 
 has gifted them may be in some appropriate sense called gods and 
 lords. 
 
 6. " But tons there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all 
 things, and," &c. The Father is the Person of the Trinity in 
 Whom is essentially the Godhead. The Son is God, because He 
 is the Son. The Son is " of," i.e., from the Father alone. He is 
 God of, or out of, God ; Light out of Light ; Veiy God out of Very 
 God. The Apostle is here asserting Monotheism in opposition to 
 Polytheism ; and so he asserts that the oneness resides in the 
 Father. The Father is here emphatically styled one God, but 
 without design to exclude the Son from being God also, as the Son 
 is emphatically styled " one Lord ; " but without design to exclude 
 the Father from being Lord also. ^ 
 
 I The following extract from Bishop Pearson is valuable : " This priority (of the 
 Father) doth properly and naturally result from the Divine Paternity; so that the Son 
 must necessarily be second unto the Father, from whom He receiveth His origination, 
 and the Holy Ghost unto the Son. Neither can we be thought to want a sufficient 
 foundation for this priority of the first Person of the Trinity, if we look upon the nume- 
 
124 ONE LOED JESUS CHRIST. [I. Cor. 
 
 John xiii. 13. 1 one Lord Jesus Christ, ™ by whoin are all things, 
 
 Acts ii. 36. -, , , . 'J & ' 
 
 €h. xii. 3. and we by mm. 
 
 Pnii." ii.'ii*. 7 Howbeit there is not in every man that know- 
 
 cui 'i'.'°6.' ^" ledge : for some "^ with conscience of the idol unto 
 
 Hei). i. 2. 
 «» ch. X. 28, 
 
 ^^- and their conscience beinsr weak is ° defiled. 
 
 o Rom. xiv. 14, ^ 
 
 23. 
 
 this hour eat it as a thing^ offered unto an idol 
 
 7. "With conscience," c-vveiSr.rst. So D., E., F., G., L., most Cursives, Vulg., Syriac; 
 but S, A., B., P., 17, 46, 67, 80, 109, Copt., Basm., read, <rvvri6e'tci, " by familiarity." See 
 below. 
 
 " Of whom are all things, and we in him." In Him should 
 rather be "unto Him" [elg avrov) — as all things proceed from Him, 
 inasmuch as He is the fountain of all existence, so they all tend to 
 Him, at least all regenerate natures do ; for the Apostle says, " we 
 to him," to His glory, to union with Him. 
 
 " And one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom (or through whom) are 
 all things, and we by him (or through him)." By Him we came 
 into existence. Thus John i. 3: " All things were made by him, 
 and without him was not anything made that was made ; " and by, 
 or through. Him we approach to the Father of Spirits : " Through 
 him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father " (Ephes. ii. 18). 
 
 7. *' Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge." Even 
 in a church of men converted by the Holy Spirit from the worship 
 of idols there are some who have not got over their former feeling 
 that the idol represents a real existence, and so 
 
 " Some with conscience of the idol unto this hour, eat it as a thing 
 offered," &c. There is a remarkable difference of reading here. 
 Many MSS. instead of aweidijasi read avvqddq., "familiar inter- 
 course," "familiarity through use," "habituation." This reading 
 
 rons testimonies of the ancient doctors of the Church, who have not stuck to call the 
 Father the origin, the cause, the author, the root, the fountain, and the Head of the Son, 
 or the Whole Divinity. 
 
 " For by these titles it appeareth clearly, first, that they made a considerable difference 
 between the Person of the Father, of whom are all things, and the Person of the Son, by 
 tchom are all things. Secondly, that the difference consisteth properly in this— that as 
 the branch is from the root, and river from the fountain, and by their origination from 
 them receive that being which they have ; whereas the root receiveth nothing from the 
 branch, or fountain from the river ; so the Son is from the Father, receiving His subsis- 
 tence by generation from Him ; the Father is not from the Son, as being what He is from 
 noue " (Pearson, on Creed, " I believe in God the Father," 38). 
 
Chap. VIII.] MEAT COMMENDETH US NOT. 125 
 
 8 But P meat commendetli us not to Grod : for neither, if 
 we eat, 11 are we the better : neither, if we eat p Rom. xiv. 
 
 17. 
 
 not, II are we the worse. II ov,hf,vewe 
 
 9 But Hake heed lest by any means this J^orXLt^-e 
 II liberty of your's become ^ a stumblingblock to *^^ ^'^^^• 
 them that are weak. h ot^ power. 
 
 10 For if any man see thee which hast know- 20^°™" ^" " ^^' 
 
 8. The two last clauses reversed in some MSS. : " neither, if vre eat not, are we th& 
 worse ; nor, if we eat," &c. So Revisers. 
 
 is adopted by the Eevisers, " Some being used until now to the 
 idol," or as Ellicott, " by their being accustomed until now to the 
 idol." This latter reading, whether correct or not, expresses the true 
 idea. They have so long and habitually worshipped the idol as a 
 reality, or representing a reality, that they cannot shake this off» 
 They have given up as sinful the worship of the false God, but 
 beheve in his existence, and so if they eat of what is offered to it^ 
 they secretly think that they are polluted. They are emboldened 
 to do so, and doing it without firm faith they sin (Eom. xiv. 23). 
 
 8. " For meat commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat 
 are we the better," &c. Here he teaches, as he does in Eom. xiv., 
 the absolute indifference of eating or abstaining of itself. If we 
 eat freely what is offered to idols, we are not on that account 
 acceptable to God, and if we eat not, we are not the worse before 
 Him. 
 
 9. " But take heed lest by any means this hberty of yours be- 
 come a stumbling-block," &c. " But though this eating or abstain- 
 ing from eating, may be a matter of indifference to you individually,, 
 it may be a serious hindrance to your weaker brother, and if know- 
 ing this, you so make use of your liberty as to cause him to com- 
 mit sin, you will yourself become guilty before God." And he gives 
 an instance in point. 
 
 10. " For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat,'^ 
 &c. Here the Apostle supposes an extreme case, one which we 
 cannot but think must have been rare, but we learn from such a 
 thing being supposable, the laxity into which some of the Corin- 
 thians had fallen. Perhaps it is cited because, if a nominal 
 Christian was seen thus eating in the temple precincts, there could 
 be no doubt, respecting the meat he was eating, that it must hava 
 
126 YE SIN AGAINST CHRIST. [I. Cor. 
 
 ledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not "the con- 
 8 ch. X. 28, 32. science of him which is weak be f emboldenec? 
 
 r. e ific . ^^ ^^^ those things which are offered to idols ; 
 t Rom. xiv. 15, 11 And * throiip^h thv knowledge shall the weak 
 
 20. . . 
 
 brother perish, for whom Christ died ? 
 1 Matt. XXV. 12 But " when ye sin so against the brethren, 
 
 ' ^' and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against 
 
 Christ. 
 
 11. "And througli thy knowledge," &c. The Revisers render this verse, *'For 
 through thy knowledge he that is weak perisheth, the brother for whom Christ died ." 
 
 been meat which had been offered to the idol ; whereas in other 
 cases there could not have been such certainty. The man who did 
 this might not think that he was guilty of idolatry — he might do 
 it, as we say, out of bravado, but both the heathen and the weak 
 brethren must have looked upon the act as in some sense done in 
 honour of the idol. 
 
 " Shall not the conscience of him that is weak be emboldened," 
 &c. The word for " emboldened " is built up, or edified — instead 
 of being built up in the temple of God, he is built up in the temple 
 ofidolatry. 
 
 11. " And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, 
 for whom Christ died?" The verse is not a question, as in our 
 Authorized, but rather an assertion. Rendered literally and accord- 
 ing to the reading most widely accepted, the verse runs, *'For the 
 weak one perishes through thy knowledge [through its abuse — 
 through thy want of love] even the brother for whom Christ 
 died." 
 
 This verse refutes the Calvinistic error, that all those for whom 
 Christ died will be saved, for (according to such a doctrine) He died 
 for the elect only, who will all be saved. On the contrary, the Apostle 
 assumes that because of his eating sinfully and against his con- 
 science, the man on whose behalf Christ shed His Blood, is falling 
 again into perdition. And this because of the inconsiderate and 
 uncharitable conduct of the man who has knowledge. 
 
 12. " But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their 
 weak conscience, ye sin against Christ." Wonderful the identifica- 
 tion of Christ with His people. When He converted Saul He 
 
Chap. VIII.] I WILL EAT NO FLESH. 127 
 
 18 Wherefore ""if meat make my brother to l^^^-'^l-^^^' 
 
 *' 2 Cor. XI. 29. 
 
 identified Himself with the persecuted saints, *' Saul, Saul, why 
 persecutest thou Me? " and now through the mouth of His Apostle 
 He identifies Himself with the weak. "When ye make the weak 
 to sin through your want of consideration and sympathy, ye sin 
 against their and your Head. Ye sin against Christ." 
 
 13. " Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat 
 no flesh while," &c. Now, since some weak brethren were made 
 to offend by seeing others eat of things sacrificed to idols, does this 
 mean that St. Paul at the time he wrote this verse was abstaining, 
 and would hereafter abstain, from animal food ? We cannot believe 
 Euch a thing. The assertion is hyperbolical, and yet must not be 
 dismissed as meaning nothing. It means that if St. Paul certainly 
 knew that some weak brother was so influenced by his example, 
 that as long as St. Paul abstained he would abstain, and so keep a 
 clear conscience and not otherwise, then St. Paul would touch 
 meat no more till his death. 
 
 But it seems to me quite clear that this recommendation of 
 abstinence from animal food depends on times and places. At 
 that time, and in such a city as Corinth, the greater part of the 
 animal sold in the shambles or set before guests at feasts, was that 
 which had been offered to idols, and so the weak brother would 
 constantly be in danger of sinning ; but in a city where there were 
 few or no such social conditions as those at Corinth, the Apostle 
 would, we are sure, have given no such recommendation ; for to do 
 €0 would be to tell his converts that they must, of set purpose, 
 reject a gift of God. This verse has been used to recommend, or 
 rather to enforce, total abstinence from wine, because so many 
 abuse such a gift of God. Now, if any Christian determines to 
 abstain from wine or such like liquors, which, taken in excess, are 
 intoxicating, for the sake of his weaker brethren, he does a good 
 thing ; but, as he values his soul, he must take heed of two things, 
 first, not to pronounce a most certain gift of God an evil thing in 
 itself, for wine is as distinctly a gift of God as animal food is, and so 
 to be received temperately with thanksgiving ; and, secondly, he 
 must take heed not to use or countenance the abusive and violent 
 language which abstainers as a rule hurl against those who do 
 not abstain ; for if, instead of reprobating such language, he 
 
128 AM I NOT AN APOSTLE? [I. Cok. 
 
 offend, I will eat no flesh, wliile the world standeth, lest I 
 make my brother to offend. 
 
 encourages it by his presence and silence, he will assuredly offend 
 God and provoke Him to withdraw His grace from one who, 
 though he might begin with good intentions, goes on to act so 
 presumptuously. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 » Acts ix. 15. A M * I not an apostle ? am I not free ? ^ ha^e 
 xxvi.'iT." 2 ly I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ? ^ are not 
 Gal! ii. V, 8*. ye my work in the Lord ? 
 
 1 Tim. ii. 7. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 11. 
 
 b Acts ix. 3, 
 
 17. & xviii. 9. 
 
 & xxii. 14, 18. 1. "Am I not an Apostle? am I not free?" So D., E., F., G., K., 
 
 & xxiii. 11. L., most Cursives, d, e, f, g, &c. ; but N, A., B., P., some eight or nine 
 
 ch. XV, 8. Cursives, Vulg., Syr., Copt., Arm., .^th., &c., invert, " Am I not free? 
 
 c ch. iii. 6. & am I not an apostle ? " 
 
 IV. 16. 
 
 1. "Am I not an apostle ? am I not free ? have I not seen," &c. 
 It is very difficult to make out the connection between this and 
 what has immediately preceded. Many commentators make the 
 assertion of freedom the connecting link, as if he had said, I am 
 asking you to give up your freedom, or to exercise it not arbitrarily, 
 but looking to the spiritual condition of your weaker brethren. I 
 do the same. I am free, as the other Apostles are, to forbear 
 manual labour for my own support, but I choose rather to labour, so 
 that I may not be chargeable to you, but may minister the word 
 of God to you without payment. In accordance with this, some of 
 the best MSS., as the reader will see by the critical note, put the 
 words, *' Am I not free ? " before " Am I not an Apostle ? " 
 
 I cannot help thinking, however, that the Apostle here alludes io 
 something in the letter of the Corinthians which reflected upon him 
 as being not a true Apostle. He did not put forward the claims which 
 the other Apostles did, for support for themselves and their wives; 
 and this was attributed to his consciousness that he had no right tO' 
 
Chap. IX.] THE SEAL OF MINE APOSTLESHIP. 129 
 
 2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to 
 you: for ^tbe seal of mine apostleship are ye in d2Cor. iii.2. 
 tbe Lord. 
 
 3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is 
 this, 
 
 4 ^ Have we not power to eat and to drink ? « ver. u. i 
 
 K T-r 1 T 1 • '^^^^- "• 6- 2 
 
 5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, TUes. m. 9. 
 
 4. " Power." Properly, " anthority." 
 
 make such claims, not being an Apostle with the same authority 
 which Cephas and others had. This seems alluded to in the words, 
 *' Mine answer to them that do examine me is this." 
 
 " Am I not an Apostle .... have not I seen Jesus Christ our 
 Lord ? " His opponents urged against his Apostolate the fact that 
 whereas all the first elected Apostles had been companions of the 
 Lord during nearly all His ministry, it was not so with St. Paul. 
 In answer to this, he asks, Have I not seen the Lord ? Did not the 
 sight of the Lord as He appeared to me on the way to Damascus, 
 and His subsequent appearances and revelations, fully make up for 
 the companionship with Him in the days of His Flesh with which 
 the rest of the Apostles were favoured ? 
 
 ** Are not ye my work in the Lord ? " 
 
 2. " If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to 
 you," &c. The fact that through his preaching they had been 
 turned from darkness to light, ought to be a sufficient witness to 
 them that he was truly sent by Christ as His Apostle. As seals 
 attest the genuineness of a document, so their conversion attested 
 the genuineness of his Apostolical commission. 
 
 3. " Mine answer to them that do examine me is this." This, 
 apparently, refers to what had gone before. This is my answer to 
 them that question my Apostleship — your own existence as a 
 Church of Christ. But Chrysostom and others take it as referring 
 to what comes after. 
 
 4. *' Have we not power to eat," &c. Have we not power to 
 demand maintenance of those to whom we preach the Gospel ? 
 
 5. " Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as 
 other," &c. He had proved his Apostleship : now he proceeds to 
 claim the full rights of an Apostle, in the maintenance of himself 
 and of those whom he might bring with him. 
 
130 OTHER APOSTLES. [I. Cor. 
 
 (I Or. u-omn7t. a || wife, as well as other apostles, and as 'the 
 55. ^Mark^vi. brethren of the Lord, and ^ Cephas ? 
 
 3. Lnkevi. 15. 
 Gal. i. 19. 
 g Matt. viii. 
 14. 
 
 "A sister, a wife." It is by no means certain that the women (see 
 margin) which other Apostles led about, were their wives. Theodoret 
 interprets it of women like those who followed the Lord and His 
 disciples, and ministered unto them (Luke viii. 2, 3, xxiii. 55). 
 Still the reference to Cephas, of whom it is certain that he was a 
 married man, seems to make it probable that some other Apostles 
 took their wives with them.^ The example of Cephas is, of course, 
 sufficient for all controversial purposes. 
 
 " And as the brethren of the Lord." Assuming these to have 
 been James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon, the only " brethren 
 of the Lord " mentioned in the New Testament, I have shown, in 
 an excursus at the end of my volume of Notes on St. Mark, that 
 they could not have been the Lord's uterine brothers, for they are 
 all said to be the children of another Mary, the one who stood by 
 the Lord when He was crucified. 
 
 "And Cephas?" The single intimation in Scripture, except 
 this, that he was a married man, is in the account of the Evangelist 
 that the Lord healed his mother-in-law (Mark i. 30). 
 
 6. " Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear 
 working ?" It is difficult to say why he should mention Barnabas. 
 
 1 Bishop Wordsworth, who almost invariably takes the anti-Romanist line, has the 
 following note : — " Though it is true that St. Paul does not say that they all used their 
 power, yet his argument would have little force, if, for the most part, this power was 
 not used as well as possessed by them. ... In distinguishing himself and Barnabas as 
 working with their own hands for their livelihood, he leads us to suppose that the other 
 Apostles not only had the power not to work, but that they used the power which they 
 had. So here : but we never hear of the Apostles travelling through the world with 
 wives and children. If it had been so, St. Paul could hardly have said to ordinary 
 Christians, that it was better for them to remain unmarried on account of the pi'esent 
 necessity (vii. 26). And it was never supposed by Christian antiquity that all the 
 Apostles were married. Tertullian (' De Monogam.' c. 8) says, 'Petrnm solum invenio 
 maritum inter Apostolos,' which is also St. Jerome's opinion ('Adv. Joviniau,' 1). And 
 although other accounts vary from this (see in ' Euseb.' iii. SO), yet the ancient ^vriters, 
 who had this passage of Scripture before their eyes, never imagined St. Paul to suggest 
 here that the Apostles generally were married, and carried their wives with them in their 
 missionary tours. . . . Tertullian says that St. Paul does not say, * Uxores ab apostolis 
 circumductas, sed simpliciter mulieres.' Eusebius, in the place referred to, cites Clement 
 of Alexandria as saying that some of the Apostles were married, but only mentions two, 
 Peter and Philip." 
 
CiiAP. IX.] DOTH GOD TAKE CARE FOR OXEN? 131 
 
 6 Or I only and Barnabas, ^ have not we power to forbear 
 
 working ? J» 2 Thess. iU. 
 
 y g g 
 
 7 Who ^ goeth a warfare any time at his own i 2 cor. x. 4. 
 charges? who ''planteth a vineyard, and eateth &^-'i°^i2.' ^2 
 not of the fmit thereof ? or who 'feedeth a flock, l'^[ '1; ^' 
 and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? '^ i>eut. xx. 6. 
 
 Prov. xxvn. 
 
 8 Say I these things as a man ? or saith not the i^- *'^- "i- 6, 
 law the same also ? 1 John xxi. 15. 
 
 1 Pet V 2 
 
 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, "^ Thou ^ Deut. xxv. 
 shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth ^g ^ ^™- "'• 
 out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen ? 
 
 9. " Doth God take care for oxen ? " Revisers, '* Is it for the oxen [alone] that God 
 careth when he commanded this ? " 
 
 The most probable explanation is that Barnabas, being associated 
 with St. Paul in a missionary journey in which they were probably 
 supported by the church at Antioch, and " took nothing of the 
 Gentiles," continued in the same course of abstinence, and this was 
 known to Paul, and here alluded to by him. 
 
 7. " Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? who 
 planteth a vineyard," &c. St. Paul now draws the confirmation of 
 his argument from the analogy of common life. The soldier 
 Teceives wages or maintenance for his service in the field ; the 
 planter of the vineyard lives by the profit he gets from it ; the 
 tender of cattle or flocks lives on the milk by being nourished by 
 it, or by its sale. Edwards notices that all these three vocations 
 are types of the Christian ministry. The Apostle or Missionary 
 first goes as the soldier of Christ to wage war on the world, then 
 he plants the Church, and then he tends it as being the flock of 
 Christ. 
 
 8. " Say I these things as a man ? or saith not the law the same 
 also?" Am I now relying on human reasoning or the analogy of 
 common life ? or have I not Scripture on my side ? 
 
 9. 10. " For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not 
 muzzle .... care for oxen? .... partaker of his hope." This 
 citation from the law which St. Paul so energetically declares to 
 have passed away as a means of justification, is of very great im- 
 portance. The law is and must ever abide as the rule of life ; and 
 
132 SAITH HE IT FOR OUR SAKES ? [I. Cor. 
 
 10 Or saith lie it altogether for our sakes ? For our sakes^ 
 n 2 Tim. ii. 6. no doubt, tMs is written : that ^ he that ploweth 
 should plow in hope ; and that he that thresheth in hope 
 should be partaker of his hope. 
 
 10. "He that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope." N, A., B., C, 
 D., Syr., Sah., Copt., Arm., read, "he that thresheth (should thresh) in hope of 
 partaking." 
 
 not only is it the rule of life even for Christians {i.e. of course when 
 interpreted by the words of the Lord), but it contains principles of 
 New Testament Church order. Here the inspired Apostle declares 
 that when God gave, through Moses, this precept of humanity 
 respecting oxen. He looked not only to the treatment of animals 
 with kindness, not only to the maintenance of the ministers of the 
 Old Testament, such as prophets ; but that He had particularly in 
 His foreknowledge and forethought the ministers of the Gospel. 
 And, indeed, it must be so, if God has in mind when He utters His 
 word all the right applications of that word. Amongst these there 
 will be some far more important, and of more general application 
 than others, and God must have respect to these. 
 
 God then, in dictating this precept, had in view the mainten- 
 ance of the ministers of the Gospel. No plowing, or no threshing, 
 can be so much as named in comparison with theirs. 
 
 The Kevisers translate the latter part of verse 10, " Because he 
 that ploweth ought to plow in hope, and he that thresheth to thresh 
 in hope of partaking." Chrysostom, however, must have read the 
 Greek somewhat differently : " Observe his wisdom in that from the 
 seed he transferred the matter to the threshing-floor ; herein also 
 again manifesting the many toils of the teachers, that they in their 
 own persons both plow and tread the floor. And of the ploughing, 
 because there was nothing to reap but labour only, he used the 
 word *hope,' but of treading the floor he presently allows the fruit, 
 saying, *he that thresheth is a partaker of his hope.' " 
 
 Quesnel treats the verse entirely spiritually : " Those who belong 
 to the field of the Church ought to imitate those labourers who work 
 
 because they hope, and hope because they work There 
 
 must be no idleness, no sloth in an Evangelical labourer, nor any 
 impatience at the delay either of the fruit or of the wages." 
 
 11. " If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great 
 
Chap. IX.] IS IT A GREAT THING ? 133 
 
 11 °If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a. 
 great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ? ° Rom. xv. 27. 
 
 12 If others be partakers of this power over you, 
 
 are not we rather ? ^ Nevertheless we have not ^ ^'^^^ ^\ 33. 
 
 ver. XV. 18. 
 
 used this power ; but suffer all thins^s, '^ lest we 2 cor. xi. 7, 9. 
 
 . ^ ^ & xu. 13. 1 
 
 should hinder the gospel of Christ. Thess. a. 6. 
 
 13 *■ Do ye not know that they which minister 12. ^'' "' 
 about holy things || live of the things of the temple ? l^&'ylte^' 
 and they which wait at the altar are partakers ^''g J5°&''' 
 with the altar ? ?;•"; 8-20. 
 
 Dent. X. 9. & 
 
 x^^ii. 1. 
 
 II Or, feed. 
 
 thing," &c. " If we have sown unto you spiritual things." By 
 the preaching of the word, compared by our Lord to sowing, (Matth. 
 xiii.), the Apostle and his fellows had made the Corinthians par- 
 takers of eternal good things — was it not then reasonable that they 
 should partake of their infinitely inferior temporal good things, 
 these temporahties being a mere pittance for their maintenance ? 
 
 12. " If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we 
 rather ?" &c. Who are these others ? They can scarcely be Apostles. 
 We have no intimation of Peter or John, or any other Apostle 
 having visited them. Most probably he alludes to some of the 
 leaders of parties who made this claim in order that they might 
 assume the greater authority. 
 
 '* Nevertheless we have not used this power ; but suffer all 
 things." We have not insisted upon our just rights, but rather 
 suffer all manner of privation, lest we should give our adversaries 
 the opportunity of saying that we preach the Gospel for what we 
 get by it, and so cause some to reject our teaching. 
 
 13. " Do ye not know that they which minister about holy 
 things," &c. This does not mean the priests only, but all the ser- 
 vants of the temple. In preparing the sacrifices many besides the 
 priests were employed ; they had to kill the sacrifice, to flay it, to 
 wash the inwards, &c., to prepare the fire, to carry the carcase up 
 the steps to the top of the altar. All these had their maintenance 
 from the " things of the temple." 
 
 " And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar." 
 Here he alludes more particularly to the priests who had their 
 part in all sacrifices except the burnt-offering (Levit. v. 13, &c.). 
 
134 so HATH THE LOKD ORDAINED. [I. Cor. 
 
 • Matt. X. 10. 14 Even so * hath the Lord ordained ^ that they 
 
 Luke X. 7. . . "^ 
 
 « Gal. vi. 6. which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. 
 uvlr.i2.^' 1^ ^^* "1 \ia,-^^ used none of these things: 
 
 i'^xx.™' ^* neither have I written these things, that it should 
 
 ch. iv. 12. 1 
 
 Thess. ii. 9. 
 
 2 Thess. iii. 8. 
 
 14. " Even SO hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the 
 gospel should live of the gospel." The only words in which the 
 Lord seems to ordain a maintenance for His ministers are those in 
 Matth. X. 10, and Luke x. 7 : '* The labourer is worthy of his 
 hire." 
 
 An absurd deduction has been drawn from this place as implying 
 that ministers of the Gospel are not priests, and offer nothing that 
 can properly be called a sacrifice, for if so they would derive their 
 maintenance from it : but this is obviously to ignore the difi"erence 
 between the Jewish sacrifice and the Christian Eucharistic Oblation. 
 The Jewish Sacrifice ordinarily supplied an abundant meal to the 
 priests and the worshippers ; the Eucharist, putting out of sight 
 the love feast, was never to be eaten to satisfy the appetite. 
 
 The Christian ministers, then, never could be said to live of the 
 Altar in the sense in which the Jewish priests did. They lived by 
 the offerings of those who heard and received the Gospel, of which 
 Gospel we shall soon see that the truth or doctrine of the Eucharist 
 was an essential part. 
 
 This is a passage which Church people in many parishes should 
 lay to heart. There are many so-called livings in the Church of 
 England which do not supply anything hke a decent maintenance 
 to the Parish Priest. Those who worship at the Churches of such 
 parishes should see to it that such a state of things is presently set 
 at rights. They should not wait till matters are righted, which 
 perhaps they never will be, by those in authority. They should con- 
 sider that they themselves are contravening the Lord's ordinance 
 as long as such a state of things exists, which they themselves, by 
 a little exertion and self-denial, might obviate. 
 
 15. " But I have used none of these things : neither have I 
 written these things," &c. I have never claimed any maintenance : 
 on the contrary, I have with my hands worked so as to be inde- 
 pendent of it, and what I am now writing respecting my claim to 
 it is not to prepare the way for my receiving it from you. 
 
Chap. IX.] I HAVE NOTHING TO GLORY OF. 135 
 
 be so done "unto me : for '^ it were better for me to die, than 
 that any man should make my glorying void. ^ 2 Cor. xi. 10. 
 
 16 For though I preach the gospel, I have no- 
 thing to glory of : for ^ necessity is laid upon me ; ^ ^o™- '• i^- 
 yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel ! 
 
 17 For if I do this thing willingly, ^I have a ^ ch. Hi. s, 14. 
 reward : but if against my will, ^ a dispensation of Gai.'ii. '7. 
 the gospel is committed unto me. Coi.'i!'25.' 
 
 " For it were better for me to die, than that any man should 
 make my glorying void." The " glorying " was that he preached 
 the Gospel without receiving his lawful remuneration. Now how 
 was it that he insisted on this remuneration on behalf of others on 
 no less a ground than that it was an ordinance of Christ, and re- 
 fused to receive the same himself, and with such vehemence, that 
 he said he would rather die than receive it? It seems a very 
 strong hyperbolism, and so it is understood by Dean Stanley, who 
 compares it with Eom. ix. 3, but it may not have been hyperbolical 
 at all : for he himself only realized the difficulties of his position. 
 He saw, perhaps, that it would be the destruction of his whole work, 
 and fatal to the cause he had nearest to his heart, if in this matter 
 he made himself to be as others. 
 
 16. "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory 
 of . . . preach not the gospel! " I cannot boast of that to which 
 I am compelled. If I was to decline preaching the Gospel after 
 such manifestations of its truth, which I have personally ex- 
 perienced, I should be far more guilty and far more deserving of 
 perdition than any of the sinners to whom I preach it. 
 
 17. *' For if I do this willingly, I have a reward: but if against 
 my will, a dispensation," &c. I have a reward, of course — the 
 eternal reward of the faithful servants of God : but if I preach the 
 Gospel unwillingly, even though I receive no reward, I am still 
 compelled to preach it. I am entrusted with a stewardship, and 
 no matter what happens to me, must give account of that steward- 
 ship. In this latter case, as Wordsworth remarks, "in that case I 
 reduce myself to the condition of a domestic servant in an house- 
 hold, who does his duty merely because he is hired and obliged to 
 do so." 
 
136 WHAT IS MY EEWARD THEN? [I. Cor. 
 
 18 What is my reward then? Verily that, ''when I preach 
 b ch. X. 33. the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ 
 &xi.V. without charge, that I *^ abuse not my power in 
 
 c ch. vii. 31. , -I T 
 
 the gospel. 
 * ver. 1. 19 For though I be "^ free from all men, yet 
 
 f Mtu^xvfii ^^^Q ^I made myself servant unto all, ^that I 
 lii 1^ ^^** iTiight gain the more. 
 
 E Acts xvi. 3. 20 And ^ unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that 
 xxi. 23, &c. I might gain the Jews ; to them that are under 
 
 the law, as under the law, that I might gain them 
 
 that are under the law ; 
 
 20. " As under the law." N, A., B., C, D„ E., F., G., P., many Cursives, Itala., Vulg., 
 Sah., &c., add, " not being myself under the law ; " but K., most Cursives, Syr,, Copt., 
 ^th., as in Ree. Text. 
 
 18. " What is my reward then ? Verily that, when I preach the 
 gospel," &c. ** Eeward " here should rather be translated hire or 
 wages. The answer is, " to have no wages " — to preach the Gospel 
 so absolutely freely, that I do not receive from those to whom I 
 preach the maintenance I have a right to, so that I use not (or use 
 not to the full) my power in the Gospel. 
 
 19. " For though I be free from all men, yet have I made 
 myself servant," &c. Free from all men, i.e., none have any claim 
 upon me, because they maintain me : yet have I made myself 
 servant of all. The way in which he did this we find in the next 
 verses. It was the duty of a slave to obey his master's will in all 
 things, and St. Paul made himself the slave of Jews, Legalists, 
 Gentiles, weak brethren — of all who required his Apostolical 
 sympathy. 
 
 20. "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain 
 the Jews." He now proceeds to show how he made himself the 
 servant of all. To the Jews he became as a Jew. He did this 
 when he circumcised Timothy. It is expressly said in Acts xvi. 3 : 
 ** He took and circumcised him because of the Jews which dwell 
 in those quarters : " perhaps, also, he became as a Jew when he 
 consented to " purify himself and be at charges with the four men 
 which had a vow" (Acts xxi. 23, 24). He was also zealous for 
 their honour, and could wish himself accursed for their sakes. 
 
Chap. IX.] TO THE WEAK BECAME I AS WEAK. 137 
 
 21 ^To 'them that are without law, as without law, 
 (^ being not without law to Grod, but under the ^ Gai. iii. 2. 
 law to Christ,) that 1 might gain them that are u. °™' "' ^^' 
 without law. ^ ^^- ^'- 22- 
 
 22 ' To the weak became I as weak, that I might ' Rom- xv. 1. 
 gain the weak : "^ I am made all things to all men, m ch. x. 33. 
 ^ that I might by all means save some. »» 
 
 22. " Became I as weak." So C, D. Gr., E. Gr„ F., G., K., L., P., all Cursives, f, g, 
 Syriac, Sah., Copt., Arm,, ^th. ; but N, A., B., d, e, Vulg., omit " as." 
 
 " To them that are under the law, as under the law . . . that I 
 might gain," &c. Does he mean by " them that are under the 
 law " the Jews only ? I think rather he alludes to the religious 
 proselytes. The principal Uncials add after "them that are under 
 the law '* the words " not being myself under the law." If these 
 words are genuine, then St. Paul must mean, " not being myself 
 justified by the law," i.e., under the law for purposes of justification ; 
 or it may mean, " dead to the law by the body of Christ," as in 
 Eomans vii. 4, 5, 6, where see notes, and Gal. ii. 19. 
 
 21. " To them that are without law, as without law," &c. This 
 he was when he forbade their being circumcised — when he ate witl^ 
 them, and reproved a brother Apostle because through fear of the 
 Judaizers he declined to eat with them (Gal. ii. 11, 12). Again, he 
 quoted their writers, and in all respects treated them, and would 
 have tJbem treated, as being as much the people of God as his own 
 countrymen. 
 
 But here he inserts parenthetically lest he should be misunder- 
 stood as being an Antinomian — 
 
 " Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." 
 Chrysostom well explains it : " So far from being without law, I 
 am not simply under the law, but I have that law which is much 
 more exalted than the older one, viz., that of the Spirit and grace." 
 Alford translates ewofxoQ as " a subject of the law of Christ." 
 
 He then condescended to the ways, and ideas, and scruples of 
 all, that he might gain them — gain them to Christ. 
 
 22. " To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the 
 weak," &c. Meyer supposes that these weak ones were Christians 
 weak as yet in discernment and moral power, and says that the 
 term " gain " (Kopdrjaoj) is not inconsistent with this view, for such 
 
138 FOR THE gospel's SAKE. [I. Cok. 
 
 23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be 
 partaker thereof with you. 
 
 23. "And this I do." So K., L„ most Cursives, Syr., Goth.; but U, A., B., C, D., 
 E., F., Q., P., 17, 37, 46, 67**, 73, 80, It., Vulg., Sah., Copt., Arm., ^th., read, "All 
 things I do," &c. 
 
 believers would, by an inconsiderate conduct towards them, be 
 made to stumble (viii. 11 ; Kom. xiv. 15) ; so also Bishop Ellicott. 
 
 " I am made all things unto all men, that I might by all 
 means save some." " I have been made all things " — I have con- 
 descended to their infirmities, their prejudices, their errors, their 
 mistakes — not, of course, that they should continue in these things, 
 but that by bearing with them at first I might gradually strengthen 
 their weaknesses, remove their prejudices, and rectify their mistakes. 
 
 This conduct of the Apostle teaches us what we should do in our 
 present divided state. We should bear and forbear. We should 
 not obtrude differences, we should make all possible allowances for 
 differences of education, natural temperament, and worldly condi- 
 tion. We should do our best to discern what those whom we desire to 
 win to the truth of God and the unity of the Church, really hold ; 
 we should recognize their truth before we denounce their error. 
 We should make all allowances, knowing that we ourselves shall 
 one day require all allowances to be made for us. 
 
 " That I might by all means save some." Why does not the 
 Apostle say *' all " rather than " some " ? It has been said because 
 of his humihty, but may it not be because he had ever before his 
 eyes that deep mystery of the differences between souls which we 
 have in the Lord's parable of the sower ? He became the servant 
 of all that he might save some. So in Acts xxviii., " Some believed 
 the words which were spoken, and some believed not." 
 
 23. " And this [or perhaps, all things] I do for the Gospel's 
 sake, that I might," &c. " This is a short summing up : ' I labour 
 then and make myself the servant of all for the Gospel's sake, 
 that Gospel by which my Lord is glorified, and sinners brought 
 into eternal union with Him, and that I may partake with you 
 of what I preach to you.' Note the humility of the expression ; 
 he who laboured more than all others, has yet in view no higher 
 reward for himself than just the salvation common to all believers." 
 (Meyer). He is ambitious of nothing beyond this. When he 
 
Chap. IX.] SO RUN, THAT YE MAY OBTAIN. l89 
 
 24 Know ye not that they which, run in a race run all, 
 "but one receiveth the prize ? ° So run, that ye ° Gai. ii. 2. 
 
 ^ *' &v. 7. Phil. 
 
 may obta.m. n- le. & lii. u. 
 
 •^ 2 Tim. iv. 7. 
 
 — Hebr. xii. 1. 
 
 speaks of the Lord in that day giving him his crown, he adds " not 
 to me only, but to all who love His appearing " (2 Tim. iv. 8). 
 
 24. '• Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one,'* 
 &c. The Apostle in these verses draws an illustration from the earthly 
 contests in the Isthmian games with which they were so familiar, 
 to set forth the heavenly contest for the crown of righteousness. 
 This seems to come in very abruptly, as during the verses just 
 before he had spoken not so much of self-discipline as of adapting 
 himself to various classes of persons — Jews, proselytes, Greeks, and 
 weak ones. But the connection is probably in the last verse : 
 *' This I do for the Gospel's sake that I might be partaker thereof 
 with you." This " being at last partaker of the heavenly good 
 things of the Gospel," reminds him that very much more is re- 
 quired if they are to attain to this, than what he had been speaking 
 of. They must take example of those whom they had often seen 
 contending ; how, knowing that of a multitude of competitors one 
 only would receive the prize, they ran with all their might — each 
 exerted himself to the uttermost, though the chance, so to speak, 
 of each one was very uncertain. 
 
 Now the Apostle, though covertly, alludes to the difference be- 
 tween the earthly and the heavenly race in the words, *'run all, 
 but one receiveth the prize." In the earthly race, if a man did 
 not win he might as well have not run at all. He suffered the 
 disgrace of being defeated, whereas in the contest for God's eternal 
 reward it is not so. " In this our blessed course He Who crowns 
 is willing to crown not the first only but the last, not those only 
 who have from the first ever run steadfastly, untiringly, but those 
 who, sluggish at first, have at last been quickened and run. Yet 
 must all run in a certain way. * So run that ye may obtain.' " 
 (Pusey). 
 
 What this *' so running " is we learn from another Epistle. We 
 are to run laying aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
 easily beset us, and we are to run with patience the race that is set 
 before us, and we are to run looking unto Jesus, the author and 
 finisher of our faith (Hebrews xii. 1, 2). 
 
140 TEMPERATE IN ALL THINGS. [I. Cok. 
 
 p Eph. vi. 12. 25 And every man tliat ^ strivetli for tlie mas- 
 
 1 Tim. vi. 12. . . n i • 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 5. tery is temperate m all tnmgs. Now tney do it to 
 q 2 Tim. iv. 8. obtain a corruptible crown ; but we ^ an incor- 
 ruptible. 
 
 James i. 12, 
 1 Pet. i. 4. 
 & V. 4. Rev. 
 ii. 10. & iii. 11. 
 
 25. " And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate 
 in all things." *' Striveth for the mastery," i.e., striveth in the 
 games ; the words " for the mastery " are too general. 
 
 "Is temperate in all things," exercises self-control and self- 
 discipline. The discipline lasted for ten months preparatory to the 
 contest, and was at this time so severe as to be confined to the 
 professional athletes. It chiefly consisted in diet, and is thus de- 
 scribed by Epictetus (Ench. c. 29, § 2). " Thou must be orderly, 
 living on spare food ; abstain from confections, make a point of 
 exercising at the appointed time, in heat and in cold, nor drink 
 cold water, nor wine at hazard ; in a word, give thyself up to thy 
 training master as to a physician, and then enter on the contest." 
 (Dean Stanley.) 
 
 We are also told that none were permitted to contend who had 
 not satisfied the authorities that they had faithfully observed this 
 discipline. 
 
 " Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an in- 
 corruptible." The Apostle here alludes to the perishable nature of 
 the crown, or, as we should rather call it, garland. It was not 
 even of gold or silver, but of parsley or ivy leaves ; in the case of the 
 Isthmian games, of pine sprigs. In a very short time it faded away, 
 and though great honours might be heaped upon him who had 
 won it, as that he should re-enter his native town through a breach 
 in the walls ; that his victory should be celebrated by some poet 
 whose verses have long since perished ; that in all future games he 
 should occupy one of the foremost seats among the spectators ; 
 yet all was soon forgotten, whereas the Christian's victory will be 
 written in the book of God and of the Lamb, and will be remem- 
 bered throughout eternity. 
 
 It is well to remember that the crown with which the trium- 
 phant Christian will be crowned, is a crown or garland of victory, 
 not a kingly crown. The kingly crown, i.e., the diadem, may be 
 hereditary, or may be the reward of rebellion or treason, whereas 
 the crown won by the contenders in the race had no value, except 
 
Chap. IX.] NOT AS UNCERTAINLY. 141 
 
 26 I therefore so run, ^ not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not 
 as one that beateth the air : '2 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 as a thing fairly won in a lawful contest. The victor's crown is the 
 Stephanos, the monarch's the diadema. The Christian, if he is to 
 wear the victor's crown, must have gained the victory, but only One 
 Brow wears of right the diadema (Kev. xix. 12). If this had been 
 always remembered, much cant and unreality would have been 
 avoided. 
 
 It undoes all the glory and virtue of his reward if his crown, his 
 Stephanos, is given to him of mere favour. 
 
 26. " I therefore so run, not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as 
 one," &c. " There was no want of clearness in course or direction ; 
 he ran with no uncertain or unsteady step, he knew whither and 
 in whose presence he was running the great race of eternal life." 
 (EUicott.) Meyer renders it, *' Not without a clear, conscious assu- 
 rance and certainty of running so as to reach the goal." And this 
 seems better, because it brings out that, in the case of the Christian, 
 there must be good hope, if there is to be good progress. 
 
 " So fight I, not as one that beateth the air." Here there is a 
 remarkable change from the metaphor of a racer to that of a 
 pugilist; but who, in this latter case, is the opponent against whom 
 he deals his blows? No other than himself, i.e., his carnal selfj his 
 flesh, the nature of the old Adam within him. Conscious of his 
 sincerity in the contest — conscious that every blow he aims is 
 directed with his whole will and energy, he says, *' So fight I, not 
 as one that beateth the air." 
 
 In this fight with their flesh, their evil nature, many fight at 
 random. They make but a show of fighting ; they do not sincerely 
 wish that their blows shall punish that which is a part of them- 
 selves, because they are afraid of the pain of such well-directed 
 blows. Not so with St. Paul, not so with the sincere Christian. 
 He heartily desires to give no quarter to his sinful flesh, his old 
 Adam. He is ashamed of it and hates it, and desires its death, 
 and so, casting away all secret tenderness, he aims his blows with 
 all his skill, with all his might, and with his whole will. 
 
 27. "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection : 
 lest that I," &c. "I keep under my body." This word "keep 
 under " [uTrwTria'^w] is in the original a very remarkable expression. 
 It signifies " I give one a blow under the eye, so as to beat his face 
 
142 I KEEP UNDER MY BODY. [I. Cor. 
 
 « Roin.viii.i3. 27 ^But I keep under my body, and * bring it 
 
 t Rom. vi. 18, 
 
 19. 
 
 black and blue." It expresses very graphically the determination, 
 the fierceness, so to speak, with which the Apostle meets his adver- 
 sary, i.e., his own fleshly nature. 
 
 *' And bring it into subjection," i.e., lead it captive as a slave. 
 Dr. Pusey, in a Sermon on Fasting (" Parochial Sermons," vol. i., 
 series x.) has a remarkable passage on the necessity of Christians 
 endeavouring to subdue their flesh by outward bodily means, as 
 well as by spiritual : — " Eather it must be feared, that it is one of the 
 subtlest devices of the enemy to persuade us that we may become 
 .spiritual through means merely spiritual ; that we can cherish 
 better the things of the Spirit by neglecting those of the flesh ; 
 that we can have the victory over the flesh without fighting against 
 it ; that being in the body we can transfer the conflict wholly to the 
 fioul; that we can cultivate spiritual feelings, desires, longings, 
 love, without discipline of the body, which would obstruct them 
 and weigh them down. This self-deceit is not a snare of these 
 times only. It has been practised on system before, as now, only 
 then by heretics, who thinking the spirit alone worthy of God, the 
 body, which He also created, all evil, thought it no evil to do all 
 «vil with it. It is so not unfrequently now with those who make 
 spiritual feelings the test of holiness. It will ever be that they 
 who think themselves more spiritual than the Church, or seek these 
 easier, shorter roads, will find their spirituality to be sickly and 
 carnal, puffed up by some false spirit, rather than borne aloft by 
 the indwelling Spirit of God." 
 
 " Lest that, by any means,when I have preached to others, I my- 
 self should," &c. " Having preached to others." This word 
 preaching, rather heralding (K7/pi;4ac) is generally supposed to bear 
 a covert allusion to the herald of the games, who proclaimed the 
 laws of the contest or the names of the victors. But why need it 
 mean more than preaching as John the Baptist came preaching ? 
 It is fearful to think of one who has proclaimed salvation to others 
 not attaining to it himself. " Who is there," asks Quesnel, " whom 
 St. Paul's fear on this account will not terrify ? What presumption 
 and delicacy can resist the force of such an example of humiliation 
 and mortification in so great an Apostle ? Can any one pretend, 
 After this, to be saved without penitential exercises ? Whoever 
 
CHA.P. X.] ALL OUR FATHERS. 143 
 
 into subjection : lest that by any means, when I have preaclied 
 to others, I myself should be " a castaway. « Jer. vi. 30. 
 
 •^2 Cor. xiii. 
 5,6. 
 
 excuses himself from them and spares his body under pretence of 
 the labour of preaching, never learned this in the school of the 
 Apostle." 
 
 " A castaway," adoKifiSg^ the word elsewhere translated " re- 
 probate," but it really means unapproved, or rejected (as the 
 Revisers render it). We need not give it the harshest meaning 
 possible, as that it means enduring the torments of hell for ever. 
 No doubt all unfaithfulness leads to a final and an irrevocable fall 
 from God. But I do not think St. Paul has this in his mind (as 
 he has in Thess. i., 8, 9). The thought to him would be unbear- 
 able, that he in any way came short of the approval of his Lord 
 and Master. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 ]\ /I OEEOVER, brethren, I would not that ye should 
 be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under 
 
 M 
 
 1. "Moreover" (Se). So K., L., most Cursives, Syriac ; but a, A., B., C, D., E,, F., 
 G., P., a few Cursives, It., Vulg., Sah., Copt., read, "for" (yap). 
 
 1. " Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, 
 how that all," &c. The Apostle had just been writing of the 
 necessity that even he was under that he should keep his body 
 under subjection, lest he should be unapproved at the last by the 
 Judge, and now he goes on to apply this to the members of the 
 Church of Corinth, all of them, and he does this by reminding them 
 of an immense body of men, 600,000 in numbers, who all set out 
 on their way to their rest under the most favourable conditions 
 possible, and yet aU but two failed to attain to that rest. 
 
 " I would not that ye should be ignorant." By this he does not 
 mean their being ignorant of the bare facts of the narrative, for 
 they were the most striking in the Old Testament, but of their 
 
144 ALL PASSED THROUGH THE SEA. [L Cor, 
 
 a Exod. xiii. * the cloud, and all passed through * the sea ; 
 
 21.&X1. 34. ' r o > 
 
 Numb. ix. 18. 
 
 & XIV. 14. 
 
 Ueut. i. 3:H. 
 Neh.ix. 12, 
 
 19. Ps. ixxviii. typical meaning — their spiritual significance — their 
 
 14. &CV. 39. r 1 V ^- 
 
 b Ex. xiv. 22. practical application. 
 
 Numis. xxxiii. Tliis practical application he finds in the analogy 
 23. Ps. Ixxviii. between the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh 
 ^^' and his hosts, and their sustentation in the wilderness 
 
 by the Manna on the one side, and the two Sacraments of the 
 Church, Baptism and the Holy Communion on the other. The 
 great point of comparison is that all the Israelites were brought 
 into a state of comparative freedom by their passage through the 
 Red Sea, and were all sustained in the wilderness by the manna, 
 and all the members of the Corinthian Church had received Bap- 
 tism into the Body of Christ, and all received the heavenly Food 
 of the Body and Blood of Christ to sustain the new Life of grace 
 which they were assumed to have received in Baptism. 
 
 The deliverance of all the Israelites in the Red Sea, and their 
 sustentation by the manna must have been typical of some benefit 
 or blessing which all the members of the Corinthian Church had 
 received in the one Sacrament, or were receiving in the other ; or 
 the conaparison drawn by the Apostle would have failed. 
 
 But just as the Baptismal deliverance of the Israelites at the 
 commencement of their career, and their daily eating of the 
 heavenly bread were, in a measure, thrown away upon them be- 
 cause of their disobedience, so that they did not finally possess the 
 inheritance for which God baptized them in the sea, and fed them 
 in the wilderness, so it might be with the members of the Corinthian 
 Church : it was quite possible that through their disobedience they 
 might fail to attain to the better inheritance which God designed 
 for each and all of them, when by His Providence He had caused 
 them to be baptized into His Son's Church and then fed them with 
 His Son's Body and Blood. 
 
 We will now more carefully examine this remarkable passage. 
 First, the Apostle calls the Israelites " our fathers." This does 
 not point to any large proportion of a Jewish element in the 
 Corinthian Church, but simply to this, that the Israelites might be 
 well accounted the progenitors of the Christian Church in the 
 favour of God. By the term "our fathers "the Apostle would 
 claim for the Gentile Corinthians that they had a right to all the 
 
Chap. X.] ALL BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES. 145 
 
 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in 
 the sea : 
 
 2, "Were all baptized." Aorist passive Q^a-!rr!<r&y]<rav) , So tf. A., C, D., E., F,, G.; 
 but aorist middle {e^cc-rrri<ravro) in B., K., L., P., most Cursives. Ellicott remarks that 
 "in later Greek the difference between the aorist middle and the aorist passive is, i.i 
 cases such as the present, practically scarcely appreciable." 
 
 Old Testament promises, many of which, as those in the present 
 case, were enshrined in types. 
 
 " Were under the cloud and all passed through the sea." The 
 cloud betokened the immediate presence of the angel of the cove- 
 nant, or it may be, of God. Thus Exod. xiv. 19 : *' The angel of 
 God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went be- 
 hind them, and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face 
 and stood behind them ; " and immediately after this the passage of 
 the Ked Sea took place, so that the water of the cloud was over 
 them, and the sea on each side of them. Thus were they baptized, 
 not only with water, but with the symbol of the presence of God. 
 It was the Almighty Power in the cloud which gave them dehver- 
 ance through and by the water. 
 
 The cloud and the sea may be taken to adumbrate the water and 
 the Spirit which are joined in our Baptism. 
 
 2. " And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the 
 sea." "Baptized unto Moses." Baptized into him, as their 
 leader, or perhaps into his dispensation, Moses being the Mediator 
 of the people — standing between them and God, and offering pre- 
 vailing intercession on their behalf (Exod. xxxii. 30, 31 ; Deut. v. 5 ; 
 Gal. iii. 19). 
 
 Of course Moses was not the head of any mystical body as 
 Christ was, neither had he died and risen again for the people, so 
 that they could not be baptized into his body, or be buried and 
 raised again in him as this Apostle assures us that all Christians are 
 buried and raised again with Christ in Holy Baptism (Rom. 
 vi. 1-6). 
 
 Some grammarians endeavour to show that the tense being the 
 aorist middle, there was something voluntary on their part in sub- 
 mitting to this Baptism, but is it conceivable that these ignorant 
 and stiff-necked Israehtes imagined that they were voluntarily sub- 
 mitting to the religious yoke of Moses ? They were simply escaping 
 as fast as they could, from the pursuing Egyptians. 
 
 L 
 
146 THE SAME SPIRITUAL MEAT. [I. Cor. 
 
 c Exod. xyi. 3 And did all eat the same '^ spiritual meat; 
 
 ix.' 10,20. ' 4 And did all drink tlie same '^spiritual drink: 
 
 Ps Ixxviii. 24. 
 d Exod. xvii. 
 
 6. Isum. XX. . 
 
 11. Ps. Ixxviii. 
 15. 
 
 3, 4. " And did all eat the same spiritual meat ; and did all 
 drink," &c. There can, as far as I can see, be but one meaning 
 attached to this word " spiritual," and that is, having a spiritual 
 significance — in fact, " typical." 
 
 The manna was in no other sense spiritual meat. Our Lord draws 
 attention to this unspeakable difference between the manna and the 
 living Bread, even His Flesh, when He says, " Moses gave you not 
 that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread 
 from heaven:" and again, "Your fathers did eat manna in the 
 wilderness, and are dead. This is the living bread which cometh 
 down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die." 
 (John vi. 32, 49.) 
 
 The manna, perhaps, might be called in another sense spiritual, 
 because of the spiritual lesson it taught, that the God Who gave 
 these people their daily bread by a daily rairacle, was the only God 
 to be worshipped and relied upon ; but this lesson they utterly failed 
 to learn. 
 
 4. " And did all drink the same spiritual drink : for they drank," 
 &c. There is very considerable difference of opinion amongst 
 theological writers and expositors as to what this spiritual rock 
 means, or to what is the allusion. Some think that the Apostle 
 refers to a Eabbinical tradition that the Eock itself (probably a 
 boulder from the neighbouring Horeb), followed them in all their 
 wanderings, and furnished them with a supply of water. Others 
 have conjectured that a stream flowing from the rock followed them, 
 but this latter would necessitate much more miraculous action on 
 God's part. 
 
 Now before we proceed further we must distinctly remember that, 
 unless the Israelites always encamped close to the rock, or within 
 such reach of it that their women and servants were always able to 
 go to it for water, God must have continued His miraculous action 
 to bring the water to them, or they would have perished with thirst. 
 The account in Exod. xvii. 5, 6, speaks about Moses smiting the 
 rock, but says nothing about the continuance of the stream. In 
 fact, for anything we learn from that passage, the supply might 
 
€hap. X.] THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK. 147 
 
 for they drank of that spiritual Rock that |1 followed them : 
 and that Eock was Christ. ii Or, tcent 
 
 with, them. 
 
 Deut.ix. 21. 
 
 Ps. cv. 41. 
 
 have been only for a day or two. The older traditions, then, are, 
 that either the rock, or a part of it, accompanied the Israelites, and 
 furnished them with a perpetual supply of water, or that a stream 
 from the rock followed the camp of Israel in all its wanderings 
 through this waterless region. Many moderns, however, deny that 
 there is any reference to the Rabbinical tradition, and would have 
 us adhere as literally as possible to the words " That rock was 
 Christ." After carefully reading what Meyer has written, I can 
 <;ome to no other conclusion than that he believes that the rock was 
 either a manifestation of Christ Himself personally, or such a mani- 
 festation of Him as was identical with Himself. I give in a note 
 the passage at full length.^ Bishop Ellicott gives substantially this 
 explanation : " The rock out of which it (the water) came, whether 
 at Rephidim or Kadesh, if the occurrences are really different, or 
 elsewhere, was no earthly rock, but a spiritual rock, a manifesta- 
 tion on each occasion of the spiritual and wonder-working presence 
 of Christ, who as the \6yoQ dcrapKog thus vouchsafed to accompany 
 and help His people." 
 
 Now we must remember that God has not revealed to us the way 
 in which He supplied the Israelites with water all the time between 
 the first striking of the rock in Rephidim (Exod. xvii. 6), and the last 
 occasion, when Moses, contrary to God's command, struck the rock 
 a second time (Numb. xx. 11). He has not, that is, revealed it to us in 
 the Mosaic narrative, but we are told by the Apostle that the water 
 was a miraculous creation. It was the same water, and from the 
 same rock, wherever they were. The analogy of the manna compels 
 us to believe that just as the Israelites were sustained by a daily re- 
 
 1 "The thoughts to waich Paul here gives expression are the following:— (1.) To 
 guard and help the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness, Christ accom- 
 panied them, namely, in His pre-existeut Divine Nature, and consequently as the Son of 
 God (= the Logos of John), who afterwards appeared as man (comp. " Wisdom," x. 15;. 
 (2.) The rock fr>m which the water that they drank flowed W£is not an ordinary natural 
 rock, but a xsTpa irvivjMicTiycYt : not the mere appearance or phantasm of a rock, but au 
 actual one, although of supernatural and heavenly origin, inasmuch as it was the real 
 selj -revelation and manifestation of the Son of God Who invisibly accompanied the host 
 on its march; it was, in other words, the very Christ from heaven, as being His ONVii 
 substantial and efficient presentation of Himself to men." 
 
148 GOD NOT WELL PLEASED. [L Cob. 
 
 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased : for 
 e Numb. xiv. thev ^ werc overthrown in the wilderness. 
 
 29, .32, 35. & '' 
 
 xxvi. 64, 65. 
 
 Ps. cvi. 26. 
 
 Hebr. iii. 17. 
 Jude 5. 
 
 peated miracle with the same bread, so, by an equally continuous 
 exercise of God's power, they were refreshed with the same water 
 from the same rock. Whether that spiritual rock was a type of 
 Christ, or Christ Himself, matters not to the Apostle's argument, 
 which is that it was the same water from the same rock, of which 
 all the people drank. This it was which he brought to bear upon 
 the Corinthian Christians. It was evidently God's design in bring- 
 ing all the people by a Baptism through the Eed Sea, and by feeding 
 all of them in all their wanderings with supernaturally produced 
 bread and supernaturally produced water, to bring them to the in- 
 heritance which He had promised to their fathers, and it was as 
 evidently God's design in having caused all the Corinthian Chris- 
 tians to be baptized into Christ's body, and in having caused them 
 all to be fed and refreshed with the Body and Blood of Christ, to 
 bring all these Corinthian Christians, without exception, into the 
 possession of a heavenly inheritance. 
 
 Now let the reader mark this. The typical Baptism of the 
 Israelites, and their eating of the spiritual food, must have been a 
 reality in every case ; for it realized to each Israelite the present favour 
 of God, and was the assurance to each one that God designed him 
 to possess some part of Canaan ; and so it must have been with the 
 Sacraments which the Corinthian Christians received — Baptism 
 must have been to each one of them, and the Eucharistic elements 
 must have been to each one of them, a reality — to use the words of 
 our article, " They must have been certain sure witnesses, and 
 effectual signs of grace and God's good will towards them, by which 
 He worked invisibly in them." 
 
 We can now proceed with the argument of the Apostle. 
 
 5. " With many of them God was not well pleased : for they 
 were overthrown," &c. This Eed Sea Baptism, and this daily 
 eating of spiritual food, was a real sign of the good will of God, 
 but it was not an absolute sign, i.e., a sign independent of their 
 conduct, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. One act 
 of disobedience after another cut them off from the favour of 
 God, till at last, of the 600,000 men who came out of Egypt, only^ 
 
Chap. X.] OUR EXAMPLES. 149 
 
 6 Now these things were f our examples, to the intent we 
 should not lust after evil things, as ^ they also t or. our 
 
 figures. 
 lusted. f Num. xi. 4, 
 
 7. ^ Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of cvi. u. ^' 
 
 them ; as it is written, ^ The people sat down to ^ \*^''- ^^' 
 
 eat and drink, and rose up to play. 6. 
 
 8 ^Neither let us coinmit fornication, as some Rev'.iiVu." 
 
 two, Caleb and Joshua, attained to the inheritance which God de- 
 signed for aU. 
 
 6. " Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we," 
 &c. These things were our examples — in the Greek, our types : but not 
 as Alford says, in the usual acceptation of the word type with us ; 
 ^' these things" are the things which happened to the Israelites — 
 their passage of the Ked Sea, their manna, the rock from which the 
 water flowed, and their behaviour under all this — all these things 
 were examples, or as we say, cautions for us, that we, having in- 
 finitely greater spiritual privileges, should not fail to realize ours as 
 they failed to realize theirs. 
 
 " To the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they 
 also lusted." It was the intention of God, in causing these things 
 to be recorded in the Old Testament history, to put us on our guard, 
 lest we fall from the grace of our Sacraments by sin — especially by 
 the sins by which they were destroyed. The Apostle mentions " lust" 
 because most, if not all the sins, through which the IsraeHtes were 
 destroyed, were some form of evil desire. Their evil lust and its 
 punishment is especially mentioned in Numb. xi. 4. " The children 
 of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat ? " 
 
 7. " Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them ; as it is 
 written," &c. " Neither be ye idolaters," i.e., by taking part in the 
 idolatrous feasts, and eating publicly of the things offered to idols. 
 The account of the Israelitish idolatry is especially connected with 
 the feasting on the offerings (Exod. xxxii. 6). 
 
 " And rose up to play," i.e., to dance. Then there was an open- 
 ing for the idolatry being connected with acts of lewdness. 
 
 8. " Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them com- 
 mitted," &c. Here reference is made to the people committing 
 whoredom with the daughters of Moab (Numbers xxv.) This was 
 not common, but idolatrous fornication, i.e., the Israelites would 
 
150 NEITHER TEMPT CHRIST. [I. Cor. 
 
 of tliem committed, and ^fell in one day three 
 and twenty thousand. 
 
 9 Neither let ns tempt Christ, as ^some of 
 them also tempted, and ™were destroyed of 
 serpents. 
 
 k Nu 
 
 mb. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 1.9. 
 29. 
 
 Ps. 
 
 I'vi. 
 
 1 Ex. 
 
 xvii 
 
 .2,7. 
 
 Num 
 
 . xxi 
 
 .5. 
 
 Deu. 
 
 vi. 16. 
 
 Ps. Ixxv ii. 18, 
 
 56. & 
 
 XC'V 
 
 . 9. 
 
 & cvi. 
 
 . 14. 
 
 
 m Num. ; 
 
 (vxi. 
 
 9. "Neither let us tempt Christ." So D., E., F., G., K., L., most Cursives, Ital.» 
 Vulg., Syriac ; but N, B., C, P., some Cursives, Arm., and ^Eth., read, " the Lord," and 
 
 A. reads "God." 
 
 not have fallen into it unless they had obeyed the invitation of the 
 Moabites to partake of the sacrifices of their gods. Owing to tho 
 immense number of prostitutes who took part in the worship 
 carried on in the temple of Venus at Corinth, this must have been 
 a very dangerous temptation to the members of the Corinthian 
 Church, and necessitated their absolute separation from the heathen 
 in everything approaching to participation in their idolatrous 
 rites. 
 
 " Fell in one day three and twenty thousand." The account in 
 Numbers xxv. 9 makes it four and twenty thousand. " St. Paul 
 speaks of the mortality of one day only, Moses of the whole." 
 (Wordsworth : but see my notes on Acts vii. 16.) 
 
 9. " Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted.'* 
 " To try the Lord " means generally, " to let it come to the point 
 whether He will shew Himself to be God" — in fact, it means to tiy 
 His patience. The Israelites are continually said to have tempted 
 God when they provoked Him to cut them off. (Thus Exod. 
 xvii. 7 ; Numb. xiv. 22 , Deut. vi. 16). It is important to observe 
 here that the sin against the Jehovah of the Old Testament becomes 
 a sin against Christ, or a tempting of the Lord in the New : for if 
 we read "the Lord," it can only mean here the Lord Christ^ 
 Christ has now all rule over the Church put into His hands. It is 
 He Who in righteousness severely exercises discipline, as well as 
 directs, and guides, and comforts, and saves. 
 
 " And were destroyed of serpents." The punishment of Israel 
 by the fiery serpents when they were healed by looking to the 
 brazen serpent. (Numbers, xxi. 5-9). 
 
 10. " Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured." 
 This command that they were not to murmur has been taken (and. 
 
Chap. X.] NEITHER MURMUR YE. 151 
 
 10 Neither murmur ye, as ^ some of them also " Ex. xvi. 2. 
 
 & xvii 2 
 
 murmured, and °were destroyed of ^the de- Numb.Viv. 2, 
 
 , 29. & xvi. 41. 
 
 stroyer. o Num. xiv. 
 
 11 Now all these things happened unto them p^Et^x7i 23* 
 for II ensamples : and ^they are written for our 2sa.xxiv.i6. 
 
 " ■'^ •' 1 Chron. xxi. 
 
 15. 
 
 II Or, types. 
 
 q Rom. XV. 4. 
 ch. ix. 10. 
 
 11. "Happened unto them for ensamples" (types). So D., E., F., 0-., L., most Cur- 
 sives, Sah., Copt.; but ^<, A., B., C, K., P., read typically (rvitrnw;). 
 
 by commentators from whom I should have scarcely expected such 
 an interpretation) as meaning that the Corinthians were not to 
 murmur against St. Paul and Apollos, and other inspired teachers, 
 but I cannot conceive St. Paul threatening them with God's ven- 
 geance if they murmured against him as they did against Moses. 
 He usually receives the discontent of his converts far more meekly, 
 and in the spirit of all Christian love exhorts them to a better 
 mind. Why should we restrict it to murmuring against himself, 
 seeing that murmuring against the dispensation of God's providence 
 is the sure indication of a rebellious and discontented spirit ? The 
 murmuring referred to is probably that of Numbers, xiv. 27-29. 
 
 "Were destroyed of the destroyer," i.e., of the destroying angel. 
 Their destruction came not of any natural cause. They seemed to 
 be mown down by a pestilence, but it was by the hand of an angel. 
 In Exod. xii. 23, the destroyer is the angel who smote the first- 
 born, and in 2 Sam. xxiv. 16, he is the angel of the Lord, who 
 was commanded by God to stay his hand. 
 
 11. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples," 
 &c. The best MSS., instead of rviroi read tvttikojq, by way of figure. 
 Were then the events historically true? Certainly, but God, 
 without in any way interfering with the action of free responsible 
 agents, so overruled them that, when recorded in His word, they 
 furnish examples to us that we should avoid the sins which 
 destroyed them. Meyer explains it as meaning — These facts {i.e., 
 those which are referred to in verses 6-10) happened to them in a 
 typical fashion, in such a way that as they fell out, a typical 
 character, a predictive reference impressed itself upon them {i.e.f 
 on the facts). Wordsworth says that they happened to them (the 
 Israelites) typically, so that they, i.e., the rebellious Israelites, might 
 
152 OUE ADMONITION. [I Cor. 
 
 r ch. vii. 29. admonition, *■ upon whom the ends of the world are 
 
 Phil. iv. .5. ^ 
 
 Heb. X. 25, 37. COmC. 
 
 • Rom. xi. 20. 12 Wherefore 4et him that thinketh he standeth 
 take heed lest he fall. 
 
 see Christ in them by the eye of faith ; but is it at all likely that 
 God intended to impart to these besotted Israelites high evangelical 
 ideas, when they seem to have been utterly unable to grasp the first 
 truths respecting God and goodness ? 
 
 " They are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of 
 the world are come." Illustrative of this are the words of St. 
 Peter respecting the prophecies of the prophets, *' Unto whom it 
 was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did 
 minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that 
 have preached the Gospel unto you," &c., (1 Pet. i.) And as they 
 through their falls or their steadfastness ministered to our instruc- 
 tion, so our use or abuse of Gospel privileges will furnish instruc- 
 tion hereafter to the angelic world. (Ephes. iii. and my Excursus 
 on Election in Notes on the Epistle to the Komans). 
 
 12. " Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed," 
 &c. Estius and others suppose that, though St. Paul's words in 
 this verse contain a general axiom, yet that he had especially in 
 his mind those who thought they stood or were strong in the 
 matter of partaking of things offered to idols ; such men thought 
 they stood in their knowledge, (ch. viii. 1, 2, 10), but such self-con- 
 fidence might be the prelude to a grievous fall. 
 
 The axiom, then, is of the most general application. AU self- 
 confidence is very dangerous. St. Peter found it so after he had 
 said so boastingly, " If I should die with thee, I will not deny 
 thee in any wise " (Mark xiv. 31). There is nothing that we can 
 rely upon absolutely. The use of sacraments, the possession of 
 the Bible — nay, even an extensive knowledge of it, a supposed 
 spiritual hold on Christ, lively feelings, zeal for the truth, or some 
 particular truth — by none of these we stand sure if we think we 
 stand. Our one confidence is constantly to commit our souls to 
 God's safe keeping. " Into thy hands I commend my spirit, for 
 thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth." With such 
 passages as this in the Scripture, it is very wonderful that men who 
 profess to be guided by Scripture should make confident belief in 
 
Chap. X.] GOD IS FAITHFUL. 153 
 
 13 There liatli no temptation taken you but sucli as is 
 II common to man : but * Grod is faithful, "" who II Or, mode- 
 will not suffer you to be tempted above that t ch! i, 9. 
 ye are able; but will with the temptation also 2Pet'\r9'^' 
 * make a way to escape, that ye may be able to * Jer. xxix. u. 
 bear it. 
 
 our own final acceptance the one test of our state in the sight of God. 
 They write as if God had made it impossible for men to deceive 
 themselves, whereas God warns them at every turn against self- 
 deception. By the mouth of this very Apostle He even tells those 
 who stand by faith that they are not to be high-minded, but fear 
 <Eom. xi. 20). 
 
 13. " There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common 
 to man." Literally human, and because all men partake of the 
 same human nature, all men are liable to the same temptations. 
 As one form of evil predominates in one man, and another in 
 another, so some may be more easily led away by some temptations 
 than others, but no man is absolutely alone in the form of the 
 temptations that assail him. He may think so — he may think no 
 one is so strangely tempted as he is ; and yet those who probe souls 
 with a view to their guidance will tell him that numbers are in the 
 main tempted just as he is. 
 
 As, then, the children of God in times past have (some of them 
 at least) resisted the very temptations by which you are assailed, 
 80 God will so order matters now that there shall always be a way 
 of escape. If the temptation seems irresistible, your faithful God 
 will either carry you through by His grace, or will open out to j^ou 
 a means of escape, by flight. Only for this you must look out. 
 You must not secretly desire to be overcome, and so yield, but you 
 must without a moment's parley avail yourselves of the way of 
 escape, and flee. 
 
 " That ye may be able to bear it." A man equally bears the 
 temptation, i.e., does not succumb to it, when he either resists in 
 God's strength, or promptly avails himself of God's open door of 
 escape. Quesnel wisely concludes with the words: "The most 
 violent temptations are only an occasion of triumph to those who 
 are in the hand of God ; but the lightest are a snare, and an abyss 
 of destruction to those who are in their own hands." 
 
154 THE CUP OF BLESSING. [I. Cor. 
 
 14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, ^ flee from idolatry, 
 r ver. 7. 2 15 I Speak as to ^ wise men : judge ye wliat L 
 
 Cor. vi. 17. -^ 
 
 1 John V. 21. say. 
 
 I jiatf'xxvi 1^ ^ T^^® *^^P ^^ blessing wliicli we bless, is it 
 
 26. 27, 28. 
 
 14. " Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." *' Flee 
 from idolatry." Do not dally with it — do not expose yourselves to 
 temptations from this quarter by accepting invitations to idolatrous 
 feasts, under the idea that you are strong enough to resist, but keei> 
 resolutely out of the way of all such allurements. 
 
 15. '* I speak as to wise men ; judge ye what I say." Wise men 
 here means sensible men — men who have intelligence sufficient to 
 understand the significance of their own ordinances. This is to* 
 be connected with what follows : " Judge ye whether what I say is 
 not in accordance with the Eucharistic Mystery, of which ye all- 
 are partakers." 
 
 16. " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the com- 
 munion," &c. In the next six verses the Apostle resumes tha 
 consideration of the danger of eating things ofi'ered to idols, from 
 the fact that participation in the Eucharist made Christians par- 
 takers of the Body of Christ, and so because of such partaking they 
 were one body in Christ : and it was the most utterly incongruous, 
 and, indeed, wicked thing, after they had thus entered into th& 
 most intimate fellowship with Christ, to partake of heathen sacri- 
 fices, and so enter into fellowship with the demons to whom these 
 sacrifices were offered. 
 
 Now in order to realize the Apostle's meaning we must remember 
 that in the next two verses he is not teaching certain Eucharistic 
 doctrine for the first time to the Corinthians, which they are sup- 
 posed to be ignorant of, but he is teaching an inference from the 
 well known and (amongst Christians) universally acknowledged 
 doctrine of the Eucharist which in the verses before he had said 
 they knew, or at least might know when he said, I speak as to sen- 
 sible men — ^judge ye of the truth of what I say. 
 
 The truth which he sets forth respecting the Eucharist is its 
 unifying nature. We must go back to verses 3 and 4. The Israelites 
 did all eat the same spiritual meat. They did all drink the same 
 spiritual drink, after all partaking of the same Baptism under the 
 same cloud and in the same sea. So far, then, as it was possible 
 
Cnxp. X.] THE COMMUNION OF THE BLOOD. 155 
 
 not the communioii of the blood of Christ ? ^ The ^ Acts ii. 42, 
 
 46. ch. xi. 23^ 
 24. 
 
 for men to be one before the Incarnation they were one — one Church, 
 in the highest sense that men could be one Church before Pentecost,. 
 They had fellowship at once with God, and with one another. And 
 in addition to this, they all had fellowship with God because they 
 partook of the sacrifices offered on the one altar. The altar mad© 
 all their sacrifices one — one bread of God (Levit. xxi. 6 ; Numb^ 
 xxviii. 2). 
 
 Now this daily receiving from God of miraculously produced 
 meat and drink, and this constant communion in His altar, made 
 their sin in polluting themselves with idolatry the more inexcusable. 
 And it is to be remembered that the worship of the idol was always 
 a sacrificial worship. It was not a worship of words, but a worship- 
 always associated with altars, victims, priests, and feasting. Sa 
 that their sin was very great when, after partaking of the food from 
 God's holy Altar, they partook of the idolatrous sacrificial offerings of 
 false gods. And the Apostle now proceeds to show that the sin of the 
 Corinthian Christians, if they did the hke, was far greater, because 
 the one sacrificial act of worship of the Church made them par- 
 ticipate in an unity and fellowship to which that of the Israelites 
 was as nothing. 
 
 " The cup of blessing," he says, " which we bless, is it not the 
 common participation of all of us in the Blood of Christ, i.e., in the 
 Life of Christ (the life is in the blood) ? " 
 
 What is the "blessing " here ? Some say, as Dean Stanley, that 
 it is in allusion to the fourth and most sacred cup of the Paschal 
 feast, which was so called from the words pronounced over it, 
 " Blessed be thou, Lord our God, the king of the world, who has- 
 created the fruit of the vine" (Lightfoot ad he.) ; but it is beyond 
 measm-e unlikely that St. Paul should bring in the terms of a by- 
 gone ordinance, and a strictly Jewish one, to designate the Catholie 
 sacrament which the Corinthians enjoyed. Others have said that 
 it is so called because of the blessings in which it made the devout 
 communicants partake ; but can there be a doubt but that it 
 refers to the action of Christ in blessing the contents of a cup,. 
 wliich blessing He commanded to be ever hereafter imitated or 
 followed by the ministers of His Church, when he said, "Do this 
 in remembrance of me " ? In every Eucharist, from the time of 
 
156 THE COMMUNION OF THE BODY. [I. Cor. 
 
 Thread which we break, is it not the communion of the body 
 of Christ ? 
 
 Christ to the present, this blessing, or giving thanks over, or con- 
 secrating the contents of a cup, has been one of the two features 
 of the Eucharist. 
 
 " Which we bless." By a very large number of modern expositors 
 and commentators, we are told that the " we " involved in fvXoyov/itv 
 refers not to the Apostle and his co-ministers, but to the Apostle or 
 minister associated with the congregation of laymen, of whom he 
 is but one — that, in fact, he is but the minister or mouthpiece, not 
 so much of Christ as of the congregation. Now this view seems to 
 me to be totally incompatible with the original institution. The 
 Lord, when He instituted the Eucharist, did not invite the Apostles 
 to bless and break, but He Himself alone did it. He afterwards 
 sent His Apostles to act in His place, not as the representatives of 
 the people, but as His representatives, when He said, "As my 
 Father sent me, so send I you." It is quite true that the con- 
 gregation said " Amen " at the end of the Consecration prayer, 
 which signifies their solemn approval of the act, but we are never 
 told that they themselves said that prayer, nor has any vestige of 
 any approach to such a mode of blessing or consecration come 
 down to us. Surely if at any time we are to account ministers to 
 be " ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God," it is 
 in the celebration of the Eucharist. 
 
 " Is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ ? " What is 
 the idea in the communion here? It is a co-partaking of some- 
 thing which makes those who partake of it one. It implies much 
 more than our word " fellowship " does. Take the most com- 
 mon use of the word, " The communion of the Holy Ghost." The 
 communion of the Holy Ghost is the actual indwelling of the Holy 
 Ghost, the third Person of the Trinity, in a vast number of human 
 beings, making them one in God inasmuch as the Holy Ghost is 
 the Spirit of God, and one with one another in faith, hope, and 
 love. 
 
 The communion of the Holy Ghost implies of necessity the pos- 
 session of the Holy Ghost Himself, not of a figure of the Spirit — 
 not of the mere teaching of the Holy Spirit as of one external to the 
 person taught — not of the leading of the Spirit as of one going 
 before men, but still apart from them ; but of the actual co-par- 
 
CH.AP. X.] ONE BREAD, ONE BODY. 157 
 
 17 For °we being many are one bread, and one body : for 
 
 c Rom. X 
 ch. xii. 27 
 
 we are all partakers of tliat one bread. c Rom. xii. 5. 
 
 taking of the Spirit by His dwelling in them. " He dwelletli with 
 you, and shall be in you." Now what immediately succeeds this 
 verse teaches us that the Koiviovia of the Spirit is analogous to the 
 Koivojvia of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Body and Blood of 
 Christ is actually in cei-tain persons to bring about a Koivwvia, or 
 there would be no Koivojvia of the Body of Christ, or in one Body 
 the Church. 
 
 " The bread which we break, is it not the communion of our body 
 of Christ ? " Why does the Apostle, having spoken of the cup being 
 the cup "which we bless," go on to speak of "the bread which 
 we break " ? Does the breaking of the bread in all respects answer 
 to the blessing of the cup, seeing that the bread itself is blessed 
 (Xa/Swv TOP dprov, kuI ev\oyr]<jaQ hXaaf, St. Matth. xxvi. 26) ? No ; but 
 the bread is broken first to set forth the breaking of the Lord's 
 Body ; secondly, the partaking of that Body, for to be one Divine 
 Food to all it must be broken that each one may have a part. By 
 being broken it continues the same bread, but all partake of it. 
 
 17. " For we being many are one bread, and one body : for we 
 are all partakers," &c. There is some difference of opinion respect- 
 ing the translation of this. The exact translation in the order of 
 the Greek words is, " Because one bread, one body are we, the 
 many {i.e., the many who partake), for we all of the one bread par- 
 take." The Kevisers in their text give pretty nearly the same mean- 
 ing as our Authorized, but in their margin they give what appears 
 to me to be the true translation, carrying with it the true sense : 
 " Seeing that there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, 
 for we all partake of the one bread." 
 
 What is the " one bread " ? Evidently the Inward Part or Thing 
 Signified of the Sacrament (I write, of course, for members of tha 
 Church of England;, for the outward part of or sign is not one. 
 On the contrary, it may not be made of the same materials. In 
 countries where there is no wheaten bread, it maybe barley, oaten, 
 rye, as well as wheaten. And even if it is of wheaten flour it is not 
 one. It is of different seeds, sown in different fields, reaped by 
 different hands, ground in different mills ; and in some parts of 
 the Chm'ch it is leavened, and in others it is unleavened. But, 
 
158 ISRAEL AFTER THE FLESH. [L Cor. 
 
 18 Behold "^Israel ^ after tlie flesli: ^are not tliev which 
 
 ^ Rom. iv. 12. eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar ? 
 
 eRom.iv.'i. 19 What saj I then? ^that the idol is any 
 
 2 Cory.' 18. thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols 
 
 V^:u:'' is any thing? 
 
 e ch. viii. 4. 
 
 the Spiritual food is one because of the presence of the Inward 
 Part. 
 
 No matter what the figure, form, or taste, of the outward sign, the 
 Inward Part — the Most Holy Thing, whose Presence is signified 
 and therefore assured to the Communicants — is the True Bread, the 
 Living Bread — " The bread which cometh down from heaven that 
 we may eat thereof and not die," the bread of which Christ said, "He 
 that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and 
 I in him" (John vi. 50, 56). 
 
 This bread being the means of continued union with Christ, con- 
 'tinues us in the Unity of His Body. God " does assure us thereby 
 of His favour and goodness towards us ; and that we are very 
 members incorporate in the mystical Body of His Son, which is the 
 Blessed Company of all faithful people." 
 
 Such is the Unity of the Church. It is made by St. Paul to depend 
 npon the Sacrament having everywhere and in every place the 
 -same Inward Part which the faithful everywhere partake of under 
 the veil of bread. 
 
 18. "Behold Israel after the flesh," &c. He now proceeds to 
 «,nother point. Those of the fleshly Israel who partook of the sacri- 
 fices were partakers of the altar. Now this altar was no other 
 than "the table of the Lord" (Ezek. xli. 22, Malachi i. 7, 12). 
 They who partook of the things offered upon it, partook of food 
 from His table, and so were in communion with the Lord. 
 
 19. "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that 
 which," &c. This appears to me to be a tacit reference to viii. 4. 
 ■There he had said, " We know that an idol is nothing in the world," 
 but if an idol be nothing, then the things offered to idols are 
 nothing. They are meaningless, and so harmless. And so we may 
 offer them or partake of them without sin. " No, by no means," 
 he proceeds to say, " I am quite aware of the non-existence of 
 heathen Deities, but notwithstanding this — 
 
€iiAp. X.] THEY SACEIFICE TO DEVILS. 159 
 
 20 But I say, that tlie things which the G-entiles ^ sacrifice, 
 they sacrifice to devils, and not to God : and I ^ Lev. x^-ii. 7. 
 
 "^ . Deu. xxxii. 17. 
 
 would not that ye should have fellowship with Ps. cvi.37. 
 
 '' ^ Rev. ix. 20. 
 
 <levils. 
 
 21 'Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and '^^2 Cor. vi. 15, 
 
 20. " I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they 
 sacrifice to devils (demons)," &c. This means the deities of the 
 heathen mythologies. Jupiter, Venus, Minerva, have no existence 
 out of our imaginations, but they are not the mere creations of 
 poets. The whole system of idolatry is demoniacal and Satanic : 
 and so they who worship at these heathen altars by sacrifice, put 
 themselves more and more into fellowship with fallen spirits, as 
 Godet well puts it : " Behind all that mythological phantasmagoria 
 there lie concealed malignant powers, which, without being Divi- 
 nities, are nevertheless very real and very active, and which have 
 succeeded in fascinating the human imagination, and in turning 
 aside the rehgious sentiment of the heathen nations to beings of the 
 fancy ; hence the idolatrous worships addressed to those diabolical 
 
 powers and not to God The words of the Apostle do not 
 
 imply the idea that every false God worshipped by the heathen 
 corresponds to a particular demon ; they signify merely that heathen 
 religions emanate from these malignant spirits, and that conse- 
 quently the man who takes part in such worship puts himself under 
 their influence." 
 
 " I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils." The 
 words "have fellowship" is "be in communion." This clearly 
 implies that in idolatrous sacrificial worship there was a real com- 
 munion with evil spirits ; God in His mercy might interpose and 
 prevent the full effects of such intercourse, but it actually took 
 place. 
 
 21. "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils : 
 ye cannot," &c. "Ye cannot" may be taken in one of two ways; 
 either "ye cannot with any consistency — indeed, without the 
 -greatest sin — drink the cup of the Lord," &c. ; or "ye cannot be in 
 communion with the Lord, which ye are by drinking His cup, and 
 with devils by drinking their cup, for the Lord will deeply resent 
 such profanation, and instead of communicating Himself to you 
 
160 THE TABLE OF DEVILS. [I. Cor. 
 
 ^ the cup of devils : ye cannot be partakers of tlie Lord's 
 
 k Deut. xxxii. table, and of the table of devils. 
 
 1 Deut. xxxii. 22 Do we ^ provoke the Lord to jealousy ? "^ are 
 
 m Ezek. xxii. WO stronger than he ? 
 
 14. 
 
 21. " Devils," demons. 
 
 for purposes of salvation, ye will eat and drink your own condem- 
 nation, not discerning His Blood and Body." 
 
 This verse is of great importance, as it decides the question, " Is 
 the Lord's table an altar? " Unquestionably it is ; for St. Paul here 
 makes it analogous to, and parallel with, the " tables" of devils, 
 which were unquestionably altars. This question is even now be- 
 bated amongst ourselves with great heat and vehemence. Now 
 this seems to me to arise out of what I cannot help characterizing 
 as a most stupid misunderstanding. They who refuse the name of 
 altar to the piece of church furniture on which the consecrated 
 elements rest, do so on the ground that the altar is a thing on which 
 the animal offered in sacrifice was slain. Thus we have a popular 
 hymn, beginning 
 
 " Not all the blood of beasts 
 
 On Jewish altars slain," 
 
 but no beast was ever slain on the altar, Jewish or heathen. It was 
 slain by or near the altar. Its blood was poured forth or sprinkled 
 (Levit. i. 5), round about the altar, and the altar itself, instead of 
 being an instrument of slaughter, was a means of communion be- 
 tween God and the worshippers. For the animal that was offered 
 was wholly, or in part, laid on the altar to be consumed, and the 
 part which was not consumed by fire was partaken of by the wor- 
 shippers in token that they were in communion or amity, or recon- 
 ciliation with God. And so the name of " The table of the Lord " 
 was given to the Jewish altar. (Ezek. xli. 22 ; Mai. i. 7.) 
 
 So the Lord's table in our churches is, in the strictest sense, an 
 altar, for from it we partake of the Body of the Adorable Victim by 
 means of the consecrated elements. Christ our Passover has been 
 slain, or immolated for us, and there at our altars we keep the 
 feast (v. 7, 8). 
 
 22. *' Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ? are we stronger than 
 he ? " Idolatry is represented as not simply kindhng the anger of 
 
Chap. X.] LET NO MAN SEEK HIS OWN. 161 
 
 23 "^ All things are lawful for me, but all things are not 
 expedient : all things are lawful for me, but all ■> ch. ti. 12. 
 things edify not. 
 
 24 ° Let no man seek his own, but every man " Ro™- ^- 1» 
 
 •^ 2. ver. 33. 
 
 another's i^eaZ^^. ch.xiii. 5. 
 
 25 P Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, tJiat p 1 Tim. iV. 4. 
 eat, asking no question for conscience sake : 
 
 23, " All things are lawful for me." " For me " (/^xoi) omitted by ^f, A., B., C, D., E., 
 P., Q., P., 46*, 67**, 118, 179, d, e, f, g (Vulg. Cod. Amiat.), Sah., Copt., Goth.; but 
 retained in H., K., L., most Cursives, Syriac, Arm. 
 
 the Lord, but provoking His jealousy. " Thou shalt not bow down 
 to them nor worship them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous 
 God." And this takes place even when the God worshipped has no 
 real existence. " They have moved me to jealousy with that which 
 is not God." (Deut. xxxii. 21.) 
 
 23. " All things are lawful (for me), but all things are not ex- 
 pedient," &c. He now proceeds to conckide this matter of Christian 
 liberty in its bearing upon the eating of things offered to idols by a 
 few general rules. He refers to, or repeats what he had said in 
 ch. vi. 12. " All things," i.e., external things, " are lawful." I 
 may partake without defilement of any meats, any drink, nor am I 
 polluted by any company : but still I may commit grievous sin by 
 so eating or drinking, as to give offence to my weaker brother, and 
 cause him to fall from God. 
 
 " All things are lawful, but all things edify not," i.e., do not build 
 up the soul or the Church. Chrysostom has a very good comment. 
 " Seest thou his great wisdom ? Because it was likely that they 
 might say, ' I am perfect, and master of myself, and it does me no 
 harm to partake of what is set before me.' ' Even so,' saith he, 
 • perfect thou art, and master of thyself; do not, however, look to 
 this, but whether the result involve not injury —nay, subversion.' " 
 
 24. " Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.'* 
 So in Kom. xv. 1 : *' We that are strong ought to bear the infirmi- 
 ties of the weak, and not to please ourselves," &c. ; and xiii. 5 : 
 *' Charity seeketh not her own." Wealth, of course, is to be taken 
 as meaning well-being ; and, first of all, spiritual well-being. 
 
 25. "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no 
 question," &c. Not inquiring, that is, whether it has been offered 
 
 M 
 
162 THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S. [I. Coiu 
 
 26 For '^ the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. 
 q Ex. xix. 5. 27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a 
 
 Ps^."xxiV. i'. & feast, and ye be disposed to go ; ^ whatsoever is 
 "•LukeT?. ' set before you, eat, asking no question for con- 
 science sake. 
 
 28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered 
 « ch.viii. 10, in sacrifice unto idols, eat not ^for his sake that 
 
 12. 
 
 28. "This is offered in sacrifice to idols." So C, D., E„ F., G., K., L., P , all Cur- 
 sives, Goth., Vnlg., Cop., Arm.; but N, A., B., H., Sah., read simply, "offered in 
 sacrifice," {tpoSurov, instead of etSuiXoflurov. 
 
 to an idol or not. " He doth not even suffer them to question, i.e., 
 to search and enquire whether it be an idol sacrifice, or no such 
 thing : but simply to eat everything which comes from the market, 
 not even acquainting oneself with so much as this, what it is that 
 is set before us. So that he that eateth, if in ignorance, may be 
 rid of anxiety." (Chrysostom.) 
 
 26. " For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." 
 Therefore all food as His creation is good ; and He hath removed 
 the restrictions which were imposed in the Old Dispensation on 
 certain meats, permitting all to be eaten indifi'erently. " Meats, 
 which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them 
 which believe and know the truth " (1 Tim. iv. 3). 
 
 27. " If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye 
 be disposed," &c. The invitation might be to a relative or to a 
 friend: and St. Paul had laid down considerable liberty in the 
 matter of intercourse with such in v. 9, 10. If they went they 
 enjoyed the same liberty in partaking of what was set before them, 
 as they did when they bought in the shambles. 
 
 28. " But if any man say unto thee. This is offered in sacrifice unto 
 idols," &c. If the man who said this to him were an heathen, then 
 by eating he seemed to regard the idol as a real Divinity, with whom 
 he desired to be in communion, and so the heathen man is con- 
 firmed in his idolatry ; whereas if the Christian abstained he would 
 see that the Christian abhorred anything approaching to honouring 
 an idol. If, however, the neighbour sitting by him, were a weak 
 Christian, he would be emboldened to act contrary to his conscience, 
 as is laid down in ch. viii. 10, 11 ; and so having formally received 
 Buch information the true Christian is bound to abstain. 
 
Chap. X.] FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE. 163 
 
 -shewed it, and for conscience sake ; for * tlie earth is the 
 Lord's, and the fulness thereof : » Deu. x. i4. 
 
 29 Conscience, I saj, not thine own. but of the ^er. 26. * 
 other : for ^ why is my liberty judged of another « Ro. xiv. ii 
 man's conscience ? 
 
 30 For if I by || grace be a partaker, why am I ^.S^!^"^" 
 -evil spoken of for that ^ for which I give thanks ? ^ ^°^- ^i^'- 6. 
 
 ^ ^ 1 Tim. iv. 3, 4. 
 
 28. " For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." Omitted by K, A., B., C, 
 D., E., G., H*., P., twelve Cnrsives, Ital., Vulg., Syr., Sah,, Copt., Arm.; but retained 
 •in H* *., K., L., and most Cursives. 
 
 "For the earth is the Lord's," &c. The principal MSS. omit 
 this clause, and most critics regard it as a mistake of the copyist, 
 who probably was deceived by the word " conscience " {avveidrjmv) 
 •a little above, and carelessly copied the sentence which followed it. 
 
 29. " Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other." His 
 last words had been (eat not) "for conscience sake; " but lest he 
 should seem by the mention of conscience to be undoing what he 
 had laid down respecting Christian liberty, he explains : " Con- 
 science, not thine own, but of the other." " Thine own conscience 
 is free, it ought not to be tormented by any scruples ; yet it is well 
 for thee to abstain, for if thou indulgest, thy liberty is judged and 
 •condemned by another man's conscience." There have been most 
 contraiy interpretations given of this verse. I think Chrysostom's 
 by far the best : " And what he means is this. God hath made me 
 free, and above all reach of injury, but the Gentile knoweth not 
 how to judge of this high morality of mine, nor to see into the 
 liberality of my Master, but will condemn and say to himself, 
 Christianity is a fable; they abstain from the idols, they shun 
 demons, and yet cleave to the things offered to them. Great is 
 their gluttony. And what then ? it may be said. What harm is 
 it to us if he judge us unfairly ? But how much better to give him 
 no room to judge at all." 
 
 30. " For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of," 
 &c. The argument seems to be something of this sort : I by the grace 
 of God, in freeing me from the bondage of the law, and making all 
 things lawful to me, am able to partake of these meats without 
 defiUng my own conscience ; but there is a further consideration : 
 by partaking I may wound the consciences of others, and cause my 
 
164 DO ALL TO THE GLOKY OF GOD. [L Cor. 
 
 7 Col. iii. 17. 31 ^ Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or what- 
 
 I Rom!^xiv.i3. soever ye do, do all to the glory of G-od, 
 
 2^cJr"vi!^3. 32 ' Give none o:ffence, neither to the Jews, nor 
 
 t Gr. Greeks, ^q ^^^q | Q-entiles, nor to ^ the church of God : 
 
 ch. xi. 22." * 33 Even as ^ I please all men in all things, ''not 
 
 1 Tim. iii. 5. 
 
 b Rom. XT. 2. 
 
 ch. ix. 19, 22. — 
 
 c ver. 24. 
 
 liberty in partaking to be spoken against as verging upon idolatry 
 or giving countenance to it. Why should this be? "What ! that 
 for which a believer gives thanks, the other converts into a ground 
 of defamation against him. What sort of religion is that? the 
 heathen would say who were witnesses of both actions." (Godet.) 
 
 31. " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do 
 all to the glory of God." Here St. Paul gives the only safe rule 
 to carry them through these entanglements and difficulties, and 
 doubtful cases of conscience, unharmed — consciously and of set pur- 
 pose do all, even the meanest daily actions, to the glory of God. 
 Constantly dedicate yourselves afresh to Him, constantly commit 
 your daily hfe to Him. The Apostle gives a parallel rule in 
 Coloss. iii. 17 : " Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father 
 by him." You will then experience the truth of the promise, " The 
 name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it 
 and is safe." (Prov. xviii. 10.) 
 
 32. " Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, 
 nor to the," &c. All these three classes would be offended in diffe- 
 rent ways by the same thing : by your unduly using your liberty 
 in the matter of partaking of meats offered to idols, the Jews 
 would be offended because they would think you were conformed 
 to, or at least made light of, idolatrous worship ; the Gentiles, 
 seeing you do that which implied a partaking of their sacrifices, 
 would think that you considered idolatry no serious matter, and 
 would say among themselves. Why should I renounce idolatry, 
 seeing that these Christians make no scruple of partaking of what 
 they know is consecrated to idols ? and the Church of God, in the 
 persons of the weak brethren, would be emboldened to eat against 
 their consciences, and so sin against God. 
 
 33. "Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine 
 own profit," &c. This is a repetition in terser language of what he^ 
 
Ohap.XI.] the PEOFIT OF THE MANY. 165 
 
 seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they 
 may be saved. 
 
 liad said in ch. ix. 19, " For though I be free from all men .... I 
 am made all things to all men that I might by all means save 
 some." *' Many " ought to be translated "the many," the greater 
 number, in fact, all. In asking the Corinthians to make these 
 sacrifices, he only asks them to do what he himself did : he had 
 first shown them by his own example how they ought to do the 
 will of God, and then he concludes all this matter of partaking in 
 ihe idolothuta with the words : — 
 
 B 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 E * ye followers of me, even as I also am of * ^h- iv. i6. 
 
 Christ. Phil. iii. 17. 
 
 _ _ ^ _ . _ - . _ 1 Thess. i. 6. 
 
 2 Now I praise you, brethren, " that ye re- 2 Thess. iu. 9. 
 
 b ch. iv. 17. 
 
 1. " Be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ." This ought to 
 bave been put at the end of chap. x. It is the same as what he had 
 inculcated in Eom. xv. 2, " Let every one of us please his neighbour 
 for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself," 
 &c. One writes, " We do not find in St. Paul's Epistles the notice 
 of Christ's earthly life being a pattern or ideal, after which men 
 ought to fashion their lives. His mind is absorbed in the greatness 
 of the self denial manifested by the Son of God in taking upon 
 Him the form of a Servant, and humbling Himself by His obedience 
 unto the death of the Cross." (Edwards.) Not wholly true this, for 
 St. Paul in the next Epistle beseeches these very Corinthians " by 
 "the meekness and gentleness of Christ." He could not have done 
 this unless he had instructed his converts in the lessons of the daily 
 life of Christ. 
 
 2. " Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all 
 things," &c. The Apostle now enters upon a subject connected 
 with reverence in worship, and that due subordination and order 
 
166 YE KEEP THE ORDINAXCEG. [I. Cor. 
 
 member me in all things, and ' keep the 1| ordinances, as I 
 • ch. Tii. 17. delivered them to you. 
 
 \ Or, tradi- 
 tions, 2 Thess. 
 
 ii. 15. & iii. 6. 
 
 wliich should be manifested throughout the conduct of all the^ 
 members of such an institution as the Church, which is not to be 
 regarded as a heap of stones, however precious, thrown together 
 accidentally, but not united, each one being separate from its neigh- 
 bour stones ; but on the contrary, the whole is intimately connected 
 with the order of the universe, each member being united to Christ 
 as his Head, and Christ being mider the Father as the First Person 
 in the Godhead. 
 
 He has to blame them for tolerating that which contradicts the 
 principle of this order or subordination ; but, before blaming them, 
 as a wise teacher he praises them. 
 
 " I praise you that ye remember me in all things, and keep the 
 ordinances," &c. No doubt this means that they followed the 
 regulations which he had laid down respecting a large number of 
 what we should deem secondary matters. The ordinances or 
 traditions or paradoseis are the laws and rules respecting public 
 worship and private conduct which he delivered to them to observe. 
 He did not preach the Gospel to them, and then say, I have done 
 my part, now you are at liberty to follow your own fancy, and to 
 make what ecclesiastical regulations you think will suit you best. 
 Nothing of the sort. "We find that he uses such expressions as " as I 
 teach everywhere in every church," "so ordain I in all churches," 
 " stand fast and hold the tradition which ye have been taught,, 
 whether by word or our epistle " (1 Cor. iv. 17; vii. 17; 2 Thess 
 ii. 15). 
 
 It may be asked why have these ordinances or traditions not 
 been preserved and come down to us ? To which we answer, we do 
 not know whether these traditions, many of them, at least, have 
 not come down to us. In all human probabiHty they form part of 
 that body of Church observance which we find everywhere recog- 
 nized in the very early fathers, and prevailing in all parts of the 
 Catholic Church.^ Anyhow, the ship of the Church from the first 
 
 » 8nch,for instance, as the reverent use of the Cross ; the remarkable features commoa 
 to all the typical Liturgies; Infant Baptism; the early rather than the late celebration, 
 of the Eucharist. 
 
Chap. XL] THE HEAD OF CHEIST IS GOD. 167 
 
 3 But I would have you know, that '^ the head ^ Eph. v. 23. 
 of every man is Christ ; and ^ the head of the wo- 1 Tim", u.'ii',* 
 man is the man; and Hhe head of Christ is ifs, e.^^*'^"* 
 
 ^^^' ch. iii. 23. k 
 
 xr. 27. 2S. 
 
 Phil. ii. 7, 5, 9. 
 
 has gone in one direction, in the Catholic direction, in the direction 
 of Catholic dogmas and marked ritual observance, and it is im- 
 possible to conceive how it could have done so if these "traditions'* 
 of St. Paul, and doubtless of his brother Apostles, had been con- 
 ceived in a Puritan rather than in a CathoHc spirit. The dii-ection 
 in which the Church was to sail must have been given from the 
 first. 
 
 The Apostle now proceeds to consider the propriety of women 
 having their heads covered when in worship, and to this he devotes 
 sixteen verses of the comparatively httle space at his disposal. The 
 modem religious sentiment prevalent amongst us would consider 
 such a thing totally unworthy of the Apostle's notice, much less 
 that so much precious space should be devoted to it, and still less 
 that it should involve great principles of Divine order. 
 
 On the contrary the Apostle fully considers it, writes upon it 
 earnestly — instead of compressing it, he enlarges upon it, and re- 
 peats himself in his discussion of it, and bases it upon the pri- 
 macy of God Himself. 
 
 3. " But I would have you know that the head of every man is 
 Christ," &c. Are we to consider this " every man" as every man 
 born into the world, or eveiy man baptized into the Church ? It is 
 quite true that Christ being the Second Adam is the Head of the 
 race, but here I think, having only the conduct of members of the 
 Church in his mind, he means eveiy man born again into the Church. 
 
 " And the head of the woman is the man." She was created for 
 him to be an helpmeet for him, and to be in subjection to him, as 
 it is written, " Tby desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall 
 rule over thee." 
 
 " And the head of Christ is God." The Son of God, Jesus Christ, 
 deriving His Divine Nature fi-om the Father, is subordinate to Him 
 in the Godhead, and this the Son of God constantly asserts, as 
 when He says, " I came down from heaven, not to do mine own 
 will, but the will of him that sent me " (John vi. 38). 
 
 In these cases of subordination which he has cited, there is also 
 
168 HAVING HIS HEAD COVERED. [I. Cok. 
 
 4 Every man praying or ^prophesying, having his head 
 
 g ch. xii. 10, covered, dishonoureth his head. 
 
 28. &xiv.l,&c. ^ -^ X, ,T , ,1 1 
 
 t Acts xxi 9 o But ^ every woman that prayeth or prophe- 
 
 unity. Man and wife are one flesh. Christ is One with ns as the 
 Head of His mystical body. Christ and the Father are One. 
 
 4. " Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, 
 dishonoureth his head." This was in a Grecian city, and was a 
 Gentile practice, adopted into Christian worship. It was contrary 
 to the Jewish ritual of prayer, which required that every Jew, in 
 prayer, should wear a sort of veil called the tallith. This symbo- 
 lized that in the Jewish state of things he was not able to behold 
 God with open face, but must come to Him with head covered in 
 token of shame for sin, not wholly but only typically cleansed.^ 
 The Komans also prayed to the gods with covered head ; but the 
 Greeks always with head uncovered, and this, though heathen and 
 national, was adopted at once into the Church on account of its 
 accordance with the idea of freedom and boldness in our access to 
 God. 
 
 " Dishonoureth his head." In the first place he dishonours his 
 own head by keeping upon it a badge of servitude, and by this 
 means dishonours Christ his Head, " in whom we have boldness 
 and access with confidence." (Ephes. iii. 12.) The uncovered 
 head betokens the dignity as well as freedom of the standing in 
 Christ.^ 
 
 A question has been raised whether the men of the Christian 
 assembly covered their heads. Most probably not, but the Apostle 
 desires to give the divine principle underlying the conduct of the 
 man and the woman respectively. 
 
 5. "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head 
 uncovered." In what way does she dishonour her head ? She 
 
 • Most probably there is an allusion to this in the Liturgy of St. James, where, in the 
 prayer introducing the Lord's Prayer, we have, " Grant, O Lord, that we may boldly and 
 without blame, with a pure heart and contrite mind, without shame and confusion, and 
 with sanctified lips presume to call upon Thee our God and hearenly Father, and say. 
 Our Father," &c. 
 
 2 Mr. Blunt gives a remarkable case in point in a passage in St. Cyprian, who writes thus 
 to some confessors who had refused to sacrifice, " Your heads remained free from the 
 impious and wicked veil with which the captive heads of those who sacrificed were then 
 veiled." {Cyprian on the lapsed, ii.) 
 
CiiAP. XL] ALL ONE AS IF SHE WERE SHAVEN. 169 
 
 sieth witli her head uncovered dishonoureth lier head: for 
 tnat is even all one as if she were ' shaven. * Deut. xxi. 12. 
 
 may dishonour it by undue assumption of equaUty with the man. 
 Anyone who exalts himself through pride or arrogant assumption 
 really dishonours himself. His exaltation is sure, in the provi- 
 dence of God, to be ignominiously humbled. It is the glory of the 
 creature to abide in the position in creation which God has assigned 
 to him. It is consequently the glory of the woman to abide in due 
 subjection, and that is signified in public worship by the woman 
 being veiled in that worship, and the man being uncovered. If she 
 prays or prophecies in the Christian assembly with her head un- 
 covered, it is as if she acted immodestly — without the shamefaced- 
 ness and sobriety (the ai^Cjg and (ruxppoavvri) which the Apostle would 
 have women adorned with (1 Tim. ii. 9). 
 
 Taking "head " here to have reference to the man ("the head of 
 the woman is the man "), she dishonours her head by assuming 
 equality with him by keeping her head uncovered. 
 
 And now the Apostle hints at another reason which he thus 
 expresses : 
 
 " For that is even all one as if she were shaven." The woman 
 having long hair is, in the Apostle's view of things, a sign of subjec- 
 tion, and of her subordinate position with reference to man. If then 
 she be uncovered in Church, it is as much a dishonour to her as if 
 she were shaven. Her long hair is an honour to her head : but if 
 she is unveiled in Church, the whole significance of the fact that 
 God has given to her long hair is undone. She might as well be 
 shaven. 
 
 But how are we to reconcile "thatprayeth or prophesieth," with 
 the very strict injunction of the Apostle in xiv. 35, " It is a shame 
 for women to speak in the Church " ? Very easily, I think. He 
 means, " It is a shame for a woman to speak by herself, to take the 
 lead in a Church where men as well as women are assembled, by 
 publicly praying or prophesying." Prophesying here does not mean 
 preaching, but joining in hymns and psalms, and spiritual songs. 
 "We must adopt some explanation like this if we are to have any 
 respect for the very categorical command of the Apostle (xiv. 34), "let 
 your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted 
 unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under 
 obedience." 
 
170 THE WOMAN FOR THE MAN. [I. Jok, 
 
 6 For if tlie woman be not covered, let her also be shorn r 
 k Num. V. 18. but if it bo ''a shame for a woman to be shorn 
 or shaven, let her be covered. 
 
 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head,. 
 1 Gen. i. 26, 27. f orasmuch as ' he is the image and glory of God : 
 
 but the woman is the glory of the man. 
 «n Gen. ii. 21, 8 For ™ the man is not of the woman ; but the 
 
 22 
 
 woman of the man. 
 nGen. ii. 18, 9 "^ Neither was the man created for the wo- 
 
 ' * man : but the woman for the man. 
 
 One of these passages must give way to the other, and if we take> 
 as we may very well do, praying and prophesying as joining in 
 prayers and prophesyings, we do no violence to the consistency of 
 Scripture. Observe also that the Apostle speaks with some degree 
 of contempt of the woman who would desire to pray uncovered. 
 
 6. "For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn : but 
 if it be a shame for a woman," &c. 
 
 7. " For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch aa 
 he is the image," &c. He is what no other creature of God in this 
 world is, the image and glory of God, and therefore in his approach 
 to God, and when taking part in the worship of God, he ought not 
 to wear any sign of inferiority or subjection. 
 
 " But the woman is the glory of the man." 
 
 8. 9. " For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the 
 man. Neither was the man," &c. In what respect the woman is 
 the glory of the man is to be found in the next two verses. The 
 woman's glory is not an independent glory as if she were a sepa- 
 rate creation. She was made out of man, and so the glory which 
 she has is from him. And besides this, the man was not created 
 for the woman, but the woman for the man, and so her glory looks, 
 as it were, to him. It is part of the glory of man that such a being 
 as woman should be created out of him, out of his flesh and bones, 
 and for him, to be not independent of him, much less have any 
 authority over him, but to be his helper.-^ 
 
 1 There have been various shades of meaning given to these verses by different writers^ 
 Edwards writes, "The man's glory as distinguished from God's consists in subjection. 
 The final glory of the Son of God Himself, in so far as He is Man, will be His subjectioD 
 
CiiAP. XL] POWER ON HER HEAD. 171 
 
 10 For this cause ouffht the woman ° to have oQen.xxiv.ss. 
 11 power on her head ^ because of the angels. covering, in 
 
 " ^ sign that she 
 
 is under the 
 power of her 
 ~ husband. 
 
 p Eccles, T. 6. 
 
 10. "For this cause ought the woman to have power on her 
 head." There can be not the smallest doubt but that the Apostle 
 by " power on her head," means " the sign of power on her head," 
 and the whole context requires that the sign should not be one of her 
 own power, but of that of the man as exercised over her. Meyer puts- 
 it tersely when he writes " to have a power upon her head, 'i.e., the 
 sign of a power (to wit, as the context shows, of her husband's 
 power, under which she stands) by which power the Apostle meana 
 a covering for the head." 
 
 Very many reasons why the Apostle should call a covering of the 
 head "power" or authority are to be found in the commentators* 
 A passage in Diodorus Siculus is appealed to in which fSamXEia 
 signifies a symbol of one's own power, that is, a diadema. Another 
 takes it to signify a token of honour of the married woman over the 
 single. Others take it to mean a sign of authority to speak in public. 
 The reader will find a number of such explanations in Meyer's 
 commentary, to which I refer him. 
 
 " Because of the angels." Chrysostom and Theodoret seem to^ 
 see not the smallest difficulty in this ; the former simply and 
 shortly explains it, " For although thou despise thine husband, 
 saith he, yet reverence the angels, — reverence them, that is, as- 
 present in the assemblies of the faithful, pleased with every sign of 
 reverence and devotion, and displeased at signs of pride, and undue 
 
 to God (xv. 28). It follows that the woman manifests man's glory by manifesting in her- 
 subjection to htm his subjection to God." Godet -writes : " It is an honour, the highest 
 of all undoubtedly, for one being to become the object of another's love and devotion; 
 and the more the being who loves, and is self devoted, is exalted in talent and beauty, 
 the more is this honour increased. Can there therefore be a greater glory to man than 
 to possess as a loving and devoted helpmeet a being so admirably endowed as woman ? 
 All the perfection that belongs to her is homage rendered to the man for whom and 
 from whom she was made, especially where she consecrates herself freely to him in the 
 devotion of love." Meyer says, " St. Paul has in his eye the relation of marriage, in- 
 which rule is conferred on the man alone. The woman accordingly has, in harmony with 
 the whole connection of the passage, to appear simply as Si^a avSpcg, inasmuch, namely, 
 as her whole wedded dignity, the high position of being spouse to the man, proceeds 
 from the man, and is held in obedience to him, so that the woman does not carry an 
 independent glory of her own, an ]Sia 5o|a, but the majesty of the man reflects itself in 
 her, passing over to her immediately, and, as it were, by derivation." 
 
172 BECAUSE OF THE ANGELS. [I. Cor. 
 
 q Gal. iii. 28. 11 Nevertheless ^ neither is the man without 
 
 assumption of superiority." Now the modems have, as a rule, 
 found the utmost difficulty in this place. They have some of them 
 explained it as meanmg presiding elders or bishops, as in Eev. ii. 3, 
 ■*' the angels of the churches." Others have taken it to refer to bad 
 angels who might be tempted by the beauty of the women, as in 
 Oen. vi. 2. 
 
 Now it seems to me a matter of considerable interest to ascertain, 
 seeing that the Apostle gave this reason for the head of the woman 
 being reverently veiled in Church, why such a commentator as Chry- 
 Bostom sees not the smallest difficulty about it, and why so many 
 xaodern commentators endeavour to explain it away. 
 
 The Apostle assigns such a reason because the angelic world was 
 to him an intense reality. He speaks of the Apostle's suffering as 
 *' a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men " (iv. 9). One 
 article of the mystery of Godliness in his eyes was that Christ was 
 **seen of angels" (1 Tim. iii. 16). He charges Timothy " before 
 God and the elect angels " (1 Tim. v. 21). The law was ordained 
 by angels in the hand of a mediator. (Gal. iii, 19.) He asks, 
 *' Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? " (vi. 3). Now such a 
 man would realize the presence of angels everywhere, and especially 
 in the assemblies of the saints. When, then, he thus speaks of the 
 becomingness of women being veiled in Church, he naturally figures 
 to himself the presence of angelic beings, as weU as of men, and 
 such have holy feelings similar to ours. A commentator like 
 Chrysostom, believing intensely in the supernatural world, would 
 take such a reason as a matter of course, and commentators, now 
 semi-rationalists, and having, to say the least, no realization of the 
 spiritual universe, would give, as they do, any explanation rather 
 than the literal one. 
 
 Well, if angels are in our assemblies, can they see us worship 
 without themselves worshipping ? And how should we demean 
 ourselves in the presence of such fellow-worshippers ? Would it 
 not add to our seriousness, that amongst us there are those who 
 •*' always behold the face of our Father in heaven " ? (Matth. xviii. 
 10). And might not such a thought reprove the sin of those who 
 are " almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and 
 assembly"? (Prov. v. 14). 
 
 11, 12. "Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman 
 
Chap. XI.] ALL THINGS OF GOD. 173 
 
 the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the 
 Lord. 
 
 12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man 
 also by the woman ; ^bnt all things of Grod. «• Rom. xi. 6. 
 
 13 Judge in yourselves : is it comely that a woman pray 
 unto God uncovered ? 
 
 14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man 
 have loQg hair, it is a shame unto him ? 
 
 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her : for 
 her hair is giveji her for a || covering. II Or, veil. 
 
 .... all things of God." Here the Apostle guards what he has 
 said from being misunderstood. In asserting the supremacy of the 
 man, and how such supremacy is to be notified, even in pufchc 
 worship, he must not be taken to mean that the man is indepen- 
 dent of the woman. The man and the woman are not isolated, 
 but one in Christ. They are counterparts of one another. The 
 Church is not a Church of males, in whose flesh alone could be the 
 sign of God's covenant, but of females also, who along with men 
 are members of Him in Whom is " neither male nor female." And 
 the mode of the continuance of the human family is also a witness 
 to this : for though the first woman was taken out of the man, yet, 
 ever since, each man comes into the world by being born of a 
 woman. 
 
 *' But all things of God " — by the institution of marriage, by the 
 blessing of fruitfulness acting, not by man's will, but by God's 
 providence, in the case of every one bom into the world. The man 
 and wife are dependent upon one another, but both are in Him 
 in Whom alone their marriage is an holy estate. 
 
 13-15. "Judge in yourselves: is it comely? .... her hair is 
 given her for a covering." This seems to be a repetition, with 
 some difference of expression, of the argument in verses 4, 5, 6. 
 If a woman prays to God uncovered she goes contrary to the prin- 
 ciple of subordination which the Creator had in view in giving her 
 long hair. She, for the time, affects equality with the man, and so 
 does what is not comely or becoming (ttpsttop). They themselves, 
 of their own common sense, might judge respecting this, if they 
 simply asked what is natural : now nature makes us have a feeling- 
 
174 WE HAVE NO SUCH CUSTOM. [I. Cor. 
 
 16 But *if any man seem to be contentious, we have no 
 * 1 Tim. v^. 4. sucli custom, * ueitlier tlie churclies of Grod. 
 ■&xiv^%^^' 17 Now in this that I declare unto you 1 praise 
 
 you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the 
 worse. 
 
 of shame when we see a man wearing long tresses. We call him 
 effeminate, and so, also, if we saw a woman with closely cropped 
 hair, we should say that it was unseemly — mascuhne — in fact, un- 
 natural in her.^ 
 
 16. " Now if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such 
 custom," &c. This has been understood as signifying, If any man 
 eeem to be contentious, we have no such custom of contentious- 
 ness ; but must it not rather refer to what he had been discussing in 
 •these sixteen verses — We have no such custom of permitting the 
 women to remain unveiled in the Christian assembhes ? 
 
 " Neither have the churches of God," i.e, anywhere, in any place. 
 The custom that the women should be clad as those that are in 
 subjection, is universal — the contrary is unknown. 
 
 17. " Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye 
 •come together," &c. At the beginning of the last paragraph, on the 
 matter of the subjection of women, he had begun with the words 
 '* I praise you ; " now a graver matter by far rises before him, no 
 other than the profanation of the Holy Eucharist, and he prefaces 
 it with *' I praise you not that ye come together, not for the better, 
 •but for the worse." 
 
 This reads us a lesson. How anxious we are that there should be 
 large congregations : and yet how many in any congregation may 
 be much the worse for coming, even to what is rightly accounted 
 the house of God. If professedly Christian people come to see 
 •and be seen — if they come to criticize, to idle away in vain thoughts 
 
 1 At the time the Apostle wrote, the long hair in a man was regarded as a mark either 
 • of effeminacy or savage manners. Among the later Romans, especially after the year 
 B.C. 300, the long locks by which their ancestors were distinguished were laid aside, and 
 the deriration of cacsaries, the hair of the male sex, from caedo, to cut, although etymo- 
 logically false, is historically true. And Juvenal speaks of the gathering-up of the thick 
 tresses into a golden head-dress, as the last climax of effeminacy and profligacy : " Reticu- 
 lumqne comis auratum ingentibus implet," Sat. ii. 96. In the East men usually shave 
 the whole head, leaving only one long lock. (Stanley.) 
 
Chap. XL] THERE MUST BE HERESIES. 175 
 
 18 For first of all, wben ye come together in tlie church, 
 " I hear that there be || divisions among jon ; and « ch. i. lo, ii, 
 
 . 12. & 111. 3. 
 
 I partly believe it. I or, scMsms. 
 
 19 For ^ there must be also || heresies among iJ.'^^LukeTvii. 
 you, ^ that they which are approved may be made J'Tim^ij^'i^^' 
 manifest among you. ^ ^^*- "• ^' ^• 
 
 ° "^ II Or, sects. 
 
 7 Lnke n. 35. 
 
 1 John ii. 19. 
 
 See Deut. xiii. 
 3. 
 
 18. "In the church." H, A,, B., C, D., E., F., G., K., L., P., and thirty Cursives 
 ^mit article. 
 
 the most precious time which God gives them here on earth, if 
 they come to have theii' ears tickled, or their self-importance 
 asserted by the place they claim, do they not come together for the 
 worse rather than for the better ? 
 
 18. •' For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I 
 hear that there be divisions among you," &c. These divisions can- 
 not well be exactly the same as those he had animadverted on in 
 •chap. i. They seem to have been divisions or heresies, which were 
 manifested in the church or room where they assembled for prayer 
 and Eucharist. Perhaps the separate parties into whicb they were 
 divided at the love feasts (verse 21) may have been connected with 
 them, the members of the various parties or factions eating to- 
 gether, and excluding the rest from their company. 
 
 19. "For there must be also heresies among you, that they which 
 are approved," &c. Why must there be heresies or divisions ? Be- 
 cause of the sinfulness of our nature — because of the Old Adam 
 which is present even in the regenerate. 
 
 " That they which are' approved may be made manifest among 
 you." Divisions and heresies are the fruits of our evil nature, 
 and when men reject God's supernatural cleansing and sancti- 
 fying work in the scheme of redemption. He not only permits 
 our corrupt nature to take its course and produce these evil fruits, 
 but He makes use of them to bring good out of them. They are a 
 part of that plan by which, before the final judgment, He allows 
 «vil to manifest its true malignity. Divisions and heresies in 
 the Church already manifest those who are approved and those 
 who are not. They suck into their vortices the self- asserting, the 
 «elf-opiniated, the quarrelsome, the meddlesome, and as a rule 
 
176 THE lord's supper. [I. Cor, 
 
 20 Wlien ye come together therefore into one place, |1 thi& 
 II Or, 1/e cannot ^g ^ot to eat the Lord's supper. 
 
 they fail to influence the poor in spirit, the meek, the hmnble- 
 minded.^ 
 
 20. " When ye come together, therefore, into one place, this is 
 not to eat," &c. The place of meeting for celebration of the 
 Eucharist, prayer, and instruction. This, I think, does not mean 
 a place where the whole Church assembled— very probably they 
 would be too numerous all to meet in one room— but the various 
 upper rooms or courts where particular groups or congregations 
 assembled. 
 
 " This is not to eat the Lord's Supper." " When ye meet together 
 to celebrate the Lord's Supper, that which ye do is not to eat the 
 Lord's Supper, but something very different." (Estius.) Another 
 sense is, "Ye so conduct yourselves that it is not a right thing for 
 you to eat the Lord's Supper after ye have feasted so profanely." 
 
 Very considerable differences are found in commentators and 
 divines as to what this Lord's Supper (Csena Dominica, KvpiaKov 
 duTrvov) is. Some, as Augustine, understand it as the Blessed 
 Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. So also Theodoret, 
 " He calls the Lord's Sacrament the Lord's Supper." (^Ecumenius, 
 Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and others.) But many others, and 
 with reason, suppose that the Apostle means the Agapse, or love 
 feasts, which were held in commemoration not of the first 
 Eucharist, but of the Paschal feast which preceded it. The reader 
 will find this question very learnedly and lucidly discussed in 
 Estius. He argues that the disorders which actually took place, 
 and are described in verses 21 and 22, could not have taken place 
 at the celebration of the Eucharist, which was only bread and a 
 mingled cup, but were very likely to have taken place at such a 
 meal as the Agape, in which each brought his own provision, 
 which was intended to be shared by aU. 
 
 • I am not here speaking of the larger divisions of Christendom in general, or of the 
 sects of this conntry. Some of the latter have arisen from laxity, abeyance of discipline, 
 •want of distinctive teaching, and failure of the parochial system among ourselves. A vast 
 amount of our Dissent is now hereditary. But what I mean is, that if there be factions 
 and heresies in any Christian community, it will be found that those who are drawn into 
 these factions are the nnhumbled, and those who are not so drawn are the humble, and 
 Bo, in the Lord's view, the better Christians. 
 
Chap. XL] DESPISE YE THE CHURCH OF GOD. 177 
 
 2% For in eating every one taketli before othei^ his own 
 supper : and one is hungry, and * another is "■ 2 Pet. a. 13. 
 
 ^ ^, ^ -^ Jude 12. 
 
 drunken. 
 
 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to 
 drink in? or despise ye *the church of Grod, and » ch.x. 32. 
 
 21. " For in eating every one taketh before other his own 
 supper : and one is hungry," &c. They brought their provisions 
 with them — the rich would bring much, the poor man would 
 come very scantily provided. Those who came first began to eat 
 at once without waiting till all had come ; and so in this Agape, 
 this feast of love, they did not set forth that regard for one 
 another which was the characteristic of any purely secular enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 " One is hungry, and another is drunken." One is hungry, i.e., 
 the poor man who came perhaps with nothing, expecting that as 
 it was a feast of charity he would share the bounty of his richer 
 brethren. 
 
 "Another is drunken." He has brought more wine than is 
 necessary for his own private use, and consequently, not having 
 shared it with his brethren, has himself taken too much, and is, 
 of course, utterly unfit to take part in any further worship. 
 
 22. " What ? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in ? or 
 despise ye the Church of God ? " The Church of God, that is, the 
 place where the living Church assembled. This is the first intima- 
 tion in the New Testament of holiness attaching to places, because 
 of the very sacred actions which were performed therein. Though 
 we have no reason to believe that the places of Christian assembly 
 in Corinth were more than rooms somewhat larger than the ordi- 
 nary rooms of a house, yet in these the Mystical Body assembled, 
 and in these the Sacramental Body was offered and distributed, 
 and this made the Apostle ask indignantly, "Despise ye the 
 Church of God? " Here he cannot mean the mere assembly ; he 
 most certainly associates with it its place of meeting, for he had 
 immediately before mentioned houses as opposed to the Church of 
 God. 
 
 "And shame them that have not?" "Them that have not" 
 cannot well be those without dwellings, but must rather signify 
 
178 I PRAISE YOU NOT. [L Cor. 
 
 ^ shame || them that have not ? What shall I say to you ? 
 b James ii. 6. shall I praise you in this ? I praise you not. 
 l^/poor? ^^* 23 For <^ I have received of the Lord that which 
 
 c eh. XV. 3. 
 Gal. i. 1,11,12. 
 
 those who were not able, owing to their poverty, to bring any pro- 
 visions, and were abashed at seeing others feasting when they had 
 nothing. 
 
 "What shall I say?" What shall I say to your display of 
 selfishness, even at the feast of charity — to your greediness — to 
 your irreverence ? 
 
 " Shall I praise you in this ? I praise yon not." As if he said, I 
 praised you that ye remembered me in all things, and kept the 
 ordinances or traditions, but I must make one great and terrible 
 exception. I cannot praise you respecting your conduct at these 
 feasts of charity. 
 
 23. ** For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered 
 unto you." And now the Apostle, apparently very abruptly, 
 delivers to them the account which he had received from the 
 Lord Himself respecting the original Institution of the Eucharist. 
 
 The first question which has to be answered is this, — Why did 
 the Apostle introduce this account here, for he had been speak- 
 ing of disorders at the Agape, not at the Eucharist ? There can, 
 I think, be but one answer — the Corinthians had mixed up the 
 Agape with the Eucharist. I will not say that they had con- 
 founded the two, but they had done what was sure to lead to con- 
 fusion between the two. They had habitually observed the Agape 
 a little before the Eucharist. They had no real sense of the pro- 
 found significance, as well as awfulness, of the Holy Communion 
 of the Lord's Body and Blood. And so they seem to have put it 
 into a subordinate position, in comparison with the Agape. This 
 was very natural, for the Blessed Sacrament, though given in 
 earthly elements, was in the very highest sphere of the super- 
 natural and spiritual. Nothing in it ministered to the appetite- 
 Its joy was wholly "in the Lord," whereas the Agape might, and 
 frequently was so perverted, as to minister to self-indulgence, even 
 to gluttony and drunkenness. Now the only way to remedy this 
 was to separate between the two. It seems almost certain that the 
 Agape was not an institution of Christ, at least in nothing like the 
 
Chap. XL] THE LORD JESUS TOOK BREAD. 179 
 
 also I delivered Tinto you, ^That tlie Lord Jesus the same 
 night in whicli lie was betrayed took bread : 26^^*Mai^k Sv 
 
 22. Luke xxii. 
 
 19. 
 
 sense in which the Eucharist was.^ And so, if tolerated on account 
 of the good feeling and hospitality to which, if religiously observed, 
 it might minister, it must be kept in its subordinate place, and the 
 dominant position of the Eucharist asserted. This the Apostle 
 proceeds to do in a very marked fashion. I, that is, "I myself," 
 as distinguished from the other Apostles, have received of the 
 Lord, i.e., by special revelation.^ If he had received it, as some 
 suppose, by tradition, from the other Apostles, he would most cer- 
 tainly have said, " We received it," whereas by the almost abnor- 
 mal use of the personal pronoun, syuj, he emphasizes the fact that 
 he had received it himself personally, whether by vision or more 
 direct communication, we are not told. 
 
 " That which also I delivered unto you." This place is also 
 much to be remarked. When he first instituted the celebration of 
 the Eucharist among them, he gave them the account of the Insti- 
 tution as he had received it from the Lord, but they had to a great 
 extent failed to realize its significance, and it was only because of 
 the disorders which had attended the Agape that he repeated this 
 in writing. So that we owe the most circumstantial of the four 
 accounts of the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament to the for- 
 getfulness, not to say the profanity, of these Corinthians. This 
 emphasizes the fact that in no one book of the New Testament 
 have we the full account of any doctrine of the faith. Every 
 epistle presupposes that those to whom it is addressed had been in- 
 structed in all the doctrines of the faith, so that the Scriptures of the 
 New Testament come into the hands of those who are already by 
 Apostolic traditions in possession of almost all truth, though much 
 
 ' Lightfoot, quoted ia Wordsworth, says : " It is not improbable that the Jewish 
 Christians, looking back at their own Passover, on which the Holy Communion had been 
 ■engrafted, regarded the Eucharist as an appendage to a domestic religious meal, such as 
 the Passover was, in which households of about twelve partook together by families ; and 
 that hence arose those separate Se7mix which the Apostle condemns, in which it is likely 
 that the Gentile Christians would not be disposed or admitted to partake before the Holy 
 CDmmunion." 
 
 2 It has been objected that if so, the preposition Trapa would have been used instead of 
 Aivo, as signifying direct transmission, but, as Godet remarks, this preposition is involved 
 in wapEXa^oy. 
 
180 WHEN HE HAD GIVEN THANKS. [I. Cgr, 
 
 24 And wlien lie had given thanks, he brake it, and said,. 
 
 of it might be unrealized and much forgotten. They come into 
 the hands of the Church, which had been fully instructed in the 
 truth before a line of the New Testament was in writing, 
 
 " That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed 
 took bread." Why is the time of the Institution characterized as 
 the night, or time in which He was betrayed ? Because His be- 
 trayal was His being delivered up for our sakes. He had said 
 very emphatically, " No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it 
 down of myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to 
 take it again" (John x. 18). And the time when He solemnly and 
 sacerdotally surrendered it was when He said, " This is my body 
 which is given for you." Then He parted with all power over His 
 own life. Thus He was betrayed to be crucified, and in less than 
 a day the sacrifice was consummated.^ 
 
 *' Took bread." There must have been something particularly 
 solemn and reverential in this taking of bread, for it is particu- 
 larly mentioned in each of the four accounts. With it was no 
 doubt joined the Hfting up of His eyes to heaven ; and this is inti- 
 mately combined with it in the most ancient Liturgies. Thus the 
 Clementine, " For in the same night that He was betrayed, taking 
 bread into His holy and immaculate hands, and looking up to 
 Thee, His God and Father." So also the Liturgies of St. Mark 
 and St. James. 
 
 24. '* And when he had given thanks, he brake it." When He 
 had given thanks {evxapiaTrjaag). In the Eucharistic passages of the 
 New Testament, the word is apparently used interchangeably with 
 " having blessed." On this occasion the blessing partook of a 
 double character, so as to be both a benediction and thanksgiving ; 
 for St. Matthew and St. Mark represent our Lord as having blessed 
 the bread [evXoyijcrag), and having given thanks {^vxapiaTnoao) over 
 the cup ; and St. Luke and St. Paul represent Him as having given 
 thanks {ivxapiaTiiaaQ) over the cup ; and in x. 16, St. Paul speaks 
 of the cup as the cup of blessing {evXoyia). 
 
 * This is recognised in two of the most ancient Liturgies— that of St. Mark, " For onr 
 Lord himself, our God and Supreme King, in the same night wherein He delivered 
 Himself for our sins," &c., and St. James, " In the same night that He was offered, or^ 
 rather, offered up Himself for the life and salvation of the world." 
 
Chap. XL] THIS IS MY BODY. 181 
 
 Take, eat: this is mj body, which is broken for you; this 
 
 24, "Take, eat." Omitted in N, A., B., C, D., E., F., G., 3, 17, 23*, 31, 46*, 57, 67*», 
 70, 71, 73, 178, d, e, f, g, Vulg. (Cod. Amiat), Sah., Copt., Arm. ; retained in K., L., P., 
 most Cursives, Syriac, Goth., ^th. 
 
 24. "Which is broken for you." {<*, A., B., C*., 17, 67, omit "broken," and read, 
 *' which is for you;" but E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cui-sives, d, e, g, Syriac, Goth., 
 read, " broken." 
 
 " He brake it." The EngHsh Eucharistic office alone of all 
 Liturgies seems to put the actual breaking of the bread into its 
 becoming place, for it takes place in the consecration itself. The 
 fraction in no other liturgy is so placed as to warrant this most 
 Holy Sacrament being called " The Breaking of Bread." I owe 
 this to Archdeacon Freeman. 
 
 "And said, Take, eat." These words are not in St. Luke's ac- 
 count, which so closely agrees with that of St. Paul, that it was 
 e^ddently derived from him. From the little manuscript authority 
 for them it may be that they have at an early period been inserted 
 from the accounts in St. Matthew and St. Mark. There is not the 
 smallest doubt, however, but that the Lord said them. 
 
 " This is my body, which is broken for you." As each volume of 
 this exposition is intended to be, as far as possible, independent of 
 the others, I shall not content myself with referring to my notes on 
 the Synoptics. I shall now consider, as far as we in this present 
 state of things may venture to do so, the import of these words. 
 Are they devoid of mystery, or do they set forth a mystery ? 
 
 A believing commentator, Godet, treats them as no revelation of 
 a mystery whatsoever, when he writes : " The simplest explana- 
 tion is this : Jesus takes the bread which is before Him, and, pre- 
 senting it to His disciples. He gives it to them as the symbol of 
 His Body which is about to be given up for them on the cross, and 
 to become the means of their salvation ; the verb he is taken in the 
 same sense as that in which we say, as we look at a portrait, * It is 
 so and so.' " Nothing can be less mysterious than this. If we may 
 dare to call anything which occurred in the life of our Blessed Lord 
 — God and man — commonplace, it would be this. 
 
 Now it does not alter the non-mysteriousness, if I may coin a word, 
 of this explanation, if we suppose that this symbol is ordained to 
 be the means of conveyance of certain benefits of redemption to the 
 worthy recipient as a seal to a document which conveys an estate, 
 or a ring given in the investiture of any one with a dignity or an 
 
182 THE MYSTERY. [I. Cok. 
 
 Or, for a ^q I] j^ remembrance of me. 
 
 rtmemorance, ' i 
 
 24. " In remembrance of me." " In meam commemorationem" 
 
 office. Such an use of the symbol does not add in the least degree 
 to its mystery, only to its value. 
 
 From the first age to the present in all branches of the Catholic 
 Church, the solemn rite of the consecration and participation of the 
 Eucharist has been called " the mysteries ; " and for this one and 
 only reason, that in the reception of the consecrated elements the 
 Body and Blood of the Lord are understood to be received also. 
 To take the two earliest accounts which treat of the mystery, we 
 read in Justin Martyr, who lived seventy or eighty years at the 
 outside after the time of the writing of this Epistle : " Not as 
 common bread or common drink do we receive these : but in like 
 manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the 
 Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so like- 
 wise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the 
 prayer of His Word, and from which our blood and flesh by trans- 
 mutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus Who 
 was made flesh." Now though there may be obscurities in this 
 passage, one thing is certain, that it never could have been written 
 by one who held the bread and wine after consecration to be merely 
 symbols. 
 
 The second passage is from Irenaeus (book iv., chap, xviii. 5). 
 " But our opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the 
 Eucharist, in turn, establishes our opinion. For as the bread, 
 which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation 
 of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of 
 two realities, earthly and heavenly ; so also our bodies, when they 
 receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope 
 of the Kesurrection to eternity." 
 
 Such are the earliest accounts of any length of the mystery of the 
 Eucharist. A tenth part of the references to the mystery in all the 
 subsequent writers of the Catholic Church would fill a library. We 
 only have space to notice how the idea of the profoundest mystery 
 attaching to this sacrament is stated in our formularies. First we 
 claim the use of this very word *' mystery " — " He hath instituted 
 and ordained Holy Mysteries." We speak of ourselves as we who 
 have received " these holy mysteries." We pray God that we may re- 
 
Chap. XL] THE MYSTERY. 183 
 
 ceive and do an unsearchably mysterious thing, that we maj^ " so eat 
 the flesh of His dear Son and drink His blood, that our sinful bodies 
 may be made clean by His Body, our souls washed through His 
 most precious Blood, and that we may ever more dwell in Him, 
 and He in us ; " thereby proclaiming our belief that the most ex- 
 traordinary words in the whole compass of the Bible, those of 
 John vi., refer to the Eucharistic eating and drinking. 
 
 In addition to this, in our catechism we reproduce, if not the 
 words, at least the exact idea of Irenaeus, when we ask, " What is 
 the outward part or sign of the Lord's supper ? " and put into the 
 child's mouth the answer, " Bread and wine, which the Lord hath 
 commanded to be received." And we follow this up with the ques- 
 tion, " What is the Inward Part or Thing Signified ? " and the 
 answer, " The Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily and 
 indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." 
 
 We, then, of the Church of England, are pledged to look upon 
 the union or identity of the Lord's Body and Blood with the out- 
 ward part of the Sacrament, as a deep and unfathomable mystery, 
 as a secret known only to God. We repudiate the gross and un- 
 scriptural way of Transubstantiation on the one side, and, if the 
 words of our formularies are to be taken in their natural sense, we 
 equally repudiate any meaning given to the Lord's sacramental 
 words which would make it more proper for Him to have said, 
 " This is not my Body — this is not really my Body ; this is a 
 figure, a symbol, a representation, a picture of my Body." 
 
 Now, inasmuch as figures and types are constantly employed in 
 Scripture, why cannot we be content with looking upon this as one 
 amongst many similar figures ? We answer most emphatically, 
 that there is no similar figure. There is no similar figure, for in 
 this matter of the Holy Sacrament the Lord directs our attention 
 to the lower part of His nature — His Body and Blood — rather than 
 to Himself. In all other figures — " I am the Door," " I am the 
 Shepherd " — the Lord directs attention to His spiritual nature. 
 His action as a Divine Spirit. Here He directs attention to His 
 lower and passive nature as that through which we are to receive 
 the benefits of His Eedemption. 
 
 Then in the next place we must believe that if our Lord intended 
 to give the bread as a mere symbol He would have plainly said so, 
 for if He had but once so explained it, it would have saved the 
 Church from 1700 or 1800 years of most gross misconception con- 
 
184 THE MYSTERY. [I. Cor. 
 
 ceming the meaning and import of the leading rite of His Keligion. 
 But is there any necessity why we should partake of His lower 
 nature of Flesh and Blood, as well as of His higher ? He must be 
 the Judge of that, and He lays it down that there is when He says, 
 " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, 
 ye have no life in you." 
 
 May I be permitted to reproduce what I have written elsewhere 
 upon this ? " Every sincere believer in the supernatural, as re- 
 vealed in the Scriptures, must allow that there may be reasons 
 connected with our own nature of flesh and blood, and the sin and 
 weakness, and death transmitted to us through flesh and blood, 
 why we should receive the Lord's very Body and Blood. There is 
 mystery enough about a Body which the eternal Son of God as- 
 sumed, which was conceived and born totally out of the course of 
 nature, which was the Body of the Second Adam, the New Head 
 of the race ; which ascended far above all heavens, and now sits at 
 the right hand of God. There is mystery enough, I say, about 
 such a Body to help us take His words in humble and submissive 
 faith. What limit can we put to its capacities, seeing that in Him 
 dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily?" 
 
 If Christ be our Second Adam it seems not so unlikely that we 
 should supernaturally partake of His Flesh and Blood, seeing that 
 by naturally having within us the flesh and blood of the old Adam 
 we are in sin and death. So that three mysteries — the profound 
 mystery inherent in our own nature of flesh and blood, in which 
 mind and spirit are, as it were, incarnated, and sin in the whole — 
 the still profounder mystery of the nature which is in store for us, 
 the nature of the Eesurrection body — the profoundest mystery of 
 all, the union of the Divine and Human, the eternal Word and the 
 human flesh, in the Person of our blessed Lord — all these things 
 make for our taking the words of Christ not in the carnal or mira- 
 culous but in the sacramental way set forth in the oldest accounts 
 and in our own formularies, a way by which we hold that the bread 
 and wine remain in their natural substance, but that when we 
 receive them we verily and indeed take and receive the Body and 
 Blood of Christ, so that we may have eternal life, and be raised up 
 by Him at the last day. 
 
 "Which is broken for you." The Lord's Body unquestionably 
 was broken for us. This does not mean that any of His bones were 
 broken. To fulfil a very direct prophecy it was ordered that they 
 
CuAF. XI.] IN REMEMBKANCE OF ME. 185 
 
 should not be ; but when His Sacred Body was scourged and 
 crowned with thorns, when His hands and feet and side were 
 pierced, His Body, His Flesh, was indeed broken. 
 
 " This do in remembrance of me." This means " take bread, bless 
 it, break it, and say over it what I say." The words which Christ 
 said as he delivered the bread have been said over the bread ever 
 since as a part of the institution. 
 
 " In remembrance of me." Eather for my commemoration — for 
 my anamnesis. 
 
 The question now arises. What is this remembrance ? Is it only 
 a private act of remembrance which we make in our own souls, 
 80 that we use the blessed Sacrament as a reminder of what Christ 
 has done for us just as we might read over the account of the Cru- 
 cifixion in any one of the Gospels, or in the twenty-second Psalm, 
 or in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah ? This is impossible, not only 
 because the Church has never held it to be such a private reminder, 
 but because the Sacrament itself, considered apart from its adjuncts, 
 its prayers, praises, and thanksgiving, would remind no one of 
 Christ ; a sermon on the Death of Christ, or a Cross, much more a 
 Crucifix, would be a more direct reminiscence of Him. 
 
 The word which the Lord uses is a remarkable one, avdnvTjmg, 
 It is, apart from its use in Luke xxii. 19, and in this place, only 
 once used in the New Testament, and that is in Hebrews, x. 3, 
 "in those sacrifices," i.e., those offered on the great day of Atone- 
 ment, " there is a remembrance again made of sins every year." This 
 is undoubtedly a solemn sacrificial remembrance made before God 
 and God alone, for it was expressly commanded that no one was 
 to be in the tabernacle except the High Priest, when he made the 
 atonement. (Levit. xvi. 17.) 
 
 What then is meant by "Do this in remembrance of me?" I 
 cannot give the answer better than in the words of Jeremy Taylor 
 in his " Holy Living." 
 
 " 1. The celebration of the Holy Sacrament is the great mystery 
 [mysteriousness] of the Christian religion, and succeeds to the most 
 solemn rite of natural and Judaical religion, the law of sacrificing. 
 For God spared mankind, and took the sacrifice of beasts, together 
 with our solemn prayers, for an instrument of expiation. But these 
 could not purify the soul from sin, but were typical of the Sacrifice 
 of something that could. But nothing could do this, but either the 
 offering of all that sinned, that every one should be the Anathema 
 
186 IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. [I. Cor. 
 
 or devoted thing ; or else by sorae one of the same capacity, who 
 by some superadded excellency, might in his own personal suffer- 
 ings have a value great enough to satisfy for all the whole kind (or 
 race) of sinning persons. This the Son of God, Jesus Christ, God 
 and Man, undertook and finished by a Sacrifice of Himself upon 
 the altar of the Cross. 
 
 "2. This Sacrifice, because it was perfect, could be but One, and 
 that once ; but because the needs should last as long as the world 
 itself, it was necessary that there should be a perpetual ministry 
 established, whereby this one sufficient Sacrifice should be made 
 eternally effectual to the several new arising needs of all the world 
 who should desire it, or in any sense be capable of it. 
 
 " 3. To this end Christ was made a ' Priest for ever ; ' He was 
 initiated or consecrated on the Cross, and then began His Priest- 
 hood which was to last till His coming to judgment. It began on 
 earth, but was to last and be officiated in Heaven, where He sits 
 perpetually representing and exhibiting to the Father that great 
 effective Sacrifice which He offered on the Cross, to eternal and 
 never failing purposes. 
 
 "4. As Christ is pleased to represent to His Father that great 
 Sacrifice as a means of atonement and expiation for all mankind, 
 and with special purposes and intendment for all the elect, all that 
 serve Him in holiness; so He hath appointed, that the same 
 ministry shall be done upon earth too, in our manner, and accord- 
 ing to our proportion ; and therefore hath constituted and separated 
 an order of men, who, by showing forth the Lord's Death by sacra- 
 mental representations, may pray unto God after the same manner 
 that our Lord and High Priest does : that is, offer to God and 
 represent in the solemn prayer and sacrament, Christ, as already 
 offered, so sending up a gracious instrument, whereby our prayers 
 may, for His sake, and in the same manner of intercession, be 
 offered up to God on our behalf, and for all them for whom we 
 pray, to all those purposes for which Christ died." (" Holy Living," 
 eh. iv. sec. x.^) 
 
 1 I hare given in Appendix A. of my work entitled " The One Offering," some extracts 
 from early Fathers and Ecclesiastical writers in which they confess the Sacrificial Nature 
 of the Eucharist. I will now give a few short extracts. Thus, Clement of Rome — "Our 
 sin will not be small if we eject from the Episcopate those who have blamelessly and 
 holily offered the gifts" (Epistle to Corinthians, ch. xliv.) Ignatius, a.d. 100 or so — 
 •' Take ye heed then to have but one Eucharist, for there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and one Cup for the unity of His Blood, one Altar, as there is one Bishop, along 
 
Chap. XL] HE TOOK THE CUP. 187 
 
 25 After tlie same manner also Tie tooh tlie cup, when lie 
 
 25. "After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had 
 supped," &c. This was a mingled cup — not of wine only, but of 
 wine and water. This minghng of the cap is mentioned in the 
 first account of the Eucharist — to be found in the Fathers. That 
 in Justin Martyr: "There is then brought to the president of the 
 brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he, 
 taking it, gives praise and glory to the Father of the Universe, 
 through the Name of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, &c. And 
 when the president has given thanks, and all the people have 
 expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to 
 each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with 
 water, over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those 
 who are absent they carry away a portion." 
 
 The same is noticed in the Liturgy of St. Clement : ** Likewise 
 also having mingled the cup with wine and water and blessed it, 
 he gave it to them, saying, ' Drink ye all of it,' " &c. And also in 
 that of St. James: "Likewise after supper He took the cup, and 
 mixed it with wine and water," &c. 
 
 "When he had supped." What is meant by this? It is sup- 
 posed by many that there was an interval — perhaps a considerable 
 one — between the consecration and distribution of the bread and 
 
 •with the Presbytery and deacons," &c. Justin Martyr (a.d. 140) — "Accordingly God, 
 anticipating all the Sacrifices which we offer through His Name, and which Jesus the 
 Christ enjoined us to offer, i. e. in the Eucharist of the Bread and the Cup," &c. Again, 
 Irenaeus (a.d. 180) — "He took that created thing, bread, and gave thanks and said. 
 This is my Body, and the cup likewise, which is part of the Creation to which we belong. 
 He confessed to be His Blood, and taught the New Oblation of the New Covenant which 
 the Church, receiving from the Apostles, offers to God throughout all the world," &c. 
 
 To these I may add a testimony from the lately exhumed " Didache of the Apostles," a 
 very ancient monument of Jewish or Palestinian Christianity, which, I believe, repre- 
 sents that phase as it flourished before the end of the first century—" And on each Lord's 
 Day of the Lord be ye gathered together, and break bread and give thanks, after ton- 
 fessing your transgregsions, that our sacrifice may be pure. And let none that hath a 
 difference with his fellow come together with you until they be reconciled, that our 
 Sacrifice be not defiled. For this is that which is spoken by the Lord (Malachi i. 11). 
 In every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice : For I am a great King, saith the Lord, 
 and my name wonderful among the Gentiles." 
 
 The two previous passages (chap. ix. and x. page 129-131 of Dr. Taylor's edition), which 
 are supposed to refer to the Eucharist, cannot possibly do so, as they have not the smallest 
 reference to the Sacrifice of Christ. They are in all probability Jewish Thanksgivings 
 used at the Agape in Palestine, which was not then separated from the Eucharist. 
 
188 THIS CUP IS THE NEW TESTAMENT. [I. Cor. 
 
 had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my 
 
 25. " Testament ; " rather " covenant." 
 
 that of the cup. Thus Gresley in his " Harmony " makes an interval 
 between the deUvery of the bread and of the cup, during which the 
 Lord spake the words contained in John xiv. ; and that, as He was 
 rising up to leave, He consecrated and delivered to them the cup. 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark seem to know of no interval whatsoever 
 between the delivery of the bread and of the cup ; and we, at this 
 distance of time, and not knowing exactly all the particulars of the 
 Paschal Eite, cannot say with any certainty anything about it. 
 The bread which the Lord took was probably the cake which was 
 eaten last of all, and the cup which He took was some cup at the 
 conclusion of the whole solemnity. I can only repeat here what I 
 have said in my commentary on St. Luke xxii. 17 : " There were 
 four cups at least solemnly blessed and used at the Passover 
 solemnity ; and this (that of Luke xxii. 17— not, of course, that of 
 Luke xxii. 20) was most likely the second. This has been called 
 "the cup of the Old Testament or Covenant," being strictly a part 
 of the Ancient Passover which was then for ever passing away. 
 The next (or rather last cup), that of verse 20, being part of the 
 New Eite — the Eucharistic Sacrament — into which a somewhat 
 later part of the solemnity of breaking bread, and blessing and 
 handing round a cup, was turned by the Lord." 
 
 "Why, however, is this, "after he had supped" mentioned? 
 Most commentators, and, I think, with reason, suppose that it was 
 to distinguish the Eucharist from every other meal, no matter how 
 sacred. 
 
 The two consecrations must of necessity be united, because, ever 
 since the Apostles' time, they form part of one prayer. 
 
 " Saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood." This 
 must be perfectly synonymous with " This is my blood of the new 
 testament," and is of inconceivable value as showing us that, in 
 receiving the Blood, we receive that for which the Blood was 
 shed — that is, the New Covenant. The Blood of Christ was shed to 
 
 1 Mr. Blunt supposes that the words, "when he had supped," apply to the whole 
 action, and do not mean that the consecration of the bread and of the wine was broken 
 by a considerable interval, as if one took place in the midst of the supper and the other 
 only after its conclusion. 
 
Chap. XL] THIS DO YE. 189 
 
 blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance 
 of me. 
 
 26 For as often as ye eat tbis bread, and drink tbis cup. 
 
 bring about and inaugurate a New Covenant, wMcb is described in 
 Jeremiah xxxi. 33 : " This shall be the covenant that I will make 
 with the house of Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, I will 
 put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and 
 will be their God, and they shall be my people I will for- 
 give their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." To 
 apprehend that we receive this with the Blood of Christ, we must 
 have faith — faith in the Lord as the Institutor of this Sacrament — 
 faith in His being the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever — to 
 make this Sacrament to us now what it was to St. Paul's converts 
 then. And no matter what our faith be in other respects — our con- 
 version, our illumination, our spiritual feelings — can we be said to 
 be in this New Covenant, unless we receive the seal of It ? 
 
 " This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me " — 
 that is, for My solemn Church anamnesis or memorial. 
 
 The repetition of this is to be noticed. The two elements of the 
 Most Holy Sacrament are not to be divided. Both are to be taken 
 as the solemn memorial of the Passion and Death of the Son of 
 God. "With what face, then, can any Church deny to the great 
 body of her members the cup, seeing that in it the memorial is 
 made, as well as in the bread ; seeing, too, that it is the sign and 
 seal of the New Covenant — rather, that the New Covenant is in it ? 
 
 26. " For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do 
 shew," &c. It has been said that this " shew " is to be taken in the 
 sense of proclaiming or preaching, for that is the usual sense of the 
 word KaTayyeXXu). But is this possible? For the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Body has never been a preaching ordinance. In primitive 
 times it was celebrated with closed doors, and only before the 
 faithful, not to the world, who much more than the faithful require 
 the preaching of Christ to convert them. I think we shall see the 
 meaning, if we consider well the question, What did a Jew in old 
 time do when he offered a sacrifice ? He set forth, shewed forth, 
 proclaimed his behef that the God of Israel had ordained the 
 sacrifice to be an atonement for him ; and he did this not so much 
 before his fellow Israehtes as in the sight of God, for the sacrifice 
 
190 YE DO SHEW THE LOEd'S DEATH. [I. Cor. 
 
 1 Or, shew T,e. || je do shew the Lord's death ^till he come. 
 &xxL22j'^' 27 ^ Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, 
 
 Acts i. xi. 
 
 ch. iv. 5. & 
 
 XV. 23. 1 
 Thess. iv, 16. 
 
 2 Thess. i. 10. was not offered to men, but to God. It was an act 
 i. 7. ' '^^' of worship, and worship is not offered to be seen of 
 t Num. ix. 10, men, but to propitiate God. 
 
 61," 63, 64! &' The best illustration of the Apostle's meaning is to 
 
 x]iK^27. eh. Y)e found in one of the earliest Liturgies — that of St. 
 James — where the Priest, having consecrated the cup, 
 says, " Do this in remembrance of me : for as oft as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Death of the Son 
 of Man, and confess His Eesurrection until His coming again." 
 
 And to this the people respond : 
 
 " O Lord, we shew forth thy Death, and confess thy Resurrec- 
 tion." 
 
 "TiU he come." This shows in opposition to some modern 
 sectaries, that the Holy Eucharist is intended to be a permanent 
 ordinance, to be celebrated till the Second Coming. Just as the 
 Jewish sacrifices, by anticipation, set forth the Lord's Death till 
 His First Coming, so the Eucharist shows forth His Death till His 
 Second. 
 
 27. " Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and [or] drink 
 this," &c. Almost all authorities read " or." " n [or] has a peculiar 
 significance here, because, as the context shows, St. Paul has been 
 censuring the Corinthians for two several sins, opposed respec- 
 tively to the two several elements of the Lord's Supper. The first 
 sin is that of eating meats offered to idols, and of gluttony gene- 
 rally, and particularly at the meals before the Communion (v. 21), 
 a sin especially opposed to communion in the Eucharistic Bread 
 (see 1 Cor. x. 21). The second sin — that of Drinking the Cup of 
 J)evils, or false Deities (1 Cor. x. 2), and of intemperance in the 
 meals before the Communion (v. 21) — a sin especially opposed to 
 the Eucharistic Cup " (Wordsworth). 
 
 The Bread of the Lord — not the bread which the Lord eat, but the 
 Bread of which the Lord said, " I am the true bread, the living 
 bread." 
 
 " Unworthily." What is meant by this " unworthily " ? It may 
 mean in a state of sin, without repentance, without faith, without 
 love, without self-examination, without prayer. Or it may mean 
 
Chap. XL] LET A MA:n iL::.v AMINE HIMSELF. 191 
 
 and drink this cup of tlie Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty 
 of the body and blood of the Lord. 
 
 28 But ^ let a man examine himself, and so let e 2 Cor. xiu, 5. 
 
 Gal. vi. 4. 
 
 him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 
 
 27. "And drink this cup." Almost all MSS. and versions read, "or;" so H, A,, B., 
 C, D., E., F„ G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Versions, &c. 
 
 in an unbelieving manner, as if it was a common meal, common 
 bread, common wine, a mere adjunct of the love feast. Now this 
 latter was undoubtedly the sin of the Corinthians. They discerned 
 not the Lord's Body, making no difference between consecrated 
 elements and ordinary food. But it is quite clear that if men take 
 the Blessed Sacrament whilst they are living in a state of wilful 
 sin, and determining to continue in that state, they profane that 
 which is given them to enable them to resist sin. It is given them 
 for the strengthening and refreshing of their souls by the Body and 
 Blood of Christ. They go clean contrary to the intent for which 
 God gives them the Body and Blood of Christ, which is that " Christ 
 may dwell in them and they in Him," and how can a man invite 
 Christ into himself to dwell in him along with that sin from which 
 Christ died to deliver him ? 
 
 " Shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." If the 
 consecrated elements are symbols then he profanes these figures 
 which God (no matter how we regard them) has ordained for a 
 most holy use ; but the whole reasoning of the Apostle in the 
 following verses imphes that they are far more than symbols — 
 they are most blessed and yet tremendous realities ; for in profanely 
 using them it is in our power to eat and drink our own condem- 
 nation, not discerning the Lord's Body. 
 
 " Guilty of the body and blood," must mean, guilty of the Body 
 and Blood itself, not of a mere representation of it. 
 
 28. " But let a man examine himself," &c. The examination in 
 this context must refer to the nature of the guilt which is to be 
 avoided. If the guilt is a profanation through receiving in impeni- 
 tence, then we must examine ourselves as regards our hatred and 
 fear of sin, so that we should receive the blessed Sacrament as a 
 strengthening against sin, and of spiritual refreshment in our con- 
 flict with sin. But if it refers to a profanation through not con- 
 sidering and duly reverencing the Inward Part of the Sacrament 
 
192 UNWORTHILY. [I. Cor. 
 
 29 For lie tliat eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
 
 29. " Unworthily." So ii. A., B., C, 17, Sah., omit " unworthily;" bnt D., E., F.^ 
 G., K., L., P., almost all Cursives, Itala., Vulg., Syriac, Cop., Arm,, Goth., retain. 
 
 then we must earnestly pray for faith in the words of Christ in 
 which He instituted this Sacrament, and in the words of Christ in 
 which He prepared His apostles to receive in It the greatest bene- 
 fits of Kedemption. 
 
 " And so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." Ob- 
 serve that the Apostle never contemplates the possibility of anyone 
 abstaining from partaking of the Eucharist. If anyone on exami- 
 nation finds himself unworthy, on account of sin persisted in, h& 
 must resolve against sin, and pray to God through Christ to giv& 
 him instant deliverance. 
 
 29. " For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily .... not dis-^ 
 cerning the Lord's Body." The word unworthily is not in the- 
 four principal Uncials, but is in all other authorities. If omitted the- 
 verse will read " he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh 
 condemnation to himself, if he discern not the Lord's Body," and the^ 
 difference in meaning is scarcely perceptible. The latter rendering 
 makes all unworthy eating — all eating to condemnation — to con- 
 sist in failing to discern the Lord's Body. The Lord's Body is to- 
 be discerned not only as there, but as there so that it should be 
 received for the highest purposes of salvation, " that we should 
 dwell in him and he in us," that " we should have eternal life 
 and be raised up at the last day." The eating of the Flesh of the 
 Son of man is not the absolute end, but takes place that we may 
 be one with Christ and Christ with us, which is, as far as the 
 mind of man can comprehend, the absolute end. Of course it is 
 not meant that all who fail to realize fully receive unworthily, for- 
 in so profoundly deep and holy a matter there must be many de- 
 grees of apprehension ; but if we begin as the Church teaches us, 
 devoutly and seriously to consider the dignity of that Holy Sacra- 
 ment, we shall be led on by God to worthier and still worthier 
 degrees of realization. 
 
 "Damnation to himself." This rendering has been, so far as the- 
 eye of man can see, a very unfortunate one. It has impressed 
 upon the minds of many, especially among the poor and unedu- 
 cated, a deep-seated conviction that it is safer to stay away from: 
 Holy Communion than to communicate. Still there is this to- 
 
Chap.xl] condemnation. 193 
 
 driuketh || damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's 
 
 body. II Or. Judg. 
 
 •' ment, Rom. 
 
 xiii. 2. 
 
 29. "The Lord's Body." So D , E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Syr., Copt., 
 Arm., Goth. ; but N, A., B., C, 17, 67**, Vulg. (Cod. Amiat.), Sah., omit *' the Lord," 
 and read " the Body." 
 
 be considered that as we have no primitive discipline worth speak- 
 ing of, men should be brought to exercise discipline upon them- 
 selves. 
 
 The meaning of the word is judgment : this judgment may be 
 temporal or eternal — in this world or in the world to come. In 
 the case of these unworthy receivers amongst the Corinthians the 
 judgment was temporal, as is clear from the next verse, but any 
 persistence in a state of heart which incapacitates us from discern- 
 ing the Lord's Body, or renders us unfit to receive It, must be a 
 state very displeasing to God, and which sooner or later He will 
 punish severely. 
 
 " Not discerning the Lord's body." This is explained as mean- 
 ing either — 
 
 (1.) Not discriminating, not making a difference between Bread 
 which the Lord called His Body and common bread, not realizing 
 that the Sacrament has an Inward Part, or 
 
 (2.) Not forming a judgment on the Lord's Body, i.e., as there for 
 our salvation. The word discerning — discerning that it is there — 
 seems to be best, and we may also notice the word " considering," 
 which we have in our Eucharistic office. "Considering" cannot 
 mean considering that the Lord has a body which is now in heaven, 
 but considering — devoutly, humbly, prayerfully considering — that 
 God gave His Son not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual 
 food and sustenance in that Holy Sacrament.^ 
 
 1 Some, es Dean Stanley, have said that the Body here means not the Sacramental 
 Body of the Lord, but the Church which is called His Body ; but how can this be said 
 ■with the smallest degree of reason when the Body of Christ, as signifying the Church, 
 has not been mentioned throughout the entire context? The Apostle begins with citing 
 the Lord's words, " This is my Body ; " surely He does not mean " this is My Church : " 
 then He speaks of the Cup being His Blood or the New Covenant in His Blood. Then 
 the Apostle proceeds toshow the end of the purpose of this eating and drinking, " to show 
 the Lord's Death till he come." Then he shows that unworthy eating and drinking makes 
 men guilty of the Bo:iy and Blood of the Lord ; and, lastly, a man is to examine himself 
 before he eat of that Bread, and then, after all this allusion to Sacramental Bread, we are 
 told that, in the 29th verse, the discerning of this Body is the discerning of the Church. A 
 
 O 
 
194 MANY SICKLY MANY SLEEP. [L Cor. 
 
 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, 
 and many sleep, 
 h ps. xxxii. 31 For ^ if we would judge ourselves, we should 
 
 6. 1 John i. 9. , , . ^ _ 
 
 not be judged. 
 
 81. "For if we would," &c. So C, K., L., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Sah., Copt, 
 Arm. ; but H, A., B., D., E., F., G., 17, 46, 109, g, Goth., ^th. [quod si d, e, f, Vulg.], 
 read, "but if" (tl is). 
 
 I shall consider the question, What do the wicked eat or receive, 
 in an Excursus at the end of the book. 
 
 30. " For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and 
 many sleep." This can only refer to temporal weakness or sick- 
 ness and death, not to spiritual ; for the spiritual decay and death 
 was in the state of heart which suffered them to treat the Sacra- 
 ment as common food. In the first beginnings of the Church tem- 
 poral punishments were inflicted by God on profane persons, as on 
 Ananias and Sapphira. There seems to have been a strange and 
 fatal mortality in the Corinthian Church, and St. Paul here speak- 
 ing by inspiration of God, declares it to have been a visitation of 
 God. 
 
 •' Many " — not a few — a sufficient number to indicate the anger 
 of God on the Church — the havoi being perhaps intended here to 
 mark something less than the ttoWo'i, though still sufficiently 
 numerous to arouse serious attention. 
 
 81. " For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." 
 If we judged ourselves, i.e., if we would look into ourselves, if we 
 would narrowly examine ourselves, and accuse ourselves before God 
 of the evil we find within us and bewail it, and bring it before God 
 to be forgiven, then we should not be judged, either now or here- 
 after, by the Lord. 
 
 "We should not be judged," refers to the judgments on the 
 Corinthians : we should not have been judged as we have been. 
 (So Wordsworth.) 
 
 Mark how St. Paul here identifies himself with those who 
 suffered by using the first person plural "we." 
 
 more dishonest handling of Scripture cannot be conceived : and yet we shall see presently 
 that if any rationalistic or Zuinglian view of the Sacrament is to be entertained, the 
 Sacramental view of this verse must be got rid of. 
 
Chap. XI.] TARRY ONE FOR ANOTHER. 195 
 
 32 But when we are judged, ^we are chastened of the 
 Lord, that we should not be condemned with ^ ps. xeiv. 12, 
 
 ' 13. Heb. xii. 
 
 the world. s-ii. 
 
 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, 
 tarry one for another. 
 
 32. " But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord," 
 &c. The judgments inflicted by God on the Corinthians were not 
 inflicted wholly in judgment, but in mercy as well. And they 
 took place not merely to arouse and convert them to a better 
 mind, but to be a real punishment, which God inflicted on them 
 in this world, that He might not punish them with extreme 
 severity in the world to come. The case seems to have been 
 analogous to the punishment of death with which the Apostle 
 threatened the incestuous Corinthian, whom he delivered unto 
 Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved 
 in the day of the Lord Jesus (v. 5) ; and in some degree analagous 
 also to that inflicted on Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom he deli- 
 vered to Satan — not that he might have eternal dominion over 
 them, but that they might be delivered from his eternal dominion 
 by being taught not to blaspheme (1 Tim. i. 20). 
 
 " That we should not be condemned with the world." The 
 world is under condemnation. Those who believe in Christ, and 
 are united in His fellowship, are delivered from this condemnation, 
 but they may fall back into it if they make not their calHng and 
 election sure. 
 
 33, 34. "Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, 
 tarry one for another." The Apostle having sufficiently asserted 
 the uniqueness of the Eucharist and its awful nature, so that they 
 who eat it profanely are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, 
 now resumes for a moment the consideration of the love feasts, 
 and gives a short, but sufficient direction against the practice which 
 was the occasion of the disorder. He had said (ver. 21), "In eating 
 every one taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry 
 and another is drunken." The Apostle now tells them that they 
 must make it what its name implies— a love feast— and tarry 
 one for another, so that the rich may not have consumed all their 
 provisions ere the poor arrive, and find there is nothing left, and 
 entertain bitter feelings in consequence. 
 
196 LET HIM EAT AT HOME. [I. Cor. 
 
 kver. 21. 34 And if any man ''hunger, let him eat at 
 
 II Or,>V ^ home ; that ye come not together unto || eondem- 
 
 "*^"*- nation. And the rest ™ will I set in order when 
 
 tt ch, vii. 17. 
 
 Tit. i. 5. "I come. 
 
 n ch. iv. 19. 
 
 It is impossible to suppose that the words "tarry one for 
 another " refer to the celebration of the Eucharist, for there must 
 have been an appointed hour for such celebration, and it is ridicu- 
 lous to imagine that St. Paul would have had the commencement 
 of the Eucharistic celebration delayed to accommodate those who 
 were unpunctual. And the words, " if any man hunger, let him 
 eat at home," cannot of course possibly refer to the eating in the 
 Eucharist. 
 
 "That ye come not together unto condemnation." The love 
 feast, being held in the Christian assemblies, was a sacred meal^ 
 and its intention was that all ranks of Christians should be par- 
 takers of a common meal which was not, as the Eucharist, a 
 sacrificial act of worship done to God, but partook more of the 
 character of a secular feast. So it might be taken irreverently and 
 without due regard to the place and the purpose, and so to 
 condemnation. 
 
 "And the rest will I set in order when I come." No doubt he 
 did set matters in order, but not a word respecting the manner of 
 his doing so has come down to us. Judging from his remarks, we 
 must believe that his setting in order would, amongst other things, 
 take the form of separating the Eucharist from every other feast 
 or meal, for the mixing up of the Eucharist and the Agape had led 
 to the profanity. In the earliest notice of the celebration of the 
 Eucharist in Justin Martyr, it appears as a rite or Sacrament 
 absolutely unique, and the partaking of it the reason why Chris- 
 tians came together on the Lord's Day. 
 
Chap. XII.] YE WERE GENTILES. 197 
 
 XT 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 OW ^ concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I » ch. xiv. i, 
 1. \ would not have you ignorant. b i-h. vi. ii. 
 
 2 Ye know ** that ye were G-entiles, carried away S^*'^ Thews' 
 unto these ^ dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3,^1 p^l^h"'; 
 
 c Ps. cxv. 5. 
 
 2. "Ye know that ye were Gentiles." So F., G. (Greek), many Cursives, d, e, Syriac, 
 Copt. ; but K, A., B., C, D., E., L., P., fifty Cursives, f, g, Vulg., Sah., Arm., ^th., 
 read, " when ye were Gentiles ye were carried away." 
 
 1. " Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have 
 you," &c. Comparing the wording of this with that of chap. vii. 
 1, and viii. 1 (the same form Trtpl de k. t. \. occurring in all three 
 places), we should gather that they had put a question to him 
 respecting spiritual gifts, and, from the way in which he answers 
 it, we should gather that they had asked him about the compara- 
 tive greatness of some of these gifts. Some had boasted that the 
 gifts which they possessed were greater than those which others 
 had received. They had apparently despised those which were not 
 outwardly striking, in comparison with such a gift as that of ton- 
 gues, which from chap, xiv., it appears that some had used for 
 vain-glorious display, and ranked above others, such as prophesy- 
 ing, which were far more edifying to the Church. 
 
 He takes the opportunity thus offered him of instructing them 
 in the whole subject of the work of the Spirit in the Mystical 
 Body. And first of all he tells them that that profession of faith in 
 Christ, which they all had in common, and without which they 
 could have received no other grace or gift of the Spirit, was " by 
 the Spirit." 
 
 2. " Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these 
 dumb," &c. He contrasts their former with their present state. 
 They had all of them a little before this been Gentiles, not only 
 worshippers of false Gods, but borne away unto them as men are 
 borne to execution. There is supposed to be a reference to the 
 irresistible force with which some seem impelled. Thus Chrysos- 
 tom, ** In the idol temples, if any were at any time possessed by 
 an unclean spirit, and began to divine, even as one dragged away, 
 
198 I GIVE YOU TO UNDERSTAND. [I. Cor. 
 
 d Mark ix. 3 Wherefore I give you to Tinderstand, ^ tliafc 
 
 2,3. ' no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth 
 
 themaT^' Jesus || accursed : and ^that no man can say that 
 
 e Matt. xvi. 
 17. John XV. 
 26. 2 Cor. 
 iii. 5. 
 
 Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 3. "Calleth Jesus accursed." "Calleth Jesus Lord;" so D., E., P., G., K., L., P., 
 most Cursives, d, e, g, Sah.; but fi, A., B., C, 6, 17, 46, 109, Cop., Arm., .^th., read, 
 " Jesus is accursed." " Jesus is Lord." 
 
 SO was he drawn by that spirit in chains, knowing nothing of the 
 things which he utters." 
 
 3. " Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking 
 by the Spirit of God," &c. What can the Apostle mean by this ? 
 Who in the Christian assemblies would call Jesus accursed ? And 
 some commentators have referred to the followers of Cerinthus, 
 who separated between the man Jesus and the Christ within Him, 
 and held that the one was accursed because suffered to hang on the 
 tree, whilst the Christ, or Word once dwelling within Him, had 
 left Him and ascended to heaven. 
 
 But the most natural way of understanding it is by supposing 
 that St. Paul does not in the least refer to utterances in Church, 
 but to the Jews and heathen, particularly the former. God had 
 promised (Haggai ii. 5) that His Spirit should remain among 
 them, and yet the unconverted among them cursed the All Holy 
 Name. This showed on the face of it that they had none of the 
 Spirit of God, but, on the contrary, the confession of the Christians 
 that Jesus was the Lord, could only have been brought about by 
 the power of the Holy Ghost. Their conversion from heathenism 
 to the faith of Christ was as great a miracle in the spiritual world, 
 as any performed by the Name of Jesus in the outward and visible 
 world, such as the healing of diseases, and the speaking with 
 tongues. I think, however, we must take this statement in the 
 broadest way possible. We must not narrow it by explaining 
 it as " No man can truly say, can devoutly say, can savingly 
 Bay — that Jesus is the Lord " ; but no man can at all profess 
 that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Spirit of God. I believe it 
 means that what we call the outward profession of Christianity 
 was certainly in that day a work of the Spirit, and may not the 
 continuance of men in the outward profession of the faith in this 
 day be a gift — a work of the Spirit ? It surely is a good thing not to 
 
Chap. XII.] DIVERSITIES OF GIFTS. 199 
 
 4 Now ^ there are diversities of gifts, but ^the f Rom. xn. 4, 
 
 ^ . ., &c. Hehr. 
 
 same bpirit. ii. 4. i Pet. 
 
 5 ^And there are differences of || administra- g Ephes. iv. 4. 
 tions, but the same Lord. '' Rom xii. 6, 
 
 , 7, 8. Ephes. 
 
 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it i^'- ^^- . . 
 is the same Grod ^ which worketh all in all. tenei 
 
 i Ephes. i. 23. 
 
 deny that Jesus is the Son of God. Considering the vast numbers 
 who hold Him to have been a mere man, it is something to hold 
 the mere acknowledgment of His being the Son of God. It may- 
 lead, if well handled by the preacher or teacher, to the realization 
 of all saving truth. 
 
 4. " Now there are diversities of gifts [charismaia] but the same 
 Spirit." No matter what the difference in the gifts themselves 
 they are all gifts of the One Spirit ; the gifts which have to do with 
 the healing of the body, and those which have to do with the edifi- 
 cation of the soul or spirit, proceed from the One Holy Spirit. 
 
 5. "And there are differences of administration, but the same 
 Lord." Administrations, ministrations or ministries (" Or ministiy, 
 let us wait on our ministering," Eom. xii. 7) are here referred 
 to the Lord Jesus, Who is the Head of all ministry in the Church, 
 for under Him and by His appointment all ministries are 
 exercised. 
 
 6. *' And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same 
 God," &c. Operations are the " effects, results and outward mani- 
 festations of the in- working power " (Ellicott), not simply synony- 
 mous with the gifts, or with the ministries or ministrations, but 
 the practical and powerful effect of them. Thus the Holy Spirit 
 gives a man a gift of grace, Christ employs that man as His 
 minister in some department of His Church, but God makes the 
 gift exercised by the minister powerful and effectual; as the 
 Apostle says (iii. 7), " Neither is he that planteth anything, neither 
 he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." So that the 
 action of the three Persons of the Ever-Blessed Trinity are inseparably 
 combined in every work of the Church. The gift or ability by which 
 a Christian does any work, is of the Spirit; the ministration or 
 working is under the Lord as the Head of the Church ; the effec- 
 tual working for good is through the power of the Father : thus 
 
200 TO ONE IS GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT. [I. Cor. 
 
 k Rom. xii.6, 7 ^ But the maiiifestation of the Spirit is given 
 
 7, 8. ch. xiv. n • T 1 
 
 •26. Ephes, to every man to profit withal. 
 
 iv.* 10, 11. ■ 8 For to one is given by the Spirit ^ the word 
 
 1 ch. ii. 6, 7. 
 
 8. " By the Spirit ; " lit. " through the Spirit " (Sia). 
 
 even Christ said, " The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the 
 works" (John xiv. 10). 
 
 7. "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to 
 profit withah" The manifestation of the Spirit is not so much the 
 manifestation that the man has the Spirit, but that the Spirit 
 manifests certain things (wisdom, knowledge, &c.) through him. 
 
 " To every man." " To each one," Eevisers. "Without laying 
 undue stress upon this " each " or " every " as referring to all 
 absolutely, there is no doubt but that the Apostle meant that the 
 gifts were very generally diffused. The gift implied in being able 
 to confess the Lord Jesus, was, of course, common to all (Titus iii. 
 6), and teaches us that the Spirit was poured forth, not sparingly, 
 but abundantly. 
 
 " To profit withal," i.e., for the edification and strengthening of 
 the whole Church, not for each man's particular glory or advantage. 
 
 8. " For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom." 
 There are nine gifts of the Spirit here enumerated, and expositors 
 from the time of Tertullian to the present, have attempted (I am 
 constrained to say with what appears to me very indifferent 
 success) to classify them or group them together. Some have 
 made three, some four, and another no less than five divisions 
 among the nine ; the last one makes prophecy, as teaching power, 
 one, and discerning of spirits, as critical power, another. Then 
 they have been said to have been arranged by the Apostle in the 
 order of their importance, the " word of wisdom " being the most 
 important, and the interpretation of tongues the least. But can 
 this be so? for surely the word of knowledge is not above faith, 
 taking faith to be here a more than ordinarily vivid realization of 
 unseen things ; and, then, can the working of miracles be put 
 before prophecy, seeing that the Apostle says " desire . . . rather 
 that ye may prophesy " ? I scarcely think then that such a classi- 
 fication was in the Apostle's mind. 
 
 8. " For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to 
 another the word of knowledge," &c. The reader will notice that 
 
Ci.AP.XIL] THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE. 201 
 
 of wisdom : to another °' the word of knowledge "".Fh- >• 5. & 
 
 ' '^ xin. 2. 2 Cor. 
 
 hj the same Spirit ; '^i"- 7- 
 
 " Knowledge by the same Spirit ; " "according to the same Spirit" (Kara). 
 
 the two gifts here mentioned are not wisdom and knowledge, but 
 the outward expression of these gifts — the word of wisdom and the 
 word of knowledge. 
 
 It is most discouraging to think that the expositors, nearly every- 
 one, take a different view of what wisdom and knowledge are 
 respectively. Godet, for instance, in a single page repudiates the 
 meanings given by Neander, Bengel, Hofmann, Heinrici and 
 Edwards. 
 
 The Apostle evidently considers wisdom as the highest state of 
 mind, when he says, "We speak wisdom among them that are 
 perfect," (ii. 6), and St. James seems to include in it all good 
 moral qualities when he writes, " The wisdom that is from above 
 is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full 
 of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypo- 
 crisy " (James iii. 17). But, above all, Christ is called " The 
 wisdom of God." The wisdom then here must be the representa- 
 tion of His Mind, and the word of wisdom of His teaching. 
 
 Now, what is the characteristic of the Lord's teaching? It is 
 pre-eminently moral. It appears to me that He never reveals any 
 truth for a merely intellectual purpose — always for a practical one. 
 He reveals the Mystery of His own Sonship, to show that the 
 Father loves Him, and in giving Him shows His Love to all man- 
 kind. And because of this they should love Him and keep His 
 commandments. Such then is the word of wisdom. 
 
 But what is the word of knowledge ? St. Paul evidently, in this 
 very Epistle, treats it as in a sphere below wisdom, when he says, 
 " We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, 
 but charity edifieth " (viii. 1). Knowledge is our cognitive faculty, 
 aj)prehending a multitude of truths, either made known to us in 
 the Scripture, or given to us through the revelations made by God 
 to those inspired by Him, and the word of knowledge is the right 
 way of expressing these truths, putting them in their right order, 
 and bringing them down, as far as they can be, to the level of the 
 human intellect — in fact, teaching. Godet seems to illustrate the dif- 
 ference well : " W^e see in gnosis, a notion of effort, investigation, dis- 
 
202 TO ANOTHER FAITH. [I. Cor, 
 
 n Matt. xvii. 9 *" To anotlicr faith by the same Spirit ; to 
 
 19.10. ch. . "^ , I' ' 
 
 xiii. 2. 2 Cor. another ° the prif ts of healing by the same 
 
 iv.13. ^ ^ ^ 
 
 o Mark xvi. Spirit ; 
 
 18. James 
 
 V. 14. 
 
 9. " By the same Spirit; " lit. "in the same spirit." So Revisers. 
 "Gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; " "in the one Spirit." 
 
 covery (compare xiii. 2, where this term is connected with the idea 
 of knowing all mysteries) ; and in sophia, on the contrary, the idea 
 of a calm possession of truth already acquired, as well as of its 
 practical application. Gnosis makes the teacher: wisdom the 
 preacher and pastor." 
 
 9. "To another faith by the same Spirit." This can hardly be 
 the rudimentary faith which is given at the very outset. It has 
 been generally explained as the faith which enabled Christians in 
 those days to perform miracles, as this Apostle says in a later 
 chapter, xiii. 2, " And though I have all faith so that I could re- 
 move mountains ; " and it is noticed that *' the gifts of healing," 
 and " the working of miracles" immediately follow it. But both 
 these seem to me, by being mentioned as separate gifts, to require 
 us to interpret this faith as a something apart from either of these, 
 and I would take it to be a more than ordinary realization of the 
 powers of the spiritual world, an almost overwhelming evidence of 
 things not seen, a constant sight of Him Who is invisible. 
 
 If it be asked, how did this faith show itself apart from miracu- 
 lous manifestation? I should answer by a life more than ordinarily 
 above the world — by prayer which was certain of its answer, and 
 which believed that it received what it asked for. I should say, 
 then, that the outward sign of the faith was constant prayer. 
 Godet speaks of it as the possession of salvation taking the cha- 
 racter of assurance in God of heroic daring, resolutely attacking 
 and surmounting all the obstacles which are opposed to God in a 
 given situation, " Father, I know that thou hearest me always." 
 The lives of men and women endued with this faith are the best 
 sermons. 
 
 " To another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit." Not, of 
 course, healing all who came in their way, but those whom by 
 some secret impression of the Spirit they were impelled to heal, 
 St. Paul was impelled to restore Eutychus to life, but was not 
 permitted to heal Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 25). 
 
Chap. XII.] TO ANOTHER PROPHECY. 203 
 
 10 "^ To another the workinor of miracles ; to p ^er. 28, 29. 
 
 , -,. . P Markxvi. 17. 
 
 another ^i prophecy; ^to another discerning of Gai. iii. 5. 
 
 q Rom. xii. 6. 
 ch. xiii. 2. & 
 
 xiv. 1, &c\ 
 
 r ch. xiv. 29. 
 1 John iv. 1. 
 
 10. "To another the working of miracles." What are these 
 workings of miracles as distinguished from gifts of healing ? Evi- 
 dently exorcisms, or driving out of evil spirits, perhaps in some 
 cases miraculously multiplying food. " To possess the power of 
 working miracles and gifts of healing is not the same thing, for 
 he that had a gift of healing used only to do cures; but he that 
 possessed powers for working miracles used to punish also. For a 
 miracle is not the healing only, but the punishing also, even as 
 Paul inflicted blindness, as Peter slew": so Chrysostom. This 
 power, however, seems to have been confined to the Apostles. 
 There are no instances of others exercising it. 
 
 " To another prophecy." This is supposed to be something 
 answering to our preaching, only of a character more directly in- 
 spired by the Spirit. Thus, it is said of Judas and Silas, that being 
 prophets themselves, they exhorted the brethren with many words, 
 and confirmed (strengthened) them (x\cts xv. 32). Sometimes, how- 
 ever, the prophet, as in the case of Agabus, actually foretold future 
 events. The characteristic of the prophet seems, however, to have 
 been not to foretell the future, but to say, *' Thus saith the Lord," 
 and he foretold the future, because the revelation of God which he 
 received generally took the form of threats of judgment to come 
 on the wicked. 
 
 "To another discerning of spirits." This was not apparently a 
 power to read the heart, but a power to pronounce upon certain 
 prophetical utterances, whether they came from beneath or from 
 above. The work of the Spirit in " prophecy " was permitted by 
 God to be counterfeited. St. John writes : " Beloved, believe not 
 every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God : because 
 many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John iv. 1), 
 and he gives a direction how they should try them, which seems 
 to show that the false prophets promulgated Gnostical or Cerin- 
 thian errors. This discerning of spirits, however, mentioned here, 
 implies a sort of judgment passed at once on the utterance of the 
 prophet, independent of any lengthened application of some doc- 
 trinal test. As Bishop Ellicott says, " This gift was not dependent 
 
204 DIVERS KIND OF TONGUES. [I. Cor. 
 
 spirits ; to anotlier ^ divers kinds of tongues ; to another the 
 
 B Actsii. 4. interpretation of tongues ; 
 
 xiii.' 1. * ' 11 But all these worketh that one and the self- 
 
 on after reflection, but showed itself in an intuitive and instinctive 
 perception." 
 
 " To another divers kinds of tongues ; to another the interpreta- 
 tion of tongues." I have entered fully into the scope and meaning 
 of this gift of tongues in an Excursus at the end of my volume of 
 Notes on the Acts. Notwithstanding any seeming difficulties, I 
 believe it to be what it is said to be in the proper Preface for 
 Whitsunday, the " gift of divers languages," and I shall hope to 
 make this clearer by a fuller examination of chap. xiv. 
 
 " To another the interpretation of tongues." This need not by 
 any means be restricted to the interpretation of the utterances of 
 those who had the gift of tongues. Supposing that any Christian 
 from some distant land who knew Greek very imperfectly was 
 desirous to address them, the office of the interpreter of tongues 
 would come in. In all cases where one spoke in a tongue which 
 he was unable to interpret, the interpreter had to be present to 
 make known the meaning. 
 
 And now before we proceed we must consider the question, 
 How came the Christians of Corinth, or of any other place to 
 possess these gifts ? Evidently by the laying on of the Apostles' 
 hands. It was so in Ephesus (Acts xix. 6), and it was not likely 
 to be otherwise in Corinth. St. Paul desired to be present with 
 the Eoman Christians, in order that he might impart unto them 
 Bome spiritual gift. Why could not this have been done from a 
 distance ? Because God saw fit that the gift or gifts should be 
 plainly seen to proceed from the Apostle, to estabUsh their faith 
 in that freeness of the Gospel which was the speciality of his 
 mission. 
 
 Now we have this same rite of " laying on of hands." Ought we 
 not to pray very earnestly that those who receive it may not only 
 have given to them the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, but extra- 
 ordinary ones suited to these times, such as the word of wisdom, 
 of knowledge, of faith, and of prophesying, in the sense in which 
 Judas and Silas possessed the gift? 
 
 11. " But all these worketh that one and the self- same Spirit, 
 dividing," &c. No matter what the gifts, whether in the mind or 
 
Chap. XII.] AS THE BODY IS ONE. 205 
 
 same Spirit, * dividing to every man severally " as * Rom. xii. 6. 
 
 he will. Cor. x". 13. 
 
 12 For ^ as the body is one, and hath many u john ui 8. 
 
 members, and all the members of that one body, ^ Rum"xii 4 
 
 being many, are one body : ^ so also is Christ. ^- Ephes. iv. 
 
 7 ver. 27. 
 
 Gal. iii. 16. 
 
 12. " All the members of that one body." ^f, A., B., C, F., G., K., L., P., 10, 17, 23. 
 31, 73, 115, 119, 122, 137, f, g, Vulg., Syriac, Cop., Arm., Mih., omit " one," and read, 
 " of the body;" but D., E., most Cursives, d, e, Goth., insert " one." 
 
 spirit as wisdom and faith, whether on the body as gifts of healing, 
 whether in the outer world as miracles, the One Spirit of God 
 worked them all. 
 
 "We have in this verse the plainest proofs possible both of the 
 Godhead and the Personality of the Spirit — of His Godhead, in 
 that He communicated to Christians such surprising gifts of super- 
 natural insight and power ; and of His distinct Personality — in 
 that He divided the gifts to each one separately, according to His 
 own free choice. He was not a mere afflatus from the Father and 
 the Son, but in communicating each gift to a separate person. He 
 was guided by His own all-wise Will. 
 
 12, 13. " For as the body is one, and hath many members, and 
 all the members," &c. The connection between the last verse and 
 this one is this. The formation of the Church and its inherence 
 in Christ as the Body of which He is the Head, is the work of the 
 Holy Spirit, Who, when He baptizes any one into Christ, assigns 
 to Him a position in the mystical body as one of its members, and 
 afterwards endows him with the grace by which he will be 
 enabled to fulfil his function, as a member of that body. 
 
 Thus, it is in the Body of Christ, i.e., His Church, as it is in the 
 natural human body. The body is one, and yet this very oneness 
 of the human body postulates a variety of members, and the 
 multiplicity of members does not imply a multiplicity of separate 
 organisms or bodies, but one organism only, and as it is with our 
 human mortal bodies, so it is with Christ as the Head of His Body, 
 the Church, with which He is one, so that instead of the Apostle 
 saying the Body of Christ, he actually says " Christ," Christ 
 and His Body in the Apostle's eyes forming, as it were, ono^ 
 Personality. 
 
206 ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY. [L Cor. 
 
 « Rom. vi. 5. 13 For ^ by one Spirit are we all baptized into 
 
 Ephes.^u'. 13, one body, ^whether we he Jews or fG-entiles, 
 
 Hi.' 11.' ^''^' whether we he bond or free ; and ^ have been all 
 
 t Gr. Greeks, jj^ade to drink into one Spirit. 
 
 b John vi. 63. 
 
 & vii. 37, 38, 
 
 39. 
 
 13. " Into one Spirit." So E.. K. (L.), most Cursives ; but ^< (A), B., C, D., F., G., 
 P., 17, 47, 73, 80, 137, d, e, g, Vulg. (Amiat.), &c., omit "into" ("to drmk of one 
 Spirit.") 
 
 13. "For by one Sjnrit are we all baptized into one body, 
 whether we," &c. This means that by the operation of the Spirit 
 in Holy Baptism we are all baptized into, that is, are all made 
 members of, the One Mystical Body. It may be well to consider 
 for a moment the question. Does this refer to the visible Sacrament 
 whereby we are made members of Christ, or does it refer to an in- 
 visible baptism by the Spirit, altogether distinct from the outward 
 sacrament, and very seldom simultaneous with it ? Now it may be 
 sufficient to answer that the Holy Apostle knows nothing of such a 
 baptism introducing us into an inner body or church apart from 
 the outer. On the contrary, such an idea neutralizes the greater 
 part of his teaching, which is, that all the professing members of 
 the Church should consider themselves as having a real connection 
 with Christ. There is but one Church from his point of view, an 
 outward visible body endowed all of it with invisible graces and 
 powers : so that each baptized person, instead of doubting that his 
 baptism brought him into connection with Christ, should have no 
 manner of doubt about it, but be assured that if he does not live as 
 a member of Christ so much the worse for him, and that if he does 
 realize his union with Christ so much the more power has he 
 against sin and on the side of holiness. 
 
 " Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free." 
 The original distinction between Jew and Gentile, and this distinc- 
 tion done away in Christ, was ever before the mind of the Apostle, 
 and also at this time the distinction between bond and free was in 
 his mind as appears from chap. vii. All distinctions of nationality 
 and worldly conditions are done away with in Christ. " In him is 
 neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free" 
 (Coloss. iii). 
 
 "And have been all made to drink (into) one Spirit." There 
 seems to be a reference to the cup of the Eucharist here. The 
 
Chap. XII.] THE BODY NOT ONE MEMBER. 207 
 
 14 For tlie body is not one member, but many. 
 
 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the band, I am 
 not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? 
 
 types of Christians, th"e children of Israel in the wilderness, " all 
 drank of the same spiritual drink," and St. Paul in applying this 
 writes, " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the commu- 
 nion of the blood of Christ ? " (x. 16.) Still it may be asked why 
 does he not mention the bread, which is that part or sign which 
 more especially has to do with unity ? It may be answered that in 
 X. 16, he mentions the cup first, and as Bishop Wordsworth 
 notices, St. Ignatius, within fifty or sixty years after this, speaks 
 of " one cup into the unity of His Blood." (Epistle to Phila- 
 delphians.) 
 
 Still we must be very careful not to suppose that the Inward 
 Part of the Cup is the Holy Spirit. It is the Blood of Christ 
 which is made effectual to us by the operation of the Spirit. 
 
 Godet explains this, "being made to drink," of the laying on of 
 hands : " The new fact in the mind of the Apostle seems to me to 
 be the communication of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which accom- 
 panied the laying on of hands after baptism (Acts viii. 17, xix. 6). 
 By Baptism the believer is bathed in the Spirit as the source of 
 new Life ; by the act which follows the Spirit enters into him as 
 the jDrinciple of certain particular gifts," &c. I cannot help think- 
 ing that the explanation given by Chrysostom is nearest the truth, 
 ^' And give us all the same watering, for this is the meaning of ' we 
 were all made to drink into One Spirit.' " 
 
 14-17. "For the body is not one member, but many." "If the 
 foot shall say . . * If the ear . . . If the whole body were an eye," 
 «S:c. The reader will remember the parable of the belly and 
 members, as given in Livy, which I give in a note.^ There is, 
 
 1 " In that time in which the members of the human body were not in a state of unity, 
 «,s they now are, but each member had its own separate judgment and tongue, all the rest 
 became full of indignation because whatever was provided by their care, labour, and 
 industry was spent upon the belly ; while the belly, lying at ease in the midst of the body, 
 did nothing but enjoy whatever ministered to its pleasure and delight. They conspired, 
 therefore, among themselves that the hands should not cany food to the mouth, nor the 
 mouth receive what was offered to it, nor the teeth grind it between them. Thus car- 
 rying out their revenge, whilst they were taming the belly into subjection by hunger, 
 ■every particular member, and the whole body itself, began to waste away to nothing. 
 Thus it came to be evident that the belly did not live so lazily as was supposed, and that 
 
208 GOD HATH SET THE MEMBERS. [I. Cor. 
 
 16 And if the ear shall saj, Because I am not the eye, I 
 am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? 
 
 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? 
 If the whole were hearing, where were the smelhng ? 
 
 c ver. 28. 18 But now hath ° God set the members every 
 
 ch^^iir'sr"' ^' one of them in the body, '^ as it hath pleased him . 
 
 ver. 11. 
 
 however, a very considerable difference in the line taken by the 
 Eoman general Menenius Agrippa and the Apostle; for, whilst the 
 heathen general advocates the necessity of one member, and that 
 apparently the idlest, and all the other members are on the point of 
 perishing because they refuse to contribute any longer to its nourish- 
 ment, the Apostle shows the necessity to the whole body of all the 
 members, even the most feeble. 
 
 16, 17. "If the ear shall say .... If the whole were hearing," 
 &c. A ludicrous but very pertinent illustration is given by one of 
 our most popular writers. He describes those who run after 
 preachers simply to have their sense of hearing gratified as if they 
 were all ear, the ear having become gigantic and out of all propor- 
 tion with the rest of the body ; and some are just as if they were 
 all hands or all feet, always running about, always bustling, always 
 meddling, having their fingers in every pie ; and yet never taking 
 in anything, never learning, never submitting, never retiring. 
 
 18. " But now hath God set the members every one of them in 
 the body, as it hath," &c. In these verses the Apostle seems to 
 contemplate a spirit of discontent in those who had not prominent 
 offices or functions, as if, because they were not ministers or 
 teachers, they were nothing. And so he reminds them of the 
 power and wisdom of God in appointing its proper place and func- 
 tion to every particular member of the human body. If all the 
 members had but one office there could be no human body. On 
 the contrary, no member of the body can assert itself as having no 
 need of the help of any one of the rest. 
 
 And not only so but the feeblest members and those which are 
 
 the other members of the body did not nourish it more than it nonrished them ; for that 
 it rendered ap to every part that which gives life and strength, digesting the food given 
 to it, so that the life blood formed from that food might be distributed throughout the 
 body" (Livy's Hist., ii. 32). 
 
Chap. XII.] MANY MEMBERS, ONE BODY. 209 
 
 19 And if they were all one member, where were the 
 body? 
 
 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 
 
 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need 
 of thee ; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of 
 you. 
 
 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which 
 seem to be more feeble, are necessary : 
 
 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be 
 less honourable, upon these we || bestow more DOr, ^m^om. 
 abundant honour ; and our uncomely parts have more abun- 
 dant comeliness. 
 
 less honourable, and so are kept covered, are as necessary as 
 any. 
 
 To apply this to the Body of Christ — those who live lives of 
 silent prayer, and out of their deep poverty give alms secretly, and 
 never obtrude themselves, but spend the little time at their own dis- 
 posal in intercession, and have a word of Christian comfort or 
 encouragement for all who need it ; these are the members which we 
 in our ignorance esteem so feeble, and the day will come when we 
 shall know how the humble faith, the secret prayers and good 
 deeds of these have been of untold value to the Church, have called 
 down God's grace upon it, or turned away from it His just dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 23. " And those members of the body, which we think to be less 
 honourable, upon these," &c., — by keeping them always clothed. 
 Naturally, no member of the body can be dishonourable or un- 
 comely, since God has made each and all to subserve the purposes 
 for which the whole frame of members is put together ; but owing 
 to the fall, by a sort of second nature, we esteem some mem bers 
 less honourable than others. But as Dean Stanley says, "The 
 covering of the body and uncovering of the face is probably one 
 chief point of the comparison." Are there, however, any members 
 of the Church of Christ which we think to be " less honourable " 
 and "uncomely " as distinguished from the feeble members of the 
 previous verse? Bernardino k Piconio says, " Hie verbis et simili- 
 tudijiibus docet Apostolus non modo minores, infirmos, senes, 
 
 p 
 
210 NO SCHISM IN THE BODY. [I. Con. 
 
 24 For our comely parts have no need : but God liatli 
 tempered the body together, having given more abundant 
 honour to that part which lacked : 
 
 D Or, division. 25 That there should be no || schism in the 
 body ; but that the members should have the same care one 
 for another. 
 
 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer 
 
 pauperes, omnibus, ut videtur, donis et talentis destitutes; sed 
 etiam aliqua nota infames, verum paenitentes, contritos, humiles ; 
 hos, inquam, omnes contemni non debere ; sed foveri, conservari, 
 ornari, quia ssepe Deo gratiores et ideo Ecclesias, suis precibus et 
 meritis sunt maxime necessarii." 
 
 24, 25.- " For our comely parts have no need : but God hath 
 tempered the body together .... that there should be no schism 
 in the body," &c. God hath so ordered the human body that in 
 its healthy normal state there should be no division in it of part 
 against part. It is only when it is diseased that one part unduly 
 asserts itself, or is swollen, or takes more than its share of nourish- 
 ment, and so robs the rest. Now God intends that there should 
 be no disease in the mystical Body of Christ, but owing to the sin 
 of man by asserting himself, and separating himself, and looking 
 down on his fellow members, or by neglecting his proper functions, 
 and ceasing from prayer, or falling from the faith, schisms are 
 begun by which whole churches and congregations are inexpressibly 
 weakened. 
 
 Again, schisms are occasioned by not giving due honour to the 
 feebler, or the supposed less honourable members. They are un- 
 noticed, uncared for, untended, and so they go astray, and wander 
 out of the pale of the Church to find that with which the Church 
 has neglected to provide them. 
 
 " That the members should have the same care one for another. 
 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer," &c. 
 The Apostle passes here somewhat abruptly from the natural 
 truth, that in the physical organization all the members are neces- 
 sarily more or less dependent upon one another, to the spiritual 
 truth, that in the great mystical Body each member ought to have 
 a care to promote the interests of all the rest. In this Christ, the 
 Head, sets the example, for when Saul persecuted the Church, the 
 
Chap. XII.] YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST. 211 
 
 "with it ; or one member be bonoured, all the members rejoice 
 with it. 
 
 27 Now *ye are tbe body of Cbrist, and ^mem- « Kom. xu. s. 
 
 , . / . -^ Ephes. i. 23. 
 
 bers m particular. & iv. 12. & v. 
 
 ■^ 23, 30. Col. 
 
 i. 24. 
 
 f Ephes. V. 30. 
 
 Lord said to him, " Why persecutest thou Me ? I am Jesus whom 
 thou persecutest " — not why persecutest thou my disciples, my 
 followers, but " why persecutest thou me ? "When the least 
 member of my body is persecuted, I feel it, I resent it." As 
 in the natural body a sting in one of the fingers is felt up 
 the arm, and the whole body is affected and seems full of pain ; 
 so in the spiritual body, an envenomed dart of Satan, piercing 
 the smallest limb, affects the whole body. It may not seem 
 to us to do so, but the eye of the All-seeing Head sees that it 
 does. "When a minister or some important member of a local 
 church falls, one sees what a scandal there is in the parish, 
 which reaches the whole neighbourhood, and the Church is 
 everywhere ashamed and depressed ; but so it is with every 
 member. The Church has need of the prayers, and the example, 
 and the help of every member, and if it is deprived of such prayers 
 aod such example, it invariably suffers loss far beyond what the 
 eye of man can see. 
 
 " Or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." 
 *' Honoured," that is, by being made the instrument of doing some 
 good, or setting forth its inward hfe by a holy outward conver- 
 sation. All the members who have the life of God in them 
 ** rejoice with it." What examples do we find of self-denial and 
 devotion in what is called humble life if we will but look out for 
 them and observe them 1 In every parish in which I have minis- 
 tered the Word of God I have found some souls — a very few, but 
 some— holy, prayerful, self-denying, never speaking evil, always, 
 if possible, speaking good of others, always ready to help, full of 
 mercy, and of good fruits, in fact, as near perfection as can well 
 be in this state of things. At the sight of these all seem to rejoice. 
 Even those who have little of the Divine life seem to acknowledge 
 the presence of such as a token for good from God. 
 
 27. " Now ye are the Body of Christ, and members in particular." 
 Observe how he seems to be anxious to include all in the unity of 
 this body. He might have spoken very differently : he might 
 
212 FIRST AFOSTLES. [I. Cor., 
 
 g Ephes. iv. 28 And ^ Grod hath set some in the churchy 
 
 i^kpbes.ii.2o. first ^apostles, secondarily ^prophets, thirdly 
 
 ^.'"•^•... , teachers, after that ^miracles, then ^ gifts of 
 
 i- Acts xiu. 1. ' " 
 
 Rom. xii. 6. 
 ^ ver. 10. 
 1 ver. 9. 
 
 have said, " See that ye become of the body of Christ. Ye are not 
 all in the one body for ye are not all converted." But he says 
 exactly the contrary. His words are, "Ye are the Body of Christ 
 and members each one," and his inference is, " See that ye be sound 
 members ; see that ye be strong, healthy limbs ; see that ye do 
 your part ; see that ye seek grace ; see that ye keep your places^ 
 and envy none of your brethren ; see that as members of Christ ye 
 keep yourselves holy and undefiled." 
 
 28. *' And God hath set some in the church." The Apostle here 
 sets forth the Gifts of the Spirit, according to their importance. 
 
 First of all the gift of the Apostleship as the first in importance, 
 because it comprehended all other gifts, and because it branched 
 out more directly from Christ. It comprehended the witness to 
 the Eesurrection of Christ (Acts. i. 21, 22, x. 41 ; 1 Cor. ix. 1, xv. 
 8, 9), the possession of all other gifts, prophecy, miracles, tongues^ 
 and absolute rule over all churches planted by each particular 
 Apostle. So. naturally he mentions it as the first. 
 
 " Secondarily prophets " — those who spake by Inspiration. They 
 not only foretold future events, as Agabus ; but they exhorted and 
 confirmed (Acts xv. 32). They seem to have been withdrawn from 
 the Church when the Canon of the New Testament was completed,, 
 for in the Epistles of St. Paul and of the other Apostles, and in the 
 Apocalypse, we have preserved to us the prophesyings of the 
 Apostles themselves. We want no other truths than those con- 
 tained in their writings, but we want the exposition and applica- 
 tion of these to ourselves. 
 
 "Thirdly teachers." "Teaching" here is classed among the 
 supernatural gifts of the Spirit, but as coming after prophesying. 
 
 Pastors and teachers are in Ephes. iv. 11, joined together, so 
 that their functions were probably exercised more locally than the 
 gifts of the Apostolate and prophecying. The office seems to have 
 been the exposition and application of the Scriptures, rather than 
 the delivery of messages from heaven. The care of the prophet was- 
 rightly to divide (or handle) the word of truth (2 Tim. ii. 15). 
 
Chap. Xir.] HELPS, GOVERNMENTS. 213 
 
 healings, "* helps, "governments, || diversities of mNumb.xi. 
 
 tongues. n Rom. xii. 8. 
 
 I Tim. V. 17. 
 Hebr. iii. 17, 
 
 24. 
 
 II Or, kinds, 
 ver. 10. 
 
 ** After that miracles." Most probably exorcism. 
 
 "Then gifts of healings" — to be exercised when God, as I said, 
 directed them to minister this gift. 
 
 " Helps." This is by some supposed to comprehend the func- 
 tions of the diaconate, but by others, as Cornelius k Lapide, as 
 indicating a ministry for the assistance of the sick and infirm, 
 not by miracle, but by ordinary works of mercy, as by our sisters 
 of charity and nursing sisterhoods. 
 
 " Governments." In the ordinary acceptation of the word, tbis 
 would imply rule over the whole Church, but it cannot mean this, 
 as so important a function for the well-being of the Church, by 
 whomsoever exercised, would not be placed so low down in the 
 list. It must rather mean the superintendence and disposal of the 
 temporal affairs of the Church, as Cornelius k Lapide suggests : — 
 " Those who preside over the regulation of the temporal matters 
 which the faithful offered to the Church. Such were the functions 
 of the deacons who were deputed by the Apostles to preside over 
 the distribution of alms to the widows.^ 
 
 It is to be remembered that at this very early period there was 
 no independent government exercised by the Church of Corinth, 
 or any other Church. All government was kept in the hands of 
 the Apostle himself, who was (we say it with all reverence) the 
 dictator. He laid down rules and regulations upon all matters, 
 even the head-dresses of the women in Church. He suffered no 
 woman to speak in the Christian assembly. He ordered all 
 matters touching the exercise of the spiritual gifts. He praised 
 them that they kept the traditions as he had himself delivered them 
 unto them. He bade them wait till he came for the final orders 
 respecting the love -feasts and the celebration of the Eucharist, and 
 he delivered a very gross offender to Satan for the destruction of 
 the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord 
 
 I Godet explains it ia a similar way " as the various kinds of superintendence needed for 
 the external good order of the assemblies, and the worship of the Church." Perhaps the 
 oflSce which most nearly represents it now is that of the Churchwarden. 
 
214 A MORE EXCELLENT WAY. [L Cor. 
 
 29 Are all apostles ? are all prophets ? are all teachers ? 
 N Or,Tpov:ers. are all || workers of miracles ? 
 
 30 Have all the gifts of healing ? do all speak witli 
 tongues ? do all interpret ? 
 
 o ch. xiv. 1, 39. 31 But ° covet earnestly the best gifts : and 
 yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. 
 
 Jesus : " ^ so that literally there was no room for any government, 
 in the higher sense of the word, excepting his own. 
 
 " Diversities- of tongues." This is put the last on the list, as 
 being one which, except it were exercised for the special benefit of 
 those for whose sake God gave it (xiv. 22 ; also Acts ii. 8-11), was 
 the least edifying. 
 
 29, 30. •* Are all Apostles .... do all interpret? " It has been 
 asserted by many commentators who desire to represent every- 
 thing in the early Church as unsettled and in a loose and fluid 
 state, that offices and functions were not distinguished ; but here 
 the Apostle seems anxious to distinguish each one from another, 
 and it seems to have been probable that those who had one function 
 or gift of service, were not likely to have others. 
 
 31. " But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet shew I unto 
 you," &c. How could they show that they desired earnestly the 
 more excellent gifts ? Evidently by their more earnest prayer for 
 such better gifts. St. Paul would not press upon them the desire, 
 unless he knew that God, probably through the laying on of his 
 hands, would meet their desire. 
 
 " A more excellent way." The more excellent way of Christian 
 
 love, which he now proceeds to describe and enforce. It was 
 
 through want of this that they had exercised their gifts wrongly 
 
 I and vain-gloriously, and so sinfully. It is only through love that 
 
 the highest gifts can be exercised beneficially to the Church, and 
 
 \^ with safety to the person who has received them, 
 
 » 1 Cor. iv. 18, 19, 21 ; v. 3, 4, 5, 13 ; xi. 1, 2, 17, 18, 33, 34 ; xiv. 29, 33, 34, &c. 
 
chap.xiu.] love, charity. 215 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 1. " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and 
 have," &c. The remarkable chapter now before us stands by itself. 
 It seems scarcely a part of this Epistle, for all the rest of this long 
 letter is more or less controversial. With the exception of the 
 short Epistle to the Galatians, it is more full of blame and reproacJ^i 
 than all the rest put together ; but here we seem to have the pro- 
 . duct of a direct Inspiration, raising the soul of the Apostle out of an 
 atmosphere of war and tumult, and causing it to rest in a very 
 heaven of love and peace. 
 
 And yet this paragraph on love arises directly out of the previous 
 context. The Apcotle had been enumerating the gifts of the Spirit 
 — the word of wisdom, of knowledge, faith, prophecy ; and now he 
 pauses, and says in effect. These are not Christianity. They are 
 necessary to Christianity, if it is to subdue the world, if it is to be- 
 come, as the Lord intended it to be, a great power in the world ; 
 but they are not Christianity — altogether they are not Christianity, 
 no more than the shell is the kernel. I will show you the most 
 excellent way, for I will tell you what Christianity is. It is the 
 mind of Christ, the heart of Christ, the spirit of Christ, the love of 
 Christ, as exhibited in His life of love. It was for the reproduction 
 of Himself in His members that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, 
 became incarnate, and lived, and died, and rose again ; and I 
 will show you the form and fashion of this reproduction of Christ 
 in us. 
 
 But it is a hard thing to describe. I cannot teach it you. The 
 love of God cannot be taught ; it must be shed abroad in your 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to you. No one can 
 descabe love — love must be felt if it is to be learnt. I can only 
 tell you its importance, its eternal imperishable nature,^ and What 
 it is incompatible with. 
 
 And now, first with respect to the word used tJiroughout this 
 chapter — though it is derived from a word in common use {dyaTrdu))^ 
 it is not a classical word ; it is a word peculiar to the language 
 of the Church — to Christianity. With respect to its translation, 
 though rendered here by the word " Charity," it is elsewhere ren- 
 
216 TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS. [I. Cor. 
 
 ^HOUG-H I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. 
 
 T 
 
 dered " love." Thus, in Eom. v. 5, the same word is rendered "love," 
 where it is said " the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts." 
 And in Eom. xiii. 10: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, 
 therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law." Throughout the 
 Epistle of St. John it is rendered " love " — " God is love " {aydirri), 
 i.e., God is charity. 
 
 Now some object to the use of the word charity as the trans- 
 lation of this agape, and they give as a reason that charity has 
 declined in its significance, and has come to signify one branch of 
 charity. Thus we have " sisters of charity " — those who nurse and 
 otherwise attend to the poor; and we have " charity " sermons ; 
 and we speak of the " charities " of a place. But would it do to 
 have only the word " love," — for is not love misunderstood ? Is it 
 not dragged through the gutter of lust ? Does it not signify 
 unholy love, worldly love, family love, which often is the prefe- 
 rence of ourselves, of what is like us, of what comes from us, and 
 is compatible with injustice to those who are not ours ? So that it 
 seems to me well to have two words to express this agape ; so that 
 if men take the lower view of charity, we may tell them that there 
 may be charity without love ; and if men speak of love, as they 
 often do, in terms which seem to imply lust, or private irreligious 
 preference, we have to tell them that the love which God asks of us 
 and works in us is religious, and that charity always impUes rehgion. 
 
 And now we come, God helping, to the exposition. 
 
 1. " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels." 
 This is his starting-point. They had put into undue prominence 
 the gift of tongues, because it seems to have lent itself to their 
 vanity and love of display ; and in reproof of this, he says, " Though 
 I speak with the tongues of men and of angels." Now what are the 
 tongues of men ? They must be intelligible tongues. They cannot 
 be the expression of religious ecstasy, for, if so, they would 
 not be called the tongues of men. These tongues of men can be 
 nothing but the languages in which the various races of men express 
 themselves. 
 
 " And of angels." Have, then, the angels various languages ? 
 We should think not, for the variety of languages is a punishment, 
 which we have reason to believe wiU one day be done away (Zeph. 
 
Chap. XIIL] SOUNDING BRASS. 217 
 
 and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a 
 tinkling cymbal. 
 
 2 And though I have the gift of ^ prophecy, • ch. xh. 8, 9, 
 
 10, 28. & xiv, 
 
 and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge ; i, &c. See 
 
 •' ° ' Matt. vii. 22. 
 
 iii. 9). But probably what the Apostle says is hyperbolical — "If 
 I could express myself as clearly and as sweetly as the angels." 
 Some have compared it with, " Though we or an angel from heaven 
 preach any other Gospel" (Gal. i. 8). 
 
 With respect to the words of angels which are recorded in the 
 Scriptures, nothing can be plainer, more direct, and, we may say, 
 more unimpassioned. They seem to say with the utmost con- 
 ceivable plainness what they have been commissioned to say, and 
 nothing more. No words are less the words of ecstasy than theirs. 
 The most sublime words in which they chant the praises of God in 
 His unclouded Presence are the simplest conceivable, " Holy, holy, 
 holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." 
 
 " And have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a 
 tinkling cymbal." I am, that is, in the sight of God, as bad as the 
 brass which, being struck, has given an unmeaning and discordant 
 sound. The one meaning which God looks for in every human 
 utterance is love — the love of Himself when we speak to Him ; the 
 love of our brethren when we speak to them. This is the true 
 melody which God listens for. 
 
 " A tinkling " — rather a clanging cymbal, having no meaning, 
 no varieity, no expression in its sound. 
 
 2. "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all 
 mysteries," &c. Chrysostom takes the understanding of mysteries 
 and knowledge as marking the high character of the prophesying. 
 " And this gift again with an excellency. For as in the former case 
 he mentioned not tongues, but the tongues of all mankind, and as 
 he proceeded, those of angels, and then signified that the gift was 
 nothing without charity, so also here he mentions, not prophecy 
 alone, but the very highest prophecy, in that having said, ' Though 
 I have prophecy,' he added, ' and understand all mysteries and all 
 knowledge,' expressing this gift also with intensity." " ' All mys- 
 teries,' all the mysteries, or the mysteries all of them " (Words- 
 worth). The mystery of Godliness (1 Tim. iii. 16); the mystery of 
 the Gospel (Ephes. vi. 19) ; the mystery of the calhng of the Jews 
 
218 I AM NOTHING. [I. Cor. 
 
 and thongli I have all faith, ^ so that I could remove moun- 
 b Matt. xvii. tains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 
 
 20. Markxi. ' '' ° 
 
 23. Luke 
 
 xvii. 6. 
 
 first (Ephes. iii. 3, 4, 9) ; the mystery of the resurrection of the 
 body (xv. 51)— all these are instances. 
 
 " All knowledge " — everything natural or supernatural which God 
 has given to men to know. Perhaps there is here a reference to the 
 •' word of knowledge " of xii. 8, wisdom not being mentioned here, 
 because wisdom,though joined with knowledge, is in a sphere above 
 it, and always implies a moral element which knowledge may not. 
 
 " And though I have all faith, so that I could remove moun- 
 tains : " TTaaav ti)v Tr/ariv, all faith, i.e., faith in its fullest form and 
 nature, not every form of it [iraaav tt'kjtiv) but all the fulness of it 
 (Ellicott). We are told that this faith is not saving faith, but 
 wonder-working faith ; but how can we make such distinctions ? 
 Wonder-working faith is here represented as the highest degree of 
 faith which the Apostle knew of, and yet in the eyes of the Apostle 
 he who possesses it without charity is not saved or justified — he is 
 nothing. James and John had this faith, or they would not have 
 asked Christ if they might not call down fire from heaven upon the 
 Samaritans who would not receive Him, but they were sharply 
 reproved by the Lord, and told that they knew not what manner of 
 spirit they were of. 
 
 Wonder-working faith must be some outcome of ordinary faith, 
 and apparently greater in intensity than it ; and yet, if it be without 
 love, it may be worthless. It is astonishing that men who write 
 and speak sensibly can be blind to this fact, that no matter what 
 test we insist upon to prove the existence of faith in the soul, it 
 may exist in it without love. Expressions of faith, lively feelings 
 and emotions, zeal for the truth, or some truth which is un- 
 doubtedly a truth of God ; constant attendance at Evangelical 
 preaching and the evident enjoyment of that preaching — and I do 
 not use the word Evangelical here in any party or in any invidious 
 sense — all these may exist, and yet love, as described in this chapter, 
 may be wanting, utterly wanting. We are taught this in some 
 shape or other in almost every page of Scripture, and we are taught 
 it by the experience of daily life. St. Paul never could have written 
 *• In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor un- 
 circumcision, but faith which worketh by love," unless, as far as 
 
Chap. XIII.] IT PROFITETH ME NOTHING. 219 
 
 3 And "^ though I bestow all my goods to feed tlie poor, 
 and though I give my body to be burned, and " Matt. vi. 
 have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 
 
 3. "To be burned" (xac{j6r<(roixai). So D._, E., F., G., L., and many Cnrsives (C, K. 
 read xaufino-ii/u-ai), and d, e, f, g, m, Vulg., Syriac, Copt., Arm,, .(Eth., Goth.; but a. A., 
 B., and Latin copies mentioned by Jerome, " that 1 may glory," xa^x.'ia'a/uai. 
 
 the eye of man can see, faith may exist without love. It is not 
 true to say that unless faith works by love it is not true, or 
 genuine. It is true and genuine so far as it goes, but it must go 
 further into the domain of love or charity, or it is nothing in the 
 sight of God.' 
 
 3. *• And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor," &c. 
 The word ** bestow .... to feed the poor " is one word (i//w/f(?w), 
 and signifies to put food or morsels of food into the mouth, as 
 nurses feed children ; literally, to give all one's property in small 
 doles of food, or mouthfuls : " "Who that has witnessed the alms- 
 giving in a (Eoman) Catholic monastery, or the court of a Spanish 
 or Sicilian bishop's or archbishop's palace, where immense revenues 
 are syringed away in farthings to herds of beggars, but must feel 
 the force of the Apostle's half-satirical i/zw/ziW ? " (Stanley). 
 
 " And though I give my body to be burned." It is supposed by 
 some that the Apostle had in his mind the three holy children who 
 gave their bodies to be burned (Dan. iii. or 2 Mac. vii. 5). An 
 account is given of a Hindoo who, in the time of Augustus, accom- 
 panied an embassy from India to Augustus, and caused himself to 
 be burned alive at Athens. His tomb was to be seen in Athens with 
 the inscription, " Zarmochegas, the Indian from Bargosa, accord- 
 ing to the ancient custom of India, made himself immortal and hes 
 
 1 Godet has a valuable note. "How are we to suppose speaking in tongues apart 
 from faith, and faith divorced from charity, which is its fruit. Is not the Apostle's sup- 
 position merely a threat fitted to alarm his readers? Experience proves that a man, 
 after opening his heart with faith to the joy of salvation, may very soon cease to walk in 
 the way of sanctification, shrink from complete self-surrender, and, while making pro- 
 gress in mystical feeling, become more full of self and devoid of love than he ever was. 
 Such is the issue of the religious sybaritism of which revivals furnish so many examples. 
 Christianity, instead of acting as a principle of devotion, turns into poetry, sentimentality, 
 and fine speaking. It may even happen that, after a real and serious conversion, love 
 may be at first developed in the heart and life, but afterwards, in consequence of some 
 practical unfaithfulness, and through a want of vigilance, leading to spiritual pride, 
 charity may be gradually chilled. The gifts originally received remain in some measure, 
 but the inner life has disappeared." 
 
220 CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG. [I. Cor. 
 
 d Prov. X. 1! 
 
 1 ?Pt. IT. 8. 
 
 d Prov. X. 12. 4 d Qiiarity sufferetli long, and is kind ; charity 
 
 liere." Considering the way in which, in the early ages of tbe 
 Church, martyrdom was courted, and the reputation in which those 
 who suffered it were held, it is too probable that many suffered 
 through vainglory rather than the love of Christ. 
 
 For the reading, '* Give my body that I may glory," see critical 
 note above. 
 
 " It profiteth me nothing." " Without this love whatever I 
 speak, whatever I have, whatever I know, whatever I do, whatever 
 I suffer, it profiteth me nothing." (Wesley.) 
 
 4. "Charity suffereth long, and is kind," &c. — love that has 
 the mind of God, Who is pre-eminently long suffering. As the Lord 
 says of God His Father when He sets His long suffering forth as an 
 example, " Pray for them which despitefuUy use you and perse- 
 cute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in 
 heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, 
 and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust " (Matth. v. 44, 45). 
 Quesnel's remarks on this are peculiarly valuable, because they take 
 into full account the love and submission to God as well as the love 
 of our neighbour. " Charity suffereth the delays of God, waits with 
 
 patience for His proper season She feels and suffers her own 
 
 miseries, complains of them before God, and looks for deliverance 
 from Him. She bears the imperfections of others without vexation, 
 waits for their amendment without impatience, and begs it ear- 
 nestly of God without being weary or growing cold." 
 
 " And is kind." " Quiet and peaceable in her own actions, good- 
 natured, and far from giving trouble to anyone." (Quesnel.) 
 
 " For not at all with a view to light up the fire, to those who are 
 inflamed with anger, do they deal more mannerly with them, but 
 in order to appease and extinguish it ; and not only by enduring 
 nobly, but by soothing and comforting do they cure the soul and 
 heal the wound of passion " (Chrysostom). 
 
 " Charity vaunteth not." The Divine Charity, the love which is 
 a gift of the Spirit, regards everything as coming from God, and 
 given by Him. If God has seen fit to give a gift to one and not to 
 another, the other, who has charity, looks upon God as just in all 
 His gifts, and is sure that anything which is withheld is withheld 
 ior a good purpose, and that those who have more from God have 
 more to answer for. Such an one has a deep feeling that God has 
 
Chap. Xm.] CHARITY IS NOT PUFFED UP. 221 
 
 envieth not ; charity || vaunteth not itself, is not puffed 
 
 up, II Or, is not 
 
 5 Doth not behave itseK unseemly, ^ seeketh e ch. x, 24. 
 not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no ^^^'' "' *' 
 evil ; 
 
 given to each one what is best for glorifying Him and attaining to 
 salvation : and yet this Divine contentedness does not prevent the 
 charitable, loving soul from coveting, i.e. desiring earnestly, the best 
 gifts, but beyond the deshe for the best gifts, it desires stiU more 
 earnestly the "more excellent way" which the Apostle here 
 describes. 
 
 " Charity vaunteth not itself." Expositors differ much respect- 
 ing the meaning of this word. The ancient commentators some- 
 times take it as meaning acting with precipitancy, which is in- 
 consistent with true charity — we do not wish that men should act 
 rashly or with precipitancy towards us, judging our motives with- 
 out due care and thought, and we too should be careful to avoid the 
 same wrong disposition. Thus Chrysostom : " It renders him who 
 loves both considerate, and grave, and steady in his movements." 
 Also Theodoret : " He that loveth cannot endure to do anything 
 rash." Wesley has an excellent explanation : " Love acteth not 
 rashly — does not harshly condemn anyone, never passes a sever© 
 sentence on a slight or sudden view of things." 
 
 Many, however, take it according to our translation, vaunteth 
 not itself, displays not itself, does not show itself off. 
 
 *' Is not puffed up." Here there seems a reference to chap. viii. 1» 
 The best gifts — such as knowledge — puff up, if internally dwelt upon 
 as possessed by ourselves rather than by others, and so minister 
 to vainglory. 
 
 5. "Doth not behave itself unseemly." He, perhaps, alludes to 
 the conduct of the women in abstaining from wearing in public 
 worship the veil, the sign of subjection and modesty; perhaps, also, 
 to the unseemly conduct at the love-feasts. Any want of respect 
 in our outward conduct to the presence and feelings of those in 
 whose company we are betrays a want of consideration of what is 
 due to them, which they will probably resent ; and this will be a 
 Bin in us and in them. 
 
 " Seeketh not her own." This seems the chief feature of all. 
 The opposite of charity is selfishness. " Look not every man on 
 
222 REJOICETH IN THE TRUTH. [I. Cor. 
 
 Ps. X, 8. 6 ^Eejoicetli not in iniquity, but ^rejoiceth 
 
 g 2 John iv. || in tllG trutll. 
 
 H Or, with the 
 
 truth. 
 
 his own tilings." "Let this mind be in you which was also in 
 Christ Jesus." " Even Christ pleased not Himself." 
 
 This is the hardest precept of all. We have in some measure to 
 love ourselves, or we should not be told to love our neighbour as 
 ourselves ; and yet if our aim is to seek our own interest, we have 
 not this gift of the Spirit — we have not the mind of Christ. 
 
 " Is not easily provoked." Perhaps, as Godet suggests, there is 
 a reference here to the dissensions and law suits ; but the precept 
 is of the most general character — "is not put into a passion." We 
 have need of another word of the Apostle, where he says, " Be ye 
 angry, and sin not " (Ephes. iv.). It is a bad sign if we are not 
 moved at the sight of sin ; but we should at the same moment be 
 moved to prayer for the sinner, and pity for his fall. With respect, 
 however, to private injuries and slights, how often are we disturbed 
 in mind ; perhaps (it may be for but a short time) boil with anger 
 at what, perhaps, a year after, we shall wonder that we took any 
 notice of. But here it should be remarked that some are of more 
 quick and hasty tempers than others ; and if such by prayer and 
 divine grace subdue their tempers, so much the more are they 
 pleasing to God, for He has said, "He that is slow to anger is 
 better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that 
 taketh a city " (Prov. xvi. 32). 
 
 "Thinketh no evil," i.e., imputeth no evil: does not keep an 
 account of the evil which it suffers from any one that some day it 
 may pay him off in full, but rather strives to forget it, and blot it 
 out of its books, as it hopes that God will blot out all its evil out of 
 His books. 
 
 6. " Eejoiceth not in iniquity." The truly charitable man — the 
 man in whose heart the love of God and of his neighbour is shed 
 abroad by the Holy Ghost — does not secretly rejoice when he hears 
 that his enemy or his theological or political opponent has fallen 
 into sin. He rather prays for him, knowing that, unless he repents, 
 a far more terrible punishment will overtake him than any which 
 his bitterest enemy could desire. We should look very searchingly 
 into ourselves respecting this matter. If thoughts of exultation or 
 satisfaction arise in our breasts at hearing of the iniquity of those 
 
Chap. XIIL] BEARETH ALL THINGS. 223 
 
 7 ^ Beareth all things, believeth all things, ^ Rom. xv. i. 
 
 ^ ° Gal. vi. 2. 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 24. 
 
 we dislike, we share the joy of Satan. We are glad at that which 
 God hates and abhors. As Godet well puts it, " Charity feels no 
 criminal joy on seeing the faults which may be committed by men 
 of an opposite party." Chrysostom understands it in the sense that 
 charity delights not in seeing what an enemy unjustly suffers- 
 Wesley says, " Weeps at the sin or folly of even an enemy ; takes 
 no pleasure in hearing or repeating it ; but desires it may be for- 
 gotten for ever." 
 
 " But rejoiceth in the truth." The expression is remarkable. It 
 really is " rejoiceth with the truth " — congaudet autem veritate 
 (Vulg.). Some suppose that love and truth are here personified as 
 two sisters, who rejoice together when either of them triumphs, or 
 is honoured. Or it may be supposed that Charity, being a sym- 
 pathetic and social virtue, rejoices not alone, but shares its joy with 
 the good everywhere. We have, however, to consider why iniquity 
 is not here so much opposed to righteousness and goodness as to 
 the truth. The idea seems the same as that in John iii. 20, 21, 
 where "hethatdoeth evil " is opposed, not to him that doeth good, 
 but to him that '* doeth truth " — not so much believeth in the truth 
 as doeth the truth (see my note on that place). It seems as if all 
 iniquity, all unrighteousness, all injustice is pervaded by an element 
 of falsehood. The truth not only thinks truly, but acts truly — i.e., 
 justly and fairly; and in this charity rejoices. " The truth " has 
 also been explained as meaning the truth of the Gospel, which is 
 the real antidote to all that can be called evil or unrighteousness ; 
 and, of course, he who is under the influence of the Spirit of God 
 will rejoice in the triumph of the Gospel as the only real triumph oj 
 righteousness. 
 
 7. *' Beareth all things." This " bearing " is taken by some in 
 the sense of enduring ; but as the verse ends with " endureth all 
 things," it is probable that it means " covereth all things," in the 
 sense of 1 Peter iv. 8, " charity shall cover the multitude of sins." 
 The word oreyet, which St. Paul uses, has the sense of bearing up 
 and resisting, as a roof keeps out rain and snow ; but its ordinary 
 meaning is that of covering over for the purpose of shelter. " Love 
 covereth all things." Whatever evil the lover of mankind sees, 
 hears, or knows of anyone, he mentions it to none ; it never goes 
 out of his lips, unless where absolute duty constrains to speak. 
 
224 HOPETH ALL THINGS. [L Cor. 
 
 hopetli all things, enduretli all things. 
 
 " Believeth all things." Believes, that is, all the good which it 
 can of anyone. Some take it as meaning beheving all that is said 
 by anyone, so as not to suppose him guilty of falsehood ; so Theo- 
 doret. Godet remarks well : " The term lelieve usually refers to 
 God ; here it denotes, apparently, confidence in man ; but in reality 
 this confidence has for its object the Divine in man, all that remains 
 in him of God's image." 
 
 *' Hopeth all things." It entertains hopes even of the very worsts 
 because it knows the power of the grace of God, and His love to 
 sinners, as Chrysostom says, " It doth not despair of any good 
 thing in the beloved one, even though he be worthless : it continues 
 to correct, to provide, to care for him." " It puts the most favourable 
 construction upon everything, and is ever ready to believe what- 
 ever may tend to the advantage of anyone's character ; and when 
 it can no longer believe well, it hopes whatever may excuse or 
 extenuate the fault which cannot be denied. Where it cannot even 
 excuse, it hopes God will give at length repentance unto life.'* 
 (Wesley). 
 
 " Endureth all things." Bearing much for the sake of others : 
 bearing much ill-temper, ill-conduct, even ill-wiU from others ; 
 but the Apostle says, " endureth not much, but endm-eth all things. 
 Now in this, as he is bound to do, he describes what is perfect ; for 
 if he did not — if he put in much about the impossibility of attain- 
 ing this character — he would simply undo all, for people would rest 
 contented in uncharitableness, and cease striving after an ideal 
 which they were told was impossible. 
 
 But is this character attainable ? It is not, and it is. If 
 measured by the standard of absolute perfection, it is not : for we 
 have not yet put on the Kesurrection body. But yet it is. In a 
 long ministry I have known some — not many — but some who very 
 fairly come up to this standard. They sufifer long, they are kind, 
 they never vaunt themselves ; are the reverse of being overbearing 
 and consequential ; they behave themselves well in aU companies, 
 even in the company of those who seem not to respect them ; they 
 certainly seek not their own, their chief aim is to benefit others; 
 they are not easily provoked, in fact one marvels at the things 
 which they endure without resentment; they betray not the 
 slightest satisfaction at the faults of others, and so they never 
 
Chap. Xlir.] CHARITY NEVER FAILETH. 225 
 
 8 Charity never faileth : but whether there he prophecies, 
 they shall fail ; whether tliere he tongues, they shall cease j 
 whether there he knowledge, it shall vanish away. 
 
 encourage scandal-mongering and tale-bearing; they never expose 
 the faults or weaknesses of others ; they believe even where it 
 seems unlikely ; they ho^De the best, and they endure what most of 
 their neighbours would not put up with for a moment. And all this 
 evidently has its roots in their belief in Jesus Christ. And is it a 
 marvel that there should be such ? Why cannot the Holy Ghost 
 make a good man ? The marvel ought to be that, in the Church, 
 with such sacraments, such promises, such prayers for the Spirit, 
 characters of this sort do not abound. 
 
 8. " Charity never faileth : but whether there be prophecies, they 
 shall fail," &c. " Never faileth," i.e., it never comes to an end, be- 
 cause there is no longer any need of it ; on the contrary, it is im- 
 perishable and eternal. This does not mean that love or charity in 
 particular individuals does not grow cold, for our Lord says that it 
 will (Matth. xxiv. 12), but it lasts through this present state as a 
 preparation for a better, and in the better state it forms the joy of 
 all holy souls. It is the character of God, and so must ever be 
 that to which all elect spirits tend. 
 
 " "Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail." The Apostle now 
 illustrates the eternal nature of the grace of charity by exhibiting 
 the temporal character of the greatest of the gifts on which the 
 Corinthians had prided themselves. 
 
 " Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail." The gift of pro- 
 phecy is intended for the benefit of those who are in an imperfect 
 state. Whether it reveals the future, or the will of God respecting the 
 present, or sets forth and explains hidden mysteries, it will have 
 no place in a state where the blessed wUl know as by intuition the 
 deep things of God. 
 
 " Whether there be tongues, they shall cease." Various lan- 
 guages and their interpretation will exist no longer, as the curse of 
 Babel will have been removed, and in the words of the prophet, 
 " God will have turned to the people a pure language, that they 
 may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one 
 consent" (Zeph. iii. 9). 
 
 "Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." " Vanish 
 
 Q 
 
226 WE KNOW IN PART. [I. Cor. 
 
 9 ' For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
 1 ch. viii. 2. 10 But wlien that which is perfect is come, 
 
 then that which is in j)art shall be done away. 
 
 away " is the same word as that translated " they shall fail," in the 
 first clause of the verse. How can real knowledge be said to vanish 
 away ? Because it gives way to a knowledge so deep, so clear, so 
 intuitive that the former is as nothing in comparison. This is the 
 state which the prophet Jeremiah refers to when he prophecies, 
 *' They shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every 
 man his brother saying. Know the Lord : for they shall all know 
 me," &c. (Jerem. xxxi. 34.) 
 
 This transformation of knowledge has taken place in our day in 
 respect to several sciences, as, for instance, chemistry and electri- 
 city. The knowledge which the most advanced scientists of one 
 hundred years ago had of these branches of knowledge is, when com- 
 pared with what we have now, absolute ignorance. Elickert, as quoted 
 by Godet, says, *'It is not the true knowledge which shall cease; 
 it is only the various fragments of knowledge, received here below 
 {yvwaeig) which shall pass away to give place to perfect knowledge." 
 
 9, 10. " For we know in part, and we prophesy in part in 
 
 part shall be done away." This is the explanation of the fact why 
 such things of the Spirit as prophecy and knowledge fail, or come 
 to nothing, or are destroyed. They pass away to be superseded 
 by a knowledge and a mode of communicating that knowledge far 
 more perfect. 
 
 It has been made a matter of question what time the Apostle 
 alludes to as the one in which these manifestations of the Spirit 
 shall cease, and some have supposed that the present state of the 
 Church, in which prophesy and tongues have ceased, is that to 
 which he alludes, but this to me seems impossible. Surely this, 
 our present state, is anything but perfect. It certainly is not per- 
 fect in love, for it has declined from the love of the first age. The 
 perfect state is evidently that in which our bodies will be raised in 
 the likeness of Christ's, and our faculties of receiving knowledge will 
 not be clogged then as they are now by the conditions and limita- 
 tions of our unrenewed frames, but the body will then answer to 
 the spirit in its highest state. 
 
 11. "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a 
 child," &c. The Apostle here illustrates what he has said respect- 
 
Chap. Xni.] WHEN I WAS A CHILD. 227 
 
 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood 
 as a child, I || thought as a child: hut when I Or, reasoned. 
 became a man, I put away childish things. 
 
 12 Tor ^ now we see through a glass, f darkly ; ^ 2 cor. iii. 
 
 18. & V. 7. 
 Phil. iii. 12. 
 
 t Gr. in a 
 
 riddle. 
 
 in^ that which is " perfect," superseding that which is " in part " by 
 the comparison of childhood. The child knows nothing respecting 
 any human thing thoroughly, and he speaks, understands, and 
 thinks according to his very imperfect knowledge ; and so it is in 
 Bpiritual things. At present we speak of them, understand them, 
 and think or reason about them very imperfectly; hereafter we 
 shall look back upon our present state as comparative ignorance. 
 Tliis is not to be taken as if the knowledge of the child is false. He 
 knows that he has parents, he knows them personally in a way that 
 no stranger can know them, he knows when and how he pleases 
 them, or displeases them, he knows that he owes all to them and 
 depends upon them. And what in spiritual things is analogous to 
 this knowledge is true — that no matter to what scale of existence we 
 shall be permitted to advance, we shall never look upon this know- 
 ledge as false. All further development of utterance or intellect must 
 l)e founded upon this, built upon this infantile knowledge as true, 
 and every advance must be a further and more complete realization 
 of what we knew when we first exercised our faculty of cognition. 
 A further illustration may be taken from the comparison of the Old 
 Dispensation with the New. Nothing in the Old Dispensation was 
 false and yet it has passed away. Take the offering of sacrifices. It 
 was not false worship ; it was, when offered faithfully, acceptable 
 to God, but it has utterly passed away, and is superseded by an 
 infinitely higher showing forth of the All-atoning Death. 
 
 12. " For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to 
 face," &c. The word translated glass {iaoirrpov) never signifies 
 a window, but always a mirror ; and it would be a mirror of 
 highly polished brass or other metal, for making which the Corin- 
 thians were famous. We now see spiritual things as if we were 
 looking at their reflexion in a mirror, and this was always more or 
 less dim or blurred or imperfect. So Chrysostom : " Because the 
 glass sets before us the things seen in some way or other," he adds, 
 *' darkly, to show very strongly that the present knowledge is 
 most partial." We can only determine the meaning of " darkly," 
 
228 NOW I KNOW IN PART. [I. Cor. 
 
 but then ^ face to face : now I know in part ; but tben shall 
 L^^"•T^7"'• I know even as also I am known. 
 
 10. 1 John 
 
 (or in an enigma) by the expression " face to face," to which it is 
 opposed. The passage seems to be parallel to that in St. John 
 where the Apostles say to the Lord, " Lo, now speakest thou plainly, 
 and speakest no proverb " (or parable) ; and to what God says 
 about Moses : " If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord wiU 
 make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him 
 in a dream. My servant Moses is not so ... . With him will I 
 speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches ; 
 and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold " (Numbers xii. 6-8). 
 Being profoundly ignorant of the conditions under which God 
 reveals Himself to us even now, and much more so of what will b© 
 accorded to us in the beatific vision, even an Apostle can only express 
 himself in such terms as "darkly," as opposed to "face to face" — 
 " knowing in part," as opposed to " knowing as I am known.'* 
 We must reverently close our lips, or if we speak we must be con- 
 tent to say after the Psalmist : " As for me, I will behold thy face 
 in righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy 
 likeness." (Ps. xvii. 15.) 
 
 But how can it be said that we shall know God even as we are 
 known of Him ? This does not mean that we shall know Him as 
 perfectly as He knows us, for we shall always be finite and He in- 
 finite, and the finite cannot compass the infinite ; but we shall 
 know Him not through His works, not through His scriptures, or 
 through His revelations, but as one intelligent being knows an- 
 other. He knows us, not by our works, or by anything else which 
 proceeds from us, such as our words, by which we show ourselves 
 to our fellows, but as we are in ourselves, and we shall know Him 
 by a similar knowledge clearly and distinctly, but not by an equal 
 knowledge. 
 
 13. " And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but," &c. 
 I do not think that because the Apostle here pronounces charity or 
 love to be greater than faith and hope that therefore he means that 
 faith and hope only exist in this state of things, and faith will in 
 the future state of blessedness be " lost in sight," and hope will be 
 lost in fruition. Faith must always be exercised by the creature,, 
 for faith is dependence upon the supreme God, and the highest 
 
Chap. XIV.] FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY. 229 
 
 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but 
 the greatest of these is charity. 
 
 angels feel their entire dependence upon Him far more than any 
 below them do, and every creature must hope that God will ever 
 sustain him in holiness, and look forward to higher and higher de- 
 grees of nearness to God ; but love is the greatest because love is 
 the character of God. God, Who knows all things, cannot believe 
 as His creatures do, and God, Who inhabits eternity cannot hope 
 as His creatures do, but God can love — God is love. It cannot be 
 said that God is faith, nor can it be said that God is hope, but it is 
 said that God is love. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 FOLLOW after charity, and * desire spiritual gifts, * but 
 rather that ye may prophesy. » ch. xii. 31. 
 
 b Numb. xi. 
 25, 29. 
 
 1. " Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather 
 that ye may prophesy." Literally, "pursue charity." Bishop 
 Wordsworth supposes that there is here an allusion to the games. 
 *' Pursue her with the earnestness with which the runners strive 
 after the prize. Make charity your aim and end {(jKOTrbg) in the 
 whole race of your spiritual life." 
 
 "And desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." 
 Spiritual gifts being all of them, if sensibly and devoutly used, of 
 the greatest benefit to the Church, are to be desired, but the Apostle 
 specifies prophecy as the most useful. 
 
 We now come to a comparison, drawn out at great length, between 
 the usefulness of the gift of tongues and that of prophecy. There 
 is no passage of the New Testament which gives us such an insight 
 into the spiritual state of the earliest Church, at least as it existed 
 in such a city as Corinth. It lets us into its extraordinarily abnormal, 
 rather, perhaps, if one might say so, prenormal state. For here 
 are actually gifts of the Holy Ghost used by converted Christians 
 
230 TONGUES. [I. CoW 
 
 for vain-glorioTis purposes — used not for edification, but in a dis- 
 orderly way, so that if a heathen man came in, and found the 
 Church as a body exercising a particular one of these gifts, he would 
 pronounce them to be mad. It appears that one at least of these 
 gifts might be used senselessly, without regard to the purpose for 
 which God had apparently given it, so much so that many learned 
 men holding the highest rank amongst expositors write as if God 
 had no intelligible purpose in bestowing it. 
 
 I have examined in Excursus III. in my volume of notes on the 
 Acts, to which I must refer the reader, the two rival theories which 
 have been held on this subject ; the first of these, held by all ancient 
 expositors, being that the gift of tongues was an ability to speak 
 in human languages, which those who possessed it had never 
 learnt ; the second that it was the expression of ecstatic devotion, 
 that it was unintelligible to the hearers, and, according to many, 
 generally so to the speaker. 
 
 I shall now briefly recapitulate my reasons for believing that the 
 gift of tongues was the gift of speaking in human languages not 
 previously learnt by the utterer, and then, as I proceed with the 
 exposition, draw attention to several places in this chapter whicli 
 absolutely require that such should be the meaning, and are incom- 
 patible with any other explanation whatsoever. 
 
 1. Christ, in his parting charge, as given by St. Matthew, says, 
 *' Go ye and teach all nations; " and as given by St. Mark, says, 
 " Go ye to all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.'* 
 Apparently He seemed to command an impossibility, for the Gali- 
 leans to whom He gave these charges were " unlearned and igno- 
 rant men," and being probably not young men, would find it very 
 difficult to acquire the knowledge of any language so as to teach in 
 it the mysteries of the faith. 
 
 2. On the day of Pentecost a great number of Jews residing in 
 different countries were gathered together in Jerusalem, and these 
 men were astonished beyond measure at hearing the Apostles, and 
 perhaps others, who only knew Aramaic imperfectly, speak to 
 them in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. It is clear 
 from this that the Apostles did not speak to them in Greek, which 
 was extensively used as a common mode of intercourse throughout 
 the East, but in Parthian, in Median, in Persian, or in Mesopo- 
 tamian ; and this was the aspect of the miracle which impressed 
 them. Quite independent of any actual instruction which they 
 
Chap. XIV.] TONGUES. 231 
 
 received, the fact that men who but a short time bofore knew not a 
 word of their particular language now addressed them in that lan- 
 guage, convinced them that there was here a putting forth of the 
 power of God, such as had never been recorded in their sacred 
 history since the confusion of tongues. They constantly heard of 
 miracles of healing, and with prophecy, true or false, they were 
 familiar, but neither Moses nor any succeeding prophet had ever 
 given to men such a power as was now given from heaven by Jesus 
 of Nazareth. But let this be noticed, that the force of the miracle 
 in convincing them of the truth of the Gospel wholly depended on 
 their understanding the tongue. If it had been some tongue which 
 no one of the assembled multitude could understand — much more, 
 if it had been some ecstatic utterance — it would have been no sign 
 whatsoever of the truth of the Gospel, or of the power and presence 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Now this account of the Pentecostal gift of tongues must rule all 
 other notices of it ; so that whenever the gift of tongues is men- 
 tioned, it must mean such languages as were spoken at Pentecost, — 
 intelligible tongues, tongues spoken by some race or other which 
 some present, or some who might be present, could verify. And with 
 this accords the remarkable fact, that all the places in which the 
 gift of tongues is spoken of as exercised, are places to which men 
 of different nationalities resorted : 1. In Jerusalem, where devout 
 men from every nation under heaven were gathered together ; 2, 
 In Caesarea, more a Gentile than a Jewish city, and the port of 
 Palestine, thronged by soldiers and sailors from all parts of the 
 world; 3. In Ephesus, the resort for commerce or pilgrimage of 
 all Asia Minor ; 4. and in Corinth, the city with two ports, having 
 merchants and sojourners from all the coasts of the Mediterranean 
 and the Euxine. 
 
 We now come to the exposition of the chapter, which presents no 
 difficulty if the reader bears in mind that the gift of tongues was 
 used by the Corinthians in a wrong way. It was given that the 
 foreigners outside the pale of the Church might be witnesses of a 
 miracle by which they might understand that the power of the 
 Creator of the human mind was put forth on behalf of Christianity ; 
 so that the proper place for its use was where men of all nations 
 flocked together for commerce or any other purpose. Instead of 
 this, it was used in the Church where all spake the same tongue, 
 and no one could verify it. 
 
232 NO MAN UNDERSTANDETH HIM. [I. Cor 
 
 2 Eor he that *^ speateth in an unlcnown tongue speaketh 
 c Acts ii. 4. not unto men, but unto God : for no man 
 t Gr. iieareth, t uudei'standeth him ; howbeit in the spirit he 
 Actsxxii.9. ' speaketh mysteries. 
 
 3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edifica- 
 tion, and exhortation, and comfort. 
 
 4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth him- 
 self ; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. 
 
 2. " He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto 
 men, but unto God : for no man understandeth him." This 
 evidently implies that what he spoke was not unintelligible jargon, 
 but perfectly intelligible if there were persons present who could 
 understand it. Whatever was sx)oken was, so far as the action of 
 the Holy Spirit was concerned, intended to be understood. Ed- 
 wards writes : " It was a conspicuous feature of the gift, that the 
 tongues were unintelligible. Could the Apostle say of any man 
 that speaks in a foreign language, that he speaks not to men but 
 to God ? " Certainly, we answer, if any man prays to God in a 
 language not known to the people about him, he speaks only to 
 God. He may do such a thing perfectly blamelessly, but it is of 
 no use to the people present, and so the Apostle discourages it if 
 there be no interpretation or interpreter. 
 
 "Howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." Mysteries to 
 be spoken of in a way consonant with reverence must be spoken 
 of intelligently; and the man described by the Apostle must first 
 understand the mysteries, and then put what he understands into 
 intelligible language. This he did not do, and so he was useless 
 to the Church, just as if a man were to insist on saying the Te 
 Deum — in which the greatest mysteries of the faith are very 
 plainly expressed — in the original Latin, the congregation not 
 understanding a word of it. 
 
 3. " But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification," 
 &c. That is, because he utters his prophecies in a language which 
 they know. Notice that in this account of prophecy there is no 
 allusion to its function of making man acquainted with future 
 events, but only to its power of confirming and edifying. 
 
 4. " He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself." 
 How can a man edify himself unless he speaks to himself what he 
 
•Chap. XIV.] RATHER THAT YE PROPHESIED. 233 
 
 5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that 
 ye prophesied ; for greater is he that prophesieth than he 
 
 5. "For greater" (yap). So D., E., F., G., K., L., almost all Cursives, d, e, f, g, 
 Vulg., Syriat-, Arm., ^Eth. ; but s. A., B., P., 39, Copt., read "but" (Si). 
 
 himself understands, and yet a writer, expounding this chapter, 
 tells us that these tongues " were the expressions, not of thoughts, 
 but of feelings, unintelligible always if uninterpreted to the Hstener, 
 and sometimes to the utterer himself." ^ 
 
 5. " I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye 
 prophesied." According to the modern interpretation, this must 
 mean : *' I would that ye all were in an ecstacy, and so expressed 
 yourselves in the language of ecstacy." But what is ecstacy ? There 
 may be two sorts of ecstacy, a true and a false. The true would 
 arise out of an overwhelming apprehension of the goodness of God 
 as set forth in the mysteries of the faith, in the Incarnation espe- 
 cially, and the unspeakable love displayed in the Lord's giving 
 HimseK to Death for our sakes — amongst Catholics in the ineffable 
 nearness of the Lord in the Eucharist, and amongst Calvinists in 
 the sense of God's electing love. Now we have the li-^-es, the 
 writings, the experiences of very holy men who seemed to be at 
 times raised above themselves in the contemplation of one or more 
 of these truths, but in no case does their ecstacy express itself in 
 unknown language. Take the following writers, whose glowing 
 devotion reached as high a point as can well be conceived — 
 Augustine, Bernard, Thomas k Kempis, St. Francis de Sales, Guion, 
 Bishop Hall, Bishop Ken, the Wesleys, John Newton, not to men- 
 tion those living so near to us as Keble or Faber. The characteristic 
 of what has come down to us of the writings of these most devout 
 persons is their exceeding clearness. If they ever express them- 
 selves obscurely, the obscurity arises out of their lack of power over 
 their own language, not because they have made the smallest 
 approach to expressing themselves in some imknown language of 
 rapture. 
 
 To return, when the Apostle says, " I would that ye aU spake 
 with tongues," it is beyond measure unlikely that he means " I 
 
 1 So also Bishop EUicott, "The one who speaks in a tongue ministers to himself edifica- 
 tion— not necessarily by any knowledge of the purport of what he says, but by the glow 
 oi soul associated with the exercise of the charisma." 
 
234 EXCEPT HE INTEKPKET. [I. Cor. 
 
 tliat spealieth with tongues, except lie interpret, that the- 
 church may receive edifying. 
 
 6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues,, 
 what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either 
 dver.26. by '^ rcvelatiou, or by knowledge, or by prophe- 
 sying, or by doctrine ? 
 
 would that you were all in such an ecstatic state of rapture that your 
 native tongue or any other known language was insufficient to 
 express the fervour of your thoughts, but that you must be im- 
 pelled to use tones and articulations which, for the most part, are 
 beyond even your own comprehension." If the reader thinks this 
 way of putting matters somewhat exaggerated, let him remember 
 that the modern explanation of this gift is, that it is not a gift of 
 itself, but the outcome of a religious state of mind, and that the 
 Apostle must desire that they first possessed this extremely exalted 
 fervour of mind, or else he would desire that they should exhibit 
 the manifestation of that which they did not actually experience. 
 *' I would then that ye all spake with tongues " must mean 
 " I would that ye all could make known the way of salvation to the 
 various tribes resorting to your city, so that they might be 
 astonished beyond measure, and be turned to the true worship of 
 Him "Who has such power over the human intellect and the human 
 organ of speech." 
 
 " But rather that ye prophesied, for greater is he that prophe- 
 sieth." Prophecy is greater than speaking with tongues, because 
 prophecy is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, making known to 
 the innermost spirit the deepest mysteries of the faith, and en- 
 abling the person endowed with it to speak those mysteries to all 
 about him in the vernacular tongue ; whereas the gift of tongues 
 is a more outward gift, acting in or through that function of the 
 soul which is able to understand or express words, and is a very 
 inferior function to that which enables it to apprehend God. 
 
 "Except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." 
 This implies that the tongue is not a mere ecstatic rhapsody, but 
 has a meaning, which if it be interpreted to the Church may edify 
 it just as much as if the man prophesied. 
 
 6. " Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, 
 what shall I profit? " The Apostle now does as he had done in 
 
Chap. XIV.] THINGS WITHOUT LIFE. 235 
 
 7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe 
 or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, || how 
 shall it be knowTi what is piped or harped ? II Or, tunes. 
 
 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall 
 prepare himself to the battle ? 
 
 iv. 6, he transfers the matter to himself— that if even he, Apostle 
 though he was, came speaking with a tongue, they would receive 
 no profit unless he interpreted the words of the tongue as convey- 
 ing some revelation received from God, or some Divine knowledge, 
 or some mystery or future event, or some doctrine according to 
 godhness.^ 
 
 7. " And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or 
 harp, except," &c. Even lifeless instruments, if they are to speak 
 in the language of music, and affect the feelings or passions of 
 those who hear them, must give a distinction in the sound, 2.e., 
 '* be subject to the laws of tone and rhythm, to the intervals of 
 scale and measure ; " and so unknown languages, volubly uttered, 
 might be to those that heard them just as bewildering as musical 
 sounds without intervals and proper articulation. " Even in those 
 inarticulate sounds there is need of some distinctness ; and if thou 
 strike not or breathe not into the pipe according to art, thou hast 
 done nothing. Now if from things without life we require so much 
 distinctness, and harmony, and appropriateness, and into these 
 inarticulate sounds we strive and contend to infuse so much mean- 
 ing, much more in men endued with life and reason, and in 
 spiritual gifts ought one to make significancy an object." 
 (Chrysostom.) 
 
 8. " For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall," &c. 
 *' An uncertain sound," ?.e., a sound which cannot be understood, 
 as it would be if one who knew no music was making a noise with 
 it. The Apostle seems to look upon all utterances in the Church 
 of God as preparations for the great battle in which all the soldiers 
 
 1 There is much difference amongst expositors respecting the relations of these four. 
 Dean Stanley says, " He gives these four gifts or utterances as exhausting all the modes of 
 teaching. (1.) awoxaXuvl/if, unveiling of the unseen, as in " the Apocalypse;" (2.) yvSo-if, 
 insight into Di^^ne truth, as in the "wisdom" of xi. 6 ; (3.) ■n-po<pyrT£icc, message of exhor- 
 tation, or " consolation," as in verse 3 ; (4,) hSaxh, regular teaching, like the continuous 
 teaching of our Lord's discourses and parables, as io Acts ii. 42." 
 
236 YE SHALL SPEAK INTO THE AIR. [L Cor. 
 
 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by tlie tongue words 
 t Gr. signifi. f easy to be understood, bow sball it be known 
 
 what is spoken ? for ye shall speak into the air. 
 
 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the 
 woi'ld, and none of them, is without sic^nification. 
 
 of Christ were to be engaged, and if for any reason these sounds 
 were not understood, the enemy might attack them when they 
 were off their guard. 
 
 9. "So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to 
 be understood." This precept or direction is wholly incompatible 
 with the " tongues " being the expression of rapturous devotion or 
 ecstacy ; for such expression would not be under the control of him 
 who was in the state of ecstacy. In the accounts of the utterances 
 of the Irvingites, which we are told are an " illustration " of these 
 gifts of the Spirit, the afflatus came upon them usually with un- 
 controllable power. They must speak the words dictated by the 
 Spirit (?). Like Jeremiah, "His word was in their heart, as a 
 burning fire shut up in their bones, and they were weary with for- 
 bearing and could not stay " (Jer. xx. 9). Who was the Apostle 
 that he should presume to regulate the times and occasions, the 
 mode and manner of expression of an ecstatic rapture which, if it 
 was not false or diabolical, must be the work of the Holy Spirit in 
 the soul, and yet here he says, " Except ye utter by the tongue 
 words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken ? 
 for ye shall speak unto the air." How could the inspired Corin- 
 thian control the expression of ecstatic rapture, which, as we are 
 told, was very frequently unintelligible to the utterer himself? 
 
 When the Apostle here blames them for speaking what is not 
 significant, and so speaking to the air, he evidently blames them 
 for speaking in languages which were not understood by the Church, 
 and so were out of place in it, but which, if they were true gifts of 
 God, must have had some place or places for their lawful exercise, 
 which would be the resorts of foreigners, or, as in the day of Pente- 
 cost, of devout Jews brought up in, and usually speaking the lan- 
 guages of, distant places. 
 
 10. *' There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, 
 and none of them is without signification." " Kinds of voices," 
 here signify kinds of languages, each separate language being a 
 
Chap. XIV.] I SHALL BE A BARBARIAN. 237 
 
 11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of tlie voice, I 
 shall be nnto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that 
 speaketh shall he a barbarian nnto me. 
 
 12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous fof iqt. of spirits. 
 spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the 
 church. 
 
 different one ; "and none of them without signification," that is, 
 there are no languages like the inarticulate cries of animals, or of 
 birds, but every word in each language represents an idea or an 
 external object. 
 
 11. " Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall 
 be unto him that speaketh," &c. Cornelius a Lapide quotes a verse 
 of Ovid, complaining of his exile in Pontus : " Barbarus hie ego 
 sum, quia non intelligor uUi." Now in these two verses the 
 Apostle proceeds on the idea that the languages which the Corin- 
 thians uttered were, each of them, exact counterparts of some known 
 language spoken somewhere on earth, which some nation or other 
 understood, but which was not understood in the Greek congrega- 
 tion where the utterance took place. If there had been a language 
 or languages devised and taught by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of 
 expressing a devotion so exceedingly ecstatic and rapturous that no 
 human tongue could express it, could he have cited the speaking in 
 these foreign languages as in the least degi-ee analogous ? When 
 the ecstatic afiSatus or rapture comes upon such a person he must 
 speak, and by all principle or rule of the exercise of linguistic 
 powers he must speak in the hearing of others ; for a gift of lan- 
 guage could not be given for the purpose of private devotions. 
 
 12. *' Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, 
 seek," &c. " Spiritual gifts " ought rather to be translated " spirits." 
 Some suppose that it signifies the influence of spirit upon spirit, 
 others simply all manner of inspiration of the Spirit. Seeing they 
 were zealous respecting spiritual things or influences, let them, 
 above all, seek those which would edify their fellow Christians, 
 for speaking in an unknown tongue would not, and so he pro- 
 ceeds to say, — 
 
 13. " Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray 
 that he may interpret." Two interpretations have been given of this; 
 the first, which is that of the ancient expositors and many modern 
 
238 I WILL PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. [L Cor. 
 
 13 Wherefore let hini that speaketh in an uriknoivn tongue 
 pray tliat lie may interpret. 
 
 14 For if I pray in an unhnown tongue, my spirit prayeth, 
 but my understanding is unfruitful. 
 
 15 What is it tlien ? I will pray with the spirit, and I will 
 
 ones, " Let him pray that he may have the gift of interpreting what 
 he has said in the tongue ;" the second, " In giving himself up to 
 the Spirit who leads him to pray in a tongue, let him do so with 
 the intention, and with the settled aim beforehand to reproduce 
 the contents of his prayer afterwards in intelligible language" 
 •(Godet). So that in the first case he simply prays for a separate 
 spiritual gift, which " the interpretation of tongues " is ; in the 
 second he intends with settled aim, and apparently without special 
 prayer, to do what of himself he certainly has no power to do. It 
 may appear at first sight strange that a man should be able to 
 speak in a tongue which he could not interpret without a special 
 gift of Divine assistance, but a moment's consideration will show 
 that it was not at all unlikely ; for if the man used the knowledge 
 of the unknown language for the purpose for which God had given 
 it to him, to preach the Gospel to the strangers and foreigners who 
 •crowded the places of public resort in Corinth, he would have no 
 need to interpret it. The hearers would exclaim, " We hear the 
 works of God in our own tongues wherein we were born." Whereas if 
 he spoke it in the Chinch, where they all spoke Greek only, he would 
 have to translate words with which he was not himself familiar, 
 and which a Superior Power had enabled him to speak at that 
 time, and the result, unless he had the separate gift of interpreta- 
 tion, might be anything but edifying. 
 
 14. "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, 
 hut," &c. If he uses the words of some tongue unknown to the 
 -congregation in prayer to God, he realizes in his own spirit what 
 he says to God, but his understanding (or mind) is unfruitful. As 
 Theodoret says : " The fruit of him who speaks is the advantage 
 which the hearers derive." If, then, he speaks in an unknown 
 language, and brings no interxDretation to bear on his auditory, he 
 has not the fruit which he ought to have from every spiritual exercise. 
 
 15. *' What is it then ? I will pray with the spirit, and I will 
 pray," &c. The spirit is that part of the inner man by which it 
 
€hap. XI v.] I WILL SING WITH THE SPIRIT. 239 
 
 pray with the understanding also : ^ I will sing with the 
 spirit, and I will sing ^ with the understanding « Eph. v. 19. 
 also. f Ps. xivii. 7. 
 
 16 Else when thou shall bless with the spirit, 
 how shall he that occupieth the room of the un- 
 learned say Amen ^ at thy giving of thanks, seeing s ch. xi. 24. 
 he understandeth not what thou sayest ? 
 
 rises into the closest communion with God. The understanding is 
 that comparatively lower part by which, through the medium of 
 speech, a man makes his thoughts intelligible to his fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 St. Paul then says in effect, " I will pray in the spirit, but I will 
 not allow myself to be so carried away, even though I have the 
 gift of tongues, as to utter what is unintelligible ; and so, with what 
 I sing, my whole spirit shall mount up in the psalm or hymn, but 
 I will so sing it that all who hear shall understand. I will use no 
 language that all do not understand, whether known or unknown, 
 whether of men or angels ; for, if so, I minister to my own vanity, 
 not to edification." 
 
 16. "Else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he 
 . . . say Amen at thy giving of thanks," &c. There can be little 
 doubt but that "he that occupieth the place of the unlearned," 
 means the private or non-of&cial person — i.e., the layman, and 
 that the Amen is not a common Amen, but the one said by the 
 whole congregation after the Consecration. It is alluded to at 
 «ome length twice by so ancient a writer as Justin Martyr as 
 follows : " After this, bread and a cup of wine mixed with water 
 are brought to the president ; and he taking them gives praise 
 and glory to the Father of the Universe, through the Name of the 
 Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanksgiving at considerable 
 length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His 
 Hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanks- 
 givings, all the people express their assent by saying Amen" 
 (Apol. i. 65). 
 
 There is a remark upon this place in Chrysostom's Commen- 
 tary, which is still more confirmatory of the above. "And what 
 he saith is this : If thou shalt bless in a barbarian tongue, not 
 
240 THE OTHER IS NOT EDIFIED. [I. Cor. 
 
 17 For thou verilj givest thanks well, but the other is not 
 edified. 
 
 18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye- 
 all: 
 
 18. "With tongues." So B., K., L., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Copt,, Mth. ; but S^ 
 A., D., E., F., a., 17, 31, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Arm., read " with a tongue." 
 
 knowing what thou sayest, nor able to interpret, the layman can-- 
 not respond the Amen. For not hearing the words, * for ever and 
 ever,' which are at the end, he saith not the Amen." Now when 
 we turn to the most ancient of Liturgies, the Clementine, we find 
 that this long prayer ends with "both now and ever, and world 
 without end." And then there comes a special rubric or direction^ 
 "And let all the people say Amen." It is to be noted that th& 
 word is with the article in this verse — not Amen, but the Amen {to 
 
 ccfiriv). 
 
 It may be asked, would any one be so foolish as to give the 
 Eucharistic Thanksgiving in an unknown tongue ? St. Paul does- 
 not say that any one had actually done so, but by supposing the 
 case he shows its absurdity. The layman would not only be unable- 
 to understand, but even to give his solemn assent to the principal 
 feature in the worship. 
 
 17. " For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not 
 edified." That is, with fervency and devotion, but the other can- 
 not either understand or respond. The prayer or thanksgiving, it 
 is clear, must have been in some articulate language, for it is in- 
 conceivable that any Eucharistic prayer could have been expressed 
 in ecstatic devotion, probably above the comprehension of the 
 offerer. 
 
 18. "I thank [my] God, I speak with tongues more than ye 
 all." Literally (and adopting the reading ^w^^we) "I thank God 
 that I speak (or, am speaking) in a tongue more than ye all." If 
 " tongue " here means languages, then St. Paul means " I speak in 
 languages more than ye all," which really amounts to " I speak in 
 more languages than ye all," and this was needful for him, for he 
 was the world's missionary. If tongue, however, means ecstatic 
 devotion, then it means, I pray to God, and praise Him in the 
 highest raptures of ecstatic devotion, more than all of you, for I 
 know your thoughts, and the state of your souls even when I am 
 
Chap. XIV.] IN UNDERSTANDING BE MEN. 241 
 
 19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with 
 my understanding, that hy my voice I might teach others 
 also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. 
 
 20 Brethren, ^ be not children in understanding : ^ ps. cxxxu 2. 
 howbeit in malice 'be je children, but in under- &xviii.*3. & 
 
 , T T , xix. 14. Rom, 
 
 standmg be f men. xri. 19. ch. 
 
 21 ^In the law it is ^written, With men of iT. Heb.^v'12! 
 
 13. 
 
 i Matt, xviii. 
 
 3. 1 Pet. ii. 2. 
 
 absent from you, and I know that I excel you all in ^ ^r perfect, 
 
 • t I •• 1 f or, 0/ a ripe 
 
 tne ecstatic rapture of my prayer, but I pray thus age, ch. ii. 6. 
 privately, for in all that I am now writing, I am ^ •^°^'^ ^- .^*- 
 showing you how unedifying the speaking with 11, 12. 
 tongues in the Church usually is.^ 
 
 Let the reader judge for himself, would it be likely — is it 
 credible that the Apostle would thus expose before others his pre- 
 eminence in a very peculiar kind of devotion, which arose entirely 
 out of the rapturous character of his love to God ? 
 
 19. " Yet in the Church I had rather speak five words with my 
 understanding." "With my understanding." "In a rational 
 manner, so as not only to understand myself what I say, but to be 
 understood by others." 
 
 20. "Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in 
 malice be ye children," &c. They were children in understanding 
 if they used such a gift as the speaking in foreign languages, where 
 there were none to interpret, or none to understand. If, however, 
 it was an afflatus which came upon them from without to enable 
 them to express the extreme rapture or ecstasy of their souls, then 
 they could not restrain themselves, and the Apostolic reproof 
 would scarcely apply to them. 
 
 "Howbeit in malice be ye children." Rather "Be ye infan- 
 tile." Notice how pervaded the Apostle's mind is with the exalted 
 place of charity above all other Christian dispositions. 
 
 " But in understanding be men " — " be as those of full age ; be 
 ripe ; be perfect." 
 
 21. " In the law it is written. With men of other tongues, and 
 other lips," &c. This quotation is exceedingly difficult to ai)ply 
 
 1 "After pajriHg this homage to glossolation, the Apostle consigns this gift to its place. 
 This place is the domain of private edification, not of public worship" (Qodet). 
 
 R 
 
242 OTHER TONGUES AND OTHER LIPS. [I. Cor. 
 
 other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people ; 
 and vet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. 
 
 21. "And other lips" (Irlpoif). So D., E., F., G„ K., L., P., most Cursives; but ^f, A., 
 B., 5, 6, 10, 17, 31, 39, 67**, 73, read, "with the lips of others " {Wifuni). 
 
 to the matter upon which the Apostle is writing — the ahuse of the 
 gift of tongues. So difficult is it that Edwards actually supposes 
 that this gift of tongues, which the Apostle desired that all the 
 Corinthian Christians should possess, was given by way of punish- 
 ment on themselves. His words are : " The Apostle taunts the 
 Corinthians as the prophet taunts Israel, with being children in 
 understanding ; and as the Lord threatens to speak to Israel in 
 the, to them, unintelligible language of the Assyrians, so the 
 childish vanity and ostentation of the Corinthians is visited with 
 an outburst of ecstatic cries in the Church assemblies. The 
 tongues are an example of analogical retribution, childishness 
 receiving childish gifts." We read this with amazement, when we 
 remember Acts xix. 6, " The Holy Ghost came upon them, and 
 they spake with tongues and prophesied ; " or 1 Cor. xii. 8-10, " For 
 to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom — to another divers 
 kinds of tongues — to another the interpretation of tongues ; " 
 (xiv. 5), "I would that ye all spake with tongues," and many 
 other places. One is staggered at a Christian speaking thus of the 
 gifts of the Spirit. St. Paul writes against the abuse of a gift 
 which, if taken in its proper meaning, demonstrates more than 
 any other the power of God on the side of the Gospel. He reminds 
 his hearers that God had prophesied that some time in their 
 future, " with other tongues, and with other lips he would spe^k to 
 this people." This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, in 
 Csesarea, in Ephesus, and at Corinth. Now the Apostle's reason- 
 ing is, " This speaking with other tongues and other lips " was for 
 the unbelieving Jews, that they might hear, but so perverse were 
 they that they rejected the testimony of the extraordinary great- 
 ness of the gift, and stopped their ears. But this did not undo 
 the fact that some of them heard and believed the Word. Much 
 stress is to be laid on the words, " Yet for all that," as showing 
 not only the greatness of the gift, but its fitness for converting un- 
 believers. It is clear that in the words " For all that they will 
 not hear," there can be no covert allusion to the Corinthian 
 
€hap. XIV.] TONGUES ARE A SIGN. 243 
 
 22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to tliem that 
 believe, but to them that believe not : but prophesying serveth 
 not for them that believe not, but for them which beheve. 
 
 23 If therefore the whole church be come together into 
 one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in 
 those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, ^ wiU "» Acts u. is. 
 they not say that ye are mad ? 
 
 Christians, for on one hypothesis their belief extended to ecstasy 
 in devotion, and on the other (the ancient one) the Spirit had been 
 given to them to enable them to perform an astonishing miracle 
 on the side of the truth. 
 
 22. " Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe» 
 but to them, &c." Tongues can only be a sign to those who under- 
 stand them, and who also are sure that those who speak them 
 have not learned them in the ordinary way. When these two 
 -conditions meet no miracle performed in favour of the Gospel could 
 be greater, if so great : but if one came to them speaking in a 
 tongue of ecstatic rhapsody, of which they would not understand 
 one word, they would naturally say, as the Apostle tells us in 
 the next verse, that the speaker was out of his senses. And 
 «ven if the meaning of the words of ecstasy was given to them 
 by an interpreter, it seems to me that it would be most unhkely 
 to convert them. What would convert them would be the ac- 
 count of the Death and Eesurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, power- 
 fully evidenced by external miracles, and not the expression of 
 feeling which prompted the ecstatic tongue, which I think would 
 be, till they were converted, as unintelHgible to them as the tongue 
 itself. 
 
 " But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for 
 them which believe." Prophesying was for the edification, or build- 
 ing up of those in whose hearts the foundation was laid by repent- 
 ance and faith. The prophet seems ordinarily not to have been the 
 Evangelist sent to the heathen. His work was rather, as expressed 
 in verse 3, the edification, exhortation, and comfort of Christians. 
 
 23. " If therefore the whole chm'ch be come together into one place, 
 ... ye are mad ? " If an unlearned layman, or an unbeliever, 
 -enter into the Church when those who have the gift of tongues 
 are exercising it, he would be utterly confounded at the apparent 
 
244 IF ALL PEOPHESY. [L Cor. 
 
 24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that he- 
 lieveth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is 
 judged of all : 
 
 jargon and confusion. This, of course, would be the case whatever 
 we take the gift of tongues to be, whether the gift of ecstatic utter- 
 ance or of foreign languages. 
 
 It is very important, however, to notice it, as some who hold the 
 ecstatic language theory maintain that the tongue was given to the 
 unconverted heathen in judgment — to convince them of a fast 
 approaching retribution ; but here St. Paul supposes a totally diffe- 
 rent effect — that instead of the heathen being led to fear judgment 
 to come they would be led to believe in the insanity of the utterer 
 of the tongue/ 
 
 24. " But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth 
 not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all," &c. The prophet 
 (verse 3) is supposed to speak to men, " to edification, and exhorta- 
 tion and comfort ; " and particularly it is assumed that he speaks in 
 the vernacular language. When then the private person or un- 
 believer hears the exhortation to believe in Jesus, and receive from 
 Him a new life, or when he hears words of comfort which assure 
 him of the abundant consolation here for all the evils of life, and 
 the good hope of eternal life hereafter, then under God's grace he 
 is convinced of all — that is, everyone who prophesies brings some- 
 
 1 Thus Edwards :— " The ecstatic cries in the Church assemblies were intended by 
 God to be a sign to the unbelievers (the heathens of Corinth) that the day of the Lord was 
 near." But this seems impossible, unless we suppose that the day of grace was absolutely 
 closed to the people of Corinth. Godet takes it in a somewhat different sense. He likens 
 it to our Lord speaking in parables. " It is a sign of His growing breach with the mass of 
 the nation. So it is with tongues, glossolation is neither a means of conversion, nor a 
 sign of approaching judgment on unbelievers. It is a demonstration given to their own 
 conscience of the state of unbelief which God sees them to have reached. Would a God 
 of light manifest Himself in the midst of His own by unintelligible sounds? Here there 
 is a sign of severance, which is gradually carried out." So far M. Godet. But he does 
 not tell us plainly to whom this sign of unintelligible speech is addressed. It cannot be 
 to the Corinthian Church assembly, for assuredly we are not to believe that they were in 
 such a state of unbelief that Jesus Christ was gradually withdrawing himself from them. 
 There is not one word of such a withdrawal in all the rest of these two Epistles. And 
 it cannot be the heathen of Corinth ; for how could they possibly guess that people 
 speaking in unintelligible utterances was an assurance that a certain obscure prophecy 
 and a certain mysterious conduct of our Lord to His fellow countrymen was a sign to 
 them ? How could they be expected to know the purport of Isaiah xxviii. 11, 12, or of 
 the facts recorded in Matthew xiii. ? 
 
Chap. XIV.] GOD IS IN YOU. 245 
 
 25 And tliiis are tlie secrets of his heart made manifest ; 
 and so falling down on his face lie will worship God, and 
 report "" that God is in you of a truth. ° isa. xiy. u. 
 
 ^ ^ Zech. vm. 23. 
 
 26 How is it then, brethren ? when ye come 
 together, every one of you hath a psalm, ° hath a ''■^^\%'t',\^' 
 
 25. " And thns." These words omitted in N, A., B., D*,, F., G., ten Cursives, d, e, f, 
 g, Vulg., Syriac, Copt., Arm., Goth., ^th. ; but retained by K., L., most Cursives, &c. 
 
 thing home to his conscience — ^he is judged of all, t.e., everyone 
 that so prophesies in words that he can understand shows him his 
 real state. 
 
 25. " And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest ; and 
 so," &c. The effect of all Divine teaching is, first of all, the revelation 
 of a man's heart to himself — in fact, conviction of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, and of judgment. This is the first thing, the foundation on 
 which all the spiritual edifice is built, and without which it is 
 uncertain and insecure. It is that also which manifests the 
 presence of the Searcher of hearts, and so, being convinced that He 
 is present in the Church, the man falls down and worships. A 
 singular interpretation of this is given by Edwards. *' The un- 
 believer falls on his face in shame that the hidden sins of his heart 
 should have been brought to light." But is it to be supposed that 
 a man's secret sins should be made known to the whole Church ? 
 "Why may not the man fall on his face in adoration, as the sera- 
 phim employ four out of their six wings to show reverence at the 
 presence of God (Isaiah vi. 2) ? If Christ fell on His face (Matt, 
 xxvi. 39) why should not we ? 
 
 26. " How is it then, brethren ? when ye come together, every 
 one of you hath a psalm," &c. This sounds as if there were some- 
 thing of blame in it, but we need not so understand it. He had 
 said that " the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to 
 profit withal," and then he exemplifies it by recounting the gifts 
 which various persons in their assembly were likely to possess. 
 
 The first of these is singular. " Everyone of you hath a psalm." 
 "Was this one of the one hundred and fifty, or was it a hymn like 
 those poured forth by inspiration, such as the song of the Blessed 
 Virgin, or of Zacharias, or of Simeon ? Most likely one of the 
 latter, composed by some individual Christian under the special 
 teaching of the Spirit 
 
246 HATH A DOCTRINE. [I. Cor, 
 
 doctrine, liath a tongue, hatli a revelation, hatli an interpreta- 
 p ch. xii. 7. tion. P Let all thin^^s be done nnto edifying. 
 
 2 Cor. xii. 19. ° -^ ° 
 
 Eph. iv. 12. 
 
 26. "Hath a tongne." These words put after "hath a revelation " in H, A., B., D., 
 E., P., G., 17, 73, 93, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Syr., Copt., ^Eth. ; but L. and most Cursives hare- 
 " hath a tongue" before "hath a revelation." 
 
 But how came such psalms or hymns to be lost ? Very probably 
 because, when so many had the power of composing them, they 
 were little thought of, after their first utterance : and their places 
 were supplied by others. But why have we not inspired hymns ? 
 Well, we do not know whether we have not. It is very probabla 
 that many of the hymns in our most popular hymn book, contain- 
 ing the productions of holy men in all ages, are as much inspired by 
 God as were these psalms of the Corinthians. It is questionable 
 whether the most of them would have had more genuine inspira- 
 tion than " Glory be to Jesus," or " Kock of Ages," or " The' 
 Church's One Foundation," or " Sacred Head surrounded," or, 
 " Jesu, Lover of my Soul." 
 
 It is scarcely probable that they were altogether extem- 
 poraneous, though, like the Magnificat, many might have been. 
 In Tertullian's time (about 190 or 200 a.d.) it appears that each one 
 in turn might be called upon to sing.^ 
 
 " Hath a doctrine." Probably what we now call an instruction. 
 
 " Hath a tongue." Probably this should come after the next, — 
 " Hath a revelation ; " the order being "hath a revelation, hath 
 a tongue," &c. The revelation is, most probably, a prophetical 
 announcement, coming more dnectly from the Spirit than the 
 didaxn, or instruction. 
 
 Such an abundance of gifts seems to put the earliest Church far 
 above the present ; but it is not so, for it is to be remembered that 
 the Corinthian Church had but a small part of our New Testament 
 — indeed, probably one Gospel, and the Epistle which St. Paul wa»^ 
 
 1 This fact appears in a description of the love feast. " Men sit not down to meat before 
 tasting in the first place of prayer to God. They eat as much as hungry men desire ; 
 they drink as much as is profitable for chaste men ; they are so filled as men who 
 remember that during the night also they must pray to God ; they so discourse as those- 
 who know that God heareth. After that water for the hands and lights are brought, 
 according as each is able, out of the Holy Scriptures, or of his own mind, he is called upon, 
 to sing publicly to God. Hence it is proved in what degree he hath drunken " (Tertul- 
 lian, Apol., i. 39.) 
 
Chap. XIV.] IF THERE BE NO INTERPRETER. 247 
 
 27 If any man speak in an unhnown tongue, let it he by 
 two, or at the most by three, and that by course ; and let 
 one interpret. 
 
 28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in 
 the church ; and let him speak to himseK and to God. 
 
 now writing. It is possible that they might have had the two short 
 Epistles to the Thessalonians, but no more. 
 
 Whereas we, though we have no prophecy, no apocalypses, no 
 tongues, have the teaching or prophes5"ing of the Apostles in a per- 
 manent form in their Epistles which have come down to us, as 
 well as such sources of Divine instruction as St. Luke's and St. 
 John's Gospels. 
 
 " Let all things be done unto edifying." Not to self-exaltation, 
 not to the display of gifts, but let there be but one aim, one pur- 
 pose, the building up of the body of Christ in Christ. 
 
 27. " If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by 
 two, or at the most," &c. " Let it be by two, or at the most by 
 three." EUicott renders this, " To the number of two, or at the most 
 three." Why does St. Paul permit the speaking of tongues at all 
 in a Church assembly where all spoke one language ? Blunt sug- 
 gests, and with great probability of truth, that there might be pre- 
 sent strangers from other countries, particularly sea-faring men, 
 who had been moved to embrace the Gospel, and that those who 
 had the gift had specially such in view, but inasmuch as the greater 
 part used the Greek language, one who had the gift of the inter- 
 pretation of tongues must always be present. It is not in the least 
 degree likely that there were many in the Church, if any, who were 
 in a state of ecstacy. Considering how the Apostle has to blame 
 them for sinful divisions, for party spirit, for uncomely behaviour 
 in the house of God, for the abuse of the Agape, for want of realiza- 
 tion of the meaning and intent of the Eucharist, and for want of 
 charity, it is extremely unlikely, I say, that there would be much, 
 if any, true ecstatic rapture among them, which must perforce vent 
 itself in sounds unintelligible to the assembled Church. There 
 might be false ecstacy, unreal rapture, but this could hardly take 
 the form of a gift of God's Holy Spirit. 
 
 28. " But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence." But 
 if, as some commentators hold, this gift of unintelligible utterance 
 
248 LET THE OTHER JUDGE. [I. Cor. 
 
 29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and "^let the 
 q ch. xii. 10. other judge. 
 
 29. " The other." Properly, " others." 
 
 was given as a sign of judgment (see Edwards, Godet, and Bishop 
 Ellicott, on verse 21), why should the man thus endowed keep 
 silence ? By doing so he would withhold the needful warning — for, 
 according to these expositors, the very unintelligibleness of the 
 tongue was a sign of judgment to come. 
 
 " Let him speak to himself, and to God." This might be possible 
 in a congregation in England. A man may speak to God in the 
 Hebrew words of a Psalm, or in the Greek words of such a hymn 
 as the Magnificat, or in the Latin words of the Te Deum, and be 
 blameless ; but he would appear to be guilty of great vanity and 
 foolishness if he spoke all this aloud in the congregation. 
 
 29. " Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other 
 (others) judge." He now proceeds to regulate, or set limitations 
 to the prophetic utterances— two or three only were to speak (appa- 
 rently) at each meeting of the Church. 
 
 "And let the others (oi aXAoi) judge." But if prophecy was a 
 gift of the Spirit, and if the prophets spoke by the Spirit, how could 
 their utterances be judged? This seems to imply a very great gulf 
 between the utterances of the great prophets, whose prophecies have 
 been embodied in the Canon of Scripture, and those of these some- 
 what inferior prophets of the Church. Were there degrees of in- 
 spiration ? but whatever degrees there were, prophecy in each one 
 is reckoned by St. Paul as a gift of the Spirit. Perhaps the key is 
 to be found in 1 John iv. 1, *' Beloved, believe not every spirit, but 
 try the spirits, whether they are of God .... Every Spirit that 
 confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God," &c. 
 And so it was in the times of the Old Covenant. There was very 
 great abundance of prophecy, but much of it was false, and the 
 people of God had constantly to be guarded against false prophets.^ 
 (See particularly Ezek. xiii, and Jer. iv. 9, v. 13, 31, and many other 
 places.) 
 
 Perhaps, however, the word "judge" may be taken in the sense 
 
 1 The author of the " Didache " gives a very clear warning respecting the danger from 
 false prophets : " not every one that speaks in the spirit is a prophet, but only if he have 
 the manners of the Lord " (ch. xi.). 
 
Chap. XIV.] LET THE FIRST HOLD HIS PEACE. 249 
 
 30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, 
 3t the first hold his peace. 
 
 31 For ye may all prophesy one by ( 
 all may learn, and all may be comforted. 
 
 ' let the first hold his peace. •• i Thess. \ 
 
 31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that 
 
 of " discerning." It seems strange that what we account to be 
 utterances of the Spirit should need to be judged before being ac- 
 cepted by the Church : if so the Christian assembly must have 
 sometimes taken the form of a debating society. Is it pos&ible that 
 the power of prophecy — i.e., the eloquence — the ready choice of 
 words and expressions was one thing, and the matter of the pro-> 
 phecy another? Commentators notice the extraordinary difference 
 between this rule of St. Paul's, and that given by the unknown 
 author of the Didache, who lays it down that it is the sin against 
 the Holy Ghost to judge the prophetic utterance, '* Ye shall not 
 tempt, neither judge of any prophet, speaking in the Spirit ; for 
 every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shaU not be forgiven" 
 (Chap. xi.). 
 
 Altogether the whole subject of prophecy, both as it appears in 
 the Old Testament and in the New, is exceedingly mysterious — 
 quite as much, if not more so, than that of the tongues. 
 
 30. " If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let 
 the first hold," &c. This that was revealed to the other being 
 from the Spirit, was a sign that the first had prophesied sufficiently, 
 and that it was now the turn of another. Thus Chrysostom : 
 " Since what need was there further, that when the second was 
 moved to prophecy, the first should speak ? Ought they, then, 
 both ? Nay, this were profane, and would produce confusion. 
 Ought the first ? This, too, were out of place. For to this end, 
 when the one was speaking, the Spirit moved the other, in order 
 that he, too, might say somewhat." 
 
 31. "For ye may aU prophesy one by one, that all may learn," 
 &c. There seems not to have been a particle of jealousy in the 
 Apostolic mind respecting prophecy interfering with Church rule or 
 Church order. He seems to have had altogether the mind of Moses, 
 *' Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the 
 Lord would put His Spirit upon them." (Numb. xi. 29.) 
 
 May I be permitted to repeat here what I have written on Acts ii, 
 17, 18 ? " The Apostle here declares that the gift of the Spirit shall 
 
250 GOD THE AUTHOR OF PEACE. [I. Cor. 
 
 32 And Hhe spirits of the prophets are subject to the- 
 
 " 1 John iv. 1, prophets. 
 
 or, unqZ- ' 33 For Grod is not the author of f confusion^ 
 
 "X. xi. 16. ^^^ ^^ peace, * as in all churches of the saints. 
 
 33. Some connect the latter part of this verse with the rest, " as in all chnrches of the- 
 saints, let the -womeu keep silence iu the churches." So Tischendorf. 
 
 not be in any way confined to the educated and respectable of the- 
 world, but shall reach to servants and slaves. We of the Church of 
 England should look to this. If " the Lord gives the word, great 
 may be the company of the preachers," and He may not see fit to 
 confine the great prophetical gift to those educated in universities or 
 colleges. "We shall in such cases have to fall in with His mind, and 
 find suitable spheres for those who have undoubtedly gifts of the 
 Spirit directly from Him, and we may rest assured that such gifts, 
 if truly and indeed from Him, will not tend to the disintegration, 
 but to the Unity of the One Mystical Body." 
 
 " That all may learn, and all may be comforted." This implies 
 that each one gifted with the prophetic spirit has, or may have, his 
 own individual message, and his own power of imparting comfort.. 
 Does this mean that each and every member of the Church may 
 speak, or is it, as Godet appears to think, to be limited to those 
 who have the prophetic gift ? Very probably the Church then had 
 powers of instantly recognizing a true prophetic utterance which 
 have not been recorded. 
 
 32. " And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 
 This has been taken to mean that the prophetic utterances are subject 
 to the judgment of the body or company of those similarly inspired,, 
 or it may mean that the prophetic impulse in each man is under the 
 control of his own spirit. Thus Wordsworth : *' They who professed 
 to be moved by the Spirit might allege that they were not and 
 could not be subject to any laws of order and discipline, and there- 
 fore the Apostle teaches that it is the very essence of genuine pro- 
 phecy, as distinguished from that which is spurious, to be regulated 
 according to the laws prescribed by God, for the good order and 
 edification of His Church ; " and with this agrees what follows. 
 
 33. " For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in 
 all churches of the saints." This is an universal axiom, that. 
 
Chap. XIV.] LET WOMEN KEEP SILENCE. 251 
 
 34 "" Let your women keep silence in tlie churches : for it 
 is not permitted unto them to speak ; but ^ they « i Tim. u. 
 are commanded to be under obedience, as also x ch. xi. 3. 
 saith the ^ law. c^Liu. is*. 
 
 __^_^___ Tit. ii. 5. 1 
 
 '' Pet, iii. 1. 
 
 J Gen. iii. 16. 
 
 whatever in a church tends to dissension is not from God. Ought 
 not then false doctrines, or superstitious worship, to be protested 
 against ? Yes ; but in trembling subordination to the Unity of the 
 Body. If men are not hasty, not ambitious of being leaders, and 
 revolt at originating schism, God, we believe, will find out a way 
 of removing error and establishing the truth. 
 
 If the latter words of this verse, " as in all churches of the saints," 
 are to be connected with the first part, then the Apostle in them 
 emphasizes the maxim that God is the author of peace every- 
 where. He is, as we address Him as being, " The author of peace 
 and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal 
 life." 
 
 34. " Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not 
 permitted," &c. This precept is so exceedingly plain and direct, 
 that it must of necessity overrule all inferences in favour of women 
 speaking in the church, drawn from chap. xi. 5, and also from Acts 
 xxi. 9. Whatever form the praying or prophesying of women as- 
 sumed it must not be such as would enable them to be for the time 
 superior in the public assemblies to men, as the teacher of neces- 
 sity places himself over the taught. They are to be in subjection, 
 under obedience, and the first words in which God, after the fall, 
 assigns to the sexes their relative positions is a testimony to this, 
 " Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." 
 This verse of Genesis contains the principle which is contravened 
 wherever a woman is allowed to preach publicly.^ This rule is con- 
 stantly infringed among the sects, but how any woman by profes- 
 sion belonging to the Church of England with this place in her 
 Bible can desire to do such a thing seems inexphcable. 
 
 35. " And if they wiU learn any thing, let them ask their 
 husbands," &c. The prohibition extends even to their asking 
 
 1 An occasion took place lately on which I was present, when a Christian woman 
 was allowed to speak in an assembly of clergy and representative laity, and the result 
 was most distressing. 
 
252 LET THEM ASK AT HOME. [I. Cor. 
 
 35 And if they will learn anj thing, let them ask their 
 husbands at home : for it is a shame for women to speak in 
 the church. 
 
 36 What? came the word of G-od out from you? or 
 came it unto you only ? 
 
 « 2 Cor. X. 7. 37 "^ If any man think himself to be a prophet, 
 
 or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things 
 that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 
 
 35. " For women." So D., E., F., G., K., L., most Cursives, d, e, g, Syriac ; but «, A., 
 B., some Cursives, Vulg., Copt., Basm., Arm., .^th., read, "a woman." 
 
 37. "Are the commandments." So E,, K., L., most Cursives; h, A., B., 17, Copt., 
 .^th., read, " is the commandment ; " but D., E., F. (Gr.), G., d, e, g, read merely, " are 
 of the Lord." 
 
 questions. Their voices are not to be heard in the Christian 
 assembly. 
 
 " For it is a shame for women (or a woman) to speak in the 
 church." It is contrary to modesty and propriety, and in so far 
 as it is a contravention of a great scripture principle it is sinful and 
 wrong. 
 
 36. "What? came the word of God out from you? or came it 
 unto you only ? " They had acted in the matter of allowing women 
 to preach and to worship with heads uncovered, and of assigning 
 that particular value and position to the various works of the Spirit 
 which their fancy dictated, and of measuring the Eucharist by the 
 Agape — they had acted, in all these matters, as if they were the 
 authors of their own Christianity — as if, because of their manifold 
 spiritual gifts, the word of God had come forth from Corinth, in- 
 stead of from Jerusalem. The Apostle reminds them that instead 
 of such being the case the word of God was brought to them by 
 himself, and those under him. They had received all from him — 
 even the first gifts of the Spirit had come, as in all other churches, 
 through the laying on of Apostolic hands. 
 
 37. " If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let 
 him acknowledge," &c. This is a most decisive dictum. It scatters 
 to the winds any idea respecting the independence of local churches. 
 If auy Church had any right to assert such independence because 
 of the manifold gift of the Spirit in its members, it was this Church 
 of Corinth. They might rejoin to all that the Apostle had written 
 
Chap. XIV.] COVET TO PKOPHESY. 255 
 
 38 But if any man be ignorant, let tim be ignorant, 
 
 39 Wherefore, brethren, ^ covet to prophesy, » ch. xii. 31. 
 _„-._ -, . \ r r J' ^ -jj^ggg^ ^ 20. 
 
 and forbid not to speak with tongues. 
 
 to them in the way of blame or direction, " If you have the spirit 
 so have we." And to this the Apostle replies, "If you have the 
 spirit He will not say one thing in you and another in me." You 
 with your divisions, and parties, and differences from all other 
 churches, and pride and self-seeking, are not likely to have the 
 Spirit in such measure that you are able to criticize what I deliver 
 by inspiration of God. The evidence on your part of having the 
 Spirit will be seen in your at once acknowledging that what I write 
 is from the Lord through the Holy Ghost. 
 
 This passage may also be taken not only as an assertion of a 
 higher inspiration, which it is, but as a vindication of his own 
 action in all his dealings with them. He had not, as Godet says, 
 directed the Church in ways of his own choice, but by the hght 
 which is assured to him as an Apostle, charged with founding and 
 governing the Churches of the Gentiles. 
 
 38. " But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." If any 
 man is, or professes to be, ignorant that what I say is from direct 
 inspiration, let him be ignorant — there is no help for him if he 
 chooses to make naught of the proofs of my inspiration, such as 
 that I have imparted to you the Gospel, and with it the gifts of the 
 Spirit, and that I do more miracles, and speak with more tongues 
 than you all. (See 2 Corinth, xii. 12.) 
 
 39. " Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to 
 speak with tongues." *' Covet to prophesy." This is in accord- 
 ance with what he had said at the beginning of the chapter, 
 *' Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." 
 
 " Forbid not to speak with tongues." This permission he had 
 given in verse 27, but with this proviso, that there was to be an 
 interpreter in the church. If there were no interpreter, and if he 
 could not himself intei-pret, as might well be the case (see note on 
 verse 5), then he must keep silence. It is to be remembered that 
 the gift of speaking in a language not learnt by natural means was 
 a most wonderful miracle of God's power over the human mind, 
 and if used intelligently in the Church, and understood by the 
 hearers through the interpreter, was a most manifest sign of the 
 
254 DECENTLY AND IN ORDER. [I. Cor. 
 
 * ver. 33. 40 ^ Let all things be done decently and in order. 
 
 40. *• Let all things." So K., L., and almost all Cursives ; but N, A., B., D., E., F., 
 ■G., P., fifteen Cursives, Ital., Vulg., Syr., Copt., Arm., read, " but let all things" {Si). 
 
 presence in the Church of the Spirit of Power. On this account it 
 might be permitted in the Church, though the proper place for exer- 
 cising it were places to which foreigners resorted. But I beg the 
 reader to try and realize how impossible it was for the Apostle to 
 say such a thing as *' forbid not to speak with tongues," if these 
 tongues (or this tongue) were the outward sign or effect of inward 
 ecstatic or rapturous devotion. How could he say " forbid not the 
 ■outward manifestations of the most extreme love for God or 
 Christ, or the raptures of the first experience of forgiveness, or the 
 exceedingly warm glow of soul at the consciousness of the Spirit 
 within one, or of heaven brought close to one ? " 
 
 40. " Let all things be done decently and in order." " Decently." 
 Here he is supposed to hint at the conduct of the women, and the 
 •disorders in the Agape, and the celebration of the Eucharist. 
 Such disorders were unseemly and indecorous. And they were 
 not likely to be alone, for where the spirit of reverence for the 
 •Church of Christ was wanting, the spirit of laxity and disorder was 
 sure to find entrance. 
 
 " And in order." Here he is supposed to refer to the want of 
 order in the use of the gifts of the Spirit, which he reproves and 
 •corrects in verses 23-33. 
 
 But he enunciates an axiom which should be ever present in the 
 conduct of all public worship — a precept which forbids all slovenli- 
 ness — all haste — all want of that carefulness which we should 
 observe in our approaches to One Whom we should regard with 
 such profound reverence. It contains the spirit of such words as 
 ** Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness ; " " Serve the Lord 
 with fear, and rejoice unto him with reverence." *' I am a great 
 King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the 
 heathen" (Mai. i. 14). 
 
 As the matter contained in this chapter is of very great im- 
 portance to our right conception of the Holy Spirit's working, it 
 may be well to recapitulate the reasons for accepting the ancient 
 Tiew of this great work of God, and rejecting the modern one. 
 
 1. The account of the gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost 
 
Chap. XIV.] THE TONGUES. 255 
 
 being the first in order, and the most definite as regards the aim, 
 exercise, and purpose of the gift, raust rule all other notices. 
 
 2. Of this Pentecostal gift, a writer who believes in the ecstatic 
 devotion theory (Edwards) says : — " If we had only the narrative 
 in the Acts, no one would have supposed the gift of tongues meant 
 anything else than the power of speaking in languages, colloquial 
 knowledge of which had not, in the ordinary way, been acquired 
 by the Apostles " (p. 319). 
 
 3. The same writer goes on to say : — " If, on the other hand, we 
 possessed only the references to it in this Epistle, it is hard to 
 believe anybody would have suspected that the gift of tongues 
 meant this, though it would be difficult to say what it did 
 mean ! " 
 
 4. In order to assign some meaning to the account in our 
 Epistle, the gift of tongues has been supposed to be some unknown 
 language, a work of the Holy Spirit, devised by Him to enable 
 certain of the Corinthians to express the ecstatic rapture of their 
 love to God and joy in Jesus Christ, which could not be done 
 adequately in the Greek language which they commonly used. 
 
 5. In such a case the gift of tongues was not a gift in itself, but 
 the expression of a state of internal feeling respecting God and 
 Christ and eternal things, which betokened the highest state of 
 devotion possible. Then Godet describes it : "I can only regard 
 the gift of tongues as the expression in a language spontaneously 
 created by the Holy Spirit of the new views, and of the profound 
 and lively emotions of the human soul set free jor the jhst 
 time from the feeling of condemnation, and enjoying the ineffable 
 sweetness of the relation of Sonship to God." But let the reader 
 remark that M. Godet's explanation postulates but one exercise 
 of the gift in each person, and that is, at conversion, whereas the 
 Apostle's account is, that the exercise of it constantly recurred and 
 required to be restrained.^ 
 
 6. I have examined in the preceding pages this chapter very 
 
 1 In the extraordinary manifestations of religions feeling which took place in the north 
 oi Ireland somewhere about 1858 or 1859, the persons affected were thrown into a trance, 
 and when they awoke out of it gave vent to their feelings in a prayer (it is said; of extra- 
 ordinary fervour and beauty of language ; but this was in the vernacular, nor was there 
 any case of utterances unintelligible to the bystanders. As far as I can gather the 
 utterance of this prayer occurred but once. From what I have heard, the effects of this 
 Revival were in the long run most lamentable, as might be expected when we leara 
 that the religious meetings were prolonged till after midnight. 
 
256 THE TONGUES. [I. Cor. 
 
 carefully verse by verse, and have, I trust, shown that in no case 
 were the tongues unintelligible. In every case they are supposed 
 to be capable of interpretation. There is no association whatever 
 of ecstasy, or of rapturous devotion, with their use. On the con- 
 trary, the language in which the Apostle speaks of them is quite 
 incompatible with this modem explanation, that they are the 
 expression of real genuine Christian ecstasy. And every mention 
 of them throughout the whole account implies that they were a gift 
 of speaking in foreign languages analogous to the great Pentecostal 
 gift, only not intelhgently or wisely used, but perverted to the 
 purposes of religious display. And this is quite in accordance 
 with the character of many members of the Corinthian Church — 
 perhaps of a considerable number of them, as we learn from 
 numerous places in the Epistle (i. 12 ; iii. 1, 3, 18, 21 ; iv. 7, 8, 9, 
 10; V. 2, 6; viii. 1, 2 ; xi. 21, 22). 
 
 7. Not only is the whole chapter inconsistent with the ecstatic 
 devotion theory, but some places markedly so, as particularly 
 verses 10, 11, 18, and 22 ; and to my notes on these verses I desire 
 to refer the reader. 
 
 8. It has been said that the part of the world which was evange 
 lized by the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John did not need any 
 special gift of speaking foreign languages, because Greek or Latin 
 was spoken more or less in all the coasts of the Mediterranean ; 
 but this is a mistake. The merchants and seamen from the shores 
 of the Black Sea and other distant parts who frequented the marts 
 and docks of Corinth no doubt knew enough Greek to enable them 
 to unlade and victual their vessels, and bargain about the prices of 
 their goods ; but the vast bulk of them would be unable to under- 
 stand at first the simplest sermon respecting the claims of Jesus of 
 Nazareth to be the Christ — the Saviour of the world. 
 
 9. It has been said that we have no account of the Apostles or 
 others using this gift for missionary purposes, but this is said in 
 flat contradiction to the account in Acts ii., where persons of all 
 nationalities heard them speak in their own tongues the wonderful 
 works of God. What is this but a missionary use of the gift at its 
 very beginning I And what is still more to the purpose, we have 
 no account of any Apostle or Apostolic man spending a considerable 
 time in acquiring the language of those to whom he was com- 
 missioned to preach, which account we always find in the Ufe of 
 every modern missionary. 
 
CuAP.XIV.] THE TONGUES. 257 
 
 In concluding this summary I desire the reader to remember 
 that what I am really contending for is the identity of the gift of 
 tongues in Acts ii. and 1 Cor. xiv. On the ecstatic devotion theory 
 they are wholly different. 
 
 Tertullian has been appealed to as the one Father who has taken 
 the modern view, but I think wholly without reason. He refers to 
 it thus in his book against Marcion (book v. chap, viii.) : " Now 
 compare the Spirit's specific graces, as they are described by the 
 Apostle, and promised by the prophet Isaiah. ' To one is given,* 
 says he, ' by the Spirit the word of wisdom.' This we see at once 
 is what Isaiah declared to be the 'Spirit of wisdom.' 'To 
 another the word of knowledge.' This will be the prophet's 
 * Spirit of understanding and counsel.' To another, ' faith by 
 the same spirit.' This will be the Spirit of religion and the fear 
 of the Lord. ' To another the gifts of healing, and to another the 
 working of miracles.' This will be ' the Spirit of might.' ' To 
 another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another 
 diverse kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.' 
 This wUl be the ' Spirit of knowledge ' " — not, let the reader 
 lemark, the Spirit of rapture or of ecstasy, but the Spirit which 
 most differs from it, ' the Spirit of knowledge.' I have noticed in 
 my Excursus at the end of my volume on the Acts, two or three 
 passages from very early Fathers bearing on the use of this gift. 
 Irenseus, who lived within one hundred years after the writing of 
 the Acts, says : " Luke relates that the Spirit descended on the 
 disciples after the Ascension of the Lord, on the day of Pentecost, 
 in order that all nations might enter into life; wherefore they 
 united in all languages in praising God the Holy Spirit, bringing 
 distant tribes into unity, and offering the first-fruits of all nations 
 to God." (Irenaeus iii. 17, cited in Wordsworth on Acts ii.) Also 
 Irenaeus speaks as if the gift yet remained in the Church : " In 
 like manner we do also have many brethren in the Church who 
 possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all 
 kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the 
 hidden things of men and declare the hidden mysteries of God " 
 (v. 6). Also Origen on Eom. i., "I suppose that he was made a 
 debtor to different nations, because, through the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit, he had received the gift of speaking in the languages of all 
 nations, as he also himself saith, ' I speak in tongues more than ye 
 all.' " Of the " illustrations " of this great Pentecostal gift, which 
 
 s 
 
258 THE TONGUES. [I. Coe. 
 
 are cited by upholders of the modem view, I cannot find one 
 which is in point till we come to the Irvingite manifestations. 
 Some of the prophets of the Cevennes spoke sentences of Hebrew, 
 or Greek, or Latin (which languages they are supposed never to 
 have learned), but not in the language of ecstasy. Some mani- 
 festations also among the early Methodists are cited, but Wesley 
 himself, in his notes on this chapter, makes not the slightest allusion 
 to them. 
 
 The manifestations of the Irvingites I have treated of in an 
 excursus at the end of my volume on the Acts. I would ask one 
 question of those who cite these manifestations as illustrations 
 of the Pentecostal gift. Do they mean to imply that both alike 
 were gifts of the Spirit of God ? Because if so, why do they not 
 pay serious attention to the accounts of them, and search and 
 see in a spirit of humble submission whether God has sent any 
 message to us through these comparatively unknown persons in 
 whom it seems He has revived a gift of the Spirit which has been 
 in abeyance for eighteen hundred years ? 
 
 If these Irvingite manifestations are real, let us treat them as 
 Buch — as actual works of the Holy Spuit sent at first as a sign 
 to those that beheve not — i.e., to us, so that we may accept the 
 message, whatever it be, which they make known. If they are not 
 real, let us cease to cite them as " illustrations " of the work of 
 God at Pentecost, or we may commit a grievous sin against the 
 Holy Spirit Himself. 
 
 CHAP. xy. 
 
 ON THE EESUREECTION OF THE BODY. 
 Introductory. 
 
 We have in this chapter the Resurrection of the Dead set forth 
 as it is nowhere else in Scripture, and we may make the same 
 remark respecting this sublime enunciation of doctrine as we did 
 respecting that of the truth of the Eucharist in Chapter XT. 
 It is the especial prerogative of God to bring good out of evil, 
 and as He made the profanation of the Eucharist by the Corin- 
 
Chap. XV.] THE RESURRECTION. 259 
 
 thians an occasion for bringing out the Institution of the Holy 
 Communion, together with its doctrinal significance, more cir- 
 cumstantially than it is elsewhere revealed, so He has here made 
 the unbelief of the Corinthians respecting the Resurrection of the 
 Body the occasion for a vindication of the truth respecting that 
 Eesurrection which seems to exhaust the subject, and to leave 
 nothing to be desired by the Christian soul to aid it in its adoring 
 contemplation of this mystery of Godliness. 
 
 The circumstance which gave rise to his writing this chapter is 
 to be found in verse 12, " Now if Christ be preached that he rose 
 from the dead, how say some among you that there is no Eesur- 
 rection of the dead ? " The contents of this chapter are not so 
 much a declaration of the truth of the Resurrection, per se, as of 
 the necessary connection between Christ's Resurrection and ours. 
 The Resurrection is not based upon any natural law, though a 
 natural law is used as an illustration in verse 36 ; neither is it 
 made to depend upon a mere arbitrary putting forth of Almighty 
 power ; but it is treated as a result, an outcome of the Resurrection 
 of Christ. The whole chapter may be considered as an expansion 
 of the Lord's words, " Because I live, ye shall live also." 
 
 To this end it commences with an account of the evidences of 
 Christ's appearances in His risen Body which may with the utmost 
 propriety be called a fifth Gospel. It contains more notices of 
 appearances than any of the four, and it is to be remembered that 
 it is the earliest written form of the Gospel of a Risen Christ. 
 
 This setting forth of the Resurrection as the Gospel is eminently 
 Pauline. The enunciation of the Gospel at the commencement of 
 the Epistle to the Romans is that He " was made of the seed of 
 David according to the Flesh, and declared to be the Son of God 
 with power by the Resurrection from the dead." Justification of 
 life is intimately connected with behef in the Resurrection. (Rom. 
 iv. 24, 25.) So also Salvation, "We shall be saved by His Life." 
 {v. 10.) "If ... . thou shalt believe in thine heart that God raised 
 Him from the dead thou shalt be saved." (x. 9.) Again, " It is 
 Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again." (viii. 34.) Again, 
 " Remember that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead according 
 to my Gospel." (2 Tim. ii. 8.) On this account, then, the Holy 
 Spirit inspired the Apostle to commence this Revelation of this 
 cardinal truth of Christianity with a declaration of his Gospel. 
 This Gospel was the fact of Christ's Resurrection, and it was 
 
260 THE GOSPEL. [I. Cob. 
 
 MOEEOVEE, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel 
 ^ which I preached unto you, which also ye have 
 a Gal. i. 11. received, and ^ wherein ye stand ; 
 
 b Rom. V. 2. "^ 
 
 declared, or re-declared by the Apostle, because the very outward 
 fact witnessed to the resurrection of the dead. 
 
 Let us consider for a moment the significance of the Eesurrection 
 of the Lord. It is the Father's assurance of the truth of the Lord> 
 of the truth of all that the Lord bad said respecting His Sonship^ 
 His Atonement by His Death, His Life given to be our Life, His 
 Second Coming and Judgment. (1) His Sonship — that He was the 
 own, the very, the only Son of God. (2) That His Death had 
 accomplished the purpose for which He submitted to Death — to be 
 our ransom. (3) That by His renewed Life He could be the Bread 
 of Life, the Living Bread, the assurance of immortality to the body^ 
 as He said, " He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood, 
 hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (4) His 
 Second Coming, — " All that are in the graves shall hear the voice 
 of the Son of Man, and shall come forth." 
 
 Now the Eesurrection of Christ is the assurance of the truth of 
 all this, but its very outward form and manner is, in an especial 
 manner, the assurance of our Eesurrection. The Eesurrection of 
 Christ bears upon the Eesurrection of the Christian more directly 
 and palpably than upon any other truth of the Gospel, and so the 
 Apostle begins with it. 
 
 1. " Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you." " I declare unto< 
 you " — I make known unto you. The same word, yvwpt^w, is used 
 in Gal. i. 11, where it is translated, *' I certify you." Bishop 
 Ellicott's explanation seems the best : he says, " It is accompanied 
 with some tinge of reproach, marking that the Apostle was forced, 
 as it were, de novo, to make known the tenour and import of the 
 Gospel, since they seem not to realize it." 
 
 " The Gospel which I preached unto you." The Apostles were 
 especially witnesses of the Eesurrection. " With great power gave 
 the Apostles witness of the Eesurrection of the Lord Jesus." 
 (Acts iv. 33.) 
 
 *' Which also ye have received." The mere fact that they had 
 renounced heathenism, and were professedly members of the 
 
Chap. XV.] BY WHICH YE ARE SAVED. 261 
 
 2 '^ By wliicL. also ye are saved, if ye || keep in « Rom. i. le. 
 memory f what I preached unto you, unless ^ ye „ or, hold 
 have believed in vain. f ^'; ^^ ,^.^^ 
 
 speech. 
 
 d Gal. iii. 4. 
 
 Christian Church, was a proof that they had received this great 
 truth, however they might have failed to reaUze its vast issues. 
 
 "And wherein ye stand." So in Kom. v. 2. " By whom also 
 we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." 
 Chrysostom asks, " How saith he that they who were so tossed with 
 waves stand ? He feigns ignorance to profit them, desiring not to 
 repel them, as if they had no hold of the truth, but to encourage 
 them by the assumption that they had." Just as we in speaking 
 to our congregations do not assume that they are unbelievers, but 
 that they believe what they profess. 
 
 2. " By which also ye are saved." Salvation is always by the 
 Apostle Paul intimately connected with the Lord's Eesurrection. 
 *' If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall 
 believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
 ehalt be saved " (Rom. x. 9). In these latter days belief is fixed by 
 teachers and preachers on the Death of Christ, and often no 
 allusion is made to His Eesurrection. But in the first ages this 
 could not be : for it was nothing then to tell a heathen man that a 
 Jew had been crucified, and had died, but it was a great thing, and 
 demanded the whole submission of his soul to God to tell him that 
 God had raised up on the third day this crucified Jew, to assure 
 men that He was His Son, and the Saviour of the world. 
 
 " If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you." The expres- 
 sion is peculiar — " if ye hold fast with what word I preached it to 
 you (or, I evangelized you)." Godet explains : " By which also ye 
 are put in possession of salvation, if ye hold it (the word) as I have 
 taught it to you. The word \6yoQ here denotes the exact meaning 
 Paul had given to the facts here related. Faith should grasp not 
 only the fact, but also the Divine Thought realized in the fact." 
 
 The fact of the Resurrection even might be assented to apatheti- 
 cally, so there must be a realization in our inmost souls of the 
 purpose of Divine love contained in the fact preached. 
 
 The " if" (if ye hold fast) shows that he doubts whether some of 
 them had a firm hold of the Gospel itself. This doubt in the 
 Apostle's mind is not inconsistent with the words, " in which ye 
 
262 I DELIVERED UNTO YOU. [I. Cor. 
 
 ^ which I also received, hov tha^t Christ died for 
 
 our sins ^ according to the scriptures ; 
 
 ech. xi. 2, 23. 3 For ''I delivered untc you first of all that 
 
 f Gal. i. 12. 
 e Ps. xxii. 15, 
 &c. Isai. liii. 
 5, <3, &c. Dan. 
 
 ix. 26. Zech. 4 ^^j(j ^1^^^ i^Q ^a^g buried, and that he rose 
 
 xiii. 7. Luke 
 xxiv. 26, 46. 
 Actsiii. 18. & 
 
 XX vi. 23. 1 
 
 Pet. i. 11. & 
 ii. 24. 
 
 stand." He does not doubt their spiritual condition. Their lapse 
 had not yet passed the limit of a lax hold of truth. 
 
 " Unless ye have believed in vain " (or believed). Unless your 
 faith be dead, or unfruitful, or only nominal. It may, however, 
 mean, as in verse 14, " Unless the Kesurrection be not true, and so 
 ye have no foundation for your faith." 
 
 3. " For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also 
 received." He received it of those who first instructed him in the 
 Christian faith. He does not mention from whom — probably not 
 from Christ Himself, or he would have mentioned so important a 
 fact as he does in chap. xi. 23; and probably, also, not from the 
 Apostles themselves, as he seems not to have seen them till some 
 time after his conversion, and it was the Lord's Will that he should 
 be as independent of them as possible. 
 
 " How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." 
 If he preached the Resurrection of the Lord he must have preached 
 His previous Death, and this Death was an all-atoning one — it 
 was "for our sins." The proclamation of the Resurrection would 
 have been of no value — it would have proclaimed an universal 
 Resurrection to condemnation, except we had been reconciled to 
 God through the Death of Him "Who rose again. 
 
 *' For our sins according to the scriptures." If the Death of the 
 Messiah was according to the Scriptures, it must have been an 
 atoning and reconciling death ; for the place which above others 
 sets forth the Death of the Messiah, sets it forth in such terms as 
 " He was wounded for our transgressions ; he was bruised for our 
 iniquities ... all we like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord 
 hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 
 
 4. " And that he was buried." Why is this particularly men- 
 tioned ? No doubt because the circumstances of His Burial wit- 
 ness to the reality both of His Death and of His Resurrection. The 
 request of Joseph of Arimathea led to Pilate's inquiring at to the 
 
Chap. XV.] HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY. 263 
 again tlie third day ^ according to tlie scriptures : ^ ps. ii. 7. 
 
 Isa. hii. 10. 
 
 -~ Hos. vi. 2. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 26> 
 
 reality of the Lord's Death. His Burial, or rather 25-31, & xiii. 
 the preparation for it, as recorded in the Gospels, and xx\i.^22^2^ 
 the laying of Him for a short time in the tomb, ^ ^«t. i. ii. 
 guarded by soldiers at the instigation of the chief priests, are 
 all assurances of His absolute Death, and by consequence of the 
 reality of His coming to life again in the same body in which He 
 had suffered death. 
 
 " And that he rose again the third day according to the scrip- 
 tures." The principal place of Scripture in which the Resurrection 
 of Christ on the third day is foretold is Hosea vi. 2: "After two 
 days he will revive us ; on the third day he will raise us up, and 
 we shall live in his sight." In the preceding verse we have the 
 words of penitent Israel, " Come and let us return unto the Lord, 
 for he hath torn, and he will heal us, he hath smitten and he will 
 bind us up." The prophet here speaks by inspiration of Him in 
 Whom His people, indeed all men, die and are buried and rise again. 
 ** What Christ our head did. He did, not for Himself, but for His 
 redeemed, that the benefits of His Life, Death, Resurrection and 
 Ascension might redound to all. He did it for them ; they par- 
 took of what He did. In no other way could our participation in 
 Christ be foretold. 
 
 It was not the prophet's object here, nor was it so direct a com- 
 fort to Israel, to speak of Christ's Resurrection in itself. He took a 
 nearer way to their hearts. He told them, " all we who turn to 
 the Lord, putting our whole trust in Him, and committing our- 
 selves wholly to Him to be healed of our wounds, and to have our 
 griefs bound up, shall receive Life from Him, shall be raised up by 
 Him." They could not understand then how He would do this. 
 The ^^aftei' two days," and *'m the third day," remained a mysteiy 
 to be explained by the event. But the promise itself was not the 
 less distinct, nor the less full of hope, nor did it less fulfil all crav- 
 ings for life eternal and the sight of God, because they did not 
 understand how shall these things he ? Faith is unconcerned about 
 the " how." Faith believes what God says, because He says it, and 
 leaves Him to fulfil it, " how " He wills and knows. The words of 
 the promise which faith had to believe were plain. The life of 
 ■which the Prophet spoke, could only be life from death whether of 
 
264 HE WAS SEEN OF CEPHAS. [I. Cor. 
 
 t Lnke xxiv. 5 i Aud that he was seen of Cephas, then ^ of 
 
 34. r ' 
 
 k Matt, xxviii. the twelve : 
 
 17. Markxvi. 
 14. Luke xxiv. 
 
 3H. John xx. 
 
 19, 2J. Acts 
 X. 41. 
 
 the body or of the soul, or both. For God is said to give life only 
 in contrast with such death. Whence the Jews, too, have ever 
 looked, and do look, that this should be fulfilled in the Christ (Tar- 
 gum) though they know not that it has been fulfilled in Him. They 
 too explain it (Targum), " He will quicken in the day of consola- 
 tion, which shall come in the day of the quickening of the dead ; 
 He will raise us up and we shall live before Him." 
 
 In shadow the prophecy was never fulfilled to Israel at all. The 
 ten tribes were never restored : they never, as a whole, received any 
 favour from God, after He gave them up to captivity. And unto 
 the two tribes (of whom, apart from the ten no mention is made 
 here) what a mere shadow was the restoration from Babylon, that 
 it should be spoken of as the gift of life or of resurrection, whereby 
 we should hve before Him. The strictest explanation is the truest. 
 The two days and the third day have nothing in history to corre- 
 spond with them, except that in which they were fulfilled when 
 Christ ' rising on the third day from the grave, raised with him 
 the whole human race.' " (Pusey on Hosea vi. 2.) 
 
 It is also to be noticed that on the third day Abraham in a 
 figure received Isaac from the dead, and Jonah was cast up by 
 the fish on the third day. (See Matth. xii. 40.) 
 
 5. *' And that he was seen of Cephas," &c. It has been said that 
 St. Paul must have received this from St. Peter himself, when be 
 abode with him fifteen days in Jerusalem (Gal. i. 18), but it was well 
 known among the disciples on the very day on which it occurred 
 (Luke xxiv. 34). What took place at this interview we are not told. 
 May I conjecture that the Lord then revealed to Simon how He had 
 preached in the world of spirits, because in the Epistle of St. Peter 
 alone have we any word of this action of His in the unseen state ? 
 
 "Then of the twelve." This, no doubt, was the appearance 
 chronicled in Luke xxiv. and John xxi. The " twelve " is the de- 
 signation of the Apostolic band as distinguished from other dis- 
 ciples, though, of course, on this occasion neither Judas nor 
 Thomas were present. (See particularly my notes on St. Luke 
 xxiv. 36-43.) 
 
Chap. XV.] HE WAS SEEN OF JAMES. 265 
 
 6 After that, lie was seen of above five hundred brethren 
 at once ; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, 
 but some are fallen asleep. 
 
 7 After that, he was seen of James; then ^ of iLukexxiv.50. 
 
 Acta i. 3, 4. 
 
 all the apostles. 
 
 6. " After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at 
 once," &c. This must have been in Galilee, for only there was it 
 probable that five hundred believers could be gathered together in 
 one place, the number in Jerusalem being only one hundred and 
 twenty. I believe (as I said in my notes on St. Matthew, page 
 467), that this appearance was a manifestation to the body of be- 
 lievers as distinguished from the Apostles. Chrysostom notices 
 that some in his day took iTtdvu) above, as meaning that He ap- 
 peared to them above in the heavens, or raised above the earth, and 
 this is very hkely if He desired to be recognized by them all. 
 Still it was not likely that there would be exactly five hundred, and 
 80 "above," as indicating number, is not unlikely. 
 
 " Of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some," 
 &c. The words "fallen asleep" would seem to point to the fact 
 that in their case death had been abolished and was only a sleep of 
 their bodies. (So 1 Thess. iv. 14, 15.) 
 
 7. "After that, he was seen of James," &c. Not the son of 
 Zebedee, but the one who became the first Bisbop of Jerusalem. 
 In the Apocryphal Gospel according to the Hebrews, quoted by 
 Jerome, the following account is given : " After His Eesurrection 
 the Lord went unto James, and appeared unto him. Now James 
 had sworn that he would not eat bread from the hour in which he 
 had drunk the cup of the Lord until he should see Him again, after 
 
 that He had arisen from among them that sleep Then the 
 
 Lord said, Bring hither a table and some bread .... and He took 
 the bread and blessed it, and brake it, and afterwards gave it to 
 James the Just, and said unto him, 'Eat thy bread, my brother, for 
 the Son of man hath risen from among them that sleep.' " (Hieron, 
 de Viris lUustris, ii., quoted in Blunt.) 
 
 "Then of all the apostles." Most probably on the day of His 
 Ascension. 
 
 8. " And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one bom out oi 
 due time." The words " one bom out of due time " most probably 
 
266 THE LEAST OF THE APOSTLES. [L Cor, 
 
 8 "" And last of all lie was seen of me also, as of |1 one 
 
 m Acts ix. 4, bom out of due time. 
 
 17 & xxii I*! 
 
 is! ch. ix. 1.' 9 For I am ° the least of the apostles, that am 
 
 tivf.' ""^ °*°'"' not meet to be called an apostle, because ° I per- 
 
 n Eph. iii. 8. secuted the church of God. 
 
 O Acts Viii. 3. -nr-. -ll ^/-^TT TjT 
 
 & ix. 1. Gal. 10 But P bj the grace of Grod 1 am what i am : 
 
 iii. 6*. iTiin. and his gracc which was bestowed upon me was 
 
 P Eph. iii. 7, 8. T^ot in vaiu ; but ^I laboured more abundantly 
 
 q 2 Cor. xi. 23. 
 & xii. 11. 
 
 signifies an abortion, and the meaning may be that he was as un- 
 worthy to be called an apostle as an abortion is to be considered a 
 man. Some seem to explain it as referring to the irregular, and, 
 so to speak, unnatural mode of St. Paul's appointment to the 
 Apostleship ; for all the rest of the Apostles had been the companions 
 of the Lord, and, compared with St. Paul, came into their office 
 naturally, whereas St. Paul's election was sudden and violent. 
 Stanley remarks, " The corresponding word (dbortiones) in Latin 
 was metaphorically applied as here, to such senators as were 
 appointed irregularly." (Suet Oct. c. 35, 2.) 
 
 9. " For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be 
 called," &c. This fact that he had been a persecutor was constantly 
 before his mind, as if he never forgave himself for it. Thus Gal. i. 
 13, 23 ; Phil. iii. 6 ; 1 Tim. i. 13, 15, 16. 
 
 10. *' But by the grace of God I am what I am ... . abundantly 
 than they all," &c. He was a successful Apostle only through 
 grace, i.e., through the unmerited favour of God, and through the 
 powerful working of Christ within him. 
 
 " More abundantly than they all." This is taken by some com- 
 mentators to mean more abundantly than all the rest put together, 
 but this would seem far more than the Apostle would wish to say 
 of himself, for seeing that the twelve were dispersed all over the 
 world, how could he know it? But it seems quite true for him to 
 say it with reference to the better known Apostles, Peter, James, 
 and John, that in the way of journeyings by land and sea and ship- 
 wrecks, and the care of all the churches which devolved upon him 
 as the Apostle of the Gentiles, he laboured more abundantly than 
 them all. Such a series of hardships and struggles as we have 
 
Chap. XV.] SO WE PREACH. SO YE BELIEVED. 267 
 
 than tliey all: ^yet not I, but the grace of God wMcli was. 
 with me. '' Matt. x. 20. 
 
 11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we 19. 2 Cor. iii. 
 preach, and so ye believed. Eph.iii'. 7.* 
 
 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from 
 the dead, how say some among you that there is 
 no resurrection of the dead ? 
 
 recorded in his second Epistle (xi. 21-30) seems not to have been 
 undergone by any other Apostle or Apostolic man whatsoever. 
 
 " Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me." What is 
 this grace ? evidently the peculiar grace of the Apostlesbip, but 
 along with this, of course, the grace of Sacraments and of insight 
 into the Divine word, and so the grace which was common to each 
 Cbristian as a member of the body of Christ. Notice how, even 
 when he was forced to assert himself, he yet ascribed nothing to 
 himself, but all to the grace of God. 
 
 " Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach," &c. What- 
 ever differences evil minded men had insinuated between his teach- 
 ing and that of the other Apostles, on this matter of the Kesurrec- 
 tion all preached exactly the same — " so we preached ; " and all who 
 called themselves Christians accepted this Gospel of the Kesurrec- 
 tion in its literal sense — "so ye believed." 
 
 12. " Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how 
 say," &c. Various reasons have been given for this denial on the 
 part of the Corinthians of the Eesurrection of the Body. Some say 
 that it was through the influence of Sadduceeism amongst the Jews 
 who generally constituted the nucleus of each Gentile church ; but 
 this is exceedingly unlikely. Sadducees would be the last persons 
 to be converted to the Gospel. Indeed it is impossible to see how 
 they could, whilst retaining any tincture of Sadduceeism, be con- 
 verted to the faith of a Saviour Who, if He had not risen from the 
 dead, would have by that very fact been proved to be an impostor. 
 Others have referred to the mention of Hymenaeus and Ihiletus, 
 2 Tim. ii. 17, who said that the Eesurrection was passed already, and 
 have inferred that some of the Corinthians had taught that the real 
 resurrection took place at the conversion of the soul, and that no 
 other was to be looked for. But must we not look to the prevalent 
 Greek philosophy for the key to this unbelief? The view of Plato 
 
268 IF CHRIST BE NOT EISEN. [I. Cor. 
 
 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, "then is 
 
 « 1 Thess. iv. Christ not risen : 
 
 14. 
 
 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our 
 preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 
 
 that matter {v\r}) was essentially evil, and that the perfection of 
 the soul consists in its deliverance by death from the innate pollu- 
 tion of the body, was almost universally held by the heathen,^ and 
 some of the Corinthians were not at their conversion thoroughly 
 delivered from this misbelief. It was this opinion which was the 
 root of Gnosticism, and extended even to the denial of the true 
 human nature of Christ — some asserting the blasphemy that His 
 Body was a mere phantom, and that His Spiritual or Divine Part 
 alone ascended into heaven. This lingering Platonism, or rather 
 perhaps incipient Gnosticism was quite sufficient to account for 
 the denial of the Resurrection by some amongst the Corinthians. 
 
 Of course those who denied this Eesurrection of the Body held 
 firmly to the immortality of the soul, but this, in St. Paul's view, 
 was no real Christianity. 
 
 13. " But if there be no resurrection of the dead," &c. If it be 
 out of the power of God, or if it be contrary to some law which He 
 has imposed upon Himself, to allow of a Resurrection at all, then 
 Christ is not risen. The Resurrection of Christ is not an isolated 
 fact, because He Himself is not an isolated person. He so took 
 upon Him our nature that He is one with us in Life, Death, and 
 Resurrection. If we, then, cannot rise again, neither can our Head 
 have risen. The logic of the Apostle has been called in question, 
 but it is the logic of one who had written, " as the body is one, and 
 hath many members ... so also is Christ." (1 Cor. xii. 12.) 
 
 14. " And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and 
 your faith," &c. Our preaching is vain, because we have preached 
 as the foundation of all belief and all hope that which has, on the 
 unbelieving hypothesis, never taken place ; and your faith is vain, 
 
 1 Wordsworth quotes two passages from the Tragedian : — 
 
 txvipo; S' EiTEiJay ai/jL avao-Trao-f/ xov»f 
 avct^ 6av6vro{ ouxet' err' ava<rraa-i;. 
 
 ^schylus, Eumen., 655. 
 and 
 
 cvx ?ffT» ^yrrruiv oWij e^av'Krrarai. 
 
 Earip., Alcestis 783. 
 
CnAP. XV.] IF THE DEAD RISE NOT. 269 
 
 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because 
 * we have testified of God that he raised up Christ : * Acts ii. 24, 
 
 ■^ 32. & iv. 10, 33. 
 
 whom he raised not up, if so he that the dead &xiii. so. 
 rise not. 
 
 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 
 
 17 And if Christ be not raised, jour faith is vain; '^ye 
 are yet in your sins. « Rom. iv. 25. 
 
 because it rests not on human reasoning, nor on the proof of the- 
 immortality of the soul, but on the fact of the Lord's Eesurrection. 
 
 15. " Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God ; because we 
 have," &c. Notice how the Apostle tacitly repudiates the idea that 
 they could possibly have been deceived. They could not have been 
 deceived. There could have been no room for deception in the 
 circumstances of that appearance of the Lord which changed the 
 tenour of his whole life. He could not have been deceived as to the 
 light from heaven which blinded him — as to the momentary sight 
 of the Lord in that light — as to the voice from heaven, which dis- 
 persed all doubt as to Whom he saw. His brother Apostles, Peter, 
 John, James, could not have been deceived. They knew the Lord 
 too well. If not deceived, they must have been deceivers. But 
 for what did they deceive men ? In order that they might suffer 
 the loss of all earthly things ? In order that they might live lives 
 of ignominy, persecution, and distress? 
 
 16, 17. " For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised . . . 
 ye are yet in your sins." These verses may seem to some a need- 
 less repetition of verses 13 and 14, but they are not. The point of 
 the two former verses is, that if Christ be not risen, their faith is 
 vain. The point of verses 16 and 17 is, If Christ be not risen they 
 are yet in their sins. The argument is : If the dead rise not, then 
 is Christ not risen, your faith is vain — now faith in a risen Christ 
 is the means of your justification — Eom. iv. 5 ; if, then. He be not 
 raised, ye are unjustified, ye cannot be in Him for purposes of life 
 if He be dead. If He rose not again, then the ransom which He 
 promised has not been paid, ye are unforgiven, ye are yet in your 
 sins. If Baptism be for the remission of sins, it must be a Baptism 
 into One Who has atoned for sin by His Death, and risen again to 
 make us partakers of His justifying life, according to the Apostle's 
 words in the Epistle to the Komans : '* We were buried with Him 
 
270 THEY WHICH ARE FALLEN ASLEEP. [L Cor. 
 
 18 Then they also whicli are fallen asleep in Christ are 
 perished. 
 
 by Baptism into His Death, that like as Christ was raised up from 
 the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in 
 newness of life." (Kom. vi. 3, 4.) 
 
 But the Apostle, though he does not express it, evidently implies 
 the impossibility of such a thing as that they were yet in their sins. 
 They knew that they were not. They knew by the internal peace 
 and the internal strength, that they had been dehvered from sin. 
 The promise had, in the case of some among them, been fulfilled, 
 " Sin shall not have dominion over you." That could be no delu 
 sion, which had broken such a power. 
 
 18. " Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are 
 perished." Godet suggests that this "perished " means that they 
 would awake and find themselves in eternal punishment, but such 
 a harsh supposition is its own refutation. What the Apostle 
 xaeans is that there is no immortality of the soul revealed apart 
 from that of the body, or rather, apart from the Lord's Eesurrec- 
 tion. Whatever philosophy may have to say about it, a mere im- 
 naortality of the soul is not revealed. It does the utmost violence 
 to the idea planted in us of an eternal Justice, to think that the 
 best men have the same end as the worst. 
 
 In the hope of the Kesurrection the martyrs of Christ had lived 
 lives such as had never yet been seen on earth : can they perish as 
 the brutes? No, because life and immortality are brought to light 
 by the Gospel, and that Gospel is the Gospel of the Kesurrection. In 
 such ways the Apostle shows the absurdity to which men are driven 
 if they reject the Resurrection. 
 
 19. " If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all 
 men most miserable." There is a difference of translation sug- 
 gested, owing to the emphatic position of " only " at the end of the 
 clause, " if we have only hoped in Christ in this life," &c., but then 
 in the world to come we shall not Tio'pe in Christ, we shall enjoy 
 the sight of Him in His Kingdom. Cornelius h Lapide thus para- 
 phrazes. "The word 'hoping,' or 'men hoping,' signifies here, 
 not the act of hope (for it is certain that this exists only in this 
 life), but the object of hope, forsooth, the thing hoped for, as if he 
 said, ' If in Christ we are hoping for only those good things which 
 are in this life, we are of all men most miserable.' " 
 
Chap. XV.] MOST MISERABLE. 271 
 
 19 ^If in this life onlj we have hope in Christ, we are of. 
 all men most miserable. * 2 Tim.u?. 12. 
 
 *' What sayest thou, Paul, How in this life only have we hope, 
 if our bodies be not raised, the soul abiding and being immortal ? 
 Because, even if the soul abide, even if it be infinitely immortal, as 
 indeed it is, without the flesh, it shall not receive those hidden good 
 things, as neither truly shall it be punished .... If the body rise 
 not again, the soul abides uncrowned, without that blessedness 
 which is in heaven," &c. (Chrysostom.) 
 
 Now does this " most miserable " principally consist in present 
 persecutions and distress, with hope of joy hereafter? Have not 
 other men misery besides Christians? And if other men are 
 miserable without Christian hope of a Resurrection, and Christians 
 themselves have no hope of a Resurrection, is there not an equality ? 
 No : we are to take into account other things which Christ reveals, 
 which very much intensify the evil plight of those who, if such a 
 thing can be, have only hope in Him so far as this world is con- 
 cerned. For Christ reveals to us God. He not only reveals God 
 to us, but makes us acquainted with Him, so that we know Him> 
 or suppose that we know Him, as our friend. 
 
 How unspeakably miserable, then, it would be, if through Christ 
 we should have hoped that we had been made to know God, and 
 conversed with Him, and received answers of peace from Him, and 
 after we have been removed hence after a short time find that all 
 this is a delusion. Such would, indeed, be a miserable end — the 
 future all the darker because of its delusive brightness. We should, in 
 fiuch a case, be the greatest dupes among men to have had such 
 intense hopes, and to be at last disappointed would be the lowest 
 depth of misery. 
 
 This passage opens out to us the most irrefragable proof of the 
 truth of Christianity. In the far-seeing wisdom of God, our reli- 
 gion was promulgated, and the Church founded by men who had 
 no worldly motive whatsoever for preaching Christ. Supposing 
 that, from the first, ministers of Christ had had before them any- 
 thing like the same worldly prizes which they now have, would it 
 not be said that they preached because it was their worldly interest 
 to do so ? But now this cannot be said. Men may choose present 
 distress and toil and pain if there be some certainty of future re- 
 compense, but that men should live such lives as the Apostles lived, 
 
272 THE FIRST FRUITS. [I. Cor. 
 
 20 But now ^is Christ risen from tlie dead, and become 
 7 1 Pet. i. 3. z tiie firstf ruits of them that slept. 
 
 « Acts xxvi. 
 
 23. ver. 23. 21 For ^ since by man came death, ''by man 
 
 Col. i. 18. , , •' . »,-,-, 
 
 Rev. i. 5. came also the resurrection of the dead, 
 
 a Rom. V. 12, 
 17. 
 
 Ij John xi. 25. 
 
 Rom. vi. 23. 
 
 20. "And become." So K., L., most Cursives, Syr., Goth.; bat omitted by N, A., B.,. 
 D., E., F., G., P., 6, 17, 67**, 71, 177, d, e, f, q, r, Vulg., Sah., Copt., Basm,, Arm., 
 ^th. 
 
 with the full knowledge that the hopes of the future, which they 
 pretended to have, were a delusion, because they knew that Christ 
 had not risen — this is far more contrary to nature than all the 
 miracles in the Evangelists put together. 
 
 20. " But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first- 
 fruits," &c. The Apostle, after showing the absurdity of a denial of 
 the Lord's Eesurrection, dismisses the thought with indignant 
 scorn and impatience. " Now is Christ risen from the dead, the 
 first fruits of them that slept." (The word " become," iysveTOy is 
 probably, spurious, and it takes away from the spirit of the asser- 
 tion that Christ is risen as the firstfruits.) The Eesurrection of 
 Christ is the earnest of the Eesurrection of those who are in Him 
 and then of all mankind. 
 
 The Lord ordained that at each harvest the children of Israel 
 were to bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of their harvest unto the 
 priest, "And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be 
 accepted for them " (Levit. xxiii. 10-11). Christ, then, was typified 
 by the sheaf of the firstfruits. His Body raised again was the 
 pledge of the mighty harvest of redeemed bodies which shall rise 
 like an exhalation at the last day. 
 
 21. *' For since by man came death, by man came also the 
 resurrection of the dead." Great is the mystery here. God saves 
 men, and yet he saves them through themselves — through one of 
 themselves. God saves us by no act of mere power. He sent His 
 Son amongst us in the likeness of sinful flesh. This Son of His by 
 coming amongst us became naturally, as it were, the Head of the 
 race. How could God incarnate, if He be amongst us as one of 
 ourselves, be other than our Head ? And by His submission to the 
 death which we derived from man He was enabled as man to 
 restore us to Hfe. 
 
Chap. XV.] CHKIST THE FIRSTFRUITS. 273 
 
 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in CHrist shall all be 
 made alive. 
 
 23 But ^ every man in his own order : Christ <= ver. 20. 
 the firstfruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at 15, 16, 17. ' 
 his coming. 
 
 22. *' For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive." A very grave and difficult question presents itself here. 
 Is the " all " of the second clause to be taken as universally as the 
 " all " of the first ? In Adam all are by nature, and so die. In 
 Christ only some are by grace, for the Lord says, " Ye will not come 
 to me that ye may have life." There can be no doubt that all 
 those who are abiding members of Christ's Mystical Body will rise 
 with Him their Head ; but how about those who are not members 
 of the Mystical Body, or have been cut off from it by sin ? (John 
 XV. 6). Will these be made alive in Christ ? Now we have the 
 assurance of Christ Himself that all universally will rise again by 
 His power and at His call. " All that are in the graves shall hear 
 His voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the 
 resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection 
 of damnation" (John v. 28, 29). But there must be a difference 
 between the Kesurrection of the righteous and of the wicked. If 
 the good are raised because they abide in Christ the wicked cannot 
 be so raised, for they have not Christ in them: but still Christ 
 is the Head not only of the Church, but of the race. And they may 
 rise in Him as the Head of the race. A parallel distinction seems 
 to be recognized in 1 Tim. iv. 10 : " The livicg God, who is the 
 Saviour of aU men, specially of those that believe." The greatest 
 differences have existed about this amongst divines and theological 
 writers. According to Edwards, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ambro- 
 siaster, Calvin, Meyer, De Wette, Olshausen, &c., the second "all" 
 is as universal as the first ; but Augustine, Estius, Grotius, Bengel, 
 Eiickert, Hofman, and Heinrice, consider that it only refers to 
 believers. 
 
 23. " But every man in his own order." Theodoret and others 
 make this to mean either in the order of the good, or of the wicked. 
 Others consider the order to be differences of rank and happiness ac- 
 cording to the degree of sanctification in each one. Others refer it to 
 various resuiTections as, first that of Christ, then that of those who 
 have fallen asleep in Him before His coming, then that of those 
 
 T 
 
274 THEN COMETH THE END. [I. Cor. 
 
 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered 
 d Dan. vii. 14, ^p d ^j^^ kingdom to God, even the Father; 
 
 24, " He shall have delivered up." So K., L., most Cursives, Ital., Vulg. ; but N, A., 
 B., D., E., F., G., P., 31, 61, 80, read, " He shall deliver up." 
 
 who, like St. Paul, are in the Lord when He comes (1 Thess. iv. 
 15, 16, 17), then the general Eesurrection of Eev. xx. 12. The latter 
 Beems to agree best with the remainder of the verse. 
 
 " Christ the firstfruits ; afterwards they that are Christ's at his 
 coming." *' They that are Christ's at his coming." This seems to 
 be the first Eesurrection, the Eesurrection from out of the dead 
 of Philippians iii. 11, the t'^avdaraaig. It is also that of Eev. xx. 5, 
 6. " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Eesurrec- 
 tion : on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be 
 priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
 years." 
 
 24. " Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up (shall 
 deliver up)." We cannot consider these verses without reverently 
 bearing in mind the saying of the Lord to the Apostles : " It is not 
 for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath 
 put in his own power " (Acts i. 7). The first question which arises on 
 this verse has to do with the first word " Then." *' Then cometh 
 the end." The last verse ends with the parousia ("they that are 
 Christ's at his coming) then cometh the end." What time and what 
 events does this " then " cover ? The end is evidently the delivering of 
 all things to the Father. But the proper translation, according to the 
 oldest authorities, is, " Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver 
 up (not have delivered up) . . . when he shall have put lown all 
 rule," &c. So that there may be an interval (how long we know 
 not) between the coming (parousia) and the end of all things, 
 during which He shall put down all rule. Thus Bishop Ellicott : 
 "Whether any, and, if any, what interval is to be supposed to 
 exist between this coming {-n-apovaia) and the end {rb reXog) of the 
 following verse (24) —in fact, between the eTreira and the ilra, the 
 sober interpreter cannot presume even to attempt to indicate. 
 This only may be said, that the language seems to imply a kind of 
 interval ; but that there is nothing in the particles or in the passage 
 to warrant our conceiving it to be longer than would include the 
 subjugation of every foe and every power of evil, and all that may 
 
Chap. XV.] PUT DOWN ALL RULE. 275 
 
 wlien he shall have put down all rule and all authority 
 and power. 
 
 fee immediately associated with the mighty reXoe which is specified 
 in the succeeding verse. ... It must be carefully remembered 
 that the Apostle is here dealing with a single subject, the Eesurrec- 
 tion of the dead, and not with the connected details of eschatology. 
 These must be gathered from other passages and other portions of 
 Scripture." 
 
 The great difficulty in Christian eschatology is the exact position 
 which all that is specified in Eev. xx. 4, is to hold in the sequence of 
 the future which is to be unfolded. 
 
 " When he shall have delivered up [or deliver up] the kingdom 
 to God, even the Father." There would be no difficulty about this 
 place if we considered sufficiently that God the Father for a time 
 seems to have given His " Monarchia " into the hands of the Son. 
 Thus the Lord says : " All things are delivered unto me of my 
 Father." "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth" 
 (Matth. xi. 27 ; xxviii. 18) and He especially specifies the exer- 
 cise of judgment, which we should have considered to be of neces- 
 sity exercised solely by the Father, to be in future exercised by 
 Himself, so that " the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed 
 all judgment unto the Son " (John v. 22). This supreme power is 
 committed unto Him not as God, for as the Eternal Word it was 
 always His, but as the Son of Man ; and it is for a dispensation of 
 time — till, that is. He has subdued all things to Himself and to God. 
 This rule is His Mediatorial Eule. The Deity now acts, and 
 reigns, and judges as the son of Man till the time when the purpose 
 of God in sufi'ering this conflict between good and evil is fulfilled. 
 
 When He delivers up the kingdom to God His Father He will 
 cease to rule visibly and palpably as man, but He never can cease 
 to rule in the unity of the Godhead. 
 
 " All rule, and all authority, and power." There can be no doubt 
 but that by these words "rule," "authority," and "power," the 
 Apostle means evil spirits. Just as there is a hierarchy amongst 
 the good angels, for the Apostle speaks of " principahties and powers 
 in heavenly places " (Eph. iii. 10), so there is a similar gradation 
 •of power amongst the evil angels, for he says, " We wrestle 
 not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against 
 powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world " (Eph. vi. 
 12). How this evil hierarchy reigns in this world, and under wh at 
 
276 HE MUST REIGN. [I. Cor. 
 
 25 For he must reign, ^till he hath put all enemies 
 e Ps. ex. 1. under his feet. 
 
 Acts ii. 34, 35. 
 
 Eph. i. 22. 26 ^The last enemy that shall be destrojed is 
 
 X. 13. ' ' death. 
 
 f 2 Tim. i. 10. 
 
 Rev. XX. 14. 
 
 conditions or limits we know not ; but many things in the course 
 of events in past times and in the present seem to show that there 
 is a supernatural maintenance of evil, a solidarity, as it were, of 
 evil men holding evil principles, a fellowsliip of darkness, as well as 
 of light. 
 
 25. " For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his 
 feet." So then we gather from this that the reign of Christ is not 
 a reign of peace, but of warfare. The Eider on the white horse Who 
 had the crown given to Him, rides forth conquering and to conquer 
 (Rev. vi. 2). There is a time apparently of peace for one thousand 
 years, but it is terminated by the last outbreak of evil (Rev. xx. 4, 
 10), which itself is terminated by the Consummation. 
 
 Does He then cease to reign when His enemies are all put under 
 His feet ? It can only be in a sense ; for we have so many intima- 
 tions that Christ shall reign for ever, that they cannot be disre- 
 garded. Thus Rev. xi. 15, *' The kingdoms of this world are be- 
 come the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall 
 reign for ever and ever." Thus Luke i. 33, '* Of his kingdom there 
 shall be no end." Thus it was said to God the Son by the Father, 
 "Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever" (Hebrews i. 8); also 
 Dan. ii. 44, vii. 13, 14. 
 
 As I said, His Mediatorial Kingdom must pass away or be de- 
 livered up when its purpose is fulfilled, but His rule as a Person in 
 the Godhead cannot pass away : for He said, ** I and the Father are 
 one," and He said, " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
 the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the 
 Ahnighty " (John x. 30 ; Rev. i. 8). 
 
 26. " The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." What 
 is the meaning of this, for death is not an entity, an individual exis- 
 tence, as an angel is, and even the angel of death is not an enemy 
 of God, but some holy spiritual being, who, at His command, 
 executes His purpose of punishment ? The destruction of death 
 signifies the abolition of the curse, " Dust thou art, and unto dust 
 shalt thou return." Thus in the account of the final restitution we^ 
 
Chap. XY.] ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET. 277 
 
 27 For he ^liatli put all things under his feet. But when 
 
 he saith all things are put under ^im, it is mani- s Ps. viii. e. 
 
 fest that he is excepted, which did put all things is^ Heb. ii. 8. 
 under him. 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 22. 
 
 have, " There shall be no more cm'se : but the throne of God and of 
 the Lamb shall be in it ; and his servants shall serve him " (Kev, 
 xxii. 3). The destruction of death then signifies the abohtion of 
 the curse — the reconciliation of all things to God (Coloss. i. 20). 
 
 How is it said, then, in Eev. xx. 14, that " death and hell were 
 cast into the lake of fire "? It may mean that death shall exist 
 only in Gehenna in the form of the Second Death; or it may mean 
 that those who have resisted all the invitations of God's mercy, and 
 when spiritual life was offered to them, have of their own free will 
 continued in the death of sin, shall be under death for ever in the 
 lake of fire. 
 
 Cornelius ^ Lapide says well: " The first enemy of Christ and 
 of Christians is the devil, who was conquered by Christ on the 
 cross ; the second is sin, which through the grace of Christ is con- 
 quered by Christians in this life ; the third is death, which, as the 
 last of all, will be conquered at the Eesurrection." 
 
 27. " For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he 
 saith," &c. It seems strange to us that St. Paul should draw atten- 
 tion to the fact that when God the Father surrendered all things 
 into the hands of the Son, and gave Him the monarchy of the 
 universe for a time. He did not put Eiviself under Kis Son. Some 
 seem to explain this as if it were put in to emphasize the universal 
 dominion of Christ, that all things whatsoever are put under Him 
 except God — the exception, as it were, proving the absolute univer- 
 sality of His rule. I cannot but think that there is some truth in 
 the suggestion of Theodoret, who says, that this is written to meet 
 any misconception which might arise from reminiscences of the 
 heathen mythology, in which the supreme ruler attains his high 
 estate by deposing him who ruled before him. The Father is not 
 subjected because the whole universe is committed into the hands 
 of the Son. On the contrary, the Father acts in all that the Son 
 does for the subjugation of evil. It is the Father Who says to the 
 Son, " Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy 
 footstool." The Son has all things committed to Him, and yet the 
 Son says, " I can do nothing of myself." " Whatsoever things the 
 
278 THE SON HIMSELF SUBJECT. [I. Cor. 
 
 h Phil. ui. 21. 28 ^ And wlieii all things shall be subdued untO' 
 xi%'/"" ■ Mm, then 'shall the Son also himself be subject 
 
 Father doeth, these doeth the Son likewise." (See John v. 19, 30 ; 
 ix. 4 ; xii. 49 ; xiv. 10.) 
 
 28. " And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall,'* 
 &e. Much difficulty has been made of this expression, " the Son 
 also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under 
 him," as if it detracted from the Divine honour of the Son if H& 
 were perfectly subordinate to His Father. But this is a great mis- 
 take. The most exalted idea of Sonship is perfect equality in 
 nature with Him that begat Him, and yet perfect subjection in 
 love and will. If there be a true begetting, the Father must 
 transmit to the Son all His nature and attributes, so that so far 
 as Godhead and its perfections are concerned, the Son must be 
 equal. This is recognized as fully as possible in the Lord's words 
 in John v. 17, " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." No 
 mere human being could say such a thing as this, for it implies 
 on the face of it (and still more when it is taken in connection with 
 the context) that the two workings are the same. The Jews under- 
 stood this as an assertion of that Sonship which implies equality of 
 nature, and particularly of power, and so they took up stones to 
 stone Him because He said also that God was His Father, rather 
 His own Father (j^tor), making Himself equal with God. Our 
 Lord, instead of denying His equality with the Father, reasserted it 
 in connection with His subordination in the words, " The Son can 
 do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do ; for what 
 things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise," and this 
 He extended even to the raising of men from the dead (John v. 21). 
 
 "We trust we may, without presumption or irreverence, illustrate 
 the matter as follows : A king who has an only son whom he asso- 
 ciates with himself in all his counsels, finds an important province 
 in rebellion. He says to his son, *' I wiU give this province entirely 
 into your hands, I will appear as little as possible on the scene, and 
 you shaU have, till you have thoroughly subdued it, the entire 
 charge of the province." When after he has accomplished this, he 
 comes back and puts the conquered province entirely into the hands 
 of his father, does he lose any of his original human attributes 
 which he has in common with his father, because he possesses tho 
 same nature ? It is absurd to suppose so. The subjection or sub- 
 
CuAP.XV.] GOD ALL m ALL. 279 
 
 unto him that put all things under him, that Grod may be all 
 in all. 
 
 ordination of the Son adds, if one may so say, to our view of his 
 moral perfection, " I have kept my Father's commandments and 
 abide in his love." 
 
 A strange view has been taken of the termination of the media- 
 torial dispensation by Dean Stanley, and after him by the Eev. T. 
 Teignmouth Shore, and perhaps others, which is, that not only the 
 mediatorial rule of Christ, but all rule whatsoever, will cease at the 
 time of this consummation. Mr. Shore writes : " Not only all 
 hostile rule, and authority, and power, but all intermediate rule of 
 any sort, good and bad. The direct government by God of all 
 creatures is to be at last attained. All the interventions of autho- 
 rity and power, which the fall of man rendered necessary, will be 
 needless when the complete triumph of Christ comes in. Thus 
 humanity, having for ages shared the condition of fallen Adam, will 
 be finally restored to the state of unfallen Adam. Man will see 
 God, and be ruled by God face to face." 
 
 But if this is to be, God will cease to have servants, for all the 
 servants of God mediate in some degree between God and some 
 part of His creation. God could do everything without interven- 
 tion of any sort, biit He has constituted the services of angels and 
 men in order that they may do what He Himself could do, but has 
 Been fit to employ others in doing. The idea of the abohtion of all 
 intermediate action on God's part seems to me to postulate a dead 
 level of equality in all His spiritual or intelligent creation. It is 
 hard to see how there can be degrees in created beings, unless the 
 higher grades in some way superintend the lower. And again, this 
 non-intervention idea seems by the author I have quoted to be a 
 consequence of the Fall, but surely the hierarchy of heaven — the 
 principalities and powers in heavenly places — was not first instituted 
 at the time of the Fall. 
 
 "That God may be all in all." Many, many are the interpreta- 
 tions which have been given to this wonderful revelation. We can 
 only say as Calvin said respecting another unspeakably deep mys- 
 tery, " we can only feel after it rather than attempt to grasp it." 
 
 It may point to a fuller and more direct manifestation of the 
 Father than has been accorded hitherto to the intelligent creation. 
 Hitherto the Father has been known by the Son. It may be that 
 
280 BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD. [I. Cor. 
 
 29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the 
 dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they then baptized 
 for the dead ? 
 
 after the consummation He will show Himself more directly, or it 
 may be that the explanation is to be found in the true meaning of 
 such profound places as " My Father will love him, and we will 
 come to him and make our abode with him " (John xiv. 23). One 
 thing is certain, that the presence of the Father will not exclude 
 that of the Son, and that of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 It is not said that the Father will be all in all, but that God will 
 be all in all. God is, in the Unity of the Divine Nature the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — and these will be all in all 
 in the redeemed, and the Presence of none of these Persons can 
 possibly be excluded from their state of final perfection. 
 
 The subordination of the Son is inherent in His being the "Word. 
 A word must be subordinate to him who speaks it. A conception 
 must be subordinate to him who conceives, Sonship must be 
 subordinate to Fatherhood. "We have no faculties for reahzing 
 any submission or subjection on the part of the Son, beyond that 
 expressed in His own words, John xii. 49 : "I have not spoken of 
 myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a command- 
 ment, what I should say, and what I should speak." 
 
 I confess to having a great difficulty in the explanation of this 
 place, but the difficulty to me is simply this. In Ephes. iv. 6, this 
 same Apostle writes of the Father: " One God and Father of all, 
 who is above all, and through all, and in you aU." "What can the 
 subjection of the Son add to this ? 
 
 29. " Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead," 
 &c. A large number of explanations have been given of this pas- 
 sage. It will be quite sufficient to mention two. 
 
 Some have supposed that there is a reference to a superstitious 
 practice, which seems to date from the earliest times, of baptizing 
 a living person as a sort of proxy for one who had died without 
 Baptism. The difficulty is that the Apostle should have drawn 
 an argument from a practice of which, as we suppose, he could 
 hardly have approved ; and yet it is not impossible that this prac- 
 tice might have gained a footing in the Corinthian Church, and 
 that the Apostle here alludes to it as an extreme case in point ; as 
 if he said, You are so anxious about the future of those who die by 
 
31 I protest by || ^your rejoicing whicli I have 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^ I die daily. 
 
 Chap. XV.] I DIE DAILY. 281 
 
 30 And ''why stand we in jeopardy every "^ 2 Cor. xi. 26. 
 
 hour ? 11 Some read, 
 
 our. 
 
 1 1 Thess. ii. 
 19. 
 
 m Rom. viii. 
 .36. ch.iv. 9. 
 
 . 2 Cor. iv. 10, 
 
 11. & xi. 23. 
 
 31. "By your rejoicing which I have." So D., E., F., G., L., most Cursives, d, e, 
 f, g. ; but a, A., B., K., P., fifteen Cursives, Vulg., Goth., Syr., Sah., Copt., Basm., add, 
 " brethren." 
 
 some accident unbaptized that you baptize others on their behalf by 
 a rite which has no meaning, unless it is supposed to give them a 
 part in a Death and a Eesurrection following close after the Death. 
 Chrysostom, after alluding to this Baptism by proxy as that of 
 heretics, explains the Apostle's words thus : " After the enunciation 
 of those mystical and fearful words, and the awful rules of the doc- 
 trines which have come down from heaven, this also we add at the 
 end when we are about to baptize, bidding them say, ' I helieve in 
 the Eesurrection of the dead,' and upon this faith we are baptized, 
 I say, after we have confessed this, together with the rest, then at 
 last are we let down into the fountain of those sacred streams. 
 This, therefore, St. Paul recalling to their minds said, ' If there be 
 no resurrection why art thou then baptized for the dead ?' i.e., the 
 dead bodies. For, in fact, with a view to this art thou baptized, 
 affirming a resurrection of thy dead body, that it no longer remains 
 dead. And thou indeed in the words makest mention of a Eesur- 
 rection of the dead ; but the priest as in a kind of image signifies 
 to thee by very deed the things which thou hast believed and con- 
 fessed in the appointed words .... when thou hast done thine own 
 part, then also doth God fully assure thee. How, and in what 
 manner ? By the water : for the being baptized, and immersed, 
 and then emerging, is a symbol of the descent into hell, and the 
 return thence." 
 
 30. " And why stand we in jeopardy every hour ? " If the dead 
 rise not, why do we expose ourselves to all manner of danger, even 
 of our lives ? All the persecutions and distresses which we endure 
 are not because we preach a future state on the same grounds as 
 some of your philosophers, but because we preach a crucified and 
 risen Christ, and a resurrection of our bodies as the consequence of 
 His. 
 
 31. "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus 
 
282 BEASTS AT EPHESUS. [I. Cor. 
 
 32 If II after the manner of men ° I have fought with 
 If^^Theman. ^©^sts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if 
 ntrofmea. the dead rise not? °let us eat and drink: for to 
 
 n 2 Cor. i. 8. ' 
 
 o Eccies. ii. 24. morrow we die. 
 
 Isa. xxii. 13. 
 
 & Ivi. 12. 
 
 Luke xii. 19. 
 
 our Lord, I die daily." This follows upon " Why stand we in 
 jeopardy every hour ? " Not only am I in jeopardy, but " I die 
 daily : " I live a dying hfe (compare " In perils by mine own coun- 
 trymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in 
 the wilderness," 2 Cor. xi. 26). " I protest:" I swear that this is 
 true by your rejoicing or boasting which I have in Christ Jesus. 
 He strengthens what he says respecting his daily dying by an as- 
 severation grounded on his boast of them as his work in Christ. 
 
 32. " If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at 
 Ephesus," &c. After the manner of men, i.e., as Meyer says, " after 
 the manner of ordinary men, ie., not in divine striving and hop- 
 ing, but only on account of temporal reward and glory, whereby the 
 unenlightened man is wont to be moved to undertake great risks." 
 
 " I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it 
 me ? " Some think that this should be taken literally — that he was 
 cast to the wild beasts then, but was delivered by God's power as 
 Daniel was: but the objection is that no mention is made. in the 
 Acts of the Apostles of such an event, which, if it had taken place 
 literally would have been the most extraordinary'- deliverance which 
 the Apostle had ever experienced. But it is a well known pliraze 
 used both in the Old Testament, and in classical writers, to signify 
 conflicts with fierce and bloodthirsty men. Thus Ps. xxii. 12, 16, 
 ** Many bulls have compassed me .... dogs have compassed me." 
 Again, Ivii. 4, " My soul is among lions," &c. Pompey in Arrian 
 B.C. 11, says, " "With what wild beasts do we fight ? " And Ignatius 
 in his Epistle to the Eomans speaks of persecution by evil men as 
 fighting with beasts by land and sea, and of himself as being bound 
 to ten leopards — meaning ten soldiers. 
 
 " If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." 
 The first clause ought most probably to be taken with the second, 
 not with what goes before. " Let us eat and drink," &c., is taken 
 from Isaiah xxii. 12. " In that day did the Lord of Hosts call to 
 weeping .... and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing 
 Bheep, eating flesh and drinking wine : let us eat and drink ; for 
 
CnAP. XV.] AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. 283 
 
 33 Be not deceived: ^evil communications cormpt good 
 manners. p ch. v. e. 
 
 34 ^ Awake to righteousness, and sin not ; "" for Eph!™! Ti!" 
 
 1, r iThess.iv. 5. 
 
 this to your shame. 
 
 some have not the knowledge of God : ^ I speak _^ . 
 
 to-morrow we shall die." If there be no resurrection why should not 
 sensual and selfish men act on this principle ? but if there be a resur- 
 rection, had not such rather lay to heart the words of the wise man ? 
 " Eejoice, young man, in thy youth ; and let thy heart cheer 
 thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, 
 and in the sight of thine eyes ; but know thou that for all these 
 things God will bring thee into judgment." (Eccles. xi. 9.) 
 
 33. " Be not deceived : evil communications corrupt good man- 
 ners." He seems to advert to unrestrained intercourse with the 
 heathen, or with lapsed Christians (v. 11). Communication is an 
 unfortunate translation. It does not, in our day, bring out the fact 
 that what St. Paul would guard them against is evil discourses 
 (coUoquia). These, in the case of the Kesurrection, would be what 
 we now call sceptical, or free -thinking, or naturalistic, explaining 
 away on some "vision " theory the Eesurrection of the Lord, and 
 reducing that of Christians to the immortality of the soul. The 
 Apostle here quotes either a passage in the Thais of the heathen 
 poet Menander, or a well-known proverb which Menander himself 
 had quoted. Tertullian supposes the former, for he speaks of it as 
 a verse sanctified by St. Paul's use of it. (Ad uxorem, i. 8.) 
 
 34. " Awake to righteousness, and sin not ; for some have not 
 the knowledge of God," &c. We gather from this that the denial 
 of such a doctrine as the Kesurrection was in Christians not a 
 matter of opinion, but of unrighteousness. Eighteousness embraces 
 not only our duty to our neighbour, but our duty to God : and if 
 God has revealed to us certain unspeakably great benefits which He 
 intends to confer upon us, it is our duty to meet His loving offers 
 with grateful acknowledgment. If we do not we are ungrateful, 
 and so unrighteous. 
 
 "Awake to righteousness" would be more literally translated 
 " awake righteously." Chrysostom renders it " with a view to what 
 is profitable and useful. Observe how, by calling on them to awake, 
 he impUes that some may be sleeping the sleep of sin and death. 
 
284 HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED UP? [I. Cor. 
 
 35 But some man will say, * How are tlie dead raised up ? 
 * Ezek. xxxvii. and witli what body do they come ? 
 u John xii. 24. 36 TTiou f ool, ^ that wHcli thou sowest is not 
 quickened, except it die : 
 
 Thus in Ephes. v. 14, he says, ' Awake, thou that sleepest, and 
 arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee Light.' " 
 
 " For some have not the knowledge of God." How could men 
 who denied the power and willingness of God to bring about a 
 Resurrection have any true knowledge of God ? 
 
 35. " But some man will say, how are the dead raised up ? and 
 with what body," &c. Here is a new departure. An objector, who 
 knows, or affects to know, no higher laws or processes than those of 
 the present course of nature, scornfully asks, " How are the dead 
 raised up ? " That is, with what power ? By what means ? What 
 is the process? And with what body do they come? Are they 
 raised up in the same sort of bodies as those in which they lived 
 here, or, if not, what are the properties of the bodies in which they 
 are raised ? 
 
 36. " Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except 
 it die." Thou senseless one, thou man without mind, hast thou 
 not observed the commonest process of nature, the process by which 
 thou art thyself fed and sustained? "That which thou sowest is 
 not quickened except it die." As long as it remains in thy bag or 
 on thy barn floor, it is a dead thing — there is a germ of life in it, 
 but that is to all appearance as if it did not exist. It can only start 
 into life by being buried in the earth, and the whole body of the 
 seed thus buried decays and dies, whilst the new plant springs out 
 of it from a germ infinitesimally small. The real atom which con- 
 tains the life is unsearchable. It cannot be seen or distinguished 
 till it has attained some size by having acquired nourishment from 
 the decayed seed : so that here is the greatest mystery of nature, 
 patent on all sides of us, the beginning of a new life from a dead 
 seed.^ Now this, of course, is only an analogy, and an analogy is 
 
 » The analogy of the chrysalis, which develops into the butterfly, has been used for the 
 same purpose as the Apostle uses that of the seed developing into the plant, but it is 
 infinitely inferior, for the chrysalis is not a dead thing, but moves slightly if touched, 
 and is more like a creature in a womb which developes organs secretly till it is fit to use 
 them. 
 
Chap. XV.] BARE GRAIN. 285 
 
 37 And tliat whicli thou sowest, thou sowest not that 
 body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, 
 or of some other grain : 
 
 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and 
 to every seed his own body. 
 
 not a proof : for the proof of the Resurrection is historical. It is the 
 Resurrection of One Who, during His life, displayed supernatural 
 power and wisdom, and whose Resurrection was proclaimed by 
 men who lost every worldly advantage, and exposed themselves to 
 death daily, because they asserted its truth. This, in the Apostle's 
 view, was the proof of the Resurrection, but when men asked, how 
 are the dead raised up, as if it were an impossible thing, then the 
 Apostle used the analogy of the seed and the plant. How the seed 
 is actually developed from the plant is as great a mystery as the 
 Resurrection — not, of course, as great a thing — but as great a 
 mystery — as inexplicable — as unsearchable. And the atheist, or 
 agnostic, who says that it is produced by a law of nature, only in- 
 troduces a still greater mystery — the mystery of laws not imposed 
 by any intelligent being, but acting no one knows how — blindly, 
 unintelligently, though they require the highest intellect of the 
 race to describe or measure their action. 
 
 37. "And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body 
 that shall be," &c. When a man sows in a field, he does not sow 
 the fully developed plant, but a seed as unlike it as possible, bare 
 grain, having no outward promise of beauty or fertility. 
 
 88. "But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to 
 every seed," &c. Not only is the development of any plant from a 
 seed a thing of the deepest mystery, but still more mysterious is 
 that uniform action of God, by which each seed developes not into 
 any plant, but into the plant which God has appointed from the 
 first : so that, as far as we can see, not only are there an infinite 
 variety of seeds, but an infinite variety of lives, i.e., principles 
 of life. There is a particular character of life in the seed of the rose 
 and a different one in the seed of the lily, and they never inter- 
 change. The seeds of the rose and of the lily may produce varieties, 
 but naturalists tell us that they all have a tendency to revert to the 
 original form. Now the Apostle introduces this consideration be- 
 cause he means not merely life out of the dead seed, but a particular 
 
286 ALL FLESH NOT THE SAME FLESH. [I. Cor. 
 
 39 All flesh is not the same flesh : but there is one hind 
 of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, 
 and another of birds. 
 
 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial : 
 but the glorj of the celestial is one, and the gloi-y of the 
 terrestrial is another. 
 
 form of life from each different seed. Does he not also hint that the 
 difference of bodies at the day of the Eesiirrection will also be, not ac- 
 cording to any mere order of natm'e, but as God has decreed, "He 
 that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he 
 that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting " ? 
 Or it may be that he, in this clause, begins the answer to him 
 who asks, " with what body do they come ? " "From the endless 
 variety of organization in things seen, he argues the possibility of a 
 new organization, yet to be disclosed hereafter." (Stanley.) 
 
 39. •' All flesh is not the same flesh : but there is one kind of 
 flesh," &c. St. Paul now mentions the extraordinary variety of 
 organized bodies composed of flesh and blood. None of these classes 
 of hving creatures have the same flesh. When examined by the 
 microscope their flesh is, as regards its cellular tissue and fibres, all 
 different, and their blood, which nourishes the flesh, is different in 
 all. If God, then, from animal tissue can produce such a variety 
 of forms of life adapted to live some on earth, some in the water, 
 some in the air, why cannot there be an immense variety of forms 
 in the unseen world answering to the variety in this world ? 
 
 40. " There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial, but," 
 &c. These celestial bodies are, most probably, the bodies of the 
 angels, from which in a way unknown to us light proceeds. They 
 are also such visible, palpable frames as those in which Moses and 
 Elias appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration. The " bodies 
 celestial " of the angels appear to us as men, and frequently it is 
 said that men appeared when we know that they were angels, as in 
 Acts i. 10, and so in Luke xxiv. 4 : " Two men stood by them in 
 shining garments," and Mark xvi. 5. 
 
 Some have supposed that these celesial bodies are the heavenly 
 bodies of the next verse, but the Apostle would scarcely enunciate 
 Buch a truism as that the glory of the sun and moon is one, and 
 that of human beings is another ; whereas, although the bodies 
 
Chap. XV.] SO ALSO THE EESUHRECTION. 287 
 
 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of 
 the moon, and another glory of the stars : for one star 
 differeth from another star in glory. 
 
 42 ^ So also is the resurrection of the dead. It "^ Dan. xii. 3. 
 
 . . . T . . . Matt. xiii. 43. 
 
 is sown m corruption ; it is raised in meorruption ; 
 
 of the angels resemble those of men — so that angels are very fre- 
 quently called men — yet the difference of the glory or brightness 
 of the one and the other is so great that it clearly shows that God 
 can invest the same form with very different degrees or glory. 
 
 41. " There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the 
 moon," &c. It is to be remembered that here the Apostle drops 
 for a moment the idea of organized body, and speaks of degrees of 
 glory. 
 
 The sun seems to be a fountain of perennial light in himself, the 
 moon reflects his light, and the stars have each their particular 
 degree of glory or brightness. The latest discoveries of modem 
 science teach us that the stars do not differ in brightness merely 
 because they differ in distances, some being almost infinitely more 
 remote than others, but that some of their glory depends upon 
 their composition, or the constitution of their photospheres. 
 
 Some have supposed that the Apostle notices this variety in the 
 glory of the stars as illustrating the variety of gloiy in the risen 
 bodies of the saints, but it may be only cited as another instance 
 in the variety of God's works in all parts of the universe : the aim 
 of the Apostle being not so much to illustrate the degrees of reward 
 in brightness or in glory, as the power of God to produce an 
 infinite variety of existences ; so that the more we think of it the 
 more absurd becomes the atheistical question : " How are the dead 
 raised ? with what body do they come ? " 
 
 42. " So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in cor- 
 ruption ; it is raised in incorruption," &c. This "so "is not to 
 be limited to the analogy contained in the last verse, or that 
 before it. It rather goes back to verses 36-38 where the seed is 
 sown to die, and is laid in the clods of the earth as in a grave, in 
 order that it may spring up a plant wholly differing in form and 
 beauty from the seed sown. 
 
 " It is sown in corruption." "We must understand here the word 
 ^*body." No matter what efforts are made to preserve it from 
 
288 A NATURAL, A SPIRITUAL BODY. [L Cor. 
 
 43 y It is sown in dishonour ; it is raised in glory : it is 
 y Phil. iii. 21. sown in weakness ; it is raised in power : 
 
 44 It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual 
 
 mouldering away, it is tinder the power of corruption, till the 
 morning of the Resurrection. No folly can be greater than that of 
 attempting to preserve the form when the life is gone. The sooner 
 it is dissolved and returns to its original dust the better. To make 
 a show of attempting to stay the work of dissolution is as if one 
 doubted the power of God to raise it incorruptible and immortal^ 
 equal in glory and beauty to an angel of heaven. 
 
 43. "It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory." This dis- 
 honour can hardly refer to any dishonour put upon the Christian 
 during life, for continuance in life cannot well be called sowing.. 
 The sowing takes place at the death, or the burial. " What," asks 
 Chrysostom, "is more unsightly than a corpse in dissolution?" 
 Who more beautiful than Sarah, who more honoured than the 
 mother of the chosen race ? Who more beloved of the father of 
 the faithful, and yet he bowed down before the Hittites to give- 
 him a portion of a field and a cave in which he might bury Sarah 
 out of his sight. 
 
 " It is raised in glory." The Lord speaks of those who attain to 
 this glory as being equal to the angels, and as being the children of 
 God, being the children of the Resurrection (Luke xx. 36), and as 
 shining forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matth. 
 xiii. 43). St. Paul speaks of our vile bodies as being fashioned like 
 unto Christ's glorious body (Phil. iii. 21), and Daniel describes them 
 as shining like the stars (xii. 3). 
 
 " It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." The risen body 
 will have the same sort of faculties in kind though not in degree as 
 the Lord's risen Body has. It will move with incredible swiftness. 
 It will pass through all obstacles as the Lord's Risen Body did. 
 But in another respect also it will be raised in power, for — 
 
 44. " It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body." 
 The natural (or psychical) body is, through the fall, weak com- 
 pared to the spirit within it. All its physical power is derived 
 from the immaterial essence which is incarnate within it. And 
 not only morally but physically the spirit is willing, bu*-. the flesh 
 is weak. Now the body will be so raised that it will fulfil at onc& 
 
Chap. XV.] A SPIRITUAL BODY. 289 
 
 body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual 
 body. 
 
 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam ^ was * Gen. ii. 7. 
 
 44. "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritnal body." So E., K., L., most 
 Cursives, Syriac ; but S, A., B., C, D., F., G., some nine Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., 
 Copt., Arm., read, "If there is a natural body there is also a spiritual body." 
 
 all the desire of the Spirit. The present body is a clog — a hin- 
 drance to the Spirit ; the future body will be its help -meet, as we 
 read in the vision of Ezekiel, " whithersoever the Spirit was to go 
 they went." This will be brought about by the most transcendent 
 exercise of God's power; for no putting forth of God's power upon 
 creatures can be conceived greater than that by which He makes 
 the same body to have at one and the same time the properties of 
 matter and of spirit. The Lord said to the Apostles, " Handle me 
 and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have," 
 and yet this body was a spiritual body, for it appeared and disap- 
 peared at will. It passed through the closed doors, and it ascended 
 into heaven. 
 
 " There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Here 
 the Apostle again categorically asserts the fact. It is raised a 
 spiritual body, because there is such a creation of God as a spiritual 
 body. 
 
 Theologians, as Cornehus a Lapide, gather from these verses four 
 endowments of the glorified body : Impassibility, or a state in- 
 capable of sufiering, from the first antithesis of the Apostle, "It is 
 sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; " Brightness, for 
 the Apostle says, " It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory ; " 
 Agility, from the third antithesis, " It is sown in weakness, it is 
 raised in power ; " Subtlety, for " it is sown a natural, it is raised a 
 spiritual body." 
 
 45. " And so it is written. The first man Adam was made a living 
 soul," &c. The " so " refers to the preceding clause, " There is a 
 natural body, and there is a spiritual body," and so in the account 
 of man's creation in Genesis it is said, " man (Adam) was made a 
 living soul." ^ 
 
 There is a very general misunderstanding among the readers of 
 
 1 The quotation is not perfectly literal. The Hebrew does not comprehend the words 
 the " first man ; " it is simply, " and man was (or became) a living soul." 
 
 U 
 
290 A QUICKENING SPIRIT. [I. Cok. 
 
 made a living soul ; * tlie last Adam was made ^ a quickening 
 a Rom. V. 14. spirit. 
 
 & vi. 33! 39," 46 Howbeit tliat was not first wliicli is spiritual, 
 
 40, 54, 57. 
 
 Phil. iii. 21. 
 
 Col. iii. 4. 
 
 the English Bible of the meaning of this verse (Gen. ii. 7). It is 
 generally supposed to teach that man was made difi'erent to the 
 other animals in that he had given to him a living soul — a soul 
 alive with the Life of God — living in a state of moral and spiritual 
 life ; but it by no means appears to teach this, for the word soul 
 (nephesh) means rather the animal life which man shares with all 
 other creatures, and seems by no means interchangeable with spirit. 
 St. Paul is here drawing out the distinction between the two heads 
 of the race. The first was not spiritual as the second was. He 
 was psychical only ; his body was a natural or psychical body only, 
 a " nephesh hayah," even before his fall. Of course man had, and 
 even after the fall retains, a moral nature, but this the Apostle is at 
 present taking no account of. He is marking the difi"erence be- 
 tween the two Adams as regards their life-communicating natures 
 with reference to the Kesurrection. The first man was a living 
 creature, not a spirit, but a soul ; he communicated animal life to his 
 descendants only in a natural or carnal way, as the other animals 
 did, whereas the Second or Last Adam was constituted a life-giving 
 Spirit. This refers not to the Mind or Spirit of Christ, but to His 
 Body. The bread (staff of life) which He gives is His Flesh which 
 He gives for the life of the world (John vi. 51). Whatever powers 
 of communicating life He had before His Kesurrection, at His Ke- 
 surrection His Body became a spiritual body capable of communi- 
 cating its peculiar life. 
 
 Wesley has a short and pithy but admirable note, which ex- 
 presses the mystery in the fewest words : " The first Adam was 
 made a living soul — God gave him such life as other animals enjoy, 
 but the last Adam, Christ, is a quickening Spirit. As He hath Life 
 in Himself so He quickeneth whom He will ; giving a more refined 
 life to their very bodies at the Kesurrection." ^ 
 
 46. "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that 
 which," &c. This does not mean that the natural or psychical has 
 
 1 That Christ was the Second Adam was a Rabbinical doctrine. "Adamns postremus 
 est Messias." "Neve Shalom," ix. 9 (Schotgen). 
 
Chap. XV.] OF THE EARTH, EARTHY. 291 
 
 but that wliicli is natural ; and afterward that which is 
 spiritual. 
 
 47 ^ The first man is of the earth, ^ earthy : « John Hi. si. 
 the second man is the Lord ^from heaven. & iifAg"" ^" 
 
 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that ^J«ii^"i-i3, 
 
 47. " The Lord from heaven." So A., K., L., P., most Cussives, Syriac, Arm., Goth.; 
 but N, B., C, D., E., F., G., 17, 67**, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Copt., ^th., omit " Lord." 
 
 any tendency to developeinto the Spiritual, but that in the order of 
 His gifts God first gives the natural in the first Adam, and then the 
 Spiritual in the Second. There is no natural progress from nature 
 to grace. After nature has been tried and found wanting, then 
 comes in, or rather comes down, the highest form of grace in the 
 Second Adam. 
 
 47. "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man," &c. 
 This is exceedingly clearly brought out in the account of the 
 original creation of man, " The Lord God formed the Adam, dust 
 from the ground (or Adamah)," Gen. ii. 7. The Apostle does not, 
 I think, say this by way of reproach, but simply asserts a fact. It 
 teaches us, I think, that we should not make too much of the 
 spirituality of the first Adam before the Fall. If he was so spiri- 
 tually perfect as some would have him to have been, how was it 
 that he yielded so quickly to the tempter ? 
 
 "The second man is the Lord from heaven." The Lord con- 
 stantly asserts this, as when He says, " The bread of God is he 
 which Cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world " 
 (John vi. 33). Again, " Ye are from beneath ; I am from above : Ye 
 are of this world ; I am not of this world " (John viii. 23). But 
 how can it be said that the second man is from heaven when He 
 assumed our mortal nature in the womb of the Virgin ? Evidently 
 because the Personality of the Eternal Son made the very flesh 
 which He took heavenly. That which was conceived of the Holy 
 Ghost was heavenly — raised above the elements of earth, both by 
 ilie conception by the Holy Ghost, and by His own in-dwelling. 
 
 48. *' As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy," &c. 
 That is, such a nature as the first Adam had, we have, liable to 
 €in and death, and all the wretchednesses of such a body — pain, 
 disease, corruption. 
 
292 THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY. [I. Cor. 
 
 are earthy : ^ and as is the heavenly, such are they also that 
 f Phil. iii. 20, are heavenly. 
 
 g Gen. V. 3. 49 And ^ as we have borne the image of the 
 
 2 JoTiiris^^" earthy, ^we shall also bear the image of the 
 
 & iv.il." Phil, heavenlv 
 iii. 21. iJohn Jiedvemy. 
 
 '"•2- 50 Now this I say, brethren, that ^ flesh and 
 
 i Matt. XA-i. 17. . . 
 
 Joha iii. 3,5. blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither 
 doth corruption inherit incorruption. 
 
 49. "We shall also bear." So B., 46, a few Cursives, Arm,, .^Eth. ; but H, A., C, D,, 
 E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Ital., Vulg., Goth., Copt., read, "let us bear." 
 
 " And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.'* 
 " Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like 
 unto his glorious body" (Phil. iii. 21), and again, "We know 
 that when he shall appear, we shall be hke him," &c. (1 John 
 iii. 2). 
 
 49. " And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall 
 also bear the image of the heavenly." " The image of the earthy,'* 
 t.e., of the first Adam, formed out of the dust, and through his fall 
 liable to sin and death. 
 
 "We shall also bear the image of the heavenly," i.e., we shall 
 be raised up in bodies ha^dng the likeness, in their spiritual nature, 
 of the glorified Body of Christ. 
 
 The greater part of manuscripts and versions read, " Let us 
 bear," but though this is a prayer that it would be well for all of 
 us to put up to God, it is scarcely likely to be the true reading, for 
 throughout this chapter St. Paul has only in mind the Eesurrec- 
 tion of life, and treats it as if no manner of doubt could be enter- 
 tained that it would take place in all who had died in Christ. 
 
 50. " Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot in- 
 herit," &c. " Flesh and blood," i.e, human nature, or the human 
 subject in its unregenerate state. Thus our Lord says, " Flesh and 
 blood hath not revealed it unto thee " : "I conferred not with flesh 
 and blood," Gal. i. 16, also Eph. vi. 12. It must be renewed by 
 the power of God before it can be fit to take its place in the heavenly 
 inheritance. 
 
 " Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." This is a paral- 
 lelism more fully explaining the first clause of the verse — "Flesh 
 
Chap.XY.] we shall be CHANGED. 293 
 
 61 Behold, I shew you a mystery ; ''We shall not all sleep, 
 
 * but we shall all be changed, fc i Thess. iv. 
 
 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, i phu. 111.21. 
 
 at the last trump : "^ for the trumpet shall sound, Ma^trxxiv' 31" 
 and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
 we shall be changed. 
 
 John V. 25. 
 1 Thess. iv. 16. 
 
 and blood " answering to " corruption," the " kingdom of God " to 
 *' incorruption." 
 
 The question has been raised upon this verse, whether the re- 
 newed bodies of the saints will have blood as well as flesh. Our 
 Lord, with respect to His own Body, mentions flesh and bones but 
 not blood. The body or flesh is renewed by the blood, and if the 
 spiritual body is so above the condition of our present bodies that 
 it needs no food, it will not need the circulation of the blood which 
 we now have ; but it is better not to speculate upon the adjuncts of 
 a body of the mode of existence of which we know nothing. 
 
 51. " Behold, I shew you a mystery." Behold, I show you what 
 with our present faculties we cannot so much as approach to the 
 understanding of. Thisterm "mystery," as in most other cases, does 
 not signify a matter once unrevealed, but now revealed, and which 
 by being revealed is deprived of its character of mysteriousness; but 
 it signifies something the apprehension of which is altogether 
 beyond the reach of our present faculties of mind or spirit. The 
 instantaneous change of the bodies of those who are alive when the 
 Lord comes is evidently as great a mystery, in the sense of being 
 incomprehensible, as any which the Lord has revealed. (See my 
 note on ii. 7.) 
 
 " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." 
 
 52. *' In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : 
 for the trumpet," &c. This is, no doubt, the "great sound of the 
 trumpet " alluded to by the Lord in Matth. xxiv. 31 : "He shall 
 send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet," and by St. Paul, 
 in 1 Thess. iv. 16, " The Lord shall descend from heaven with 
 a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of 
 God." 
 
 It is called the last trump, because on other occasions God mani- 
 fested His coming to judgment by the voice of the trumpet ; thus 
 on Sinai, as we read in Exod. xix. 16 : but on this occasion the race 
 
2^94 THE SAYING THAT IS WRITTEN. [I. Cor. 
 
 53 Tor this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 ■ 2 Cor. v. 4. ^ this mortal must put on immortality, 
 
 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on 
 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on 
 
 immortality, then shall be brought to pass the 
 
 o isa. XXV. 8. sayinfif that is written, ° Death is swallowed up in 
 
 Heb. ii. 14, 15. .\ ^ 
 
 Rev. XX. 14. Victory. 
 
 will be gathered together to receive judgment. It is the last trump 
 in the same sense in which we speak of the last day. 
 
 " For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in- 
 corruptible, and we shall be changed." 
 
 53. " For this corruptible must put on incorruption," &c. Thus 
 Chrysostom : " Then lest any, hearing that flesh and blood cannot 
 inherit the kingdom of God, should suppose that our bodies do not 
 rise again, he adds, ' This corruptible must put on incon-uption, 
 and this mortal immortality.' Now the body is corruptible, the 
 body is mortal, so that the body indeed remains, for it is the body 
 which is put on ; but its mortality and corruption vanish away 
 when immortality and incorruption come upon it." 
 
 " Must put on." If our present bodies are to become incorrup- 
 tible and immortal they must indeed be changed, so that that decay 
 which is inherent in all nature must be done away, and they will 
 then become as incapable of dying as they are now incapable of 
 Hving beyond their allotted time. 
 
 54. " So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption," 
 &c., .... Death is swallowed up in victory." These words are 
 from Isaiah xxv. 8. The prophet is seemingly occupied with the 
 thoughts of some temporal deliverance of the Jews ; but, as it is in 
 many other prophecies, the terms in which he expresses himself are 
 in their grandeur and poetic power of inspiration infinitely beyond 
 thanksgiving or praise for any earthly deliverance. They can be 
 only interpreted with any propriety of the final deliverance of the 
 race : for what otherwise can we make of, " He will destroy in this 
 mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil 
 that is spread over all nations ; He will swallow up death in vic- 
 tory ; and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from off all faces ? " 
 What else can a Christian call to mind when he reads this but Eev. 
 xxi. 4 ? 
 
Chap. XV.] O DEATH, WHERE IS THY STING ? 295 
 
 55 ^0 death, where is thy sting? || grave, where is thy 
 victory ? p hos. xiii. 14. 
 
 56 The sting of death is sin ; and *^ the strength q Rom. iv. 15. 
 of sin is the law. 6, I3. ' ^ "* 
 
 55. "Grave." ^f, B., C, D., read, "death." Vulgate reads, " Ubi est, mors, victoria 
 tua? ubi est, mors, stimulus tuus?" Syriac exactly as English. 
 
 The quotation is from the Hebrew, not from the Septuagint, the 
 word "netzah," generally rendered "for ever," is translated "vic- 
 tory " in 1 Chron. xxix. 11, and rightly so, for it is one among such 
 substantives as greatness, power, glory, and majesty. 
 
 55. " death, where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy vic- 
 tory ? " The same may be said of this proj)hetical passage as of the 
 one just quoted. The terms used in it are infinitely beyond any 
 temporal deliverance of the fleshly Ephraim. The words refuse to 
 be tied down to a temporal deliverance — a little longer continuance 
 in Canaan is not a redemption from the power of the grave, nor 
 was Ephraim so delivered. Words of God cannot mean so little 
 while they express so much. " Then, and then only, were they ful- 
 filled in their literal meaning when God the Son took our flesh, 
 that through death He might destroy him that had the power of 
 death, that is the devil, and deliver them who, through fear of 
 death, were all their Hfe-time subject to bondage." (Pusey on 
 Hosea xiii. 14.) 
 
 The words of the prophet are quoted by the Apostle mainly from 
 the Septuagint, which reads, "Where is thy penalty {diKT]) O 
 death ? Hades, where is thy sting ? " 
 
 There are differences of reading, as the reader will see by the 
 critical note, but the meaning under all is the same. Death is de- 
 prived of his real power to hurt. The grave, or Hades, or death, is 
 deprived of victory : though he seems to subdue all, he does not do so, 
 for through the grave and gate of Death we pass to our joyful resur- 
 rection. Looked at in the light of the Kesurrection of Christ, he 
 is the end of a transitory and miserable life, and the beginning of 
 an eternal and glorious one. 
 
 56. " The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the 
 law." The thing which makes death terrible is the sense of sin, 
 an accusing conscience, the conviction that if there is an eternal 
 Justice presiding over the universe there must be a future retribu- 
 
296 BE YE STEDFAST. [I. Cor. 
 
 57 ""But thanks he to G-od, wMcli givetL. us Hhe victory 
 r Rom. vii. 25. througli oui' Lord Jesus Christ, 
 t 2 Pet."iu. 14." ^S * Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
 stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the 
 
 tion, and in the case of many, a very terrible one. The word trans- 
 lated sting {KEVTpov) is rendered "prick "in the sense of goad in Acts 
 ix. 5 ; xxvi. 14, but in Eevel. ix. 10 it is used of the venomous sting 
 of a scorpion, which is evidently the allusion here, for the rendering 
 " goad," as a sharp pointed stake to drive men, is inadmissible ; 
 whereas sting, in the sense of a sharp point conveying deadly 
 venom, is very applicable to death. 
 
 •' The strength of sin is the law." Here we have the first instance 
 in St. Paul's writings of that antagonism between the law and grace 
 which forms one of the main subjects, if not the main subject of his 
 Epistle to the Komans. Strange, passing strange, that the law of 
 God, holy, just, and good, the rule of life for all His children, should 
 be the strength of sin. But even if St. Paul had not taught it, we 
 should learn it by experience. That which is unholy within us 
 rises in rebellion against the assertion of God's holiness. Such is 
 our natural alienation from God that the rule of His holiness calls 
 out the contradiction of our nature to Him. Sin is pleasant because 
 it is forbidden. (See notes on Eom. vii. 7-25.) 
 
 57. " But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." The victory is our justification — our being 
 put in possession of Christ as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi- 
 cation, and redemption. We cannot stand in ourselves before God, 
 but we can stand in Him. God accepts us as branches of the True 
 Vine, as members of the Mystical Body. Being in Him, we are 
 delivered from the curse of the law, — i.e., from the strength of sin — 
 we are delivered from the fear of death, whereunto we were once 
 subject to bondage. 
 
 68. " Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, immoveable, 
 always," &c. " Therefore," i.e., because of the certainty of the Eesur- 
 rection of the Lord, and your Eesurrection in Him. " Therefore," 
 because through Jesus Christ, God has given you the victory over 
 sin and death, and redeemed you from the curse of the law. 
 
 " Be ye stedfast." Stedfast in the faith of the Eesurrection. 
 
 "Unmoveable" by any doubts insinuated into your minds by 
 
Chap. XV.] YOUR LABOUR NOT IN VAIN. 297 
 
 work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know " that your labour 
 is not in yain in the Lord. ^ ch. m. 8. 
 
 the great enemy, as to how the dead are raised up, and as to the 
 body in which they come. 
 
 "Always abounding in the work of the Lord." Always keeping 
 in subjection your own bodies — always doing what good you can to 
 the bodies and souls of your neighbours, always striving for the 
 faith of the Gospel, for the Unity and Sanctity of the Church, 
 always continuing in prayer and thanksgiving. 
 
 " Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the 
 Lord." Do all, having respect to the recompense of the reward. 
 The Eesurrection assures us that every man shall receive his own 
 reward according to his own labour ; but this must be in Christ. 
 
 *' There is not one moment wherein we have no need that God 
 should subdue sin in us by the grace of Jesus Christ. Without 
 Him there is nothing in us but inabihty and unworthiness. Our 
 only refuge is to address ourselves, and to adhere to Him by a lively 
 taith and an humble prayer, to labour in Him by an abundant 
 charity, and to expect from Him, by a firm and unmovable hope, 
 the eternal recompence and reward." Such are the words in which 
 Quesnel concludes his comment on this chapter. We will join 
 with them the words of a kindred spirit. " Let us also endeavour, 
 by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain this hope in 
 its full energy, longing for that glorious day when, in the utmost 
 extent of the expression, ' death shall be swallowed up for ever,' 
 and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall 
 burst out at once into that triumphant song, * Death, where is 
 thy sting ? Hades, where is thy victory ? ' " (Wesley.) 
 
298 THE COLLECTION. [L Cor, 
 
 N 
 
 CHAP. XYI. 
 
 OW concerning ^the collection for tlie saints, as I 
 have given order to the churches of G-alatia, even so 
 » Acts xi. 29. do ye. 
 
 & xxiv 17. 
 
 Rom. XV. 26. 2 ^Upon the first day of the week let every one 
 
 & ix. 1, 12. * of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered 
 b Acts XX. 7. him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 
 
 Rev. i. lo'. 
 
 2. "As God hath prospered him," or, "What his means allow him to give." "QuocI 
 ei bene placuerit" (Vulg.). 
 
 1. " Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given 
 order," &c. This direction comes in with marked appropriateness 
 after the concluding exhortation of the last chapter, "Be ye always 
 .... abounding in the work of the Lord." No work of the Lord 
 occupies a higher place in the Scriptures than the assistance of the 
 poor and needy. It seems probable, comparing the way in which 
 he introduces the subject with that in which he begins upon 
 *' marriage " and "things offered to idols " (vii. 1, viii. l),that they 
 had asked him some question respecting the collection. 
 
 The saints were the poor Christians of Jerusalem, who shared, of 
 course, in the constant famines and dearths which were occurring 
 at this time (see my notes on Acts ii. 45, and xi. 28). I have there 
 shown that this distress could not possibly have been owing to the 
 community of goods which prevailed on and after Pentecost — 
 for that distribution must have rather abated than increased the 
 distress among the poor saints. 
 
 " As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do 
 ye." This order may have been by letter, or it may have been 
 communicated personally, when he went over all the country of 
 Galatia before he came to Ephesus (Acts xviii. 23). 
 
 2. " Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by 
 him in store," &c. On each first day of the week — an Hebraism, 
 the days of the week being reckoned from the Sabbath. 
 
 " Let every one lay by him in store." The words " lay by him '* 
 seem to imply that he was to put it aside on that day, and keep it 
 
CnAP.XVL] WHEN I COME. 29^^ 
 
 3 And wlien I come, *^ whom soever ye shall approve by 
 your letters, them, will I send to bring your <= 2 Cor. viii, 
 
 t liberality unto Jerusalem. t Gr. gi/t. 
 
 4 ^ And if it be meet that I go also, they shall e, 19? ^^"* *' 
 go with me. 1 Ig^'"''" ''^"* 
 
 4. " If it be meet that I go also." Some translate, " If it (the sum collected) be 
 worthy that I go." 
 
 in his own house. But taken in connection with the fact that this 
 was to be done on the day of their religious assembly, and so that 
 there should be no trouble or time lost in collecting it when he 
 came, it is rather to be inferred that on each Sunday it was to be 
 deposited in the treasury of the church. Chrysostom, however, 
 takes it in the first way. 
 
 " As God hath prospered him." This is to be ruled in its sense 
 by the words " every one of you." It was not those who had been 
 exceptionally prosperous who were to lay by, but all. 
 
 "That there be no gatherings when I come." That when I 
 come your time may not be wasted in making collections, but em- 
 ployed in listening to my instructions. Chrysostom notices that 
 by small weekly contributions the burden would be less felt, and 
 also that if it was left to the time of his coming, some might not 
 be able to give at one time as much as they would, had the collection 
 been made weekly. 
 
 3. " And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your 
 letters," &c. Notice here the mixture of authority and loving con- 
 fidence. It was their collection, but he sent it, and yet only by those 
 whom tJiey approved. The Corinthians themselves were to choose 
 their agents, probably to prevent the possibility of misappropria- 
 tion, as others had been chosen for a like purpose by the other 
 churches (see 2 Cor. viii. 18-20 ; Stanley). 
 
 4. " And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me." 
 "If it be meet that I go also." Meyer and others make this 
 "meet" to have reference to the sum collected. If it turned out 
 to be a paltry sum, then it would be beneath the dignity of his 
 office to go with it. If it was a sum worthy of the occasion, he 
 would himself accompany the messengers. 
 
 5. " Now I will come to you, when I shall pass through Mace- 
 donia," &c. The Apostle does not mean by this that he is now 
 
300 I TRUST TO TARRY AWHILE. [I. Cok. 
 
 5 Now I will come tinto you, ^ when I shall pass through 
 e Acts xix. 21. Macedonia : for I do pass through Macedonia. 
 
 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and 
 f Acts XV. 3. winter with you, that ye may ^ bring me on my 
 
 & xvii. 15. & . t • -t T 
 
 xxi. 5. Rom. joumey whithersoever 1 go. 
 
 i. ia. ■ * 7 For I will not see you now by the way ; but 
 
 g Acts xviii. I trust to tarry awhile with you, ^ if the Lord 
 
 21. ch. iv. 19. . -^ '' 
 
 James iv. 15. permit. 
 
 8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost, 
 h Acts xiv. 27. 9 For ^ a great door and effectual is opened 
 
 2 Cor. ii, 12. ^ Y -, t • 
 
 Col. iv. 3. unto me, and ^ there are many adversaries. 
 
 Rev. iii. 8. •' 
 » Acts xix. 9. , 
 
 passing through Macedonia, but that he has determined to do so. 
 This Epistle was written from Ephesus, not from Philippi, as is 
 erroneously stated in the subscription at the end in our English 
 Bibles. 
 
 6, 7. " And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with 
 you," &c. He is not sure what places he will visit after he has 
 stayed some time in Corinth ; and, besides this, he did not come 
 to Corinth as early as he intended, but waited to see what effect his 
 letters had upon them, so that when he came he might not be 
 compelled to exercise severe discipline. 
 
 He desired not to pay them a passing visit, but to stay some time 
 with them. 
 
 8, 9. " But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost many 
 
 adversaries." In writing from one Gentile Church to another he 
 would scarcely have mentioned Pentecost as a sacred season, unless 
 it had already begun to be observed among Christians. "Why 
 should it not ? If any fact in the history of God's dealings with 
 man deserved to be had in remembrance, it was — next, of course, 
 to the Eesurrection — the descent of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " For a great door and effectual is opened unto me," &c. The 
 account of this great and effectual opening for the Gospel, and the 
 virulence of the adversaries, we learn in Acts xix. "All they 
 which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord." Special miracles 
 were wrought by touching handkerchiefs or aprons which had them- 
 selves touched the body of the Apostle — fear fell on all the neigh- 
 bourhood — " the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." But it 
 
Chap. XVI.] LET NO MAN DESPISE HIM. 301 
 
 10 Now ^if Timotheus come, see that he may be with, 
 you, without fear : for ^ he worketh the work of ^ Acts xix. 22. 
 the Lord, as I also do. 1 Rom. xvi. 21. 
 
 11 "'Let no man therefore despise him: but fxhess.S? 
 conduct him forth ^in peace, that he may come °'iTim.iv.i3. 
 
 Acts XV 33 
 
 unto me : for I look for him with the brethren. 
 
 was not likely that Satan would suffer this without opposition. 
 There was no small stir which ended in the dangerous riot in the 
 theatre, and St. Paul's hurried departure to Macedonia. 
 
 10. "Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you 
 without fear," &c. In iv. 17 he had written, " For this cause have 
 I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in 
 the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways 
 which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every Church." Now 
 Timothy was young, and very inferior to the Apostle, as it 
 appears, not only in Church standing, but in determination and 
 energy, so that it was very possible that he would be cowed by the 
 virulence of that opposition which had made some of the leaders 
 of the factions question the Apostolic authority of their father in 
 Christ. This exhortation (" see that he be with you without fear ") 
 was very necessary. The words, " if Timotheus come," imply some 
 doubt whether, through accidental circumstances, he would arrive 
 before Paul. 
 
 " He worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do." This does not 
 mean that he worked with the zeal and the spirit with which St. 
 Paul did, and yet in many things took his own line ; but that he 
 worked in the same way, used the same outward form or ritual, and 
 in all things acted as if he could not well improve upon the Apostle's 
 model. It, in fact, means the same as "he shall remind you of 
 my ways which are in Christ, as I teach every where in every 
 Chm-ch " (1 Cor. iv. 17). 
 
 11. " Let no man therefore despise him : but conduct him forth 
 in peace." That is, escort him, and provide him with everything 
 needful for the journey. Great stress seems to have been laid on 
 this "speeding of the parting guest" in the early Church: thus 
 (3 John 6), "whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a 
 godly sort, thou shalt do well." 
 
 "That he may come unto me: for I look for him with the^ 
 
302 OUR BROTHER APOLLOS. [I. Cor. 
 
 12 As touclmig our brother ° ApoUos, I greatly desired him 
 
 <> ch. i. 12. & to come unto you with the brethren : but his 
 
 will was not at all to come at this time ; but he 
 
 will come when he shall have convenient time. 
 
 V Matt. xxiT. 13 p Watch ye, ^ stand fast in the faith, quit 
 
 42. & XXV. 13. iM ri . 
 
 1 Thess. V. 6. you lite men, ^ be strong. 
 
 1 Pet. V. 8. . 
 
 <3 ch. XV. 1. 14 ^ Let all your things be done with charity. 
 
 Phil', i. 27." & 
 
 iv. 1. 1 Thess. 
 
 iii. 8. 2 Thess. 
 ii. 15. 
 
 'Eph.vi. 10. brethren." No doubt the Apostle meant that he 
 • cii. xiv.i. would meet him somewhere in Macedonia. 
 1 Pet. iv.' 8.* i« ^ith the brethren "—that is, with Erastus, and 
 
 Titus who bore the Second Epistle, and others. 
 
 12. "As touching our brother ApoUos, I greatly desired him to 
 come," &c. What was the reason why Apollos declined to accord 
 to the wish of Paul ? It could not have been any worldly reason ; 
 but in all probability he thought that his presence would increase 
 or embitter the spirit of faction. Some amongst them had set him 
 ■over against Paul as superior to him in eloquence, and he dreaded 
 that he should be the occasion of increasing this schismatical 
 feeling in the Church. 
 
 13, 14. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be 
 strong .... with charity." The comment of Chrysostom on this 
 verse is remarkable for its terse eloquence. " Not in the wisdom 
 which is without : for there it is not possible to stand, but to be 
 borne along. Now in saying these things he seems indeed to 
 advise ; but he is reprimanding them as indolent. Wherefore he 
 saith. Watch, as though they slept ; stand, as though they were 
 rocking to and fro : quit you lihe men, as though they were playing 
 the coward. Let all your tilings he done in charity, as though they 
 were in dissensions." 
 
 " But what means ' All things with charity ? ' ' Whether any one 
 rebuke,' saith he, ' or rule, or be ruled, or learn or teach, let all 
 be with charity ; ' since, the things which have been mentioned 
 arose from neglect of it. For if this (charity) had not been ne- 
 glected, they would not have been puffed up, they would not have 
 said : ' I am of Paul, and I of Apollos.' If this had existed they 
 would not have gone to law before heathens, or rather, they would 
 not have gone to law at all. If this had existed, that notorious 
 
Chap. XVI.] THE FIRSTFRUITS OF ACHAIA. 303 
 
 15 1 beseech you, bretliren, (ye know ^ tlie house of Stepha- 
 nas, that it is ^ the firstfniits of Achaia, and that ' eh. i. le. 
 they have addicted themselves to ^the ministry x 2 0^^ Tm. 4. 
 of the saints,) ^j^o^-' ^^'^•' 
 
 16 ^That ye submit yourselves unto such, and ^ Heb. xUi. 17. 
 to every one that helpeth with us, and ^ laboureth. ' Heb. vi. 10. 
 
 17 I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and 
 Fortunatus and Achaicus : * for that which was » 2 Cor. xi. 9. 
 lacking on your part they have supplied. PhUem. 13. 
 
 person would not have taken his father's wife ; they would not 
 have despised the weak brethren ; there would have been no 
 heresies among them; they would not have been vainglorious 
 about their gifts. Therefore it is that he saith, ' Let all things be 
 done with charity.' " 
 
 15. *' I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, 
 ihat it is the firstfruits,") &c. Stephanas himself was apparently 
 with the Apostle at this time, and so the Apostle commends to them 
 his house, i.e., the near relatives who had assisted him in his holy 
 work. 
 
 *' They have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints." 
 Some, as Blunt, suppose that they were not ministers, but rather 
 helped other Christians with their hospitality; but there is no 
 reason why they should not have been endowed with powers of 
 government (governments, xii. 28), inasmuch as he proceeds to 
 say to the Corinthian Christians — 
 
 16. " That ye submit j^ourselves unto such, and to every one that 
 helpeth with us, and laboureth." Dean Stanley supposes that the 
 ministry of the saints is the contribution to the necessities of the 
 saints in Judaea, which is called by this name in 2 Corinth, viii. 4, 
 «,nd ix. 1 ; but this would seem to require co-operation rather than 
 submission. The call upon them to submit also to all his co- 
 helpers and labourers, seems to imply a ministry acting with and 
 under him. 
 
 17. " I am glad of the coming of Stephanas .... they have 
 supplied." Of Fortunatus and Achaicus nothing is known. One 
 Fortunatus is mentioned in Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians, 
 *' Send back to us in peace and with joy these our messengers to 
 
304 ALL THE BRETHREN GREET YOU. [I. Cor. 
 
 18 ^ For they liave refreshed my spirit and your's : there- 
 b Col, iv. 8. fore '^ acknowledge ye them that are such. 
 1 Th'ess"'v. 1*2. 19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila 
 d Rom xvi. 5, and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, ^ with 
 
 15. Philem. 2. *' . 
 
 the church that is in their house, 
 e Rom. xvi, 16. 20 All the brethren greet you. ^ Greet ye one 
 another with an holy kiss. 
 
 19. "Priscilla," K and D. read "Prisca." 
 
 you, Claudius, Ephebus, and Valerius, Bito, and Fortunatus," &c., 
 but inasmuch as we cannot put the writing of this Epistle before the 
 year a.d. 90, it is very improbable that they were the same persons. 
 " That which is lacking on your part they have supplied." Very 
 probably this means that these men out of their own private means 
 had supplied the Apostle with what the body of the Corinthian 
 Church had been remiss in giving. (1 Cor. ix. 5-15.) 
 
 18. " For they have refreshed my spirit and yours : therefore 
 acknowledge ye them," &c. They have refreshed my spirit by 
 acts of kindness, and they refreshed yours by spiritual comfort. 
 (Wordsworth). Or it may be that the Apostle has in view the 
 sympathy that all Christian souls must have with one another — 
 they have refreshed my spirit, and when you know what com- 
 fort they have given to me they will have refreshed yom-s also. 
 We have the same idea in the next Epistle i. 6, "whether we be 
 comforted it is for your consolation and salvation." 
 
 " Therefore acknowledge ye them that are such." Acknowledge 
 them as leaders, as examples, as benefactors of the Church. 
 
 19. " The churches of Asia salute you." That is of Proconsular 
 Asia. Seven of them receive messages from the Lord through St. 
 John in the Apocalypse. 
 
 " Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the 
 church," &c. They were at Corinth when St. Paul first arrived 
 there (Acts xviii. 2). Afterwards they came to Ephesus with Paul, 
 and were instrumental in conveying a more accurate knowledge 
 of the faith to Apollos. 
 
 20. " All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an 
 holy kiss." The salutation by a kiss was always common in the 
 East. Thus the Lord says to His host, who had been deficient in 
 kindly courtesy, " Thou gavest me no kiss " (Luke vii. 45). 
 
Chap. XVL] ANATHEMA MARAN-ATHA. 305 
 
 21 'The salutation of me Paul witli mine own hand. 
 
 22 If any man ^ love not the Lord Jesus Christ, ' Coi. iv. is. _ 
 ^ let him be Anathema ' Maran-atha. g Eph. ^^. 24. 
 
 h Gal. i. 8. 9. 
 ■ i Jude 14, 15. 
 
 22. "Lore not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be," &c. "Jesus Christ " omitted by 
 N, A., B., C, M., 17, 73, 74; K., P., thirty Cursives, Syr. (Schaaf), ^th., read, "our 
 Lord" VniMLv); but D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Syriac, 
 Copt., Goth., retain, "Jesus Christ." 
 
 If this had been carried out as the Apostle commanded it would 
 have been a more serious matter than we now should suppose ; 
 for the leaders of factions and fomenters of division would have 
 had to exchange the kiss of charity, and what hypocrisy would 
 they have been guilty of if they had done this without laying aside 
 their divisions ! 
 
 The kiss of peace or charity was incorporated into the Eucharistic 
 office, and was not discontinued in the "Western Church until the 
 thirteenth century. (See note on Eom. xvi. 16.) 
 
 21. *' The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand." Hitherto 
 he had written, as he usually did, by an amanuensis. Now he 
 takes the pen into his own hand to give the loving salutation. 
 
 22. " If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be 
 Anathema Maran-atha." Fearful words from the Hps of him who 
 was one of the most loving and sympathising of men ; but his 
 spirit within him had been stirred, his heart was on fire, he looked 
 on the spiritual state of these his children in Christ, and saw that 
 the evils he had denounced amongst them sprang from one source. 
 Their hearts had not been true to Christ. They who profess to love 
 the Crucified Son of God must strive to please Him, or how can they 
 love Him ? We strive to please those whom we love. It is the one 
 test of our love. And so, as Chrysostom says, " How could they love 
 Christ who made their members the members of an harlot, those 
 who put stumbling blocks in the way of their brethren, by the 
 things ofi'ered in sacrifice to idols (viii. 12), those who occasioned 
 schisms by naming themselves after men ; those who refuse to be- 
 lieve in the Resurrection ? " 
 
 Anathema signifies a thing accursed, and so devoted to destruc- 
 tion (thus Eom. ix. 3, Gal. i. 8), corresponding to "sacer" in the 
 Latin, and " cherem " in the Hebrew. It is to be remembered that 
 the Apostle here only anathematizes or devotes to destruction those 
 
 X 
 
306 MY LOVE BE WITH YOU ALL. [L Cor. 
 
 23 ^ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ he with you. 
 kRom.xvi.2o. 24 Mj love he with you all in Christ Jesus. 
 Amen. 
 
 who, by their opposition to the will of Christ and resistance to 
 His Spirit, had already anathematized or devoted themselves to 
 destruction. 
 
 " Maran-atha." This signifies " The Lord cometh," Maran being 
 the longer and more emphatic form of " Mar," or Lord. The word 
 for our Lord throughout the Syriac is " Moryeh." The word is not 
 necessarily connected with " Anathema," but was added to it to 
 emphasize it. Let him who loves not the Lord Jesus be ana- 
 thema, and the Lord cometh to confirm the judgment. 
 
 23. " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." This is 
 a solemn invocation of grace from the Lord as the fountain and 
 treasury of Divine grace, and so Lord and God. 
 
 24. " My love be with you all in Christ Jesus." Thus, though 
 he had had much occasion to rebuke, and even threaten, he sends 
 his love to all, even to those who caused division, who called 
 themselves by the names of men, who had abetted the fornicator, 
 who had denied the Eesurrection. They had none of them sinned 
 so as to be out of the reach of the love of God, and so he sends to 
 them his love. His love would be the love of one who had them 
 ever in his heart, his prayers, his sympathy. 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PAUL, * an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will g^^®'''/' ^* 
 of Grod, and Timothy our brother, unto the ?oi-. •• \- , 
 
 *' 1 lim. 1. 1, 
 
 church of God which is at Corinth, ^ with all the 2 Tim. i. i. 
 
 saints which are in all Achaia : Co]. i.V 
 
 2 "^ Grace he to you and peace from God our { co^i.'b.^' 
 
 Pather, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. J^^s'." 'coi. Ti!" 
 
 l" Thess. i. i. ' 
 
 2 Thess. i. 2. 
 
 Philem. 3. 
 
 1. "Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and 
 Timothy," &c. This second letter was written from some city of 
 Macedonia, and Timothy had returned, and was now with the 
 Apostle. The same may be said of St. Paul's association of Timothy 
 with himself as I have said of that of Sosthenes (1 Cor. i. 1). In 
 all probability not one line of the Epistle was written or dictated 
 by Timothy. Every sentence was the overflow of the Apostle's own 
 mind, but he thought good to associate his chief companions in 
 labour with himself, in order that the Churches might as far as 
 possible look upon them as identified with himself, and honour 
 and obey them as his partners in the Lord. 
 
 " Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints 
 which are in all Achaia." The parallel phrase in 1 Cor. i. is 
 *' with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ 
 our Lord, both theirs and ours." 
 
 2. "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father, and 
 from the Lord Jesus Christ." The Lord Jesus Christ is, side by 
 side with God, the fountain of blessing. " The river of the water 
 of life, clear as crystal," proceeds out of the throne of God and of 
 the Lamb (Rev. xxii. 1). 
 
308 THE FATHER OF MERCIES. [II. Cor. 
 
 3 ^Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 d Eph. i. 3. Christ, the Father of mercies, and the Grod of all 
 
 1 Pet. i. 3. 
 
 comfort ; 
 
 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may 
 be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the 
 comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of Grod. 
 
 e Acts ix. 4. 5 For as ^ the sufferings of Christ abound in us, 
 
 eh. IV. 10. ° 
 
 Col. i. 24. SO our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 
 
 3. ** Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the Father," &c. Instead of the usual, *' I thank my God," we have 
 a doxology similar to that in Ephes. i. 3, 4 : " The Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ — the Father of mercies." He personifies, as it 
 were, the mercies which come to us in and through Jesus Christ. 
 This teaches us that God's mercies are not gifts apart from 
 Himself, but come, if one may so say, from His very Essence. 
 Similarly He is called the Father of Glory and the Father of 
 lights. 
 
 4. " Who comforteth us in all om' tribulation, that we may be abl© 
 to comfort," &c. Wonderful truth ! We should suppose that any 
 comfort under any private trouble is for om-selves alone— that it 
 cannot belong to others, and can only be enjoyed by ourselves ; 
 but here we are told that when God imparts comfort to any soul, 
 it is that that soul may be enabled in its turn to impart the same 
 comfort to its afflicted brother. 
 
 5. "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our 
 consolation (comfort)," &c. There is a remarkably analogous 
 passage in Coloss. i. 24 : " Who fill up that which is behind of the 
 afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the 
 Church." Compare also Phil. iii. 10 : " That I may know him 
 and .... the fellowship of his sufferings." It seems to mean 
 that the sufferings of Christ are reproduced in the sufferings of the 
 members of His mystical Body, in order that they may be com- 
 forted with no human consolation, but may partake of the con- 
 solation with which Christ was consoled. And this not for the 
 private consolation of any particular sufferer, but, as he proceeds 
 to say, — 
 
 6. 7. "And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation 
 
Chap. L] OUR HOPE OF YOU IS STEADFAST. 309 
 
 6 And wlietlier we be afflicted, ^ it is for your consolation 
 and salvation, which || is effectual in the en- ^ch. iv, 15. 
 during of the same sufferings which we also wrought. 
 suffer : or whether we be comforted, it is for 
 
 your consolation and salvation. 
 
 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, 
 
 that ^as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so e Rom. viii. 17. 
 , „ , , PI 1 ,. 2 Tim. ii. 12. 
 
 shall ye he also of the consolation. 
 
 8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant 
 
 6. There is some differenee amongst manuscripts respecting the order of the words. 
 The Revisers, following A., C, D., read, " Whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort 
 and salvation, or whether we be comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the 
 patient enduring — and our hope for you is steadfast." 
 
 and salvation .... so shall ye be also of the consolation." Many 
 suggestions are given of the meaning of this verse. That given by 
 Chrysostom seems in every way satisfactory : " Your salvation is 
 not our work alone, but your own as well ; for both we in preaching 
 the word to you, endure affliction, and ye, in receiving it, endure 
 the very same ; we to impart to you that which we received, ye to 
 receive what is imparted, and not let it go." The afflictions and 
 consolations of ministers, especially, are often intended for the 
 sake of the people as well as themselves, that by their own 
 example, experience, counsels, and exhortations, they may pro- 
 mote the salvation and consolation of others also. For these 
 blessings are commonly brought home to the hearts of men, and 
 the word of God is rendered effectual for every saving purpose by 
 means of trials and afflictions ; and the minister who is a stranger 
 to sufferings and divine consolations, can seldom duly sympathise 
 with the mourners, counsel the tempted, encourage the dejected, 
 or even bear with the infirmities of the weak. 
 
 7. " And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are 
 partakers," &c. He could scarcely have written this in his first 
 Epistle — so full of misgiving and upbraiding : but now having 
 received from Titus the account of their repentance and altered 
 state of mind towards him, he can say with confidence, " as ye are 
 partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." 
 
 8. " For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble, 
 which came," &c. Two or three explanations have been given of this 
 
310 WE DESPAIRED EVEN OF LIFE. [II. Cor. 
 
 of ^ our trouble wliicli came to us in Asia, that we were 
 h Actsxix.23. pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 32. !, ^ n . -, OT. 
 
 & xvi. 9. that we despaired even oi lite : 
 
 B Or, answer. 9 But wc had the II sentence of death in our- 
 
 i Jer.xvii.5,7. sclvcs, that wc should ^ uot trust in ourselves, but 
 
 in Grod which raiseth the dead : 
 k 2 Pet. ii. 9. 10 ^ Who delivered us from so great a death, 
 
 and doth deliver : in whom we trust that he will 
 
 yet deliver us : 
 
 10. "And doth deliver." So E., F., G., K., L., M., most Cursives, f ; but A., D., d, e, 
 Syriac, omit, and K, B., C, P., 17, 47, 73, 93, 211, g, Vulg. (Amiat.), read, " shall 
 deliver." 
 
 " trouble in Asia." The first, and by far the most probable, is that 
 it was the dangerous riot described in its leading incidents in 
 Acts xix. 23-41, in which the Apostle narrowly escaped being 
 murdered. This seems most consonant with the words "our 
 trouble in Asia.'* Others, as Dean Plumptre, consider it to have 
 been a dangerous illness which had brought him to the gates of 
 the grave ; and others suppose, but I think with very little reason, 
 that it was the disheartening news from Corinth respecting the 
 state of his beloved Church there which well-nigh overwhelmed him. 
 
 9. *' But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we 
 should," &c. That is, we were as certain of death as one who had 
 had the sentence of death pronounced upon him by a judge, and 
 for whom, humanly speaking, there could be no escape or reprieve. 
 So that there was no human hope ; the only source of hope was to 
 trust in that God "Who not only rescueth from death, but restoreth 
 the dead to life. 
 
 10. " Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver : 
 in whom," &c. He delivered us from so imminent a death. No- 
 thing could exceed the fury of the silversmiths, and yet nothing 
 could be more remarkable than the sudden cessation of the riot, and 
 the escape of the Apostle (Acts xx. 1). 
 
 We cannot, however, help noticing the evangelical application 
 of this verse. The Lord hath delivered us by His Death and Resur- 
 rection from death in its three terrible forms — death temporal, 
 death spiritual, death eternal. " He doth deUver." He doth de- 
 
Chap. I.] OUR REJOICING IS THIS. 311 
 
 11 Ye also ^helping together by prayer for us, that ™for 
 the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many ^ Ram. xv. 30, 
 
 ^v 1 X. ' -u Phil. i. 19. 
 
 persons thanks may be given by many on our Phiiem. 22. 
 
 behalf. -ch.iv.1.5. 
 
 12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of 
 
 our conscience, that in simplicity and ° godly sin- ^^^'o' ^'^' 
 
 cerity, ° not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace » 1 Cor. ii. 4, 
 
 12. "In simplicity." So D., E., F., G., L., most Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Goth., 
 Syriac; but ^f, A., B., C, K., M., P., 17, 37, 67**, 73, Copt., Arm., read, "in holiness." 
 
 liver "US now from the assaults of Satan and from the dominion 
 of our evil passions, and He tvill deliver us from every evil work, 
 and make us partakers of His heavenly kingdom. 
 
 11. "Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the 
 gift bestowed upon us." St. Paul seems to have had an extraor- 
 dinary sense of the value of intercessory prayer. In the Epistle 
 to the Philippians he seems to make even his own salvation in a 
 measure to depend upon it. *' I know that this shall turn to my 
 salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus 
 Christ " (Phil. i. 19). 
 
 " Bestowed upon us by the means of," &c. He seems to think it 
 a great advantage to all that they should pray for him, and then 
 that their prayers having been answered, they should give thanks 
 to God. All intercourse with God such as this cannot but be 
 most acceptable to God and beneficial to their souls. 
 
 " This he said, at once to stir them up to prayer for others, and 
 to use them always to give thanks to God for whatever befalleth 
 others, showing that He too also willeth this exceedingly .... 
 and observe, I pray you, this also, that even if God doeth any- 
 thing in mercy, yet prayer doth mightily contribute thereunto. 
 For at the first he attributed his salvation to His mercies ; for 
 ' the God of all mercies ' he says Himself delivered us ; but here 
 to their prayers also." (Chrysostom.) 
 
 12. "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience," 
 &c. The word translated "rejoicing "is usually rendered "boasting." 
 
 "The testimony of our conscience." This was a great matter 
 with St. Paul. Before the Sanhedrim he affirmed, " I have lived 
 in all good conscience before God unto this day." " Herein," he 
 
512 WE AKE YOUR REJOICING. [H. Cor. 
 
 of Grod, we have had our conversation in the world, and more 
 abundantly to youward. 
 
 13 For we write none other things unto you, than what 
 ye read or acknowledge ; and I trust ye shall acknowledge 
 even to the end ; 
 
 14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, * that we are 
 pch.v. 12. your rejoicing, even as "^ye also are our's in the 
 &iv.V."* ■ day of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 1 Thess. ii. 
 
 19, 20. 
 
 says again, " do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void 
 of ofifence towards God and towards men." 
 
 " That in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom," 
 &c. My conscience witnesses to me that I have done nothing 
 underhand ; in all my intercourse with you and with others I have 
 been candid and sincere, not relying on worldy wisdom, but on the 
 grace of God ; and if I have acted thus openly with others, I have 
 especially behaved myself thus in my intercourse with you. 
 
 This verse is the introduction to another paragraph of the 
 Epistle. Titus had informed him that doubts had been thrown 
 upon his sincerity in the matter of his coming. He had threatened 
 to come (1 Cor. iv. 19, &c.), and had not yet come. AU sorts of 
 sinister motives had been imputed to him because he had not 
 fulfilled his promise. These he now proceeds to rebut. 
 
 13. " For we write none other things unto you than what ye read 
 or acknowledge," &c. What we write to you in our Epistle is 
 plain, and there is no other meaning than that which is on the 
 surface. The teaching or meaning is what ye read, or acknowledge 
 to be true. It is the plain truth of God applied to your conduct, 
 and I trust for your own sakes ye will always receive it as such. 
 
 14. " As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your 
 rejoicing," &c. He is careful to say "in part," inasmuch as some 
 among them had questioned his Apostolical authority. 
 
 " Even as ye also are our's in the day of the Lord Jesus." He had 
 taught them that the coming of the Lord was ever impending, and 
 Bo, instead of saying, "ye are our rejoicing when we all die and 
 go to heaven," he said, " ye are our rejoicing when, as I trust, I 
 shall present you as a chaste virgin to Christ when He comes." 
 (2 Cor. X. 2.) 
 
Chap. L] DID I USE LIGHTNESS? 313 
 
 15 And in this confidence ^ I was minded to come unto 
 you before, that ye miffht have ^ a second "" i Cor. iv. 19. 
 
 II benefit; \\Or, grace. 
 
 16 And to pass bj you into Macedonia, and * to ^ 1^^°^- *"• 
 come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you 
 
 to be brought on my way toward Judaea. 
 
 17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I 
 use lightness ? or the things that I purpose, do I 
 purpose *" according to the flesh, that with me there « ch. x. 2. 
 should be yea yea, and nay nay ? 
 
 15. " A second benefit " (or " grace "). So ^^, A., C, D., E., F., G., K., most Cnrsires, 
 Ital., Vulg. ; but B., L., P., and five Cursives read, "joy." 
 
 15, 16. *' And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you 
 before .... to be brought on my way toward Judaea." *'Iwas 
 minded to come to you before." Wordsworth notices that the 
 word, " I was minded," does not signify a steady determined 
 purpose, but rather a wish which was controlled and overruled by 
 the will — a will which was conformed to the will of God, and 
 willed what He willed. " That ye might have a second benefit " — 
 that is, that he should visit and stay with them twice rather than 
 once — the first time on his way from Ephesus to Macedonia, the 
 second on his way back from Macedonia to Judaea. 
 
 " And of you to be brought on my way " — i.e., with an escort in 
 a way befitting the respect they should have to an Apostle of 
 Christ, and to their spiritual Father, to whom under Christ they 
 owed their souls. 
 
 17. "When I therefore was thus minded, did I use hghtness? 
 or the things," &c. "Did I use lightness?" — that is, levity or 
 fickleness. 
 
 " Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the 
 flesh, [i.e., in purposing a journey, am I guided by merely human 
 considerations?] that with me there should be yea yea, and 
 nay, nay" — i.e., as Meyer explains it, that affirmation and denial 
 may exist together ; that I, according as the case stands, may 
 assent to the fleshly impulse, and in turn renounce it — to-day yea, 
 and to-morrow nay, or yea and nay, as it were in one breath. 
 No, this cannot be. I am not such an one. 
 
314 NOT YEA AND NAY. [II. Cor. 
 
 18 But as God is true, our || word toward you was not 
 
 I Or, preach, yea and nay. 
 
 I Mark i. 1. 19 For "" the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was 
 
 Altsi. 20. preached among you by us, even by me and Sil- 
 
 j Heb. xiii. 8 vanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, ^ but 
 in him was yea. 
 
 18. "Was not." So K., L., most Cursives, Sj-riac, -«th. ; but H, A., B., C, D., F., G., 
 P., 17, 23, 57, 70, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Goth., Copt., Arm., read, "is not." 
 
 18, 19. " But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea 
 
 and nay in him was yea." Let the reader notice that the 
 
 impulse or determination which we should call " human " the 
 Apostle calls *' fleshly." This teaches us that unless in all things 
 we defer to the teaching of the Spirit of God, our resolves are in the 
 flesh, and so have the nature of sin. " Whatsoever ye do in word or 
 deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus " (Col. iii. 17). 
 
 He now, by what some persons would call an extraordinarily 
 illogical turn of the argument, leaps from his resolve in this 
 particular matter of the change of the plan of his journey to his 
 general teaching of the Gospel. It is a sort of appeal to their 
 common sense. Would one whose whole life was bound up in the 
 teaching of the most positive, plain, unchangeable truth possible, 
 be fickle and uncertain in a matter closely connected with the 
 proclamation of that truth ? The infinite importance of the word 
 which he preached would not only give him holiness, and joy, and 
 comfort, but its exceeding strength, and immobility, and unchange- 
 ableness would, even if he were naturally fickle, impart to him of 
 its own steadfastness and unchangeableness. " Our word towards 
 you was not yea and nay." It was not one thing one day and 
 another another. It was always the same, and that because of its 
 Divine Unchangeable Subject. And so he proceeds : — 
 
 19. " For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached 
 .... not yea and nay, but in him was yea." Nothing can be 
 more remarkable, when one looks into it, than the affirmative 
 nature of the Teaching, and Life, and Person of Jesus Christ. The 
 law as set forth in the Decalogue was mainly prohibitive (nay) — 
 " Thou shalt not, thou shalt not ; " whereas the New Law as set 
 forth in the Beatitudes is, " Blessed are the poor in spirit — they 
 that mourn —the meek," &c. The whole life of Christ was positive 
 
Chap. I.] IN HIM YEA, AND IN HIM AMEN. 315 
 
 20 ' For all the promises of God in Mm are yea, and in 
 him Amen, unto the glory of Grod by us. g ^°™- ^'■• 
 
 20. "And in him Amen." So E., K., L., most Cursives: bnt ti. A., B., C„ F., G., 
 Ori,, P., 10, 17, 31, 37, 38, 80, 137, f, g, Vulg,, Goth., Syr., Copt., Arm., read, " There- 
 fore through him also is the Amen." 
 
 good, affirming the benevolence, the justice, the holiness, the com- 
 passion of the unseen Father. The Incarnation affirmed the 
 reality of the Fatherhood, in that He had an only Son. The 
 Death revealed the Infinite Love of the Father, and the submission 
 of the Son to His Will. The Kesurrection is beyond measure 
 affirmative. It affirms Christ to be the Son of God — the perfect 
 Sacrifice — the new Source of Life — the future Judge. 
 
 Dean Plumptre draws attention to the use of the Amen, the " so it 
 is," or the " so be it," in the discourses of the Lord. When the Lord 
 says, "Verily, I say unto you," it is "Amen, I say unto you." 
 When the Lord, in St. John, says, " Verily, verily, I say unto you," 
 it is "Amen, amen, I say unto you." And nothing is, outwardly 
 at least, more characteristic of His teaching than this constantly 
 recurring solemn affirmation. 
 
 20. "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him 
 Amen." The word Amen is from the Hebrew root "aman," which 
 signifies to establish, to make firm, to uphold. St. Paul refers to 
 the confirmation of all the promises of God in Christ in his first 
 sermon in Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 34), where he quotes the 
 Prophet Isaiah as saying, " I will give you the sure mercies (or 
 holy things) of David." The sure mercies ^ are the firm or 
 established mercies of David — in fact, following literally the 
 Hebrew, "the mercies of David, the amened ones." 
 
 So this verse means, "All the promises of God in Him are 
 affirmed (said *yea' to), and in him established." And so it is. 
 All the ancient promises of forgiveness, of cleansing, of the law 
 written in the heart, of the new heart and the right spirit, of the 
 Eesurrection, of the eternal glory of the righteous, are reaffirmed 
 and established in Him.^ 
 
 1 Isaiah iv. 3. a'^r^s^irt ir\ non. 
 
 ' Some, as Wesley, and, if I understand him, Meyer, say that the promises are yea 
 with respect to God's promising. Amen with respect to men believing ; yea with respect 
 to the Apostles, Amen with respect to their hearers; bat the Apostle applies both terms 
 to Christ. 
 
316 THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. [II. Cor. 
 
 21 Now he wMcli stablishetli us with you in Christ, and 
 20! 27.^ "■ * ^^*^ anointed us, is God ; 
 b Eph. i. 13. & 22 Who •* hath also sealed us, and '^ given the 
 
 iv. 30. 2 Tim. r. i o. • • • 1 
 
 ii. 19. Hev. camest of the Spirit in our hearts. 
 
 ii. 17. ^ 
 
 c ch. V. 5. 
 
 Eph. i. 14. 
 
 " To the glory of God," Who has, notwithstanding the sins of His 
 ancient people, glorified His truth and faithfulness in the Eevela- 
 tion of His Son. 
 
 " By us." Without our preaching and teaching the stability of 
 God's promises in Christ would not have been proclaimed to the 
 world. 
 
 21, 22. " Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and 
 hath anointed us, is God." The word "stablish" carries on the 
 idea of the Amen in its Hebrew significance of strengthening. 
 Note how he says not " us " alone, or " you " alone, but *' us with 
 you." St. Paul and his converts are partakers in all respects of the 
 same saving grace. 
 
 "And hath anointed us [i.e. with His Holy Spirit] is God," 
 ■i.e., the Father. Here are the three persons of the Godhead work- 
 ing together in the matter of each one's salvation. We are estab- 
 lished, not by earthly wisdom, not in an earthly system, but into 
 Christ, and this by God the Father, Who hath anointed us and 
 sealed us, and given to us the earnest of the Spirit. 
 
 " Anointed " refers to Christ the Anointed, and seems to point 
 to baptism. 
 
 " Sealed " seems to refer to that which was called the seal of the 
 Lord, or the " laying on of hands." 
 
 " And given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." The earnest 
 — arrhabon ^ — is a small sum of money given as an earnest that 
 the whole shall be given when the contract is completed. If the 
 Holy Spirit is now working in the heart, sanctifying the inner man, 
 raising the affections above the world to God and to Christ — then 
 there is an earnest within us that all God's promises will be ful- 
 filled in due time. 
 
 23. " Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to 
 
 1 This word is a remarkable one. It was originally Hebrew, and is found for the first 
 time as early as Gen. xxxviii. 17, 18, 20. It got into Greek, and is used by Menander and 
 other Greek wi'iters. It appears in Latin as arrhn, in French as les arrhes, and in 
 popular Scotch even as artes. (Wordsworth and Plumptre.) 
 
Chap. I.] I CALL GOD FOR A RECORD. 317 
 
 23 Moreover '^I call G-od for a record upon my soul, 
 * that to spare you I came not as yet unto ^ Rom. i. 9. 
 
 ^ . ,^ ch.xi.31. Gal. 
 
 Cormtn. i. 20. Phii. i. s. 
 
 24 Not for ^ that we have dominion over your ch^. ii°3. &"^l' 
 faith, but are helpers of your joy: for ^ by faith fic^^;-^i' 5^' 
 ye stand. 1 ^^^- ^- ^' 
 
 g Rom. xi, 20. 
 
 1 Cor, XV. 1. 
 
 spare you," &c. If he had come when he first heard of their sins 
 and defections, he would have had to come with the rod of severe 
 discipline, which might have alienated them still more from him 
 their father in Christ. So he solemnly calls God to record, God 
 Who alone knows the secrets of the hearts, that to spare them he 
 delayed his journey till he had had a more favourable report of 
 them from Titus. 
 
 24. *' Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are 
 helpers of your joy." Why does he make this disclaimer ? because 
 he had used the word " to spare you," and so to prevent them from 
 supposing that he desired to put himself in the place of God, Who 
 alone has dominion over faith, he declares that he and his fellow- 
 workers are helpers of their joy. He, apostle though he was, had 
 required of them a belief in no new article of faith. What he set 
 forth was the faith which they had heard from the beginning. 
 
 But we must beware how we take "not that we have dominion 
 over your faith," as if he disclaimed any authority to require them 
 to hold fast to the faith into which they had been baptized. On the 
 contrary, when he heard that they had decHned from but one 
 article of the faith — the Eesurrection of the dead — he wrote to them 
 with the utmost seriousness and earnestness, reminding them of 
 what he had delivered unto them first of all, that Christ rose from 
 the dead, and that their present unbelief was a falling from that 
 their first faith, and a virtual denial of the Resurrection of Christ 
 Himself (1 Cor. xv. 13, 16). 
 
 *' For by faith ye stand," i.e. by the faith, ry tt'kttsi. He had 
 written to them to remind them of the faith, or Gospel, which he 
 had preached unto them, "wherein," he said, " ye stand," (1 Cor. 
 XV. 1) and now he says again, " By the faith ye stand." By your 
 realizing belief in the Incarnation, the Death, and the Eesurrection 
 of the Lord, and with it all that necessarily depends upon it and 
 is involved in it, " ye stand." 
 
3J 8 I WOULD NOT COME IN HEAVINESS. [II. Cob. 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 
 BUT I determined this with myself, *that I would not 
 come again to you in heaviness. 
 » ch. i. 23. & 2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that 
 
 xiii. 10. ' maketh me glad, but the same which is made 
 sorry by me ? 
 
 1. "But I determined." So S, A., C, D., E., F., G., K., L„ O., P., most Cursives, 
 d, e, f, g, Vulg., &c. ; but B., 17, 37, Copt., read, " for " (yap). 
 
 " I would not come again to you in heaviness." So some Cursives ; but most authorities, 
 H, A., B., C, D., E., F., G., K., L., 0., P., most Cursives, Ital., Vulg., read, " I would 
 not again in heaviness come to you." 
 
 1. " But I determined this with myself, that I would not come 
 again to you in heaviness." This verse depends for its meaning on 
 the position of the word " again." If we read it according to the 
 authorized, it signifies that he would not come again, i.e., a second 
 time in heaviness. This implies that he had come but once to 
 them, i.e., at his first visit, and that his second visit should be 
 deferred till he could come with more satisfaction than at present. 
 If however we put the word "again" (irdXiv) before "come," it 
 seems to favour the idea that he had before this made a short visit 
 to them, which, on account of their conduct, had been a bitter one ; 
 and that he would now try the effect of letters, such as the one 
 which has been lost (1 Corinth, v. 9), and the first Epistle {i.e., 
 the canonical first Epistle). The effect of these (coupled with 
 the visit of Titus) we shall see was that he could again visit them 
 with some degree of joy. 
 
 2. *' For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me 
 glad, but," &c. Some suppose that " he that maketh me glad," is 
 general in its application, and signifies any one whom he had 
 brought to repentance by his letters ; others suppose that he alludes 
 particularly to the incestuous person who above all others was made 
 sorry (" ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him lest such 
 an one should be swallowed up," &c.), but in whose repentance 
 the Apostle now the more rejoiced as a signal triumph of the grace 
 of God. I think the latter the true meaning. 
 
Chap. H.] MUCH AFFLICTION AND ANGUISH. 319 
 
 3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, 
 " I should have sorrow from them of whom I »> ch. xii. 21. 
 ought to rejoice ; ^ having confidence in jou all, &Viii. 22. 
 that my joy is the joy of you all. 
 
 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of 
 
 heart I wrote unto you with many tears; "^not J^ch. vii. 8, 9, 
 that ye should be grieved, but that ye might 
 know the love which I have more abundantly 
 unto you. 
 
 3. " And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should 
 have," &c. " This same," i.e., the severe words of the first Epistle 
 (and perhaps of the lost Epistle), such, for instance, as " I could 
 not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal " — " Ye are 
 yet carnal" — "As my beloved sons I warn you" — " Some are puffed 
 up," — " Shall I come to you with the rod?" — " That one should have 
 his father's wife," and *' ye are puffed up " — " Your glorying is not 
 good," &c. &c. He wrote this and much more to bring them to 
 their senses, so that he should not be grieved with those over whom 
 he ought to rejoice. 
 
 " Having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of 
 you all." " I have confidence in the reality of the Christianity 
 which ye possess, which will make my joy the joy of you aU. I 
 rejoice when I know that our Lord has brought back a wandering 
 sheep in His arms unto His fold, and I am sure that because of your 
 love of Christ, and of the souls for which He died, you will rejoice 
 with the same joy." 
 
 4. *' For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto 
 you," &c. " What more tenderly affectioned than this man's spirit 
 is ; for he showed himself to have been not less pained than they 
 who had sinned, but even much more. For he said not out of 
 affliction merely but out of rnuch, nor with tears, but with many 
 tears and anguish of heart, that is, I was suffocated, I was choked 
 with despondency ; and when I could no longer endure the cloud 
 of despondency, I wrote unto you, not that ye should be grieved, 
 but " that ye might know the love," saithhe, " which I have more 
 abundantly unto you." And yet what naturally followed was to 
 say, •' not that ye might be grieved, but that ye might be corrected, 
 for with this purpose he wrote. This, however, he doth not say, 
 
320 YE OUGHT TO FORGIVE HIM. [II. Cor. 
 
 5 But ^ if any have caused grief, lie hath not ^ grieved me, 
 e 1 Cor. V. 1. hut in part : that I may not overcharge you all. 
 II Or. censure. ^ Sufficient to such a man is this || punishment, 
 g 1 Cor. V. 4, which was inflicted ^ of many. 
 
 20. 7 ^ So that contrariwise ye ougJit rather to for- 
 
 give }iim, and comfort Mm, lest perhaps such a 
 one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 
 
 hut more to sweeten his words, and win them to a greater love, 
 he puts this forit, showing thathe doth all from love." (Chrysostom.) 
 Notice how little fear the Apostle had that they should take ad- 
 vantage of his expressions of love and turn haughtily or sulkily 
 upon him, and proudly assert their right to do as they liked, as 
 many sinners do to their pastors, when they have begun to fall 
 away, resolving to carry it with a high hand. St. Paul was not 
 afraid of this ; he had confidence in the work of the Spirit within 
 them, that they would show a better mind. 
 
 5. *' But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in 
 part." Many explanations have been given of this verse. The 
 one that commends itself to myself is something of this sort. The 
 incestuous person had caused grief, but not to the Apostle only, 
 but to all the right-minded persons in the Church, who shared with 
 the Apostle in his grief at the scandal, and the Apostle says this 
 that he might not lay too heavy a burden upon all of them, which 
 he would have done if he had represented himself as the only- 
 person aggrieved. On the contrary, he desired to share the scandal 
 with the whole body of the Church. 
 
 6. " Sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was 
 infficted of many." That is, the solemn excommunication, and 
 perhaps some severe bodily disorder, threatening the destruction 
 of the flesh, and the exclusion from the society of all who were 
 like-minded with the Apostle. 
 
 " Of many." Of the many — of the Church gathered together. 
 
 7. "So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and 
 comfort him, lest," &c. Is it possible that one could be too sorrow- 
 ful for having committed so enormous a sin ? Yes, if his sorrow 
 made him despair of forgiveness. He might seek to put an end to 
 himself; he might become morose ; his mind might be unhinged ; 
 
Chap. II.] OBEDIENT IN ALL THINGS. 321 
 
 8 Wlierefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your 
 love toward him. 
 
 9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the 
 proof of you, whether ye be ' obedient in all » ch. ni. 15. 
 things. 
 
 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also : for if 
 
 9, " Whether ye be obedient." So V, C, D., E., F., G., K., L., O., P., &c. ; bet A. 
 B., read, "wherein" or "how." 
 
 he might become incapable of performing the proper duties of his 
 station. 
 
 8. " Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love 
 towards him." They might " confirm their love " either by acts 
 of private love or friendship, or by the removal of the Church's 
 censure, but this latter, I think, was probably removed by Titus 
 as the representative of the Apostle whose act the excommunica- 
 tion really was. (1 Cor. v. 3, 4, 5.) After the excommunication 
 had been removed some might say that it was well that he should 
 yet feel the disgrace which he had brought upon them, but the 
 Apostle judged that the punishment had been sufficient. 
 
 9. " For to this end also did I write, that I might know the 
 proof of you," &c. There is some difference of opinion as to 
 whether he means what he wrote to them in his first Epistle, or 
 what he is now writing to them. Probably the former, but the 
 matter to be particularly noticed is the way in which he demands 
 their submission to him as an Apostle, i.e., as the direct represen- 
 tative of Jesus Christ, one of those to whom the Lord said, " lie 
 that heareth you heareth me," Luke x. 16. This was one purpose 
 of his writing, besides the measures he commanded to be taken to 
 bring the incestuous person to repentance. 
 
 10. " To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also : for if I for- 
 gave any thing," &c. " To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive 
 also." This must refer, not to the removal of the excommunication, 
 but to the forgiveness and comfort of verse 7, and it signifies, " I 
 thoroughly am in accord with you in any kindness ye show him in 
 order to reassure him ; " and this follows upon the removal of the 
 excommunication which he now reasserts, " If I forgave anything 
 to whom (or wherein) I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in 
 the person of Christ." 
 
 T 
 
822 IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [11. Cor. 
 
 I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes 
 Or, in the for gave lit II in the person of Christ ; 
 *'^ ■ 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us : 
 
 for we are not isrnorant of his devices. 
 
 10. "To whom I forgave it." So K., L., 17, most Cursives; but ^f, A., B., C, F., G., 
 O., &c., read, " what I forgave " (S x£X,ap((r/:xa» «* t* xey^upKr/xai). 
 
 The excommunication had been the action of the Apostle absent 
 in the flesh, but present in the spirit. So 1 Cor. v. 3 : "I verily, 
 as absent in the body but present in spirit, have judged already 
 ... in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered 
 together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 to deliver such an one to Satan," &c. The removal of the sentence 
 also was his doing, " If I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for 
 yom* sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ." This implies that 
 he had already pronounced his absolution. Both the binding and the 
 loosing were in the Name of Christ : and were each an assertion of 
 that authority which the Lord had given for discipline, in the 
 words, *' Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," 
 &c. It can hardly be said that, in the retention of the sin of the 
 incestuous person he acted with the concurrence of the Corinthian 
 Church, for, from what we can gather from the first Epistle, they 
 would not have stirred a finger in the matter unless he had com- 
 manded them. He could not be present personally ; and so they 
 were to do it, not of themselves, but as if he was present in spirit. 
 
 It is remarkable that this is the only account of the exercise of 
 retaining and remitting sins in the New Testament, and it is exer- 
 cised by St. Paul — not by St. Peter or St. James, but by the Apostle 
 who is constantly quoted as the vindicator of liberty ; whereas in 
 his writings alone do we find the whole Church system either as- 
 serted or carried out in its fulness. 
 
 11. " Lest Satan should get an advantage of us ; for we are 
 not ignorant," &c. Chrysostom has a good remark: "Satan de- 
 stroys even under the show of piety. For not only by leading into 
 fornication can he destroy, but even by the contrary, the un- 
 measured sorrow following on the repentance of it. . . , Wherefore 
 also with reason did he call it getting advantage, when he even 
 conquereth with our own weapons. . . . For to take by sin is his 
 proper work : by repentance, however, is no more his : for ours not 
 his is that weapon. When then even by this he is able to take, 
 
€hap. II.] NO EEST IN MY SPIRIT. 323 
 
 12 rurthermore, ^ when I came to Troas to preach Christ's 
 gospel, and ^ a door was opened unto me of the ^ Acts xvi. s. 
 
 Z . &XX.6. 
 
 -LjOl'd, 1 1 Cor. xvi. 9. 
 
 13 "^ I had no rest in mj spirit, because I mch. vii.s, 6. 
 found not Titus my brother : but taking my leave of them, 
 I went from thence into Macedonia. 
 
 14 Now thanks he unto Grod, which always causeth us 
 
 think how disgraceful is the defeat, how he will laugh to scorn, and 
 make ravage on us as weak and pitiful, if at least .he is to subdue 
 lis with our own weapons." 
 
 12, 13. " Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's 
 gospel . . . thence into Macedonia." The Apostle gives another 
 proof of his overwhelming anxiety on behalf of the spiritual welfare 
 of the Corinthian Chiu'ch. He had sent Titus to Corinth to bring 
 liim a faithful account of what was going on there. Titus was to 
 meet him at Troas on his (St. Paul's) way to Macedonia, but when 
 he came to Troas and did not find Titus there, his anxiety was such 
 that he left a place where a door was opened for him to preach the 
 Gospel {i.e. where he had every prospect of preaching with great 
 success), and went at once to Macedonia, with the view of meeting 
 Titus. He did meet him, probably at Philippi, from which, or from 
 some other city of Macedonia, he wrote this letter. 
 
 14. " Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to 
 triumph," &c. The rendering, "causeth us to triumph," though it 
 is certainly that which Chrysostom accepted, is considered by most 
 moderns inadmissible. They say that QpiafifSeveiv means, properly, 
 to lead in triumph ; but, as Alford remarks, there are always two 
 kinds of persons led in triumph, the participators of the victory 
 and the victims of the defeat. 
 
 But who are the victims of the defeat ? If Christ, the conqueror 
 of all sin and evil, triumphs, then those who are conquered by Him, 
 i.e. the Apostles, and notably St. Paul, and all who are by Him 
 turned to God, are the victims led in procession. 
 
 I cannot, however, believe that this last is the meaning. It seems 
 incongruous to render it "leads us in triumph," when it so obviously 
 means here causes us to triumph.^ For St. Paul had just been 
 
 1 So Liddell and Scott and Grimm— the latter of whom speaks of it as being used 
 iiiphilitice, that is, after the Hebrew hiphil. 
 
324 A SWEET SAVOUR OF CHRIST. [II. Cor. 
 
 to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest ° the savour of 
 n Cant. i. 3. his kuowledge by us in every place. 
 
 15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of 
 1 Cor. i. 18. Christ, ° in them that are saved, and ^ in them 
 
 that perish : 
 q Lake ii. 84. 16 "^ To the One WB are the savour of death 
 
 John ix. 39. 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8. _^ 
 
 16, " Of death nnto death." So D., E., F., G., K., L., most Cursives, It., Vulg., Arm. j 
 but K, A., B., C, some Cursives, &o,, read, "from" (Jx Savarou). 
 
 led, through the lapse of so many of the Corinthians, to expect a 
 serious defeat in his warfare with the kingdom of Satan : and now, 
 unexpectedly, he finds he has cause for triumph ; and, looking back 
 on his past life, he remembers so many instances of God thus bring- 
 ing good out of evil, that he thanks God that it is always so. 
 
 " And maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in 
 every place." As in the Roman triumph, there was the swinging 
 of censers and the difi'usion of the sweet odour of the incense all 
 aground ; so in the life of the Apostle, wherever he went there was 
 the diffusion of the knowledge of Christ crucified and risen again 
 through the preaching of the Gospel. 
 
 15, 16. *' For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them 
 that are saved (being saved) and in them that perish. To the one we 
 are the savour of ... . life unto life." The best explanation of 
 this seems to be that the incense of the Roman triumphal proces- 
 sion typifies either prolonged life, or swift approaching death to 
 tho~e who inhaled it. To those who shared in the conqueror's 
 triumph, it was the sweet forecast of farther wealth and honour 
 from a grateful country ; to the captives it was the sign of approach- 
 ing death, when they should be hurried out of the glittering pro- 
 cession to be slain barbarously in cold blood, or be cast headlong 
 into the lowest depths of the Mamertine prison. Now so it was 
 with the Gospel : to those who accepted it willingly and gratefully 
 it was like the incense to the conquerors, a pledge of a happier 
 and more glorious future ; but to those who rejected it, because 
 they would not " have this Man to reign over them," it was the 
 savour of death unto death, it bid them prepare to receive the 
 doom in store for the enemies of God. 
 
 Terrible is this figure, that the same odour of sweetness should be 
 the prelude of hfe or death, but it is a fact to each one of us, in our 
 
€dap. II.] THE SAVOUR OF DEATH AND LIFE. 325 
 
 unto death ; and to the other the savour of life unto life. 
 And "^ who is sufficient for these things ? '} 9.?^- ^^- lo- 
 
 " ch. HI. 5. 6. 
 
 spiritual life now, and we must face it. On this one occasion only 
 was the fume of incense the harbinger of life and death. And the 
 Apostle fastens on it, and singles it out, and treats it as a parable 
 of the outward world, which teaches us, in a remarkable way, a truth 
 which we would fain shut our eyes to. 
 
 For the preaching of the Gospel never can be a matter of indiffe 
 rence — it never can leave a soul in the same state as that in which 
 it finds it. It either softens it to eternal life, or hardens it to reject 
 that life, and abide the more pertinaciously in death. This double 
 effect of the Gospel is set forth in the words of holy Simeon, " This 
 child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel " (Luke 
 ii. 34), and in the words of the Lord Himself, " For judgment I am 
 come into this world that they which see not might see, and that 
 they which see might be made blind" (John ix. 39). 
 
 But what are we to understand by the words, " are unto God " ? 
 Is the perishing of the wicked a sweet savour unto God — that God 
 Who has said by His prophet, "Have I any pleasure at all that the 
 wicked should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should 
 return from his ways and Hve ? " (Ezek. xviii. 23.) 
 
 No ; what he means is this, that the preaching of the Gospel of 
 His Son is always well pleasing to God, notwithstanding that it 
 may turn to the greater condemnation of those who reject it. 
 Though it may be that some who hear it will be the worse for 
 doing so, we are yet to preach it, and leave the consequences to God. 
 
 Wordsworth has a suggestive note : " Indeed, it is a solemn truth 
 that in the Christian scheme nothing that God has done is in- 
 different. Everything is a two-edged sword. AU Christian privi- 
 leges, all the means of Grace, Scriptures, Sermons, Sacraments, 
 Sundays, Churches, Chapels, Liturgies, and all things that Christ's 
 ministers do and teach in His Name are, according as they are 
 used, either blessings or banes, either physic or poison, they are 
 either for weal or woe, either an odour of life unto life eternal, or 
 of death unto death eternal, to the souls of all to whom they come." 
 
 "And who is sufficient for these things? " What things? For being 
 the instruments of Christ's triumph — for making manifest the 
 savour of His knowledge in every place. The answer is given in 
 chap. iii. 5, " Our sufficiency is of God." 
 
326 NOT AS MANY. [II. Cor. 
 
 n Ov.denJde. 17 For we are not as many, wMch || * corrupt 
 
 ceii fully icith. -,»^ti t*.- - \ \. 
 
 « ch. iv. 2. & the word of Grod : but as of sincerity, but as or 
 XI. ^13. 2 et. Q.^^^ -^^ ^j^Q sight of God speak we |1 in Christ. 
 
 t ch. i. 12. & 
 
 iv. 2. 
 
 II Or, of. 
 
 17. " For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God.'^ 
 "As many" — rather, as "the many" who corrupt the Word of 
 God. The word capelos {KdTrrjXog) signifies a huckster, particularly a 
 retailer of wine who adulterated it ; and hence here, those who for 
 gain or ambitious purposes mixed up men's devices with the Word of 
 God, to suit the depraved taste of their hearers (2 Tim. iv, 3), are 
 said to huckster it, or, as in the margin, deal deceitfully with it. 
 
 " Many " ought rather to be translated " the many ; " and it 
 seems that from the first the Church was in danger from the multi- 
 tude of false teachers. Thus, in this very Epistle, notice is taken 
 of those who taught that immorality was venial, that there was no 
 danger in publicly partaking of things offered to idols, that St. 
 Paul was not a true Apostle, and that the resurrection of the dead 
 was doubtful. 
 
 " But as of sincerity." This may refer either to sincerity of 
 mind in the delivery of the message, or to the message itself aa 
 being pure and unadulterated. 
 
 " As of God," knowing and acting upon the knowledge that all 
 we speak is from God and in Christ. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 >ch. V. 12. "p^O* we begin again to commend ourselves? 
 
 & X. 8, 12, 11 7 K • 1 /» 
 
 & xii. 11. J_y or need we, as some others, '^ epistles of 
 
 b Acts xviii. 
 
 27. 
 
 1. " Do we begin again to commend ourselves ? or need we, as 
 "jome others," &c. The Apostle in the next three chapters re- 
 isserts his Apostolical authority. He had written (1 Cor. ix. 2)^ 
 ^ If I be not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you, for the 
 real of my apostleship are ye in the Lord." He had heard pro- 
 bably from Titus that what he had written in his first letter had 
 
CflAP.IIL] YE ARE OUR EPISTLE. 327 
 
 commendation to you, or letters of commendation from 
 you? 
 
 2 '^ Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, « i cor. ix. 2. 
 known and read of all men : 
 
 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to 
 
 be the epistle of Christ ^ ministered by us, written ^ 1 Cor. iii. 5. 
 
 not restrained some from persisting in questioning his Apostleship. 
 Apollos had come to them with commendatory letters (Acts 
 xviii. 27), so probably had some of the Judaizing teachers ; and he 
 now proceeds to treat with somewhat of contempt the conduct of 
 those who had disparaged him, because he had not brought such 
 letters in his hands. 
 
 "Do we begin again to commend ourselves ? " He was bound, 
 not from personal considerations, but from his allegiance to Christ, 
 Who had constituted him the Apostle and special teacher of the 
 Gentiles, to assert his Apostolical authority; and this he could 
 hardly do without putting prominently in the foreground his 
 labours and his success : his labours — " he laboured more abun- 
 dantly than they all, yet not he but the grace of God with him; " 
 and his success — not only was he the sweet savour of Christ in 
 every place, but the Church of Corinth was, under God, his creation. 
 And so he needed no letters of commendation to them, as others 
 did, and he was not so absurd as to ask letters of commendation^ 
 from those who were his spiritual children, and under his autho- 
 rity as their Apostle. 
 
 2, 3. " Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read 
 of all men. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the 
 epistle of Christ," &c. " Written in our hearts." He uses this 
 metaphor of a written letter to signify two things — (1) Ye are 
 our letter written in our hearts. The conversion of so many of 
 them from the power of Satan to God was deeply written in his 
 
 1 Perhaps these letters were less formal than those used in the Church of the succeeding 
 age. According to Mr. Blunt they were given in three cases. First, the clergy amd 
 others received such letters of commendation from the bishops when they were travelling, 
 so that they might claim the right of Christian fellowship among strangers. Secondly, 
 they were given as certificates of communion. Thirdly, the clergy received such epistles 
 under the name of letters dimissory, when they removed from one diocese to another, 
 to show that they left in peace with their bishop. 
 
328 FLESHY TABLES OF THE HEART. [IL Cor. 
 
 not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living Grod; not 
 
 e Exod. xxiv. ^in tables of stone, but Hn fleshy tables of the 
 
 12. & xxxiv. 1. •' 
 
 f Ps. xi. 8. heart. 
 
 :Ezek^S'. 19'. 4 And such trust have we through Christ to 
 
 Hrb^'viii. io. Grod-ward : 
 
 3. " In flesliy tables of the heart." So F., K., most Cursives, It., Vtilg., Goth., Syr., 
 Cop., Arm. ; but H, A., B., C, D., E., G., L., P., about twentv-five Cursives, read, "in 
 tables that are hearts of flesh." So Revisers. 
 
 own heart. Thus he said of the Philippian Christians that he was 
 confident that He Who had begun a good work in them would con- 
 tinue it because " he had them in his heart." The Apostle looked 
 upon the faithful and true Christian heart as especially the domain 
 of God, and if God had written the Corinthian Christians in his 
 heart, there was no need of anything further to commend them to 
 him or him to them ; but (2) the writing was not only in his heart, 
 to be read by him — it was of such a character that it was known 
 and read of all men. The conversion of such a number of persons 
 in so wicked a city as Corinth from such a religion of idolatry and 
 filthiness to one of such godhness and purity, was an Epistle which 
 commended the Apostle and his work to all men. Let men of any 
 understanding consider what they were and what they are ; whom 
 they then worshipped, and what they now worship; what were 
 their hopes then, and what their hopes are now, and he would be 
 bound to acknowledge that their Christianity was not a matter of 
 paper and ink, but of that writing which the finger of God — that is, 
 the Spirit — only can inscribe. It was like the writing of the finger 
 of God upon the tables of stone which God gave to Moses, but with 
 this amazing difi'erence, that whereas God wrote the ten command- 
 ments on a hard substance, typifying the hardness of their hearts 
 to whom the law was given, now He had written the law in hearts 
 softened by Divine grace, according as Ezekiel had prophesied, " I 
 will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an 
 heart of flesh " (Ezek. xi. 19). And so the Apostle says, "written 
 not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart." 
 
 4, 5. " And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward .... 
 our sufficiency is of God." " Such trust." That is, trust that He 
 will make all Christians whom we convert to be living Epistles 
 manifesting the power and truth of the Gospel which we preach — and 
 
•Chap. III.] OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 329 
 
 5 *Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to ch"^"!"" J""' ^' 
 think any tliinsr as of ourselves : but ^ our suffi- ^ i Cor. xv. 
 
 •^ ° ' 10. Phil.u. 
 
 ciencj is of God ; i3. 
 
 6 Who also hath made us able ' ministers of & xv°ib!"*ch. 
 ^ the new testament ; not ^ of the letter, but of the J^\}^[ coi. ?. 
 
 25, 29. 1 Tim, 
 
 i. 11, 12. 2 
 
 Tim. i. 11. 
 
 this not as if we desired to arrogate to ourselves any g^;^^ ^1^^' 
 credit, or as if we had any real power in the matter, but xxyi. 28. Heb. 
 to give all our ability to enable souls to manifest the j -^^ jj 27 
 glory of God is entirely His Work. 29, & vii. 6. 
 
 6. " Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament 
 [or covenant] ; not of the letter, but of the spirit : for the letter 
 killeth," &c. "Who hath made us able ministers." Perhaps it 
 would be better to translate it " Who hath fully qualified us to 
 be ministers " — hath made us sufficient or fit. " Of the New 
 Testament," rather of the New Covenant — the Covenant pro- 
 mised in Jeremiah xxxi. 31 : *' Behold the days come, saith 
 the Lord, that I will make a new covenant .... not accord- 
 ing to the covenant that I made with their fathers." This is 
 the Covenant : " I will put my law in their inward parts, and 
 write it in their hearts. ... I will forgive their iniquity, and 
 remember their sin no more." It was not hke the Old Covenant, 
 a, mere command, but it was a promise. It was not so many 
 letters which could be counted, but it was a promise of the Spirit 
 writing the law in the heart ; and the law was to be written 
 not by the mere learning of some ten, or twenty, or a hundred 
 precepts, but by the heart being expanded and purified, and 
 warmed, and animated with the life of God breathed into it ; 
 so that the man thus changed in heart never could be con- 
 tent with obedience to the letter, but desired with all his soul 
 obedience to the fuU spirit — in fact, conformity to the will of God. 
 
 " Not of the letter, but of the Spirit." Every revelation which 
 is contained in a book, or is capable of being so contained, must 
 have letters, and in the Old Covenant the leading matter is the 
 letter (even ten commandments, and He added no more) ; but the 
 book of the New Covenant is pervaded by a Spirit, the Spirit of 
 Christ — the Life of Christ displayed in His Own Life and that of 
 His servants, the Death of Christ as displaying the love of God, 
 the Kesm'rection as verifying and applying it. Must we then 
 
330 THE LETTER KILLETH. [II. Cor. 
 
 m Rom. iii. 20. Spirit : f or "" the letter killeth, ^ but the spirit 
 
 &iv. 15. &vii. ,/ . , ,.„ ^ 
 
 9,10.11. Gal. II giveth life. 
 
 n joiin vi. 63. 7 But if ° the ministration of death, ^ written 
 
 for Quick- ^^^ engraven in stones, was glorious, ** so that the 
 
 eneth. 
 
 o Rom. vii. 10. — 
 
 P Exod. xxxiv. 
 
 'TV ^" ' 7. "Written and engraven in stones." Lit., "in letters and engravea 
 
 q' Exod.' xxxiv. on stones." 
 29, 30, 35. 
 
 adhere to the letter of the New Testament ? ^ Certainly, but on this^ 
 principle, that God, in giving us His perfect revelation, has chosen 
 the best words, and we cannot improve on them. 
 
 " For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." The letter 
 killeth, because it brings the knowledge of sin, and convicts of sin 
 (Eom. vii. 9), and unless it be followed by the promises of God, 
 shuts men up in despair ; but the Spirit, i.e., the Holy Spirit, giveth 
 life. He imparts to the soul the very life of Christ Himself, so that 
 in us is fulfilled the word of Christ, " Because I. live ye shall hve 
 also." ^ 
 
 7. •' But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in 
 stones was glorious," &c. How could the giving of the law be called 
 the ministration of death '? Because its leading feature was tho 
 threatening of death. If any one of the Israelites came near to 
 the mount within the bounds, he was to be put to death (Exod* 
 xix. 13). When the children of Israel were assembled between 
 
 1 Of conrse, in what he says respecting the letter and the spirit the Apostle speaks broadly, 
 as it were, for there is the very spirit and essence of the Gospel in Isaiah liii. and in Psaim 
 xxii., and there are the highest conceivable expressions of piety and union of spirit with 
 God in the Psalms; but still, the very Apostles who had constantly read that chapter and 
 used those Psalms had, till Pentecost, no idea that the Messiah was to triumph over sin 
 and the grave by the Cross. 
 
 2 Chrysostom takes a somewhat lower view of the words, " the letter killeth," a» 
 meaning the law punisheth ; but his remarks are very grand. " The law, if it lay 
 hold on a murderer, putteth him to death ; the Gospel, if it lay hold on a murderer, 
 enlighteneth and giveth him life. And why do I instance a murderer? The law laid 
 hold on one that gathered sticks on a Sabbath Day, and it stoned him. This is the 
 meaning of 'the letter killeth,' The Gospel takes hold on thousands of homicides and 
 robbers, and baptizing, delivereth them from their former vices. This is the meaning 
 of ' the Spirit giveth life,' The former maketh its captives dead from being alive, the 
 latter rendereth the man it hath convicted alive from being dead : for ' come unto me 
 all ye that labour and are heavy laden,' and he said not, I will punish you, but I will 
 refresh y«u." 
 
Chap. III.] GLORY TO BE DONE AWAY. 331 
 
 children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of 
 Moses for the glory of his countenance ; which glory was to- 
 be done away : 
 
 8 How shall not "" the ministration of the spirit «■ Gai. iu. 5. 
 be rather glorious ? 
 
 Gerizim and Ebal, the curses only seem to have been uttered 
 aloud, and the people said Amen only to the curses. 
 
 And how could it be said to be glorious ? Because the outward 
 manifestations of the glory of God were infinitely greater in the 
 eyes of men than the wonders that attended the giving of th& 
 Gospel — whether at the Incarnation and Nativity — at the Cruci- 
 fixion or the Kesurrection — or Ascension — or even at Pentecost- 
 All these latter manifestations of power might be deemed private 
 and partial. Even with respect to the ministry of the Messiah, scy 
 full of miracles and wisdom, it was described in the words, " He 
 shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the- 
 streets" (Matth. xii. 19). Whereas the outward and visible glory 
 of the appearance of God was such that the countenance of Moses, 
 because he had been face to face with God, shone so that the- 
 children of Israel could not bear to look upon his face. The 
 Person of the Lord was only on one occasion enveloped in 
 light, and that in the sight of but three persons, and certainly no 
 glory shone from the faces of those who were in constant communi- 
 cation with Him ; whereas the face of Moses, after he had been in 
 the presence of God, shone with unbearable brightness. 
 
 " Which glory was to be done away." The meaning of this is- 
 twofold. First the glory of the shining of Moses' face was tran- 
 sitory. It was for a time exceedingly bright, so that Moses had to- 
 hide his face under a veil, but this was only for a short time ; it soon 
 came to an end. And the glory of the dispensation also was ex- 
 ceeding great at the first, but only at the first. The glories of the 
 Exodus — of the stricken rock — of the manna — of the mountain 
 burning with fire — of the brightness of Moses' face, were never 
 equalled in the latter days, and the restoration after the Babylonian 
 captivity was in very deed tame and commonplace when compared 
 with the glories of the Exodus. 
 
 8. " How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather 
 glorious ? " The glory of the ministration of death was a glory of 
 
•332 THE GLOKY THAT EXCELLETH. [H. Cor. 
 
 9 For if tlie ministration of condemnation he glory, much 
 « Rom. i. 17. more dotli the ministration ^ of righteousness 
 
 ■& in. 21. ° 
 
 exceed in glory. 
 
 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory 
 in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 
 
 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much 
 more that which remaineth is glorious. 
 
 «ight. It was intended to influence the children of Israel from 
 without, being addressed to their outward senses, whilst the glory 
 of the ministration of the Spirit was within, from within, unseen 
 for the most part by the eye of man, and yet its glory was infinitely 
 greater, for it was the glory of spirit rather than of flesh. It was 
 conformity to that which is the highest glory of God, even His 
 moral glory, His loving and righteous character. 
 
 9. " For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much 
 more," &c. The ministration of righteousness was not without its 
 outward visible glory. The sight of the angels and that of the 
 multitude of the heavenly host, the star of the Magi, the descent of 
 the Holy Ghost as a dove, the Transfigm'ation, were all forecasts of 
 never-ending glory. The glory of the Crucifixion, the " Father, 
 forgive them," the " This day shalt thou be with me in paradise," 
 the " I thirst," the " It is finished," all in the eyes of faith far 
 echpse the glories of Sinai. The Eesurrection was the most won- 
 drous work of God, in that it was the investment of a human body 
 with all the powers and attributes of a Divine spirit. The Ascen- 
 sion, though seen only by the Apostles, was the greatest visible 
 triumph of righteousness over evil that the hosts of the angels had 
 -ever seen (Psalms xxiv., ex., John xvii. 5, and Coloss ii. 15), and all 
 leading on to the final triumph of Eighteousness at the Second 
 Advent when the Son of Man shall come in His own glory, and 
 that of His Father, and of the Holy Angels. 
 
 10, 11. " For even that which was made glorious . . . much more 
 that which remaineth," &c. Not only does the glory of the dis- 
 pensation of righteousness exceed that of the ministration of con- 
 demnation in that it is moral and sphitual as well as outward and 
 physical, but the glory of the ministration of righteousness far ex- 
 ceeds the glory which preceded it, in this respect, that it is per- 
 manent. The righteous shine forth as the sun, not for a time, but for 
 
Chap, m.] GREAT PLAINNESS OF SPEECH. 333- 
 
 12 Seeing tlien that we have such hope, *we use great 
 II plainness of speech : E^hel'vi'ig. 
 
 13 And not as Moses, '^ w^ic^ put a vail over \\ Or, boldness. 
 his face, that the children of Israel could not 33''^3'5!'^* ^^^'^* 
 
 ever and ever (Matt. xiii. 43 ; Dan. xii. 3). A glorious beginning 
 makes a shameful ending more deplorable. Now the new dispensa- 
 tion began in hmnihation, but tiiat humiUation being the humilia- 
 tion even unto death of the Eternal Son, makes His reward, which 
 reward He shares with His people, infinitely more glorious. 
 
 12. " Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness 
 of speech." The word translated plainness is the same word which 
 in Acts iv. 13, and in most other places where it occurs, is translated 
 boldness. " Seeing, then, we have such hope of future transcendent 
 glory, we speak very boldly, lest men lose, through our want of 
 earnestness, their conviction of the deep reality of what we hold 
 out to them ; and not only do we speak boldly, but plainly, know- 
 ing that mere human eloquence detracts from the simplicity of our 
 Gospel, and endangers its real reception by making men think of 
 the casket in which the jewel is presented to their acceptance rather 
 than of the jewel itself." 
 
 13. *' And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that 
 the children of Israel could not stedfastly look," &c. St. Paul, 
 in this allusion to Moses as veiled, takes a very different view 
 of it from what we have been accustomed to take through 
 our Authorized English Version. We, i.e., the great majority 
 of the readers of the English Bible, have been accustomed to sup- 
 pose that Moses put a veil upon his face to hide the glory 
 which made first Aaron and the elders of the people, and then all 
 the Israelites, afraid to approach him to receive from him tha 
 words of God. This seems the natural interpretation of the 
 account as we read it in Exod. xxxiv. 29 — 35. But this does not 
 accord with the lesson which the Apostle seems to draw from 
 it, which is a mystical lesson. Moses, according to the Apostle's 
 interpretation, put a veil on his face, not to hide the glory, but lest 
 the children of Israel should see the diminution or ending of the 
 glory. And if we compare the Hebrew with the English we shall 
 find the reason for this, for verse 33 of Exod. xxxiv. should be 
 translated " when Moses " (not till) but " when Moses had done- 
 
334 THE VAIL. [II. Cor. 
 
 « Rom. X. 4. stedf astly look to ^ tlie end of that which is 
 abolished : 
 
 'Speaking with them," he put a veil on his face (and so LXX., and 
 other versions). So that the true account of the transaction seems 
 to be this. Moses came down from the Mount where he had 
 ■been speaking face to face with God with his face resplendent 
 with light. Aaron and the elders feared to approach him whilst 
 his face thus shone, but he called unto them, and no doubt bid 
 -them fear nothing, and after this the whole congregation were 
 emboldened to come near, and when Moses had done speaking 
 io them, then he put the veil on his face, and the Apostle seems 
 to say that he did this (whether consciously or not does not in 
 the least affect the question) for a typical purpose, — that the 
 Israelites should not see to the end, that is, the evanescent nature 
 •or transitoriness of the glory of the law. Many difficult ques- 
 tions, however, arise from this. It could not be said of such 
 a servant of God as Moses, that in order that he might not lose 
 the prestige of having this light ever streaming from his face, 
 he by means of the veil deliberately concealed from the chil- 
 dren of Israel its evanescence. It was evanescent — are we to 
 suppose that he tried to make them believe that it was a per- 
 manent glory ? But again : on this hypothesis we are to sup- 
 pose that, except for a few short intervals when he disappeared 
 from the view of the congregation to speak with God, he was 
 always veiled. He must have been, if the illusion, the typical 
 illusion, was to be kept up. But have we the smallest reason to sup- 
 pose that he was among the people of Israel as a " veiled prophet"? 
 If so, the most extraordinary fact of his long life is unmentioned. 
 The present passage, however, is plainly allegorical, and we may 
 now turn to it as such. 
 
 In a note ^ I give the comment of Chrysostom, who translates 
 
 1 "Putting them in mind of this history, he says, verse 13, 'And not as Moses, which put 
 a vail over his face, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that 
 which was abolished.' Now what he says is of this nature. There is no need for us to cover 
 ourselves as Moses did ; for ye are able to look upon this glory which we are encircled 
 with, although it is far greater and brighter than the other. Seest thou their advance? 
 For he that In the former Epistle said, ' I Have fed you with milk and not with meat,' 
 says here, 'we use much plainness of speech,' and he produces Moses before them, carrying 
 forward the discourse by means of comparison, and thus leading his hearers upwards. 
 
 "Verse 14. 'But their minds were blinded: for until this day,' &c. See what he 
 •establisheth by this. For what happened, then, once, in the case of Moses, the same 
 
Chap. III.] THEIR MINDS WERE BLINDED. 335 
 
 14 But ^ their minds were blinded : for until this day 
 remaineth the same vail untaken away in the yis. vi. lo. 
 
 . . Matt. xiii. 11, 
 
 jreadinff of the old testament : which vail is done m. John xii. 
 
 ° ' 40. Acts 
 
 away in Christ. xxviii. 26. 
 
 -•i^-T-. ,,-i«-i 1 -»«- • Rom. xi, 7, 8, 
 
 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is 25. ch. iv. 4. 
 read, the vail is upon their heart. 
 
 according to the Hebrew and Septnagint, and yet evidently con- 
 siders that Moses veiled his face to conceal the glory itself, not to 
 conceal the termination of it. The shining of Moses' face typified 
 the real glory of the law, and the end of the law also. This glory 
 and this end was Christ. Christ was the One to "Whom the law 
 and the prophets bare witness. He was also the end or the fulfil- 
 ment of the law for righteousness unto all them that believe. But 
 for certain wise reasons, till He came and manifested Himself, the 
 law manifested Him very obscurely. There was a veil upon its 
 glory and upon its intention, which veil, though it was typified by 
 the veiling of Moses' face to hide its brightness from the Israelites, 
 was in reality the antitypical, not on the face of Moses, but on the 
 hearts of the children of Israel, and so St. Paul proceeds to say — 
 
 14, 15. " But their minds were blinded : for until this day re- 
 maineth the same vail," &c. Here the veil which in type covered 
 the face of Moses now rests upon the hearts of the unconverted 
 Jews in the reading of the Old Testament. This seems to confirm 
 the view we have taken that Moses was directed by God to put on 
 the veil, not to conceal the evanescence of the dispensation of the 
 law, but to conceal its real glory, the sight of which the Israelites 
 in their then state could not endure. 
 
 There seems something supernatural in the blindness of the Jews 
 -all through their history to the witness of the law to Christ. They 
 must have looked beyond their carnal sacrifices to some spiritual 
 
 happeneth continually in the case of the law. What is said, therefore, is no accusation of 
 the law, as neither is it of Moses, that he then veiled himself, but only of the senseless 
 Jews. For the law hath its proper glory, bat they were unable to see it. Why, there- 
 fore, are ye perplexed, he saith, if they are not able to see this glory of the Grace [of 
 -Christ] since they saw not that lesser one of Moses, nor were able to look steadfastly 
 upon his countenance : and why are ye troubled that the Jews believe not Christ, seeing, 
 at least, that they believe not even in the law. For they were ignorant of the Grace [of 
 Christ] also, because they knew not even the Old Covenant, nor the glory which was 
 in it. For the glory of the law is to turn men to Christ." 
 
336 THE VAIL TAKEN AWAY. [II. Cor. 
 
 16 Nevertlieless ^when it sliall turn to tlie Lord, ^tlie- 
 « Exod. xxxiv. vail shall be taken away. 
 
 34. Rom. xi. *^ 
 
 23,2(3. 17 Now ^ the Lord is that Spirit: and where 
 
 b ve^r ^' *^® Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 
 
 1 Cor! XT. 45. 
 
 17. " Is that Spirit." " Is the Spirit." 
 
 one. They must have looked in the recitation of their Psalms to 
 some One greater than David. The grandeur and wisdom of 
 Solomon and his failure must have led them to expect a greater 
 than Solomon. The prophecies of Isaiah must have led them to 
 the idea at least of a Messiah suffering as weU as glorified. They 
 did look for a Messiah, but it was not an honest looking. Their 
 spiritual vision was obscured by a carnal veil ; and Christians who 
 are carnal, and take the Jewish or carnal view, have the veil over 
 their hearts. 
 
 16. " Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall 
 be taken away." The "it " probably alludes to the future national 
 turning of all Israel to the Lord. Thus, in Kom. xi. 25, 26, 32 : 
 " Blindness in part is happened unto Israel ... so shall all Israel 
 be saved. God hath concluded all in unbelief that he may have 
 mercy upon all." 
 
 Some suppose that in the words " when it shall turn to the Lord, 
 the vail," &c., there is an allusion to the fact that Moses, when he 
 turned into the tabernacle to speak unto the Lord, took the veil 
 from off his face ; but this seems doubtful. 
 
 17. " Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the 
 Lord is," &c. The introduction of the Si)irit and His identification 
 with the Lord is exceedingly abrupt, and we must look to where 
 the mention of the Spirit last occurs to explain it. In verse 6 St. 
 Paul says, " that God hath enabled the Apostles to be ministers of 
 the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter 
 killeth, but the Spirit giveth life ; " and in the 8th verse, *' How 
 shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious ? " Now 
 what is the Spirit in these two places ? It is not so much the 
 ministration of the Third Person by Himself, but it is the Third 
 Person ministering the Second, ministering His wisdom, and His 
 Eighteousness. Now Christ is the Spirit of both Testaments, in 
 the Old more obscurely, but in the New more plainly. Comparing 
 verses 16 and 17, we have "when it, (the Jews or the particular 
 
Chap. III.] WITH OPEN FACE. 337 
 
 18 But we all, witli open face beholding *^ as in J^^ ^'^''- ^"^• 
 a glass ** tlie glory of the Lord, ® are changed into ^ ch. iv. 4, 6. 
 
 e Rom. viii. 
 
 29. 1 Cor. 
 
 XV. 49. Col. 
 iii. 10. 
 
 18. Revisers translate this verse — " But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a 
 mirror [cr, beholding as in a mirror] the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same 
 image fi-om glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." 
 
 soul) shall turn" from the mere letter to the Si^irit which underlies 
 the letter, the veil shall be taken away ; but the Spirit to which it 
 turns is the Lord Himself. He is the fulfilment of all the types, 
 the substance of all the shadows, the thing really hinted at in the 
 obscure allusions : in fact the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of 
 prophecy. So that when the Jew begins to realize the law it is by 
 his turning to its Spirit, that is, to the Lord Jesus, and this at once 
 gives him freedom. The Son makes him free, and he is free indeed ; 
 free, not only from the bondage of ordinances, which, as St. Peter ' 
 says, " neither we nor our fathers were able to bear," but from the 
 dominion of sin. 
 
 With respect to the teaching of this verse it has been often taken 
 to be a categorical assertion of the Godhead of the Third Person : 
 but the context will scarcely allow of this, for such an assertion 
 here would be too abrupt : neither can it be taken to be an assertion 
 of the spiritual nature of the Lord Himself, i.e., of His Godhead. It 
 must mean, I think, that the Lord in His Kedeeming and Sanctifying 
 work is the Spirit of all God's dispensations to this fallen world. 
 
 18. " But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory 
 of the Lord." " We all : " in the account in Exodus Moses alone 
 received the revelation ; now we all draw nigh to God as effectually 
 as Moses did. There is no veil on our hearts to prevent us from 
 receiving the full glory of the revelation of God. 
 
 "With open face," that is, with unveiled face. As long as 
 Moses veiled his face, no glory from God shone from it upon the 
 Israelites, but we all reflect the glory of God. Our faces as mirrors 
 receive light from Christ, and reflect it-'as mirrors do. This is the 
 translation of the Kevisers, "We all with unveiled face reflecting 
 as a mirror." 
 
 " Beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory." The contemplation of the image of the 
 Son of God acts upon our moral and spiritual nature as the presence 
 
 z 
 
338 FROM GLORY TO GLORY. [IL Cor. 
 
 the same image from glory to glory, even as || by the Spirit 
 ^ Or, of the of the Lord. 
 
 Lord the 
 
 Spirit. . 
 
 of God did upon the face of Moses. It causes us to shine forth with 
 some of His glory. The humblest Christian who looks constantly 
 to Christ as his Redeemer and Exemplar and Source of Spiritual 
 life, reflects in his own life something of the glory of Christ; and 
 if he faithfully continue to do this he reflects it more and more, and 
 goes from strength to strength. Are there any other words with 
 which we may describe this process, and so make it clearer, and 
 bring it within the reach of all? Yes. Christians looking thus to 
 Christ and reflecting Him, " add to their faith virtue, and to their 
 virtue knowledge, and to their knowledge temperance, and to their 
 temperance patience, and to their patience godliness, and to 
 their godliness brotherly kindness, and to their brotherly kindness 
 charity." (2 Pet. i. 5, 6, 7.) 
 
 "Even as by the Spirit of the Lord" [even as from the Lord 
 the Spirit], The words in the original may have either of these 
 meanings. As St. Paul has not yet mentioned the action of the 
 Third Person in the Godhead, and as it is peculiarly His province 
 to transform or regenerate the Christian, we should judge it best to 
 understand it of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 a ch. iii. 6. 'TH'HEEEFOEE, seeing we have ^ this ministry, 
 2n. Tiim.i. X '^ as we have received mercy, we faint not; 
 
 13. 
 
 1. " Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received 
 mercy, we faint not." This ministry of the Spirit, this ministry 
 whose prerogative it is to receive of the glory of God, and reflect it 
 upon you, that ye may be changed into the same image of Christ — 
 this ministry we have received through the mercy of God, as he 
 says elsewhere, " For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first 
 Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering." (1 Tim. i. 16.) 
 
 "We faint not." Because we have received it through mercy we 
 
•Chap. IY.] NOT WALKING IN CEAFTINESS. 339 
 
 2 But have renounced the hidden things of f dishonesty, 
 not walkinsr in craftiness, ° nor handling the word t Gr. shame. 
 
 . . Rom. 1. 16. & 
 
 ■of G-od deceitfully ; but '^ by manifestation of the ^i. 21. 
 
 truth ^ commending ourselves to every man's con- 1 Thess. ii* 
 
 science in the sight of God. d\ij^ ^.j ^^ ^^ 
 
 3 But if our eospel be hid, ^ it is hid to them ^ '"• i^- 
 
 '^ ^ e ch. V. 11. 
 
 that are lost : f 1 cor. i. is. 
 
 • eh. ii. 15. 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 10. 
 3. " That are lost " — rather " that are being lost." 
 
 faint not. Alford translates it, "We do not behave ourselves in a 
 cowardly manner." As Waite explains it, " He does not fail in the 
 com*age which both the mercy and the ministry demand of him." 
 
 2. "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not 
 walking," &c. He has continually before him the corruption of 
 the word of God through false teachers. Thus in this Epistle ii. 17 : 
 "We are not as the many who corrupt (or deal deceitfully with) 
 the word of God." These were probably the Judaizing teachers 
 who put forward those passages in the Old Testament which seemed 
 to favour their views of the permanency of Judaism as it had come 
 down to them, and carefully kept in the background prophecies 
 which speak of the New Covenant superseding the old. 
 
 " But by manifestation of the truth commending om'selves to 
 every man's conscience." The truth of God is adapted to man's 
 fallen nature, to raise him out of its corruption, and give him power 
 and grace to live as becomes a true child of God. The manifesta- 
 tion of such truth commends itself to the conscience of each man, 
 revealing to him his sin, and showing him at the same time the 
 true remedy. 
 
 3. "But if our Gospel be hid [veiled], it is hid [veiled] to them 
 that are (being) lost." Here he recurs to the image of the veil. If 
 our Gospel be hidden under a veil so that men cannot look upon its 
 brightness, and be changed thereby, it is because they are perishing 
 or being lost. It is a mistranslation to render it, " that are lost," 
 as if the fiat had gone forth from God that they were no longer to be 
 accounted in a state of grace, that repentance henceforth would be 
 impossible to them and, if possible to them, unavailing. It means 
 rather "to them that are being lost," — who are not repenting and 
 using faithfully the means of grace. 
 
 4. " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of 
 
340 THE GOD OF THIS WORLD. [II. Cor. 
 
 « John xii. 31. 4 In wliom ^ the god of this world ^ hath 
 
 xvi. 11. ' blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest 
 
 h^saf. vKio. 'the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, ^who 
 
 ch!'iii!"i4.'^*^* is the image of God, should shine unto them, 
 
 ich iii. 8, 9 5 ij^or we preach not ourselves, but Christ 
 
 11, 18. ver. b. -•- 
 
 k John i. 18. 
 
 & xii. 45. & 
 
 xiv. 9. Phil. 
 
 ii. 6. Col. i. _,,,.,.„, 
 
 15. Hebr. 4. "World." " Age," " aeon." 
 
 i. 3. ' 5. "Christ Jesus." N, A., C, D., E., &c., read, "Jesus Christ;'* 
 
 1 1 Cor. i. 13, B., H., K., L., most Cursives, as in Rec. Text. 
 
 23. & X. 33. 
 
 them which believe not," &c. The god of this world hath blinded 
 their minds because they were of this world, and so virtually chose 
 to be under him rather than under Christ. The god of this world 
 means properly the god of this aeon, or this age, and may signify 
 the whole period or seon from the fall to that time, or even to this 
 present time. 
 
 " The minds of them which believe not" may mean either the 
 minds of the unconverted Jews, or of the heathen who refused the 
 Gospel when it was preached to them, or of those nominal Christians 
 who refused to be sanctified by the truths of the Gospel which they 
 professed to believe. 
 
 "Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image 
 of God," &c. So that men may have the light of the Gospel shin- 
 ing all around and directed full upon them, and yet be blinded, and 
 blind themselves to it. They are like men in a dark cave or 
 chamber, who resolutely keep out the light, and when they have 
 begun to do this they are assisted by one far more powerful than 
 themselves in their evil work of keeping themselves in darkness. 
 
 *' Who is the image of God." Why is this introduced ? I think 
 for this reason : The face of Moses was illuminated because he 
 had been in the presence of God, and so Christ reflects perfectly the 
 glory of God, because He is "the express image of His Person," 
 and " he who hath seen Him hath seen the Father." 
 
 5. " For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; 
 and ourselves your servants," &c. "We preach not ourselves." 
 There must have been some amongst the false teachers who preached 
 themselves as if what they preached had power of itself to build 
 men up in Christ. In answer to them the Apostle said, " We preach 
 Christ crucified;" and again, " the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who waa 
 
Chap. lY.] OURSELVES YOUR SERVANTS. 341 
 
 Jesus the Lord ; and ^ ourselves your servants for Jesus* 
 sake. ^ 1 Cor. ix. 
 
 6 For G-od, "" who commanded the light to shine n Gen.i.s. 
 
 preached among you by us " (2 Cor. i. 19). What is it to preach 
 Christ ? It is to preach His Person, God and Man ; His work — 
 Redeeming, Sanctifying ; His Relation to His Church as its Head, 
 His Character as all Holy, and the Standard to which we are to be 
 conformed. If St. Paul's Epistles set forth the preaching of Christ, 
 then there can be no true preaching of Him without the setting 
 forth of His Sacraments as means whereby His grace becomes ours. 
 Altogether, the preaching of Christ is the preaching ot the whole 
 Christian system as in Him, rendered ef&cacious by His presence, 
 and subservient to His glory. 
 
 " And ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." Not your lords, 
 but still less your servants in the sense of being appointed and con- 
 trolled by you. We minister to you His word in our preaching, 
 and His grace in the Sacraments we give in His Name. Calvin 
 has an admirable remark : " Here, however, all pastors of the 
 Church are admonished as to their state and condition, for by what- 
 ever title of honour they may be distinguished they are nothing 
 more than the servants of believers, and unquestionably they can- 
 not serve Christ without serving His Church at the same time. An 
 honourable servitude, it is true, this is, and superior to any princi- 
 pality, but still it is a servitude, so that Christ alone may be elevated 
 to distinction — not encumbered by the shadow of a single rival. 
 Hence it is the part of a good pastor not merely to keep aloof from 
 all desire of domineering, but to regard it as the highest pitch of 
 honour at which he aspires, that he may serve the people of God. 
 It is the duty of the people, on the other hand, to esteem the ser- 
 vants of Christ first of all, on the ground of the dignity of their 
 Master, and then, further, on account of the dignity and excellence 
 of their office, that they may not despise those whom the Lord hath 
 placed in so illustrious a station." 
 
 6. *' For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
 hath shined in our hearts," &c. Why must we preach Christ Jesus 
 the Lord ? Because God, the Father of lights, the original Creator 
 of the visible light, is He Who hath shined into our hearts, to cause 
 to exist there a more divine and life-giving hght. This better and 
 ever-enduring hght is " the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
 
342 EARTHEN VESSELS. [II. Cor. 
 
 out of darkness, f liatli ° sliined in our hearts, to give ^ the 
 
 t Gr. is he light of the knowledge of the glory of God in 
 
 who hath. i /. n -r /-at • i 
 
 2 Pet. i. 19. the face oi Jesus Christ. 
 
 1 Pet' ti 9 ^ -^^* ^^ have this treasure in '^ earthen vessels,. 
 q ch. V. 1. r that the excellency of the power may he of God, 
 
 r 1 Cor. ii. 5. n j r> 
 
 ch. xii. 9. and not oi us. 
 
 » ch. vu. 5. g -pp-g ^^.g s troubled on every side, yet not dis- 
 
 II Or, nab •' \ "^ 
 
 altogether trosscd ; we are perplexed, but 11 not in despair ; 
 
 without help, ' 1 r ' II i > 
 or, means. 
 
 God in the face of Jesus Christ." Here there seems to be a con- 
 trast between the face of Moses emitting an external light upon the 
 faces of the children of Israel, and the face of Jesus Christ, Who, 
 being looked upon by the eye of faith, causes the light of the know- 
 ledge of the glory of God, not to shed light upon the face, but to 
 arise as the Sun of Eighteousness in the heart itself. 
 
 Chrysostom remarks a difference between the external and the 
 spiritual creation of light. "Howbeit then, He said, Let it be, and 
 it was : but now He said nothing, but Himself became light for us. 
 For he (the Apostle) said not hath also now commanded, but hath 
 Himself shined. Therefore neither do we see sensible objects by 
 the shining of this light, but God Himself through Christ." 
 
 All through this verse there is also a clear reminiscence of his own 
 conversion, inasmuch as he had seen the face of Jesus Christ, and 
 the sight of this had changed the darkness of his own light into the 
 light of God through Christ. 
 
 7. " But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excel- 
 lency of the power may be of God," &c. There seems to be here a 
 reference to the lights carried in pitchers by the men of Gideon, 
 which diffused their light after they were broken, and not so much 
 to the cheapness and vileness of the clay of the earthen vessel; and 
 with this agrees what comes after, in which the Apostle speaks of the 
 xmcertain character of the outward circumstances of the Apostles, 
 who were always on the point of extinction, and yet never ex- 
 tinguished. 
 
 8, 9. " We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are 
 perplexed .... not destroyed." There are some alterations sug- 
 gested in the translation which emphasize the contrasts. Thus the 
 Eevisers have, "We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened." 
 
CiiAP. IV.] DEATH IN US : LIFE IN YOU. 343 
 
 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken ; * cast down, but not 
 destroyed ; * Ps. xxxvii. 
 
 10 " Always bearing about in tbe body tbe dying u i cor. xt. 
 of the Lord Jesus, "^ that the life also of Jesus 5,^9. %^i 
 might be made manifest in our body. Phii.^iii. 10. 
 
 11 For we which live ^ are alway delivered unto ^^^°^ 
 
 1. 
 
 17. 2 Tim. 
 
 death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus V- 1^- 1^- 
 
 1 Pet. IV. 13. 
 
 miojht be made manifest in our mortal flesh. ^ ?«• xiiv. 22. 
 
 ^ Koin. viii. :jt5. 
 
 12 So then ^ death worketh in us, but life in 1 cor. xv. 31, 
 
 49. 
 
 you. z ch. xiii. 9. 
 
 The way in which our adversaries press upon us and environ us, 
 seems in no way to take from the power of our words. We utter 
 freely what we desire. 
 
 " Perplexed, yet not in despair." We know not sometimes 
 whither we are to turn to be extricated from our difficulties, but we 
 are quite sure, from past experience, that a door will be opened. 
 
 "Persecuted(orpursued),yetnotforsaken" — when in the dungeon 
 we sang at midnight hymns to God. Some translate it, " pursued, 
 yet not abandoned." 
 
 "Cast down, but not destroyed." Cast down in soul, yet not 
 destroyed. " Patience," as he says elsewhere, " worketh experience, 
 and experience hope" (Kom. v. 4). "My grace is sufficient for 
 thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness " (xii. 9). 
 
 10. " Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord 
 Jesus," &c. " And what is the dying of the Lord Jesus, which they 
 bare about ? Their daily deaths, by which also the Eesurrection 
 was shewed. ' For if any believe not,' says he, * that Jesus died 
 and rose again, beholding us every day die and rise again, let him 
 believe henceforward in the Eesurrection.' Seest thou how he has 
 discovered yet another reason for the temptations ? 
 
 " What, then, is this reason ? That His life also might be mani- 
 fested in our body. He says, ' by snatching us out of the perils.' 
 So that this, which seems a mark of weakness and destitution, this 
 [I say] proclaims His Eesurrection. For His power had not so ap- 
 peared in our suffering no unpleasantness, as it is now shown, in 
 our suffering indeed, but without being overcome." (Chrysostom.) 
 
 12. " So then death worketh in us, but life in you." These forms 
 of a living death, in which we exist, are your salvation. They work 
 
344 THE SAME SPIRIT OF FAITH. [11. Cor. 
 
 13 We having ^the same spirit of faith, according as it is 
 • Rom. i. 12. written, ^ I believed, and therefore have I spoken ; 
 b Ps.'cx^^". 10. we also believe, and therefore si3eak ; 
 1 coTVi "i4^^* -^^ Knowing that ^ he which raised up the Lord 
 Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall 
 present us with you. 
 d 1 Cor. iii. 21. 15 For *^ all things are for your sakes, that ® the 
 
 ch. 1. 6. Col. /^ '' 
 
 i. 24. 2 Tim. abundant gracc might through tlio thauksgiviug of 
 e ch. i. 11. & many redound to the glory of God. 
 
 viii. 19. & ix. 
 
 11, 12. 
 
 life in you, because God has ordained them to be the channels by 
 which you live to God, according to the saying, " The Blood of the 
 martyrs is the seed of the Church." 
 
 13. " We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, 
 I believed, and therefore," &c. St. Paul quotes this as an axiom of 
 universal truth, that what a man of any truthfulness believes, that 
 he speaks, and this is particularly so in the matter of any revela- 
 tions he may have received from God. Thus, " my heart was hot 
 within me, and while I was thus musing, the fire kindled, and at 
 the last I spake with my tongue." This is the characteristic of the 
 spirit of faith, it forces the man to utter what he believes. 
 
 14. "Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus," &c. 
 Now the truth which burnt in the very bones of the Apostle, and 
 made him as a man on fire, was the Eesurrection of Jesus, and our 
 resurrection in and with Him ; and not only so, but the fact that God 
 had raised up Jesus, not as a solitary man, but as the Head of a great 
 redeemed race, as the Head of a great mystical body, in which were 
 first the Apostles, and then their converts who endured to the end. 
 
 15. " For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace," 
 &c. To enter fully into the meaning of the Apostle here we must 
 have something of his mind respecting the importance of Eucha- 
 ristia— of praise and thanksgiving. The lifting up of the spirits and 
 Douls of men to God in thanksgiving was in one sense the most 
 important thing which they could do. It was the acknowledge- 
 ment by all within them of God — His goodness, His love, and His 
 power, put forth on their behalf. And so it was the purpose for 
 which the abundant grace was given. What, humanly speaking, 
 is the rain given for, but to call forth the fruits of the earth ; and 
 
Chap. IV.] WE FAINT NOT. 345 
 
 16 For wliicli cause we faint not ; "but though our outward 
 man perish, yet ^the inward man is renewed day f Rom.vii.22. 
 
 ^ ' '' '' Ephes. iii. 16. 
 
 by day. coi. in. lo. 
 
 •' *' 1 Pet. iii. 4. 
 
 what is the abundant grace given for, but that the many might be 
 thankful, and show forth God's praise, not only with their lii3S, but 
 in their lives. The greatest glory of God is the return which 
 answers to His Grace, consisting first of all in the thankfulness and 
 gratitude which cause the heart to overflow towards God as the 
 Personal Giver of good. Thankfulness is acknowledgment to a 
 person. It cannot be given to a thing. It must be accorded to a 
 good and holy being. 
 
 The word that the Apostle uses for thanksgiving is *' Eucba- 
 ristia," from which the name of " Eucharist," as applied to the 
 Blessed Sacrament, is derived. Now when he uses such words as 
 *' the thanksgiving " (eucharistia) of the many, does he think of the 
 Eucharist ? We answer, How can he exclude it from his thoughts ? 
 The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, was in his view a solemn 
 commemoration of the Death of Christ, and a setting forth of His 
 Death till He came again. The Apostle most certainly believed 
 with all his heart and soul that all blessings came wholly through 
 the Death of Christ, and would consider that the closer we associate 
 all our graces and blessings with that Death the better ; and 
 assuredly, to say the least, the Apostle would hold that the 
 Eucharist afforded to believing Christians the closest connection 
 possible of these thanksgivings and prayers with the Body and 
 Blood of the Lord. 
 
 16. " For which cause we faint not ; but though our outward man 
 perish," &c. " For this cause " — that is, because of the Eesurrection 
 of the Lord by the Father, and our interest in that Eesurrection. 
 
 " Though our outward man perish," through such afflictions and 
 distresses as he had recounted in verses 7, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 "Yet the inward man is renewed day by day." The distresses 
 by which the outward man was on the point of perishing were so 
 blessed by God that they were made means of union with the 
 Bufferings of Christ, and so, whilst there was outward decay, there 
 was inward renewal. 
 
 17. *' For our hght affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh 
 for us," &c. The Apostle had spoken of the affliction in such terms 
 as "troubled " or "hemmed in on every side," "perjplexed," "per- 
 
346 OUK LIGHT AFFLICTION. [IL Cor. 
 
 17 For ^our light affliction, wliicli is but for a moment^ 
 
 g Matt. V. 12. worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 
 Rom. viii. 18. ° 
 
 1 Pet. i. 6. weiorM of g-lovy ; 
 
 & V. 10. o & J » 
 
 h Rom. viii. 18 ^ While "we look not at the things which are 
 
 Hebr! xi^i. ' scon, but at tlio things which are not seen : for 
 
 17. " Our light affliction." " Our " omitted by B. and Syriac ; retained by N, D., E., 
 F., G., K., L., P. 
 
 secuted," "cast down," "always bearing about in the body the 
 dying of the Lord Jesus." Now he calls this affliction hght in com- 
 parison with the weight of glory, which under God's grace it was 
 the means of procuring for us. 
 
 " A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." " He sets 
 side by side the things present with the things to come, the momen- 
 tary with the eternal, the light with the weighty, the affliction with 
 the glory. And neither is he content with this, but he addeth 
 another expression doubling it, and saying in excess and unto 
 excess {koO' vTrepfSoXriv elg v7rip(3oXr)v)." (Chrysostom.) 
 
 " Weight of glory." As if the contemplation of it was what one 
 might call oppressive — the mind not able fully to sustain the con- 
 tinued thought of it. "0 world to come in exchange for the present ! 
 O eternity for a moment ! everlasting rest for a transitory 
 labour ! eternal communion in the holy, blessed, and eternal 
 life of God, for the sacrifice of a criminal, miserable, and corruptible 
 life here on earth ! Whoever sets no value on this seed of a blessed 
 eternity knows not what it comprehends." (Quesnel.) 
 
 18. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the 
 things which," &c. We look not at (non contemplantibus)^ we regard 
 not the things of the present life. For if they are good, their good 
 is not lasting ; and while it lasts, it is dangerous to our faith and 
 hope. And if they are evil, their evil may be turned into good ; 
 and the evil itself, though entailing pain and distress, passes away. 
 
 " At the things which are not seen." " We endiu:e as seeing Him 
 Who is invisible. We look for a city which hath foundations. We 
 esteem the reproach of Christ better than the treasures of Egypt, 
 for we have respect unto the recompense of the reward." 
 
 " The things seen are temporal " — no matter what it is which the 
 fleshly eye looks upon, whether good or evil, it will pass away. 
 
 "But the things which are not seen," but which the eye of faith 
 
CiiAP. v.] THINGS NOT SEEN ETERNAL. 347 
 
 the tilings whicli are seen are temporal ; but tlie things which 
 are not seen are eternal. 
 
 sees, are eternal. The ever Blessed Trinity, the Holy Angels, the 
 Incorruptible Body, the crown of righteousness — these the eye of 
 flesh cannot see, and these are eternal. 
 
 " God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without Whom 
 nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us 
 Thy mercy, that Thou being our Euler and Guide, we may so pass 
 through things temporal that we finally lose not the things 
 eternal." 
 
 CHAP. y. 
 
 FOE we know that if ^our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle were dissolved, we have a buildinor » Job iv. 19. 
 
 ° ch. iv. 7. 
 2 Pet. i. 13, 
 
 14. 
 
 1. *' For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
 were dissolved, we have," &c. " We know." Notice the Apostolic 
 certainty. He writes as one who knew and believed that there was 
 not only a resurrection body, but one prepared for him. On what 
 grounds did he know this ? On two grounds. First, on the 
 ground of the Kesurrection of the Lord ; on that was based tbe 
 truth of the doctrine. But he knew that he had a part in the suffer- 
 ings here — for now in this life he could say, " Always bearing about 
 in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus 
 might be made manifest in our mortal body." If he suffered now 
 with Jesus, he knew that the Lord would not in death and in 
 eternity desert His fellow-sufferer. 
 
 "If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved." He 
 calls the present body a tabernacle or tent; but inasmuch as it has 
 an inhabitant, which is the soul, it is a tabernacle and a house — a 
 tabernacle, that is, a tent which may be at any time taken to 
 pieces, and yet a house or dwelling, because it is a shelter for the 
 soul for a period. 
 
 *' Be dissolved " — i.e., broken up as a tent is. He scarcely 
 
348 IN THIS WE GROAN. [II. Cor. 
 
 of God, an house not made witli hands, eternal in the 
 
 heavens. 
 
 b Rom. viii. 2 For in this ^ we groan, earnestly desiring to 
 
 be clothed upon with our house which is from 
 
 heaven : 
 
 aUudes to what we call the dissolution of the body in the earth, but 
 to the taking down for removal of the goats'-hair tents with which 
 he was so familiar. 
 
 " We have a building of God, an house not made with hands." 
 Our present earthly frames are buildings of God ; but compared 
 with that body that shall be, they, though fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made, are as nothing. In the building of the future glorified 
 and spiritual body God will put forl;h infinitely more power, for it 
 will be a body with the functions and endowments of a spirit. Its 
 very mode of existence exceeds all our present faculties of compre- 
 hension. 
 
 It will be '*a house not made with hands," not made by 
 human or even by angelic hands — but it will be of (k) God, 
 proceeding directly from Him. In the term, however, " not made 
 with hands," he alludes to the future body as the house or resting- 
 place of the soul or spirit, for all our houses or resting-places are 
 made with hands. Compare " He looked for a city which hath 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is God " (Heb. xi. 10). 
 
 " Eternal in the heavens." This probably means that it is to be 
 for ever incorruptible in the heaven of heavens ; but some have 
 suggested that it is being prepared by God now, to be fitted to the 
 souls at the time of the Lord's appearance; but this seems contrary 
 to the identity of the resurrection body with the suffering one. 
 It seems contrary to St. Paul's words, " He shall change our 
 vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body " 
 (Phil. iii. 21). 
 
 2. " For in this we groan." The expression of this groaning we 
 have in Rom. vii. 24, " wretched man that I am, who shall de- 
 liver me from the body of this death ? " And the external side of it 
 in the last chapter, " We are troubled on every side," &c. ; and in 
 the next chap. (vi. 4), "In much patience, in afflictions, in neces- 
 Bities ; " and in xi. 23-28. 
 
 "Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house," &c. 
 
Chap. V.] BEING BURDENED. 349 
 
 3 If so be that ^ being clothed we shall not be found 
 naked. « R^v ui. is. 
 
 & XVI. 15. 
 
 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, 
 being burdened: not for that we would be un- 
 clothed, but ^ clothed upon, that mortahty might ^ i Cor. xv. 
 be swallowed up of life. 
 
 The expression of the same desire in different words is to be found 
 in Eom. viii. 23: "We ourselves groan within om'selves, waiting 
 for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies." The 
 Apostle, however, has at the present his mind full of the idea of a 
 tent or tabernacle, easily taken down, and so he uses words which 
 rather imply a dwelling, " Our house is from heaven," i.e. from God, 
 not from the earth, not a house of clay, but from being corruptible 
 we shall put on incorruption. 
 
 3. " If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked." 
 There is considerable difference amongst expositors as to what is 
 alluded to by the term " naked." Stanley supposes that the Apostle 
 considers the state of a bodiless soul as one of nakedness, derived 
 from the heathen ideas of spirits in Hades, and he instances the 
 legend of a woman appearing to her husband after death, intreat- 
 ing him to burn dresses for her as a covering for her disembodied 
 spirit ; the root- conception of the Apostle being that the new glori- 
 fied body will be a covering for the soul : but Wesley, Cornelius a 
 Lapide, and others, understand "naked " in the sense of not being 
 clothed with grace and good works ; as the Lord casts out the ser- 
 vant who had a place at the feast, but had not on the wedding 
 garment. The word naked is in Eev. iii. 17, 18, and xvi. 15, used 
 to denote the absence of spiritual grace. 
 
 4. "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being bur- 
 dened." Blunt quotes, as a most apposite illustration, the words 
 of the book of Wisdom: " For the corruptible body presseth down 
 the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that 
 runneth upon many things " (Wisdom ix. 15). 
 
 " Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon." This 
 seems to mean that we desire not to be disembodied spirits in the 
 intermediate state, but to be raised up in the likeness of the glorious 
 Body of our Lord. What God promised, that His servant Pauldesired. 
 His desires were not that he should be a mere spirit, even though in 
 
,-^50 WE ARE ALWAYS CONFIDENT. [11. Cor. 
 
 5 Now ^ he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing 
 e isai. xxix. is Grod, who also ^ hath given unto us the earnest 
 
 23. Ephes. „ -, r^ . . 
 
 ii. 10. of the Spirit. 
 
 23. "di*.Y."22. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing 
 
 ^S.^'so!' ^^' that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
 
 absent from the Lord : 
 24, 25. ' 1 Cor. 7 (For ^ WO Walk by faith, not by sight :) 
 
 X ii. 12. ch. 
 
 iv. 18. Hebr. 
 
 xi. 1. — 
 
 heaven, but that his body should be like that of the Lord when He 
 appeared. 
 
 5. " Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is 
 God," &c. " He that hath wrought us " — He Who hath worked for 
 us, and upon us, and in us for this self-same thing, viz., the re- 
 demption of our bodies. All the work of God in the world and 
 in the Church, the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of the 
 Eternal Son, all the work of God upon our own souls in our 
 Conversion, Regeneration, Justification, Sanctification, Discipline, 
 Comfort ; all the grace of Sacraments, the Burial, and Resurrec- 
 tion with Christ in the one, the feeding on His Body and Blood 
 in the other — all are for this selfsame thing, and a pledge of its 
 certainty. He hath given to us the pledge of the Spirit. This 
 pledge being the indwelling of a Person of the Trinity cannot but 
 be a pledge of the highest blessing which God can bestow on His 
 creature. 
 
 6. " Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we 
 are at home," &c. Confident, or rather bold, of good courage, 
 because of what God so far has wrought us to be, and because He 
 hath also given to us the pledge or earnest of the Spirit that He 
 will give us yet more glorious things. "Always thus being confident, 
 or of good courage, knowing that whilst we are at home," &c. As 
 long as we sojourn here we are strangers and pilgrims, absent from 
 our true home, and from Him Who presides over it. 
 
 7. " For we walk by faith, not by sight." A reminiscence of 
 what he had said in iv. 18, " Whilst we look not at the things 
 which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." Sight here 
 does not mean the faculty of seeing, but the things or appearances 
 which are seen. 
 
 8. " We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent 
 
€hap. v.] present with THE LORD. 351 
 
 8 We are confident, I say, and ^' willing rather to be 
 absent from tlie body, and to be present with ^ Phii. i. 23. 
 tlie Lord. 
 
 9 Wherefore we 11 labour, that, whether present \\OT,endea- 
 
 " ^ ^ vour. 
 
 or absent, we may be accepted of him. 
 
 10 ^ For we must all appear before the judg- JMatt. xxv. 
 ment seat of Christ ; ^ that every one may receive xiv. 10. 
 
 k Rom. ii. 6. 
 
 Gal. vi. 7. 
 
 Ephes. vi. 8, 
 
 10. "Appear." Rather, " be made manifest." S"'* '"" "'^',£^' 
 
 ' ^ Rev. xxii. 12. 
 
 from the bodj''," &c. Does this mean that be desires to be in the 
 unseen state when he will not yet be clothed upon with his house 
 which is from heaven ? Yes, because when he departs this life, bis 
 sufferings will be at an end, and he will be no longer liable to fall, 
 a,nd there will be imparted to him and those with him some visible 
 Presence of the Lord which has not yet been vouchsafed to men. 
 He will be in the state in which he was caught up out of the body 
 into Paradise, and heard the unspeakable words (xii. 1-3). 
 
 9. " Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we 
 may be accepted," &c. We labour, rather "we are ambitious," a 
 stronger word than labour, implying not only the labours of the 
 body, but the eagerness and earnest desire of the mind. 
 
 " That whether present or absent." Present, of course, means in 
 the body, but must we infer that if absent, i.e. unclothed with our 
 mortal frames, we must yet be ambitious to be acceptable to the 
 Lord ? Yes, the angels are ambitious, and do their best with all 
 their powers to serve their king. The unseen state is not one of 
 mere quietude or repose, but it is one in which beings who are 
 formed for active service will be active and zealous in that service. 
 
 10. " For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," 
 &c. This word " appear " should rather be reckoned " be made 
 manifest." All our thoughts, words, and works will then be plainly 
 declared, so that it may be seen that God, in apportioning to us our 
 eternal rewards, deals with us in absolute justice ; so we have in 
 1 Cor. iv. 5 : " Until the Lord come who both will bring to light the 
 hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of 
 the hearts." 
 
 Observe that the Apostles will be judged as well as others. In 
 the face of this how can men have the hardihood to say that 
 
852 GOOD OR BAD. [II. Cor, 
 
 the things done in Ms body, according to that he hath done^ 
 whether it he good or bad. 
 
 believers are in a sphere above judgment. Wesley has a very sug- 
 gestive note: '■'■Must a'pi:)ear — openly, without covering, where all 
 things will be revealed, probably the sins even of the faithful^ 
 which were forgiven long before. For many of their good works 
 (as their repentance, their revenge against sin) cannot otherwise 
 appear." 
 
 " The things done in his body," literally, " through the body," 
 the body being the instrument of the Spirit wherein the will dwells. 
 If the flesh be subdued to the Spirit, then the works done are holy 
 and righteous, but if the man hves after the flesh then the works 
 of the flesh are manifest in him. (Gal. vi. 8.) He sows to the- 
 flesh and of the flesh reaps corruption.' 
 
 The question arises, how is such a truth to be reconciled with 
 that other truth, that men are saved by grace through faith ? 
 Perfectly so ; there need not be a moment's hesitation (I was 
 almost going to write a moment's thought) about it if we remember 
 that men are answerable for grace, and that some men receive 
 God's grace, and continue in it and improve it, and that others fall 
 from it. Every single thing in which men differ from one another 
 is owing to God's particular providence and bounty (1 Cor. iv. 7.) 
 The Lord lays this down as an universal truth, " Unto whomsoever 
 much is given, of him shall be much required." (Luke xii. 48.) 
 Supposing, then, that any two men have the same religious privi- 
 leges, and one of them repents and turns to God, or is converted 
 under them, and the other is not, the latter has to answer for the 
 rejection, but the former is not raised into a state in which he is 
 
 1 Dean Plumptre has an admirable note. " ' That every one may receive the things 
 done in his body.' — It would have seemed almost impossible, but for the perverse ingenuity 
 of the system-mongers of Theology, to evade the force of this unqualified assertion of the 
 ■working of the universal law of Retribution. No formula of justification by faith, or 
 imputed righteousness, or pardon sealed in the blood of Christ, or priestly absolution, is 
 permitted by St. Paul to mingle with his expectations of that great day as revealing the 
 secrets of men's hearts, awarding to each man according to his works. ' Whatsoever a 
 man soweth, that shall he also reap' (Gal, vi. 7), was to him an eternal unchanging 
 law. The Revelation of all that had been secret, for good or evil ; the perfectly equitable 
 measurement of each element oi good or evil ; the apportionment to each of that which, 
 according to this measurement, each one deserves for the good and evil which he has done, 
 that is the sum and substance of St. Paul's eschatology here and in 1 Cor. iv. 5." 
 
Chap, v.] WE PERSUADE MEN. 853 
 
 11 Knowing therefore Hhe terror of the Lord, we persuade 
 men ; but ™ we are made manifest unto God : ^ J^^ xxxi. 23. 
 
 _ _ _ .„ . Hebr. X. 31. 
 
 and I trust also are made manifest m your Jude23. 
 
 "" ch. iv. 2. 
 
 consciences. 
 
 above accountability: quite the contrary. No mistake has been 
 more terrible in its consequences to the Church of Christ than the 
 idea that grace, no matter what form it takes — Converting, Eegene- 
 rating, Sanctifying, Sacramental, Enlightening — raises men above 
 the necessity of fearing God, above the necessity of making their call- 
 ing and election sure, above the necessity of patiently continuing in 
 well-doing, and ofworking out their salvation with fear and trembling. 
 Is a man forgiven ? He is forgiven for this purpose, that he should 
 sin no more. Is a man enlightened ? It is that he should walk in 
 the light. Is a man baptized ? It is that he should walk in new- 
 ness of life. Does a man receive the Eucharist ? It is that Christ 
 may evermore dweU in that man, and he in Him. A man received 
 into any degree of God's grace should see to it that he has written 
 in his heart the axiom with which the next chapter begins, " We 
 then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive 
 not the grace of God in vain." 
 
 11. " Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade 
 men." This should rather be rendered " the fear of the Lord," and 
 yet every faithful minister is bound to re-echo the words of his 
 Master, " I say unto you my friends (not my enemies, but my 
 friends) be not afraid of them which kill the body .... but rather 
 fear Him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell." 
 (Luke xii. 4.) 
 
 " But we are made manifest unto God ; and I trust also are 
 made manifest," &c. " "We are made manifest unto God." God who 
 knows the hearts, knows the sincerity of our life and ministry. 
 This seems said with reference to the manifestation before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ. ' Before our manifestation at that great 
 day we trust to be manifest as sincere in the eyes of God, who 
 trieth the hearts, and also to you in your consciences.' Notice his 
 anxiety in the matter of his standing perfectly right in the sight of 
 his feUow-men. He loved these Corinthians with more than a 
 father's love, and it cut him to the heart to think that they had 
 any doubts about his perfect honesty of dealing, and besides this 
 he knew well that if they distrusted him who had come with such 
 
 A A 
 
354 WE COMMEND NOT OURSELVES. [II. Cor. 
 
 12 For ° we commend not ourselves again imto you, but 
 n Gh. iii. 1. give you occasion ° to glory on our behalf, that 
 4 Gr \>i the 7® ^^J have somewhat to answer them which 
 ^'^'^^- glory t in appearance, and not in heart, 
 
 pch. xi. 1, 16, 13 For P whether we be beside ourselves, it is to 
 Grod : or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 
 
 12. " For we commend not." " For" omitted by N, B., C, D., F., G., 10, 39, 67, 139, 
 d, e, f, g, Vulg., Goth., Sjriac, Cop., Arm. ; retained by E., K., L., most Cursives. 
 
 " On our behalf." So C, D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives ; but H, B., 17, read, 
 •' your." 
 
 credentials from Christ, their hearts were not perfectly right with 
 Him Who had sent him, so that it was a matter of anxiety with him, 
 not only on his own, but on their account, that his ministry should 
 in all respects be commended to their consciences. 
 
 12. " For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you 
 occasion to glory on our behalf," &c. He here excuses himself for 
 having seemed to commend himself. *' We do not thus defend or com- 
 mend ourselves simply on our own account, but in order that you may 
 be able to speak boldly in answer to those who glory in appearance." 
 See how he assumes that they — the body of them — are with him, 
 and only want to know what answer to give, which will shut the 
 mouths of these gains ay ers. 
 
 What does he mean by " those which glory in appearance only " ? 
 Some suppose that he refers to those who judged of him by his 
 personal defects (his bodily presence is weak and liis speech con- 
 temptible) ; others, to the fact that he carried with him no letters 
 of commendation ; perhaps, however, he alluded to false assumption 
 of spirituality on the part of his adversaries, to their display of 
 eloquence rather than plain speaking, to their appearance of zeal 
 (compare Gal. iv. 17, " They zealously affect you, but not well "), 
 and other tricks to which false teachers resort. 
 
 13. " For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God : or whether 
 we be sober," &c. " We be beside ourselves." Some suppose that in 
 this there is an allusion made to his preaching of such mysteries as 
 the Kesurrection, which made Festus exclaim, " Thou art beside 
 thyself: " others quote the words, " I thank God I speak with more 
 tongues than ye all," as implying that he constantly used these un- 
 known tongues in the face of the congregation as the only speech 
 
Chap. V.] THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 355 
 
 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we 
 
 fitted to express his internal ecstacy of feehng ; but this would have 
 been contrary to his own advice (1 Cor. xiv. 19), and would have 
 been unworthy of him. 
 
 May we not explain it of the vehemence with which he asserted 
 and defended the truths which he held ? Cold, semi- believing, 
 worldly men, hearing a man speak with uncontrollable emotion of 
 such things as Christians being one body in Christ, their very 
 members members of His body, of the extreme impropriety of 
 women being unveiled in Church, of men who partake of the 
 Eucharist unworthily as eating and drinking their own damnation, 
 of there being a spiritual body as well as a natural — unsympa- 
 thizing, half-believing men, I say, hearing him speak as if he was 
 on fire about such things, would say of him as those like them said 
 of his great Master, "He hath a devil, and is mad, why hear ye 
 him?" (John X. 20). 
 
 " It is to God." It is in the cause of His truth. It is that men 
 should be subdued to the faith of His Gospel. In His cause we 
 cannot be lukewarm. 
 
 " Or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." This " sobriety," 
 or soundness of mind, may have been alleged against him by his 
 enemies, because of his worldly wisdom — he made himself, at times, 
 all things to all men, that he might by all means save some (1 Cor. 
 ix. 22). He would be thus sober minded, when, as he describes in 
 the next chapter, he gave no offence in anything, that his ministry 
 might not be blamed, but in all things approved himself as a 
 minister of God. 
 
 But it may be simplj'- the opposite of that vehemence and fervour, 
 and perhaps, at times, undue gesticulation, which had made them 
 call him mad . If he, at times, spoke very calmly and with logical 
 argument rather than warmth, it was for their sakes. Sometimes 
 the minister must show vehemence, sometimes mildness and 
 placidity, according as befits the state of mind of those listening to 
 him. 
 
 14. *' For the love of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus 
 judge," &c. What is the love of Christ here ? Is it Christ's love to 
 us, or our love to Christ? Undoubtedly the former; for if ever 
 Christ's love in us constrains us to do that which pleases Him, it is 
 because we love Him because He first loved us. 
 
356 HE DIED FOR ALL. [IL Cor, 
 
 q Rom. V. 15. thus judge, that '^ if one died for all, then were all 
 
 dead: 
 ' Rom. vi. 11, 15 And that he died for all, 'that they which 
 icoT^'e/iQ. ' live should not henceforth live unto themselves, 
 1 Thess. v. 10. but unto him which died for them and rose 
 
 1 Pet. iv. 2. 
 
 again. 
 
 14. " Then were all dead." " Therefore all died," Revisers. 
 
 " Constraineth us." To what ? " To labour that, whether pre- 
 sent or absent, we may be accepted of him" (verse 9). To endea- 
 vour to persuade men — to be made manifest to the conscience of 
 all true believers — to be at times as if beside ourselves in showing 
 energy and zeal. 
 
 " Constrains us," hems us in, so that we cannot turn to the right 
 hand or to the left, but must go straight forward in the Lord's 
 battle. 
 
 " Judging thus." Having come to this judgment or determina- 
 tion " that if one died for all, then were all dead." 
 
 This has been rendered in two or three ways. " Then were all 
 dead," i.e., under sentence of death — under the dominion of death ; 
 or "then were all dead," i.e., in trespasses and sins — or rather, 
 perhaps, as by Eevisers, "therefore all died." There can be no doubt 
 that this last is more in accordance with the Greek and with the 
 context ; for the Apostle is speaking of Christ as dying in the place of 
 all — as their atonement, as their sponsor, in their place. When 
 He died, all died in Him ; and when He rose again all rose in 
 Him. Compare Kom. siv. 9, " To this end Christ both died, and 
 rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and 
 living." 
 
 15. "And that he died for all, that they which Hve should not 
 henceforth live unto themselves," &c. His death was an atone- 
 ment for the sins of the whole world ; not for a certain number 
 who accept that atonement, but for the whole world. 
 
 It was His purpose in dying for all mankind to save all. Hi» 
 atonement was sufiBicient for the sins of all, and His will in making 
 the atonement was one with that of His Father, " Who will have 
 all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth " 
 (1 Tim. ii. 4), But in making man in His own image, God 
 permitted him to have a will of his own, which must be, on 
 
Chap. V.] CHRIST AFTER THE FLESH. 357 
 
 16 ^Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the 
 flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after jo^J^V^u^^' 
 the flesh, *^yet now henceforth know we him no ^'i^.J:.^- „ 
 
 •' Phil. in. 7, 8. 
 
 more. ^^^- '"• ii- 
 
 » John vi. 63. 
 
 man's part, vohmtarily conformed to the Divine Will, and be- 
 cause of this freedom of will, men are not all saved; that is, 
 so far as we can see, they do not all repent and believe, and be- 
 come holy, even though God desires them to be so. Apparently He 
 cannot make them holy and good absolutely in spite of themselves ; 
 but He works upon them and bears with them and forbears 
 to the utmost that the freedom of will, which He must respect, 
 will allow. He must be served freely — it is contrary to His glory 
 and to the order of the universe that He should be served by pup- 
 pets ; and if men are not to be puppets this freedom of will must be 
 respected, even to their own extreme loss. 
 
 " Live not unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, 
 and rose again." In requiring them, because He died for them, to 
 live not to themselves, but to Him Who died for them and rose again. 
 He requires them to imitate His conduct towards themselves. He 
 lived not for Himself, but for them. He died for them. He pleased 
 not Himself, but did all to please His Father in carrying out His 
 designs of love for mankind. Henceforth He requires men, through 
 the lips of such deniers of self as the Apostles, to live to Him Who 
 died for them, and rose again for them. If He requires them to 
 live to Him for His own sake He has a right to demand it, 
 but He requires them to live to Him in order that they may 
 attain to the greatest height of perfection of which a creature is 
 capable. 
 
 It has been asked whether we can consider that He rose again for 
 us in the same sense as He died. Yes surely ; He died not only in 
 our place as our surety, but for our benefit. He died as the Second 
 Adam, that as all die in Him, so should all rise again in Him. 
 There is, of course, a difference : He died to make atonement 
 for all. He rose again to impart His Life to all if they wiU 
 accept it. 
 
 Thus the love of Christ constrained the Apostle— may the same 
 love constrain us. 
 
 16. *' Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh," &c. 
 To know a man after the flesh has been explained as knowing him 
 
358 THE NEW CREATION. [H. Cok. 
 
 n Rom. viii. 9. 17 Therefore if any man '^ he in Christ, 11 he is 
 
 &XTi. 7. "^ " 
 
 Gal. vi. 15. 
 
 i Or, let him ~~~~ 
 
 be. 
 
 17. " If any man be in Christ, fie is & new creature." " Si qna in Christo nova creatura," 
 Tnlg. 
 
 as belonging to an earthly nation, or an earthly family, or as hav- 
 ing a certain worldly station : but may it not rather allude to the 
 great divisions of Jew and Gentile, into which God had divided 
 mankind ? This only, I think, will account for the Apostle putting 
 in the words, *' Yea, though we have known Christ after the 
 flesh." We know in Christ neither Jew nor Gentile — all are one 
 in Him: neither do we know Him as belonging to a particular 
 race, for we know Him now only as the Second Man, the Head of 
 the race, and of a Church redeemed out of all nations and tongues. 
 St. Paul here, no doubt, alludes to those Judaizers who boasted of 
 Christ as a Jew, and would have all men become Jews as He was 
 when He lived upon earth. But the Apostle meets this with the 
 truth that Christ is raised to a sphere in which He is infinitely 
 above such distinctions of the flesh, for He is now the quickening 
 Spirit of the race. 
 
 17. " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : 
 old things," &c. Before considering the meaning of this most im- 
 portant verse it will be necessary to look to its proper translation. 
 In our authorized, and by most modern expositors, it is divided 
 into two sentences in a most arbitrary way, and a stop (comma), 
 and words to which nothing answers in the original are inserted to 
 complete each sentence. The words of the original, exactly in the 
 order in which they stand, without addition or punctuation, are 
 " So that if any in Christ new ktisis (order of things, dispensation, 
 &c.) the ancient things (not old things) are passed away," &c. 
 
 The only words wanted to complete the English sense would be 
 *' there be " — " So that, ii there he any new creation in Christ, ancient 
 things are passed away." Now this is the rendering of the oldest trans- 
 lation, the Vulgate, and if thus construed as one sentence it is en- 
 tirely in accordance with the context. For the Apostle had been 
 speaking of Christ dying for all (verse 14) as the Second Adam, the 
 New Man : and then he had been speaking of" knowing no one after 
 the flesh," i.e., no one had, owing to his birth, a greater claim on 
 Christ than another ; and even as regards Christ Himself He must 
 henceforth be considered as belonging to the whole world, not to 
 
Chap. V.] ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW. 359 
 
 ''anew creature: ^ old things are passed awaj; ^Gai. v. c. & 
 behold, all things are become new. y is. xiiii. is, 
 
 19. & Ixv.' 17.' 
 
 Eph. ii. 15. 
 
 Kev. xxi. 5. 
 
 17. "All things." So E., K., L., P., most Carsives, Goth., Arm. ; but N, B., C, D., 
 F., G., d, e, f, g, Vulg. (Cod. Ainiat.), Cop., omit "all things." "They are become 
 
 any section of it. In Him there was neither Jew nor Greek, &c. 
 And now, strictly following up this line of thought, he proceeds, 
 *' so if that there be any new Creation {i.e., new order of things — new 
 access to God) in Christ — the ancient things, the ancient mode of 
 access, the ancient law of ordinance, the ancient ministry, the 
 ancient standing in Abraham or Moses, are all passed away. " " For 
 behold," saith Chrysostom, " a new soul (for it was cleansed), and 
 a new body, and new worship, and promises new, and covenant, 
 and life, and table, and dress, and all things new absolutely. For 
 instead of the Jerusalem below, we have received that mother city 
 which is above ; and instead of a material temple, have seen a 
 spiritual temple ; instead of tables of stone, fleshy ones ; instead 
 of Circumcision, Baptism ; instead of the manna, the Lord's Body ; 
 instead of water from a rock, Blood from His Side ; instead of 
 Moses' rod, the Cross ; instead of the promised land, the kingdom 
 of heaven ; instead of a thousand priests, one High Priest ; instead 
 of a Lamb without reason, a Spiritual Lamb ; with these and such 
 like things in His thoughts He said. All things are new." 
 
 I have no doubt that this is the true idea. He is not speaking 
 so much of the new state of the soul as of its new surroundings as 
 it were. It is in a new kingdom. It has new and better gi-ace, alto- 
 gether different from that of the Old Covenant. It has a new stand- 
 ing, and that in Christ. It has new nourishment, even His Body 
 and Blood. There is a New Scripture, a new ministry of reconciha- 
 tion, new powers of ser\dng God through the New Birth, and a new 
 hope. 
 
 But let the reader remember that though this is, I believe, the 
 true meaning of the Greek words as they stand, yet the way of 
 taking them as two sentences yields a perfectly true meaning. 
 For if any man be in Christ, i.e., savingly, and really, and perma- 
 nently, such a man is a new creature. He has new hopes, new 
 desires, new affections, he has a new conflict within, and new 
 strength to aid him in maintaining it. And this is true, whether we 
 
3 GO ALL THINGS OF GOD. [IL Cor. 
 
 •^o"?; "!• io« 18 And all things are of God, * who hath re- 
 
 Jlipn, 11. lo, ^-^ 
 
 Col. i. 20. 
 
 1 John ii. 2. 
 
 & iv. 10. 
 
 look upon him as brought into Christ once for all in baptism, or 
 as reinstated in Him by a true and hearty repentance, or a 
 genuine conversion. 
 
 No matter how we look upon his entrance into Christ, if he be a 
 branch of the vine, the Divine Husbandman will come round to 
 see if there be fruit in him. If he bears fruit then he is in the con- 
 dition which is usually supposed to be meant by the words " new 
 creature." If any man be truly in Christ, he is a new creature, that 
 is, a real Christian. 
 
 Calvin and others understand the first part of the verse as if 
 it should be rendered *' let him be a new creature." Calvin's para- 
 phrase is, " If any one is desirous to hold some place in Christ, 
 that is, in the Kingdom of Christ, let him be a new creature. By 
 this expression he condemns every kind of excellence that is wont 
 to be in much esteem among men, if renovation of heart be wanting. 
 Learning, it is true, and eloquence, and other endowments, are 
 valuable and worthy to be honoured, but when the fear of the Lord 
 and an upright conscience are wanting, all the honour of them goes 
 for nothing." 
 
 But it is clear that to the words of the original we have no more 
 right to add *' Let him be," than " he is." 
 
 *' Old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become 
 new." The word for old, archaios, rather signifies ancient. The 
 old thing which we have to put away, the old man, or Adam, is 
 palaios. As long as the old Adam is yet allowed to exist in the 
 Christian it cannot be said strictly that old things are passed away, 
 though it can be said with the utmost strictness that the ancient 
 things, the things of the ancient economy, have entirely passed 
 away. The whole of this Epistle is written to those in Christ, and 
 yet almost every line of it implies that much of the old man lingers 
 in the greater part of them, and St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, 
 who, as a Church, seem to have been in a higher spiritual state than 
 the Corinthians, that even they should put off the old man, be 
 renewed in the spirit of their minds, and put on the new. (Ephes. 
 iv. 22.) 
 
 18. " And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to him- 
 self," &c. All things, i.e., all these new things, whether external 
 
Chap, v.] RECONCILIATION. 361 
 
 conciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hatli given to us 
 the ministry of reconciliation : 
 
 18. " Jesus Christ." N, B., C, D., F., Q., P., It., Vulg., Syr., Copt., omit " Jesus ;* 
 but E., 1^., L., and most Cursives, retain. 
 
 things, Buch as new means of grace, a new ministry, a new mystical 
 body ; or internal, as a new heart, a new spirit, a cleansed con- 
 science, a renewed will, are of God as directly as the things of the 
 old economy, but in a much more gracious and glorious way, being 
 through the Incarnation and Mediation of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It has been made a question whether God has reconciled Him- 
 self to us, or whether we are reconciled to Him by His enabling us, 
 once enemies, to love Him and willingly obey Him. But a little 
 thought will show us that the two are at the root the same : 
 for God must have looked with extreme displeasure at man's sin, 
 and yet with extreme love on the race of men if He gave His Son 
 to die for them. So that even when He was angry in one sense, 
 He was reconciled in another ; for if one man desires to do another, 
 who is his enemy, the greatest conceivable benefit, he must be 
 really and in heart reconciled to him, though he may require the 
 man, for his own sake, to endure some discipline. And with 
 respect to our being reconciled in heart and feeling towards God, the 
 very atonement itself, unless it brings this about, will, as far as we 
 can see, stop short of benefiting us in the wa}' in which we most 
 require benefit : for alienation of heart from God is the root-evil of 
 all, and if this be removed we are on the side of God and are His 
 true children. 
 
 " And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." It seems 
 to be called the ministry of reconcihation, as distinguished from 
 the word of reconciliation, because in its exercise the minister 
 ministers to the sinner more than mere words. 1. He ministers 
 the word, i.e., the preached word of repentance and faith. Then 
 (2) the Sacrament of Baptism by which sinners are grafted into 
 the Mystical Body. Then (3) the Body and Blood of Christ to be 
 the Spiritual Food and Sustenance of His people, and, lastly. 
 Absolution, which is but a further ministering of the atoning power 
 of the Blood of Christ. 
 
 19. " To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
 himself," &c. God the Son, Who shared with His Father all the 
 attributes of the supreme God, had become incarnate in Jesus 
 
362 BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD. [II. Cok. 
 
 19 To wit, that ^ God was in Clirist, reconciling the world 
 • Rom. iii. 24, unto himsclf, not imputing their trespasses nnto 
 + Gr. put in them ; and hath f committed unto us the word of 
 
 reconciliation, 
 ^/ob^?'^,'*".'- 20 Now then we are * ambassadors for Christ, 
 
 23. MaJ. u. 7. 
 
 eh. iii. 6. as '^ though God did beseech you by us : we pray 
 
 c ch. vi. 1. ' yoti in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 
 
 Christ, to make atonement for the sins of the world, and had been 
 lifted up to draw all men to Himself : but if we take God as mean- 
 ing the Father, then we have to remember the words of the Lord, 
 " Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in 
 me," and " the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.'' 
 (John xiv. 10.) 
 
 " Not imputing their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed 
 unto us," &c. If God had imputed their trespasses to the world of 
 sinners, He would not have sent them the message of reconcilia- 
 tion. The very fact of His sending them such offers of mercy 
 showed that whatever mind they had towards Him, His mind was 
 pacified towards them. 
 
 "And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." 
 
 20. " Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
 did beseech you by us." If the ministers of Christ are His am- 
 bassadors, then by His appointment they stand between sinners 
 and Himself just as much as priests do : in fact, more so. But 
 the office of ambassador implies not a mere desire to represent 
 Christ to sinners, but a commission so to do. 
 
 "Ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us." 
 Notice here the assertion of the Godhead of Christ. Ambassadors 
 for Christ act for God as if Christ were God. When Christ beseeches 
 by His ambassadors, it is God Who beseeches by the same persons. 
 
 "We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." It 
 seems strange that the Apostle should call upon those who had 
 been converted and brought into the Body of Christ, to be recon- 
 ciled to God, but if they had anything of the old Adam within 
 them, they had that in them which was contrary to God, and which 
 must be put away if they were to abide in Christ. In so far as they 
 were carnal, litigious, divided into parties, indifferent to impurity 
 and idolatry, irreverent in worship, and unbelieving about such an 
 
Chap, v.] SIN FOR US. 363 
 
 21 For ^ he hath made him to be sin for us, who ^J^-i"V ^'.^' 
 
 12. vjal. in. 
 
 knew no sin ; that we might be made ^ the i|- J ^f j^i;^ 
 righteousness of God in him. ">• s. 
 
 e Rom. i. 17. 
 &v. 19. &X.3. 
 
 article of faith as the Eesurrection, they had great need to put 
 away from them such things as these, all which were irreconcilable 
 with a state of true peace with God. 
 
 18. " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; 
 that we might," &c. We have here the idea which pervades the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, that God made Christ, or that Christ made 
 Himself, to be an atoning Sacrifice. It also runs through Isaiah liii., 
 *'The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." God could 
 not possibly make Christ actual sin, but He could treat Him, or by 
 His providence bring about that He should be treated, as a sinner. 
 This took place at His Crucifixion. He was condemned by both 
 Jewish and heathen judges. He was executed between two no- 
 torious sinners. The death which was inflicted upon Him was that 
 inflicted only on the vilest criminals : so that so far as could be, 
 short of His being made to commit sin. He was made sin. He was 
 made sin in a sacrificial sense ; not, I think, in a forensic so much 
 as in a sacrificial sense. The animal, in the preparatory dispensa- 
 tion, was accepted for the offerer to make atonement for him 
 (Levit. i. 4). Farther than this we cannot go. The redemptive 
 work was a transaction between Two Persons in the Godhead, but 
 it is represented to us in Scripture under the figure of One offering 
 a Sacrifice, and the Other accepting it, and with this we must be 
 content, and in humble faith we must throw ourselves into God's 
 mind respecting both the expression and the reahzation, on our 
 own part, of this great mystery. 
 
 " That we might be made the righteousness of God in him." The 
 whole purpose of the redemptive work of Christ was that we should 
 be reconciled to God, not by an outward or forensic or imputative 
 reconciliation, but by an inward one ; that is, by our souls being 
 cleansed from all that keeps them apart from God, and by having 
 the life of God put into us, that we should live lives of dedication 
 to God. This is most fully set forth at the beginning of Eomans viii. 
 " God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin 
 (as a sin offering: Trspl a/ia^TiaQ) condemned sin in the flesh, that 
 the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not 
 after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
 
364 WOKKERS TOGETHER WITH HIM. [II. Cor. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 E then, as * workers together with Mm, ^ beseech. 
 you also ^that ye receive not the grace of God in 
 
 » 1 Cor. iii. 9. vain. 
 
 c Heb.xii. 15. 2 (For he saith, "^I have heard thee in a time 
 d Is. xiix. 8. accepted, and in the day of salvation have I sue- 
 
 w 
 
 1. " We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also 
 that ye," &c. " As workers together with him." So 1 Cor. iii. 9 : 
 "We are labourers together with God." 
 
 " Beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.'* 
 What is this grace ? It may stand for all grace, conversion, re- 
 generation, sacraments ; but I rather think that here, taking into 
 account what precedes it and what follows it, we must consider it 
 to be the grace of the Apostolic message of salvation, for he had 
 said, *' Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
 did beseech you by us ; we pray you," &c. And he illustrates this 
 grace by the quotation from Isaiah, " I have heard thee in a 
 time accepted — behold now is the accepted time." 
 
 It is the great underlying truth of all St. Paul's Epistles that 
 those to whom he writes are already in a state of grace, and must 
 see to it that they receive it not in vain — i.e., that they receive it 
 without conscious efforts to live to it, and to bring forth fruit 
 answering to what they have received. 
 
 2. "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in 
 the day," &c. The question which arises respecting these words 
 is, Does St. Paul quote them as containing a general truth falling 
 in with the purpose of his argument, or does he quote them having 
 reference to their context ? Now the whole passage from which 
 they are taken is a very clear prophecy of Christ. Thus the verse 
 before ( Isaiah xlix. 7) : "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, 
 and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the 
 nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, 
 princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and 
 the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. Thus saith 
 
Chap. VI.] NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME. 365 
 
 coured thee : behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now 
 is the day of salvation.) 
 
 3 ^ Grivinff no offence in any thinej, that the « Rom. xiv. 
 ministry be not blamed : 12. & x. 32. 
 
 the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day 
 of salvation have I helped thee : and I will preserve thee, and give 
 thee for a covenant of the people , . . that thou mayest say to 
 the prisoners, Go forth," &c. All this is in the highest degree 
 Messianic; and if St. Paul remembered it, he must have had 
 in his mind the Intercession of the Messiah, the one thing which 
 made that day far beyond any which had preceded it, a day of 
 salvation. 
 
 " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of 
 salvation." Now — not always. Let us remember the words of 
 the Lord : " Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many, I say 
 unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once 
 the master of the house is risen up," &c. (Luke xiii. 24). 
 
 These words are, of course, the words of the Apostle, applying 
 the words of God in Isaiah, " I have heard thee in an acceptable 
 time." It is as if God said to the Messiah, " I have heard Thee in 
 an acceptable time, when I brought Thee up from the grave, and 
 set Thee on My right hand, and made Thee a Mediator on behalf 
 of the people I have given Thee." And then the Apostle adds, 
 ** Now is the time of the all-prevailing Mediatorship. Now is the 
 time when whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be 
 saved." 
 
 This time extends over the whole period between the first and 
 the second Advent. Now is our acceptable time — yours and mine, 
 reader. Now is our day of salvation — now by God's grace we can 
 make our calling and election sure. Now we may lay hold on 
 eternal life. Now we may apprehend that for which we are appre- 
 hended by Christ Jesus (Phil. iii. 12). 
 
 3. " Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not 
 blamed." No offence — i.e., no occasion of stumbling. The preacher 
 of Christ is bound to preach against sin, and false doctrine, and so 
 he is bound to give offence to some. "Woe unto you, woe unto 
 you, when all men speak well unto you, for so did their fathers 
 unto the false prophets." But he must give no offence to the true 
 
366 APPROVING OURSELVES. [U. Cor. 
 
 4 But iu all things f approving ourselves ^ as the ministers 
 
 t Gr. com- ^f Grod, in much patience, in afflictions, in neces- 
 
 mendmg, ch. J- 
 
 '^'- 2. sities, in distresses, 
 
 g eh. xi. 23. 5 ^ I^ stripes, in imprisonments, || in tumults, 
 
 Ac. ' 
 
 I Or, in toss- 
 ings to and fro. 
 
 in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; 
 
 servants of God by a course of living which comes palpably short 
 of his preaching. He is bound, also, to give no needless offence by 
 doctrine or ritual for which men are not prepared. He must be 
 careful to explain what he means, so that men who fear God and 
 trust in Christ should not misunderstand it. 
 
 *' That the ministry be not blamed." When the minister acts in 
 any way contrary to his profession, he brings not only himself but 
 his office into disrepute. This is the artifice of Satan — to seek 
 some misconduct on the part of ministers that may tend to the dis- 
 honour of the Gospel. For when he has succeeded in bringing the 
 ministry into contempt all hope of profit is at an end. (Calvin.) 
 
 4, 5. " But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of 
 God." The whole of the enumeration that follows is written to 
 show that all the tests by which the Lord was accustomed to try 
 His servants were applied to the Apostles. 
 
 "In much patience." This may mean "in much patience in 
 bearing with individual souls, and even with Churches ; " or it may 
 have reference to what follows, as afflictions. Afflictions are pro- 
 bably the griefs endured from the ingratitude of some, and the fall- 
 ing away of others ; the necessities are probably the straits which 
 he endured with regard to his worldly sustenance, which forced 
 him, even for long periods, to work with his own hands. 
 
 "In distresses." This may probably mean "straits." "The 
 idea of narrow straits suggests to him the thought of actual perse- 
 cution of which he gave the three to which he was most frequently 
 exposed — 'the stripes,' as in Acts xvi. 23; 'the imprisonments' 
 (' in prisons more frequent,' xi. 23) ; the tumults and disorders, as 
 in Asia Minor (Acts xiii. 50, xiv. 19)." (Stanley.) 
 
 " In labours." Perhaps with his own hands for his mainte- 
 nance, but rather his laborious journeying, and preaching, and 
 %dsiting. 
 
 "In watchings." These watchings probably mean watchings 
 lest he should fall into some snare of his enemies. Thus, Acts 
 
Chap. VI.] BY THE WORD OF TRUTH. 367 
 
 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kind- 
 ness, by the Holy G-host, by love unfeigned, 
 
 7 ^ By the word of truth, by ' the power of God, ^ ch. iv. 2. & 
 
 vii. 14. 
 
 i 1 Cor. ii. i. 
 
 XX. 19, " temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of 
 the Jews." 
 
 " In fastings." Perhaps voluntary fasts, in the way of disciplin- 
 ing his body (Acts xiii. 2) ; perhaps long periods of hunger through 
 poverty. 
 
 Now he comes to enumerate the virtues and graces of the Spirit 
 by which he had proved himself the minister of God. 
 
 6. "By pureness." This, in his case, can scarcely refer to 
 chastity, but probably means purity of intention, and, as the virtue 
 is not mentioned afterwards, sincerity of aim and singleness of 
 purpose. 
 
 " By knowledge " — that far extended survey of the whole field 
 of Divine truth of which his Epistles furnish such examples. 
 
 " By longsuffering." This, I think, must be ministerial long- 
 suffering — bearing long with the faults, and failings, and dulnesses, 
 and declensions of those whom he has converted to the faith. 
 
 " By kindness " — not only by a charitable heart, for without 
 that a man cannot be a Christian, but by a kind, sympathizing 
 demeanour. 
 
 " By the Holy Ghost." This probably means by the Spirit's 
 gifts and manifestations, because, all the other graces enumerated, 
 pureness, longsuffering, kindness, are the fruits of the Spirit. 
 
 " By love unfeigned." Let love be without dissimulation. It is 
 soon seen whether the appearance of love be assumed, and, if so, 
 all its virtue in attracting others is gone. 
 
 7. " By the word of truth." Not necessarily the Scriptures, but 
 the word of the Gospel. Still there must be an intimate know- 
 ledge both of the letter and spirit of Scripture, if the workman is 
 not to be ashamed. How can he rightly divide the word of truth 
 unless he knows it? (2 Tim. ii, 15.) 
 
 " By the power of God." Dean Stanley explains this " by the 
 power of working miracles." Calvin, " by the power of God showing 
 itself in magnanimity, in efficacy, in the maintenance of the truth, 
 in the propagation of the Gospel, in victory over enemies, and the 
 like." 
 
368 BY HONOUR AND DISHONOUR. [H. Cor. 
 
 by ^ the armour of righteousness on tlie right hand and on 
 
 k ch. X. 4. the left, 
 
 Ephes. vi. 11, 
 
 13, 2 Tim. 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and 
 
 1 ch. iy. 2. good report : as deceivers, and yet true ; 
 
 xi.^6.^^' * 9 As unknown, and ^ yet well known ; ^ as 
 
 9 lhT'9\ <lyi^o' ^^^> behold, we live ; ° as chastened, and 
 
 iv. 10, ii.' not killed ; 
 
 n Ps. CXviii. ink r> ^ i 1 ... 
 
 18. 10 As sorrowiul, yet alway rejoicing ; as poor 
 
 " By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the 
 left." On the right hand and on the left — i.e., thoroughly equipped 
 on all sides. Blunt says : " The sword of the Spirit in the right 
 hand for attack, and the shield of faith on tlie left arm for 
 defence." 
 
 8. " By honour and dishonour." It is no matter whether in 
 some impending struggle the honour of a brilliant victory of the 
 Gospel is to be attained, or some dishonom' through apparent want 
 of success. 
 
 *' By evil report and good report." Sometimes those whom he 
 had won to Christ, spoke evil of him, as being himself insincere ; 
 sometimes they turned round, and called themselves by his name 
 as the head of their party. 
 
 *' As deceivers, and yet true." As accounted even by the members 
 of the Church which he had planted " a deceiver ; " and yet true — 
 true to his Master and the souls He had committed to him. 
 
 9. " As unknown, and yet well known " — i.e., obscure, so that 
 the world knoweth them not as it knew Him not — well known to 
 God, and to all true believers. 
 
 " As dying, and, behold, we live." " In deaths oft." " I protest 
 by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus I die daily." " Al- 
 ways bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." 
 "We which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake." 
 
 " As chastened, and not killed." The chastisement always com- 
 ing short of depriving them of life, and yet always increasing their 
 trust in God, and working them more abundant gain. 
 
 10. " As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." Sorrowful, because of 
 the opposition of the world to its own salvation ; always rejoicing, 
 because their sorrow, sooner or later, turns to joy when they see 
 the Gospel triumphing through opposition. 
 
Chap. VI.] OUR HEART IS ENLARGED. 869 
 
 yet making many ricli ; as having nothing, and yet pos- 
 sessing all things. 
 
 11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, °our 
 heart is enlarged. » ch. vii. 3. 
 
 " As poor, yet making many rich." "As poor," so that he had 
 no property, no home, no income guaranteed to him by any chm-cli 
 or society. "Yet making many rich," with contentment, with a 
 citizenship far above the world, with the knowledge of God — in a 
 word, with the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
 
 " As having nothing, and yet possessing all things." "Having 
 nothing." This is his description of the Apostolic life : " Even 
 unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, 
 and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place" (1 Cor. 
 iv. 11) ; and this of the Apostolic riches : "I am persuaded that 
 neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principahties, nor powers 
 . . . shall be able to separate us," &c. (Rom. viii. 38). 
 
 Chrysostom has a singular comment : " If thou marvellest, how 
 is it possible for one that hath nothing to have all things, let us 
 bring forth this man himself into the midst, who commanded the 
 world, and was Lord not only of their substance, but of their very 
 eyes even. ' If it had been possible,' he says, ' ye would have 
 plucked out your own eyes, and have given them unto me ' (Gal. 
 iv. 15)." 
 
 11. " ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart 
 is enlarged." He now reflects upon what he has said as the utter- 
 ance of what he feels. Out of the abundance of his heart his 
 mouth had spoken. He had appealed to the life and spirit of his 
 ministry among them, his pureness, his sincerity, his long-suffer- 
 ing, his kindness, his disregard of honour and dishonour, of evil 
 report and good report, his willingness to be poor and unknown, if 
 he could but save them ; and so he exclaims, " Our heart is 
 enlarged. It can contain all, and welcomes all. "We are not 
 straitened, but ye are. Your divisions, your suspicions, your 
 envyings so narrow your hearts that ye cannot receive me, your 
 father in Christ, and those who in work and love are one with me, 
 into your hearts." 
 
 B B 
 
370 BE YE ALSO ENLARGED. [IL Cor. 
 
 12 Te are not straitened in us, but ^ je are straitened in 
 p ch. xii. 15. your own bowels, 
 q 1 Cor. ir. M. 13 Now for a recompence in the same, C^ I 
 
 speak as unto my children,) be je also enlarged, 
 r Deu.vii.2, 3. 14 ''Be je not unequally yoked together with 
 & vii. 39. unbelievers : for ^ what fellowship hath righteous- 
 
 3. i^Kings"" ness with unrighteousness ? and what communion 
 cor!"x*! 21. hath light with darkness ? 
 
 Eph. V. 7, 11. 
 
 12. " Bowels " here stands for affections. It is usually associated 
 with the idea of yearning affection in the Old Testament. 
 
 13. " Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my 
 children,) be ye," &c. I have abundantly shown my fatherly love 
 in Christ to you. I speak now to you as children. As it is the 
 duty of parents to nourish their children, to instruct them, and to 
 defend them, so it is the dictate of equity that children should 
 requite their parents. 
 
 Here, apparently, there is a break, though some suppose that 
 there is an undercurrent of thought between this and the next 
 verse, for the evils which had well nigh shipwrecked their Chris- 
 tianity had been mainly owing to their want of fellowship with 
 their spiritual father, and their too intimate fellowship with 
 idolaters, and with impure persons, who looked back with pleasure 
 to the licentiousness of their former state, and with whom they 
 had contracted alliances in marriage and friendship, and so he 
 writes : 
 
 14. " Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers : for 
 what fellowship," &c. The reference is to the Levitical law, forbid- 
 ding that the ox and the ass should be yoked together at the plough 
 (Deut. xxii. 10). 
 
 " Fellowship " means not only fellowship in marriage, but in 
 friendship, in companionship, and perhaps in public office and 
 business. 
 
 " For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? " 
 How can they converse together, for instance, about the future, 
 when one has no hopes of the life to come, and the other lives his 
 whole life as if an eternal future depended upon it? 
 
 " And what communion hath light with darkness ? " What inter- 
 course can two persons have on things which most concern immortal 
 
Chap. VL] CHRIST WITH BELIAL. 371 
 
 15 And wliat concord hath Christ with Belial? or what 
 part hath he that belie veth with an infidel ? 
 
 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with 
 idols? for *ye are the temple of the living God; ' i Cor.iu.ie. 
 
 Ephes. ii. 21, 
 
 " 22. Heb,iii.6. 
 
 16. "Ye are the temple." So C, E., F., G., K., most Cursives, f, g, Vulg., Syriac, 
 Arm., Goth. ; but N, B., D., L., P., a few Cursives, d, e. Cop., iEth,, read, "we" ('* we 
 are the temple"). 
 
 beings when the mind of one is full of light on such subjects as God, 
 and Christ, and His Gospel, and His Church ; and the other utterly 
 disbelieves in the existence of these things ? Or it may allude to 
 the deeds of light and the deeds of darkness respectively. What 
 fellowship can there be between him who loves chastity, and him who 
 loves adultery ; between him who loves truth and uprightness, and 
 him who loves falsehood and fraud ? 
 
 15. "And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" The word 
 Belial here is a name of the evil one, as being all vileness and 
 worthlessness. It is made up of two Hebrew words, beli, without, 
 and yaal, profit, and implies the emptiness and vanity of the sin 
 to which he tempts men. Thus in Proverbs vi. 12, "the man 
 of Belial (translated, naughty person) walketh with a froward 
 mouth, he winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he 
 teacheth with his fingers," &c. Here Christ and Belial are con- 
 trasted as infinite worth and truth with utter vanity and false- 
 hood. 
 
 " Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel ? " There 
 is nothing really in common between the believer and the unbe- 
 liever, because their spirits, and so the whole aim of their existence, 
 are different. The one delights in contemplating God in everything, 
 the other sees Him in nothing — sees nothing but nature — nothing 
 but what is visible and palpable. And so with the Bible. The 
 one sees a revelation of God everywhere ; the other sees only what 
 any other man could have written, and perhaps written better. 
 
 16. " And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? 
 for ye are," &c. In the temple of Jerusalem there could be no re- 
 presentation of the one true God. In the temples of the heathen 
 other statues of false gods might be erected besides that to the 
 tutelar deity, but the temple of God was erected to God's honour, 
 not as one amongst many gods, but as the One living and true God : 
 
372 I WILL BE THEIR GOD. [IL Cor. 
 
 u Ex. XXIX. 45. as God hath said, ° I will dwell in them, and 
 
 Lev. xxvi. 12. 
 
 jer. xxxi. 33. walli ii\ them ; and I will be their Grod, and they 
 
 & xxxii. 38. , „ ^ T •' 
 
 tzek. xj. 20. shall be my people. 
 
 &xKXTii. 26, 17 ^Wherefore come out from among them,. 
 
 Tiii. 8. & xiii. 9. and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
 
 X Is. lii. 11. 
 ch. vii. 1. 
 Rev. xviii. 4. 
 
 the unclean thing ; and I will receive you, 
 
 and so it was with the Church. The whole spiritual building, and 
 every stone of it, was erected to the Father of Jesus Christ. It 
 was all builded together in Christ for an habitation of God through 
 the Spirit. Notice how he assumes that the whole Church was the 
 temple of God, just as he assumes everywhere that the whole 
 Church, and every part of it, was the Body of Christ. 
 
 " As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them," &c. 
 This quotation is from Levit. xxvi. 11, 12. In the Septuagint it 
 runs, *' I will set my tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not 
 abhor you, and I will walk among you, and be your God, and ye 
 shall be my people." 
 
 "I will dwell in them." Both in the whole Church as a body> 
 and in each member. 
 
 " And walk in them." This seems to teach that God will not 
 be in His spiritual temple as an immovable statue is in a build- 
 ing, but that He will be active among them, moving from one 
 to the other, as it were, making every spiritual stone conscious of 
 His Presence, inciting all to peace and purity, to love and good 
 works. 
 
 " I will be their God, and they shall be my people." For God to 
 be a God to a nation, or a person, implies that He is to it all that 
 God can be, Protector, Deliverer, Redeemer, Saviour, Father, 
 Guide. 
 
 17. '* Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate." 
 This is taken mainly from Isaiah lii. 11. " Depart ye, depart ye, 
 go out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the 
 midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord." This 
 is applied by the Apostle figuratively to the Corinthian believers. 
 As the Israelites, when they departed from Babylon, were to keep 
 themselves pure from all contact with the pollutions of idolatry, 
 especially because they bore the consecrated vessels of the temple 
 (see Levit. xxii. 2, compared with Ezra viii. 28), so the Corin- 
 
CiiAP. VIL] I WILL BE A FATHER UNTO YOU. 373 
 
 18 ^And -will be a Father linto you, and ye sliall be my 
 sons and dauffliters, saith the Lord Almighty. y Jer. xxxi. 
 
 ^ ' ^ -^ 1, 9. Rev. 
 xxi. 7. 
 
 thians were to keep themselves pure from the pollutions of their 
 wicked city, because they bore the name of Christ, and were bap- 
 tized into His Church, and had His Word, His Sacraments, and His 
 ministry among them. 
 
 " Touch not the unclean things." As he writes in Ephes. v. 11, 
 *' Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness." 
 2 Thes. iii. 6, " Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh 
 disorderly," or Eom. xii. 9, " Abhor that which is evil." 
 
 "And I will receive you." 
 
 18. " And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons 
 and," &c. But had not God ah-eady received them? Had He not 
 given to them — to some, at least — repentance unto life ? had He 
 not converted them all from the worship of idols to the worship of 
 Himself? did they not one and all confess that Jesus was the Son 
 of God, and could this have been, unless God had received them 
 and been a Father to them ? Yes, this is true ; but still the recep- 
 tion by God is a continuous one. As long as men abide in His Son 
 He receives them. If they sunder themselves from the fellowship 
 of Christ they have to be restored. But this place assures them 
 that God is willing to restore them if they return to Him and draw 
 near to Him. 
 
 H 
 
 CHAP. YII. 
 
 AVINGr ^therefore these j^romises, dearly beloved, 
 let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness ^ 5ohu UiVs.^^' 
 
 1. '• Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us 
 cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," &c. 
 *' These promises," i.e., those mentioned just before. " Touch not 
 the unclean thing, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall 
 be," &c. 
 
374 RECEIVE US. [II. Cor. 
 
 of the flesli and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of 
 God. 
 
 2 Eeceive ns; we have wronged no man, we have cor- 
 b Acts XX. 33. rupted no man, ^ we have defrauded no man. 
 
 ch. xii. 17. 
 
 c th. vi. 11, 3 I speak not this to condemn you : for '^ I have 
 
 said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and 
 live with you. 
 
 " Perfecting holiness in the fear of God." It has been supposed, 
 and with much probability, that the idea of a temple, brought for- 
 ward in verse 16 of last chapter, is here resumed ; the holiness 
 referring to the consecration of all our faculties to God, as living 
 stones of His mystical temple, as well as to our purification from 
 defilement. 
 
 2. " Eeceive us ; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted 
 no man," &c. " Eeceive us," literally, make room for us in your 
 hearts. Ye have made room for, at least ye have not cut off from 
 your fellowship, those who as false apostles wronged you by 
 taking maintenance from you, to which they were not entitled, 
 and have corrupted you by their false teaching, both in faith and 
 morals. And ye have yet retained in your fellowship those who do 
 wrong and defraud (1 Cor. vi. 8). "VVe have done none of these 
 things, though accused of them by our slanderers ; yet, as we 
 have written to others, "Ye know how holily and justly, and un- 
 blameably we have behaved ourselves among you" (1 Thess. ii. 10). 
 The reader will remember how Moses makes a similar appeal to 
 God respecting his integrity (Numb. xvi. 5) ; and Samuel calls all 
 Israel to witness that in nothing had he wronged them, 
 
 3. "I speak not this to condemn you," i.e., I do not desire to 
 blame you and make you ashamed, so much as to urge you to 
 admit me willingly to a place in your hearts, as ye are already in 
 mine. 
 
 " Ye are in our hearts to die and live with you." The commen- 
 tators, following Cornehus k Lapide, illustrate this by the example 
 of those among the heathen who made contracts with one another 
 to live and to die together. Thus the members of the Theban 
 Legion mentioned in Plutarch (Upbg Xoxog), and the Soldurii among 
 the Gauls (Caesar, De Bello Gallico, iii.), Nisus and Euryalus 
 in Virgil's Epic, and Horace offering to kill himself if Maecenas 
 
Chap. VII.] OUR FLESH HAD NO REST. 375 
 
 4 ^ G-reat is my boldness of speech toward you, ^ great is 
 my glorying of you : ^ I am filled with, comfort, ^ th. iii. 12, 
 
 I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. ch. {.'14.'' 
 
 5 For, ^ when we were come into Macedonia, phuVi^i: 
 our flesh had no rest, but ^ we were troubled on ^°'- ^- ^'^• 
 
 S ch, ii. 13. 
 
 every side ; ' without wei-e fightings, within were h ch. iv. s. 
 
 fears. 25^'"'' ''''''"• 
 
 6 Nevertheless ^ God, that comforteth those ^ tn. i. 4. 
 that are cast down, comforted us by ^ the coming ^ See ch. ii. 
 of Titus ; 
 
 7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation 
 wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your 
 
 should be taken away, " Hie dies utramque Ducet ruinam," Od. ii. 
 17, but it is doubtful whether such illustrations are in place, and 
 do not lower the Apostolic words. 
 
 And now he seems to resume the connection which had been 
 broken off at ii. 13, 14, and reverts to the joy which he had received 
 by the news which Titus had brought him. 
 
 4. " Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my 
 glorying of you." "Boldness of speech," freedom, confidence. 
 Before Titus showed him their real state of feeling towards him, 
 he could not speak to them freely. There was a cloud on both him 
 and them ; now this is removed, now he can not only speak to 
 them without reserve, but he can boast or glory of them as in 
 former times. 
 
 5.. " For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no 
 rest." We were wearied and weighed down by a load of troubles. 
 
 "Without were fightings." No doubt persecutions on the part 
 of the heathen. 
 
 " Within were fears." Lest the report of Titus should be un- 
 favourable, and he should lose the church in which he had received 
 so many seals to his ministry, so many souls whom he had fondly 
 hoped would have been his crown of rejoicing in the day of the 
 Lord. 
 
 6, 7. " Nevertheless God that comforteth those .... so that I 
 rejoiced the more." Titus had, as the reader knows, been sent to 
 Corinth, to ascertain the effect which St. Paul's first Epistle had 
 
376 I BEJOICED THE MORE. [II. Cor. 
 
 earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward 
 me ; so that I rejoiced tlie more. 
 
 8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not 
 m ch. ii. 4. repent, " though I did repent : for I perceive that 
 the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but 
 for a season. 
 
 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that 
 
 produced on the Church. The report which he brought went very 
 far to remove the Apostle's anxieties, and to fill him with comfort. 
 Notice the exceeding naturalness of this account. It would have 
 been a great comfort to the Apostle to receive back again such a 
 son in the faith and earnest fellow-helper as Titus ; but the con- 
 solation was beyond measure increased when he found that his 
 letter had produced the effect which he had hoped and prayed for. 
 This effect was manifested in their earnest desire both to see him 
 and to please him ; their mourning for having caused him distress 
 respecting their spiritual condition, their fervent mind, literally 
 their zeal, not so much towards him as on his behalf against 
 his adversaries and calumniators. 
 
 8. " For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent." 
 " With a letter," rather, " with the letter," his first Epistle. 
 
 " I do not repent." Bather as the Eevisers translate, " I do not 
 regret it," though for a moment I did regret it. It is better to 
 adopt the term regret, as it keeps the word repentance of verse 9 
 clear for indicating ^he spiritual state. 
 
 "For I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, 
 though it were," &c. The expressions of blame and condemnation 
 in the first Epistle were very strong, but he no longer regrets the 
 temporary pain they gave, because of the blessing with which God 
 accompanied them. 
 
 9. " Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye 
 sorrowed," &c. The least infliction of pain on a fellow-creature is 
 matter of regret to a good man, and his only consolation is that the 
 temporary evil is the occasion of more permanent good. This 
 permanent good was repentance towards God. The translation in 
 our Authorized and in the Eevised, " Ye were made sorry after a 
 godly manner," is much too feeble a rendering of Kara Qeov. It is 
 
Chap. VII.] KEPENTANCE TO SALVATION. 377 
 
 je sorrowed to repentance : for ye were made sorry || after 
 
 a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by ii or. accord- 
 U8 in nothing. 
 
 10 For ^ godly sorrow worketh repentance to ° 2 Sam. xii. 
 
 salvation not to be repented of : ° but the sorrow xxVi. 75. 
 
 of the world worketh death. 22. '°^' ^^"* 
 
 as Wordsworth renders, " "With a view to God, and not with an eye 
 towards yourselves or to the world." 
 
 " That ye might receive damage by us in nothing." The inflic- 
 tion of pain is, for the tirae, a damage or loss, unless it be compen- 
 sated for by subsequent advantage. The probing of an ulcer is 
 attended by acute pain, but that is forgotten in the renewed health. 
 Note the gentle and loving spirit of the Apostle, how he dwells 
 apologetically on the temporary pain, as having no right to occa- 
 sion the smallest distress unless there was absolute need. How 
 different from the conduct of those who care not how they ruffle 
 and wound by sharp words and ill-natured surmises the souls of 
 those who have done them no wrong whatsoever. 
 
 10. " For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to 
 be repented of," &c. Mark, the Apostle does not call godly sorrow 
 repentance, but says that it icorlceth repentance, for repentance 
 is more than sorrow ; it is a change of mind with respect to God, 
 and with respect to sin. There may be much sorrow without any 
 permanent change, and there may be a permanent change without 
 much apparent sorrow in duller or in more equable minds. 
 
 " Worketh repentance to salvation." Eepentance that leads to 
 Christ and so issues in salvation through Him, through inherence in 
 Him and the reception of His nature through His Sacraments, and 
 His Intercession. 
 
 " But the sorrow of the world worketh death." The sorrow of 
 the world seems more especially to be sorrow for the consequences 
 of sin, rather than for sin itself; and yet if we look upon the chas- 
 tisement as not coming naturally, but as sent by God, this may 
 sanctify the sorrow, and make it the precursor of true repentance. 
 
 If the sorrow of the world means sorrow for the loss of wealth 
 or position, or worldly reputation, then, unless raised into some- 
 thing higher by the grace of God, it worketh death, it worketh dis- 
 
378 WHAT CAREFULNESS. [II. Cor. 
 
 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after 
 a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what 
 clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, 
 yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge I 
 
 content, moroseness, and despair, and drives men from God rather 
 than attracts them to Him. 
 
 11. '* For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a 
 godly sort, . . . yea, what revenge ! " &c. This verse is generally 
 understood as referring to the conduct of the Corinthian Church in 
 the matter of their treatment of the incestuous offender. This 
 godly sorrow, this grief with a view to God, what carefulness it 
 wrought in you, i.e., earnestness ; ye were at first indifferent about 
 the evil of complicity with such sin, now ye have become 
 thoroughly alive to the danger of such allowance of wickedness, 
 and have exhibited this "in humble deprecation," {aTroXoyia) ; ye 
 tvere puffed up (I. Cor. v. 2), now ye confess, and make excuse, and 
 urge something in extenuation, as that ye were not aware of the 
 extent of the evil, or did not realize it, and so forth. 
 
 " Yea, what indignation." Not merely against the sinner, but 
 against yourselves for having tolerated it for a moment. 
 
 " Yea, what fear." Fear lest God should visit it on the Church, 
 or fear perhaps of the Apostle's coming, and his further indignant 
 reproofs. 
 
 "Yea, what vehement desire." Perhaps rather longing, i.e., 
 that he should come again, and find them what he would have 
 them to be. 
 
 "Yea, what zeal." For the glory of God — for the souls of the 
 sinners among them — for their perfect cleansing from all filthiness 
 of flesh and spirit. 
 
 " Yea, what revenge ! " This is generally taken to denote the 
 exercise of corrective discipline against the incestuous person, but 
 ought it not rather to be understood in the sense of revenge on 
 themselves, for having connived at the evil — so that they should 
 punish themselves by humiliation and confession, perhaps by fast- 
 ing and self-denial ? ^ 
 
 1 Thus Cornelius 4 Lapide : — " Vindictam, ut desidiam et peccata vestra vindicaretis, 
 turn dolore et larrymis vos afiBigendo, turn aliis modis corpora animasque vestras mac-e- 
 rando et puniendo." And he quotes a passage from Calvin. " Postremo est viadicta : 
 
Chap. VIL] CLEAR IN THIS MATTER. 379 
 
 In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this 
 matter. 
 
 12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for 
 his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that 
 suffered wi'ong, ^ but that our care for you in the ? ch. ii. 4. 
 sight of God might appear unto you. 
 
 12. " Out care for yon." So a few Cursives, Vnlg., Goth. ; " your care for voarselves," 
 a, D. ; " Your care for us," B., C, E., K., L,, P., seventy Cursives, Syriac, Copt. 
 
 " In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this 
 matter." Clear, that is, in respect of present complicity with the 
 offending person in his sin, though at the first they were culpably 
 lax in taking due notice of it. 
 
 12. " Wherefore, though I wrote unto yon," &c. The wrong 
 which the incestuous person did, and the wrong which his father 
 received, was not in the eyes of the Apostle so grave a matter as 
 the complicity of the Church in the wickedness. This was by far 
 the greatest cause of anxiety to the Apostle, and so he puts it 
 forth here as the one cause of his writing, only he somewhat 
 veils his meaning ; instead of saying, " I wrote to warn you against 
 a moment's toleration of so hideous a sin," he says, " I wrote that 
 our care for you in the sight of God might appear." He felt that it 
 was no small thing to recover the confidence and love of his con- 
 verts. Unless he had this he felt that they were not right. He 
 was God's ambassador and representative. He was their spiritual 
 father in Christ. The power of God, and of Christ, had been 
 manifested in him towards them; so that there was the greatest 
 fear that their hearts were not right with God and Christ unless 
 they were right with him. There is substantially the same 
 meaning if we read " your care for us : " because in that case 
 it would be the " fruit of our care for you." Both imply restored 
 confidence. 
 
 13. " Therefore we were comforted in your comfort : yea, and 
 exceedingly the more," &c. Another punctuation and division of 
 
 quo enim severiores in nos suraus, et acriore censura qu£estionem habemus de peccatis 
 nostris, eo sperare debemujs maps propitium et misericordem Dominum. Et certe fieri 
 non potest, quin anima Divini jndicii honore perculsa, partes nltionis in exigendl de se 
 paena oecupet." 
 
380 THE OBEDIENCE OF YOU ALL. [U. Cor. 
 
 18 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, 
 and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, 
 q Rom. xy. 32. because his spirit ^ was refreshed by you all. 
 
 14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am 
 not ashamed ; but as we spake all things to you in truth, 
 even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a 
 truth. 
 
 t Gr. boiceis. 15 And his t inward affection is more abundant 
 r ch. ii. 9, toward you, whilst he remembereth "" the obedience 
 Phil. ii. 12. ^£ y^^ ^Yl^ -j^Q^ ^^^Yl fear and trembling ye re- 
 ceived him. 
 
 13, " Therefore we were comforted in your comfort : yea, and exceedingly the more," 
 &c. After "in" insert Sb, with N, B., C, D., E., F., G., K., L., P., a few Cursives, 
 Ital., Vulg., Goth., Syriac, and place a stop after "comforted." So Revisers read, 
 " Therefore we have been comforted ; and in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly 
 for the joy of Titus," &c. Most Cursives, but no Uncials, read as in Rec. Text. 
 
 14. " Our boasting." B. and F. (Greek) read, *' your." 
 
 the sentences yields a better, and no doubt the true sense. " There- 
 fore we have been comforted, i.e., with the effects which we heard 
 had been produced on you by my Epistle, such as I have mentioned 
 in verse 11 ; and over and above this our comfort we rejoiced more 
 exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by 
 you all. The joy with which your conduct had inspired him com- 
 municated itself to us, and was a fresh source of joy." 
 
 14. " For if I have boasted anything to him of you, I am not 
 ashamed." St. Paul before sending Titus, spoke much in praise 
 of the members of the Corinthian Church. At one time, perhaps, 
 his heart misgave him, fearing that he had spoken too well, but 
 now he is rejoiced to find that he has not. " As we spake all things, 
 though they were severe reproofs to you, in truth, so now our boast- 
 ing to Titus of your grace and good quahties turns out to be the 
 word of truth." 
 
 15. "And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, 
 whilst," &c. His memory dwells on your obedience, which all 
 seemed to share, and withal how you received him, not in a spirit 
 of self-will and anger at being reproved, but recogniziug in him, as 
 my messenger, the messenger of God ; so that you received him 
 with reverence and awe. 
 
Chap. Vm.] CONFIDENCE IN ALL THINGS. 381 
 
 16 I rejoice therefore that ^ I have confidence in you in 
 ^^ agings. rSS"- 
 
 viii. 21. 
 
 16. "I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all 
 things." Confidence seems too strong a word. The Kevisers 
 render it, "I am of good courage concerning you." 
 
 CHAP. VIIL 
 
 MOEEOYEE, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace 
 of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia ; 
 2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance 
 of their joy and ^ their deep poverty abounded » Mark xii. 44. 
 
 unto the riches of their || liberality. piiciii/"ch. ix. 
 
 11. 
 
 1. " Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God," 
 &c. There is now, we are thankful to say, a change of subject. 
 
 " We do you to wit of." An archaic expression for " we make 
 known to you " the grace of God bestowed on the churches of 
 Macedonia — Philippi, Thessalonica, Bersea, &c. 
 
 Notice how the Apostle calls Christian goodwill and hberality a 
 grace of God. 
 
 2. "How that in a great trial of affliction," &c. No doubt from 
 the persecution of the heathen, or from the violence of their own 
 unbelieving countrymen. (1 Thess. ii. 14). 
 
 " The abundance of their joy and of their deep poverty abounded," 
 &c. What a remarkable conjunction. Their joy in God and in 
 Christ made their open-heartedness to abound to all who belonged 
 to God and Christ, and this was enlianced by their deep poverty. 
 Their poverty prevented them from giving as much as they desired, 
 but it made what they did give far more in the sight of God than 
 the gifts of those who had given much more : just as the Lord sayg 
 respecting the widow, "Verily, I say unto you, this widow hath 
 cast in more than they all." The deeper their poverty the more 
 1 ich their liberality. 
 
382 WILLING OF THEMSELVES. [IL Cor. 
 
 3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond theii- 
 power they were willing of themselves ; 
 
 4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive 
 t Acts xi. 29. the gift, and take upon us ^ the fellowship of the 
 Rom. XV. 25, ministcring to the saints. 
 
 x-ii. 1, 3, 4! 5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first 
 
 gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by 
 the will of God. 
 
 4. "That we would receive." Omitted by H, B., C, D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most 
 Cursives, Ital., Vulg., Syriac, Copt., Mih. ; retained by many Cursives. Translate with 
 Revisers, " beseeching us with much intreaty iu regard of the grace and the fellowship ia 
 the ministering to the saints." 
 
 This poverty, in all probability, was not confined to the Chris- 
 tians of Macedonia, but affected the whole district. We are told 
 that it never recovered the effects of three desolating wars, the first 
 between Cissar and Pompey, the second between the Triumvirs and 
 Brutus and Cassius, the third between Augustus and Antonius. 
 *' Under Tiberius they petitioned for a diminution of their burdens, 
 and were accordingly for a time transferred from the jurisdiction 
 of the Senate to that of the Emperor as involving a less heavy 
 taxation " (Plumptre). 
 
 3, 4. *' For to their power I bear record .... fellowship of the 
 ministering to the saints." They were willing of themselves, they 
 did not wait to be asked to give, but, on the other hand, prayed 
 the Apostles with much entreaty to receive what they had con- 
 tributed apparently of their own accord and unprompted. The 
 words of the original are stronger : *' Praying us with much 
 entreaty for the grace and the fellowship of the ministering to the 
 saints. "They implored us (as Wordsworth paraphrazes it) to 
 allow them to be associated with us in the privilege of giving alms 
 to their poorer brethren at Jerusalem." 
 
 5. " And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own 
 selves," &c. " Not as we hoped " means " beyond our hopes." They 
 did more than he expected ; they not only gave liberally of their 
 substance, but they gave themselves. It is a question as to what 
 this means. Did it mean the ordinary dedication which every 
 Christian performs, first at his Baptism and then all through his 
 hfe ? It could not mean this, for the Apostle evidently alludes 
 
Chap. VIIL] AS YE ABOUND IN EVERY THING. 383 
 
 6 InsomucL. that *^ we desired Titus, that as lie had begun, 
 so he would also finish in you the same 11 grace " ^er. 17. 
 
 •^ " ° ch.xii. 18. 
 
 also. U ^r.gift. 
 
 7 Therefore, as ^ ye abound in every tiling, in Ti uor. i. 5. 
 faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all * ^"- ^^• 
 diligence, and in your love to us, see ^ that ye * ch. ix. 8. 
 abound in this grace also 
 
 8 ^ I speak not by commandment, but by occa- ^ 1 Cor. vu. 6. 
 sion of the forwardness of others, and to prove 
 
 the sincerity of your love. 
 
 7. " Your love to us." So ^f, C, D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Ital., Vulg., 
 ■Goth., ^th. ; but B, and some Cursives read, " our love to you." 
 
 to something special. Dean Stanley supposes that he alludes to the 
 number of Macedonian Christians compared with those of other 
 Churches who gave themselves to the Apostle as his constant com- 
 panions. Among these were Sopater of Beraea, Secundus, Aristar- 
 «hus and Epaphroditus. And he adds, "The number of these 
 Macedonian converts is the more striking, when compared with 
 the few that came from the churches of Southern Greece, none of 
 whom, except Sosthenes, appears as a permanent companion." 
 
 6. " Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun," &c. 
 Titus had begun by initiating the collection amongst the Corin- 
 thians, and the Apostle had desired him to complete it when he 
 came to them again as the bearer of this present letter. 
 
 7. " Therefore, as ye abound in eveiything, in faith, and utter- 
 ance," &c. At the commencement of the first Epistle, he had 
 given thanks to God on their behalf that they were enriched by 
 God in all knowledge and in aU utterance'; now he adds to this 
 the mention of their faith and diligence, and their love to him. 
 This he could not have done till he had received from Titus the 
 account of their repentance, and their revived reverence and affec- 
 tion for him. 
 
 8. " I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the for- 
 wardness of others," &c. — not by Divine commandment. 
 
 " By occasion of the forwardness of others." Especially of the 
 Macedonian Christians, but this contribution for the poor Christians 
 of Jerusalem was taken up very cordially by Christians in all parts 
 
384 THOUGH HE WAS RICH. [H. Cor. 
 
 9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^ that, 
 B Matt. -vdii. though he was rich, yet for your sakes he 
 
 20. Luke ix. ^ '' "^ 
 
 58. Phil. ii. became poor, that ye through his poverty might 
 he rich. 
 
 of the world, as in Antioch (Acts xi. 28), and other places (Gal. 
 ii. 10). 
 
 " To prove the sincerity of your love." Not only to the poor 
 saints, but to God and Christ, as appears from the next verse. 
 
 9. " For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
 though he was rich," &c. The grace, i.e., the favour, the kindness, 
 the love towards men. 
 
 " That, though he was rich," — in His pre-existent state, when 
 He was " in the beginning with God." St. Augustine says of this, 
 *' ^By Him all things loera made ' (John i. 3). It is a greater thing 
 to make gold than to have it. You may be rich in gold, and silver, 
 and cattle, but you could not malce them. But see Him who was 
 rich. ' All things were made by him.' Now see Him who made 
 Himself poor. ' The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.* 
 Who can conceive of His riches ? And now think on His poverty. 
 He was conceived in the Virgin's womb. Paupertas ! He was 
 born in a poor inn, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a stable. 
 He, the Lord of heaven and earth, the maker of angels, the creator 
 of all things, visible and invisible, fed at the breast of His mother, 
 veils His majesty, is taken and bound, and scourged, and buffeted, 
 and crowned with thorns, nailed to a tree, pierced with a lance. 
 O Paupertas! " 
 
 He not only became man, but chose a poor lot. The Son of man 
 came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. We never read of 
 His having a servant. He lived upon what others gave Him, who 
 ministered unto Him of their substance. 
 
 " That ye through his poverty might be rich." This is generally 
 understood of spiritual riches. Thus Chrysostom : " By riches 
 here he meaneth the knowledge of godliness, the cleansing away of 
 sins, justification, sanctification, the countless good things which 
 He bestowed upon us and purposeth to bestow." 
 
 But are we warranted in limiting these " good things " to what 
 are called " spiritual blessings." Will not the Christian be raised 
 up in a glorified body, which will have an outward state of wealth 
 
Chap. VIII.] I GIVE MY ADVICE. 385 
 
 10 And herein ^ I give my advice : for ' this is expedient 
 for you, Tvho have begun before, not only to do, ^ i Cor. vu. 
 but also to be t ^ forward a year ago. i prov. xix. 
 
 11 Now therefore perform the doing of it ; that 42! rrlm.^* 
 as there was a readiness to will, so there may he a Heb^xlU 16. 
 performance also out of that which ye have. + ^^- ^^^^^^ff- 
 
 *^ k ch. ix. 2. 
 
 12 For ^ if there be first a willing mind, it is 1 Mark xii. 
 accepted according to that a man hath, and not xxl. 3." 
 according to that he hath not. 
 
 and grandeur answering to it. The Lord will reward the man 
 who has improved his one pound so as to make it ten, by making 
 him " ruler over ten cities." The Lord will reward the man who 
 has made his one pound into five pounds by making him ruler over 
 five cities (Luke xix. 16, 19). The description of the eternal good 
 things of the redeemed, in the last chapters of the Kevelations, is 
 beyond measure rich and magnificent, and though they are nothing 
 as compared to that fruition which he will have in himself, yet as 
 God mentions them in the Scriptures, we ought to mention them 
 also. Especially ought they to be af&rmed in the hearing of the 
 rich, to fill them with fear lest they rise again, not only without 
 the true riches, but utterly destitute of those good things which 
 alone, whilst on earth, they desired and valued. 
 
 10. " And herein I give my advice : for this is expedient for 
 you," &c. The advice is that they make no delay in finishing 
 what they had begun, and moreover had resolved upon a year ago. 
 Having resolved upon it so long, as well as having made a begin- 
 ning, it was proper that they should soon finish. It seems to be 
 implied that there had been some slight slackness between the re- 
 solve and the beginning, or rather between the beginning and the 
 present time, and so he reminds them that they had been before- 
 hand with the Macedonians in their resolve, and ought not to be 
 behindhand in the completion of their resolve. 
 
 11. " Now therefore perform the doing of it ; that as there was a 
 readiness to will," &c. This is a repetition of his advice, which 
 from some cause or other he felt to be needful. 
 
 12. "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted," &c. He 
 seems here to inculcate that all should give — no matter how poor 
 
 c c 
 
386 THAT THERE BE EQUALITY. [H. Cor. 
 
 13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye 
 burdened : 
 
 14 But by an equality, iliat now at this time your abun- 
 dance may he a supply for their want, that their abundance also 
 may be a supply for your want : that there may be equality : 
 m Ex. xvi. 18. 15 As it is written, ^ He that had gathered 
 much had nothing over ; and he that had gathered little had 
 no lack. ^ 
 
 — for a little self-denial would enable even the i)oore8t to give 
 something. God looks with acceptance, not at the amount, but at 
 the self-denial which it entails in each separate case. 
 
 13, 14. " For I mean not that other men be eased .... that 
 there may bo equality." This seems to mean, " I do not wish that 
 the rich people of Judaea should be relieved of their responsibility on 
 behalf of the poor around them, and the bm-den laid upon you, but 
 the want in Judaea is such that collections are required from all parts 
 to keep men from starving ; it may be, however, that matters will be 
 changed, that you will be affected through war or famine, or most 
 probably persecution, and then their abundance may be a supply 
 for your want ; they will then, moved by the grace of God, re- 
 member your former kindness, and the more willingly assist you 
 in your straits." 
 
 15. " As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing 
 over," &c. The word equality suggests to the Apostle the mira- 
 culous law which God ordained in the matter of the distribution of 
 the manna. The manna which each household gathered was put 
 together, and measured out, and it was found that though one may 
 have gathered more, and another less, there was always an omer 
 for each man. 
 
 The lesson which the Apostle gathers from the incident is this. 
 It is the intention of the Almighty that each man should have 
 a competent share of the good things of this life for his maintenance. 
 But God has also ordained a great inequality, so that some have, 
 or gather, more and some less, and it is His intention that those 
 who have the more should contribute liberally to supply the needs 
 of those who have less, that there may be the equality typified by 
 the equal distribution of the manna notwithstanding the unequal 
 gathering. It is one of those many places which teach us that the 
 
Chap. VIII.] OF HIS OWN ACCORD. 387 
 
 16 But thanks he to G-od, whicli put the same earnest care 
 into the heart of Titus for you. 
 
 17 For indeed he accepted °^ the exhortation ; ^ ver. 6. 
 but being more forward, of his own accord he 
 
 went unto you. 
 
 18 And we have sent with him °the brother, ^ch. xu. is. 
 whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the 
 churches ; 
 
 19 And not that only, but who was also ^ chosen 3 \^°^' ^^^ 
 
 design of God in permitting the unequal distribution of property is 
 not that those who have more should selfishly enjoy their abun- 
 dance, but that they should share it to the uttermost with those in 
 need. There are a few — very few — who act on this principle, and 
 their reward is set forth in the words of the Lord in Matth. xxv., 
 and in the words of David, " He hath dispersed, he hath given to 
 the poor, his righteousness endureth for ever ; his horn shall be 
 exalted with honour," &c. (Psalm cxii. 9, quoted in verse 9 of the 
 next chapter.) 
 
 16, 17. " But thanks be to God which put ... he went unto 
 you." Notice how all earnest desires for the spiritual welfare of 
 others are ascribed to God — the God from Whom " all holy de- 
 sires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed." 
 
 " He accepted the exhortation." Titus had been sent with the first 
 Epistle, in which the collection holds a very subordinate part, and 
 little or no exhortation to liberality was given — the letter being 
 occupied with graver and more pressing matters — but now he 
 willingly offers to be the bearer of the Second Epistle. 
 
 When St. Paul writes, "of his own accord he went unto you," 
 he does not allude to a past journey, but to the one in which Titus 
 was the bearer of this present letter, the tense employed being the 
 Epistolary Aorist ; it is the same as if he said, *' he now goes to 
 you," because when they received and read the letter, the setting off 
 would be a thing of the past, and according to the rules of Greek 
 epistolary correspondence, would be treated as such. 
 
 18, 19. " And we have sent with him the brother . . . declara- 
 tion of your ready mind." The greatest difference exists amongst 
 commentators as to whom this person tlms so honourably 
 
388 NO MAN SHOULD BLAME US. [IL Cor. 
 
 of the cliurclies to travel mth us with this || grace, which is 
 II Or, gift. administered by us *^to the glory of the same 
 ch.'ix.'s' ' Lord, and declaration of jouv ready mind : 
 q ch. IV. 15. 20 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us 
 
 in this abundance which is administered by us : 
 
 19. "With this grace" (o-uv). So S, D., E., F., G., K., L., most Cursives, d, e, g, 
 Goth., Syr. B., C, a few Cursives, and Vulg., read, " in" (ev). 
 
 "The same Lord." So N, E., K., most Cursives; but B., C, D., F., G., L., a few 
 Cursives, d, e, f, g, Vulg., omit " the same," and read " of the Lord." 
 
 "Our ready mind," read by ti, B., C, D., E., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Ital., 
 Vulg. ; " your," by a few Cursives. 
 
 mentioned was. Chrysostom, and after him Theodoret, suppose it 
 to be Barnabas. Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Ephesians (ch. sv., 
 longer recension) writes : " Our Lord and God Jesus Christ, the 
 Son of the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke testifies, 
 whose praise is in the Gospel through all the churches." Baronius 
 speaks of Silas ; Jerome and Anselm of Luke. Amongst moderns* 
 ALford thinks it may have been Trophimus ; Stanley that it was 
 Trophimus, and the other nameless companion of verse 22, Tycbicus. 
 "Wordsworth devotes much space to show that it was Luke, and prin- 
 cipally relies on this, that St. Luke alone of those who could have 
 been chosen by the Macedonian churches, accompanied St. Paul 
 all through his journey to Jerusalem as his constant companion. 
 
 Amongst such diversities of opinion, especially among the 
 ancients, it is impossible to pronounce with certainty. Most 
 moderns seem to think that the words, " whose, praise is in the 
 Gospel," cannot refer to the written Gospel of St. Luke, but it is 
 not probable that St. Paul would suffer the churches planted by 
 him to be without a written Gospel, and this Gospel would, in all 
 probability, be that of St. Luke. 
 
 " Chosen by the churches " — probably by show of hands ; " with 
 this grace," that is, with this freely-given contribution. 
 
 20. "Avoiding this, that no man should blame us," &c. So pur- 
 sued was he by calumny and misrepresentation that in this matter 
 of bearing their contributions to Jerusalem he insisted on having 
 ethers with him, chosen, not by himself, but by the churches, that 
 these independent witnesses might bear testimony to the upright- 
 ness with which he discharged his trust. 
 
Chap. VIII.] WE HAVE SENT OUR BROTHER. 389 
 
 21 '^ Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of 
 the Lord, but also in the sight of men. >• Rom. xii. 17. 
 
 22 And we have sent with them our brother, 1 Pet. u*. 12. 
 whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many 
 things, but now much more diligent, upon the 
 
 great confidence which || I have in you. Or. he hath. 
 
 23 Wliether any do enquire of Titus, he is my 
 partner and fellowhelper concerning you : or our 
 brethren he enquired of, they are ^ the messengers of « Piiii. ii. 25. 
 the churches, and the glory of Christ. 
 
 21. " Providing for." So C, a few Cursives, Copt., Goth.; but N, B., D., E., F., G„ 
 P., 6, 11, 67**, 80, 91, d, e, f, g, Vulg., Syriac, read, "for we provide for," 
 
 21. " Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the 
 Lord, but also," &c. This is a quotation from the Septuagint 
 version of the Book of Proverbs which reads, (iii. 3, 4), "Let not 
 mercy and truth forsake thee, but bind them e,bout thy neck: so 
 slialt thou find favour : and do thou provide things honest in the 
 sight of the Lord and of men." It is also repeated in Piom. xii. 17. 
 What mischief in the Church would have been prevented, if good 
 men had always been careful to maintain an honest reputation 
 in the sight of their fellow men, as well as in that of God. The 
 Church has a right to an explanation of every man's conduct, as 
 well as a declaration of the sincerity of his belief. 
 
 22. " And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have 
 oftentimes," &c. This person is also utterly unknown. Chrysos- 
 tom does not hazard a conjecture. Plumptre supposes that it 
 was Tychicus, or perhaps Clement. Wordsworth suggests Silas. 
 The Revisers translate the latter clause " but now much more 
 earnest by reason of the great confidence which he hath in you," 
 which seems to yield a better sense. 
 
 23. " Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner .... 
 ^lory of Christ." Titus was one of those constant companions of St. 
 Paul whom he associated with himself in all his work and counsel, 
 that when he was removed they might take up his work of superin- 
 tending the churches. (See my chapters on Church Government 
 and Apostolic Succession in " Church Doctrine Bible Truth.") 
 
 " Or o^^ ' brethren be enquired of." These men were on this 
 occap- xio i representatives of the churches, just as Titus was his 
 
390 THE PROOF OF YOUR LOVE. [II. Con. 
 
 24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches,, 
 t ch. vii. 14. the proof of your love, and of our * boasting 
 on youi' behalf. 
 
 special representative. It is quite clear that though he highly 
 praises these persons, they were not so near to him, and so not 
 in such authority as Titus was. 
 
 24. " Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches. "^ 
 This may mean, " Eeceive ye them well, and so shew your love," 
 or it may mean, *' Let them, and the churches which they represent, 
 see in your contributions the proof of your love to the poor sainte^ 
 and that we have made no vainglorious boast of your obedience to 
 the Gospel." 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 •■^'^tsxi.g. TTOE as touching ^the ministering to the 
 1 Cor. xvi. 1. _L saints, it is superflous for me to write to 
 
 eh. viii. 4. ^ 
 
 Gal, ii. 10. you : 
 
 1. " For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is super- 
 fluous, &c." There seems to have been here a break in the composi- 
 tion of the letter. In this chapter we have the Apostle recurring 
 to several points which he had touched upon in the last chapter, 
 such as the forwardness of the Corinthians, the sending of Titus and 
 the brethren, and the abounding in the grace of liberality. 
 
 " It is superfluous for me to write unto you touching the minister- 
 ing to the saints." And yet he does write further on this very 
 subject. This is only natural. A man writes a letter to his friend 
 and says " I need not write to you on such a subject," and yet h© 
 does write on the subject^ not because the person to whom he 
 writes is ignorant, but because the subject is of such importance 
 that it will bear repetition. A man who wrote to exhibit his excel- 
 lence of style would avoid such a thing, but a man who wrote full 
 of his subject, and with a single aim at doing good, would make 
 many such repetitions. 
 
Chap. IX.] THAT YE MAY BE READY. 391 
 
 2 For I linow ^ tlie forwardness of your mind, ^ for wliich 
 I boast of you to tliem of Macedonia, that "^ Achaia ^ ch. riii. 19. 
 was ready a year ago ; and your zeal hatli pro- a ch vl'ii 10! 
 A'olied very many. 
 
 3 ^ Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boast- ^ <?h. riii. e, 
 
 17, 18, 22. 
 ing of you should be in vain in this behalf ; that, 
 
 as I said, ye may be ready : 
 
 4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find 
 you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed 
 in this same confident boasting. 
 
 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, 
 
 that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand 
 
 your t bounty, || whereof ye had notice before, Gen'^'xxxm"^' 
 
 that the same might be ready, as a matter of ^^- 1 s^°^- 
 ° *' •' XXV, 27. 2 
 
 bounty, and not as of covetousness. Kia. v. 15. 
 
 P Or, ichic/i 
 hath been so 
 
 much spoken 
 
 of before. 
 
 2. " Was ready a year ago." " Hath been prepared a year past," Revisers. 
 
 5. "Whereof ye had notice before." So I., K., L., and most Cursives; but S, B., C, D., 
 E., F., G., P., about ten Cursives, Arm., read, "that was promised before." Vulg., 
 " repromissam ; " d, e, g, " ante promissam," 
 
 2, 3, 4. " For I know the forwardness of your mind . . . confi- 
 dent boasting." As if he said, I know your zeal and earnestness, but 
 I am doubtful about your steadiness of purpose : so to make sure of 
 your not putting me who have boasted of you — not to say your- 
 selves — to shame by your remissness, I have sent brethren whose 
 presence will, as it were, keep you up to your good intentions, and 
 compel you to be ready. 
 
 5. "Your bounty " — literally, your blessing. 
 
 "Your bounty, whereof ye had notice before" — rather, your 
 afore-promised bounty or blessing. According to the Jewish way 
 of speaking, the designation of the gifts of God, such as the fruits 
 of the earth, as blessings, was extended to the free gifts of men to 
 one another. Thus Jacob says to Esau, when he urged him to 
 receive his present, " Take, I pray thee, my blessing, which is 
 brought to thee " (Gen. xxxiii. 11). 
 
 " Not as of covetousness " — i.e., not of extortion, as wrung out of 
 those who gave it grudgingly. 
 
392 GOD LOVETH A CHEERFUL GIVER. [II. Cor. 
 
 6 ^But this I say, He whicli soweth sparingly shall reap 
 f Pro. xi. 24, also Sparingly ; and he which soweth bountifully 
 xxii. 9. Gal. shall reap also bountifully. 
 
 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his 
 g Den. XV. 7. heart, so let him give ; ^ not grudgingly, or of 
 & XXXV. 5.' ' necessity : for ^ God loveth a cheerful giver. 
 
 Pro xi 2t 
 
 Rom. xii. 8. 8 ' And God is able to make all grace abound 
 
 i Pro" xi. 24. toward you ; that ye, always having all sufficiency 
 
 27! '^Phi'lv. ^ ^^ things, may abound to every good work : 
 19! 
 
 6. " But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also 
 sparingly," &c. A great principle of God's dealings in the matter 
 of His final retribution is here expressed. As he had written 
 before, " Every man shall receive his own reward according to his 
 own labour " (1 Cor. iii. 8), so here he lays down, " Every man 
 shall reap his reward in eternity in proportion as he has sown here 
 of his worldly substance for the good of his brethren." 
 
 Nothing has contributed to make the hopes of the Christians 
 respecting the joys of the world to come so weak and unreal as the 
 idea of an absolute equality of reward : and of course it must be so 
 if the idea of the heavenly state is that of one vast hall in which 
 the. only appreciable difference is a seat nearer to, or farther from, 
 the place of honour, thus utterly ignoring such intimations of the 
 future as we have in Luke xix. 16-19. 
 
 7. " Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let 
 him give," &c. This seems to teach, " Let each man consider his 
 means, and the just claims upon him, and how he would wish 
 others to behave to himself if he was in deep distress, and then 
 let him purpose or determine, and give accordingly." 
 
 " Not grudgingly " — i.e., because others give, and so he is 
 ashamed to withhold: " or of necessity," as if because of the im- 
 portunity of others he is forced to give when he would rather keep 
 what he has to himself. 
 
 " For God loveth a cheerful giver." St. Paul must have had in 
 his mind the Septuagint of Prov. xxii. 9 : " God loveth (or blesses) 
 a cheerful and liberal man " [av^pa iXapbv Kai doTtjv tvXoyu 6 Oebg] . 
 
 8. " And God is able to make all grace abound toward you," &c. 
 All grace, that is, all goodness and favour, . . . having aU sufficiency 
 
Chap. IX.] HE HATH DISPERSED ABROAD. 393 
 
 9 (As it is written, ^ He liatli dispersed abroad ; he hath 
 given to the poor : his righteousness remaineth ^ ps. cxii. 9. 
 for ever. 
 
 10 Now he that ^ ministereth seed to the sower * is. iv. 10. 
 both minister bread for your food, and multiply 
 
 your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your 
 
 "^ righteousness ;) Z ^?^- ^'}^' 
 
 ^ ''' ^ Matt. VI. 1. 
 
 11 Being enriched in every thing to all 
 
 II t bountifulness, ^ which causeth through us i' Or. ^'^e- 
 
 . . raliti/. 
 
 thanksgiving to God. t Gr. stm- 
 
 12 For the administration of this service not ?h.'^vui. 2. 
 only ° supplieth the want of the saints, but is ^ vj!; J^^^* 
 abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God ; ° ^h. viii. u. 
 
 10. " Both minister bread for your food, and multiply." So K., L., and most Cursives ; 
 but S, B., C, D., P., " shall both minister, and multiply, and increase." 
 12. " Unto God." B. alone reads, " to Christ." 
 
 in all things, that is, all sufficiency of this world's good things so that 
 ye may have wherewith to do good, and all sufficiency of heavenly 
 grace that ye may have the will to employ them in good works. 
 
 9. "As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad: he hath given 
 to the poor," &c. He hath scattered his alms as a sower casteth 
 broadcast his seed in the furrows. 
 
 "His righteousness remaineth for ever." Alms are righteous- 
 ness. The treasure expended in benevolence is laid up in heaven, 
 "where," as the Lord says, " neither rust nor moth doth corrupt, 
 and where thieves do not break through and steal." This is one of 
 those many places in which we are told that God is pleased to 
 account alms as meritorious ; such are Matth. v. 7, vi. 3, 4 ; Luke 
 xiv. 14 ; Acts x. 4 ; 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. 
 
 10. " Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister 
 bread," &c. This seems to mean that the bountiful Giver of the 
 fruits of the earth shall give you further and more abundant means 
 of sowing for the spiritual harvest, and so increase the fruits of 
 your righteousness. It is an exemplification of the Lord's saying, 
 " To him that hath shall more be given." 
 
 11. 12. " Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness .... 
 abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God." He considers 
 
394 THEY GLORIFY GOD. [11. Coir. 
 
 13 Whiles hj tlie experiment of this ministration they 
 P Mat. V. 16. p glorify God for your professed subjection unto 
 q Heb. xiii. 16. the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal *^ distri- 
 bution unto them, and unto all men ; 
 
 14 And by their prayer for you, which long 
 ch. viii. 1. after you for the exceeding ^ grace of Grod in 
 you. 
 
 that it is a great spiritual gain to men if they can be brought to 
 thank God. This generous contribution on the part of the Gentile 
 Christians will lift up the hearts of the Jewish sufferers in thanks- 
 giving and praise, and so God will be the more glorified, and souls 
 brought nearer to heaven by their thankfulness to the Supreme 
 Giver. 
 
 13. " Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify 
 God for your," &c. It was a great proof of the power of the Gospel 
 — how it could subdue all hearts to God, that alien Gentiles, but a 
 very short time before worshippers of idols, should contribute to the 
 relief of Christians in Jerusalem. It glorified God for a fresh proof 
 of His power in that He had knit together His elect, though dwelling 
 in all parts of the world, in one communion and fellowship in the 
 mystical body of His Son. The Apostle sets forth this as what he 
 was sure would be the first and chiefest part of the thanksgiving, in 
 which also would be included thanks for their liberal assistance of 
 themselves, and not only of themselves, but of all men ; for the 
 same Holy Spirit which had inclined the Gentile believers to assist 
 them of Judasa would fill their hearts with love to all. 
 
 The Greek of this passage is remarkable. It is literally rendered 
 by the Revisers, " They glorify God for the obedience of your con- 
 fession unto the Gospel of Christ " — that is, they obeyed and carried 
 into act their confession of faith. 
 
 14. "And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the 
 exceeding," &c. St. Paul looks forward with certainty not only for 
 the thanksgivings of the Jewish Christians, but for their prayers on 
 behalf of those who had contributed to their needs. He was sure 
 that prayers which sprung from yearning hearts would receive an 
 abundant answer. 
 
 15. " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." His un- 
 speakable—that is, His indescribable gift. This can only be His 
 
Chap. X.] HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT. 395 
 
 15 Thanks he unto God ' for Ms unspeakable » Jam. i. 17. 
 gift. 
 
 Grace or His Spirit which enables men to obey the Gospel, and so 
 knits men together in one brotherhood that they deny themselves 
 in order to assist one another, and return thanks for, and pray for, 
 and sympathize with one another, wherever they are. 
 
 If, however, we take 1 Corinth, xiii. as our guide to the explana- 
 tion, the gift is charity, the greatest of God's gifts, greater because 
 more abiding than even faith and hope. 
 
 N 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 OW ^ I Paul myself beseech you by the meek- » Rom. xii. 1. 
 ness and gentleness of Christ, ^who || in ch.x?i. s.'t, 9. 
 
 I Or, in out- 
 
 ——— icard ap- 
 
 ■pearance. 
 
 1. " Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentle- 
 ness of Christ." We have now another change in the tone of the 
 Apostle's remarks. Hitherto he had been speaking in terms of re- 
 stored confidence and hope ; now he speaks again in tones of 
 severity. It is difficult to account for this, except on the hypothesis 
 that when he had concluded the last chapter, the writing of this 
 Epistle was for some unknown reason suspended, and only resumed 
 after he had received some further account of their state, in which 
 he was made acquainted with some further particulars of the efforts 
 of the Judaizing party to regain their ascendancy, and to deprive 
 him of the reverence and affection of the members of the Church. 
 
 " I Paul beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ." 
 This observation of the Apostle's is much to be noted. It implies 
 that the human life of Christ on earth, as portrayed in the Gospels, 
 was not unknown to his converts. On the contrary, they must have 
 been well instructed in it, if such an appeal could be made to them 
 on any rational grounds. I have adverted to this place in the 
 preface to my Notes on St. Luke's Gospel (page xvi.) showing by 
 several instances that the meekness and gentleness of the Lord's 
 
396 BEING ABSENT AM BOLD. [II. Cor. 
 
 presence am base among you, but being absent am bold 
 
 toward you : 
 
 c 1 Cor. iv. 21. 2 But I beseecL. you, '^ that I may not be bold 
 
 ch. xiii. 2, 10. . 
 
 wben I am present with, that confidence, where- 
 with I think to be bold against some, which 
 
 tOr, reckon. || think of US as if we walked according to the 
 flesh. 
 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after 
 
 the flesh : 
 
 character could be best gathered from St. Luke's account of Him. 
 One of the most mysterious things in the teaching of St. Paul, as 
 contained in his Epistles, is the very scanty reference to the life 
 of Christ as contained in the Gospel narrative. But from this place 
 we learn that the daily or weekly instruction of the Churches 
 planted by him was not wholly after the fashion of that contained 
 in his Epistles. There was an additional instruction in the accounts 
 of the life of Christ as we know that there was in other Churches. 
 
 The setting forth of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, if 
 allowed its due effect, must have been a perpetual reproof of that 
 party spirit, and self-assertion, which particularly characterized 
 the leaders of the Judaizing section. 
 
 *' Who in presence am base among you." Eather, am lowly and 
 forbearing — not answering those who oppose me after their own 
 fashion . 
 
 •' But being absent am bold towards you," as is seen by his 
 letters. Or more probably it may allude to the accusations of 
 his adversaries. They accused him of being cowardly in facing 
 them when he was present, but imperious and overbearing in the 
 tone of his letters. 
 
 2. "But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am 
 present," &c. There sounds something ironical in this appeal. Do 
 not compel me to assert mj^self — you will see what I can do, if I 
 have to confront those who set at nanght our Apostolical power, 
 and who treat us as if we had no supernatural help from God to 
 overwhelm gainsayers. Let the reader remember how St. Paul 
 treated Elymas, and threatened the incestuous person. (Acts xiii. 
 10; 1 Cor. V. 5.) 
 
 3. " For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the 
 
Chap. X.] MIGHTY THROUGH GOD. 397 
 
 4 (^For the weapons ^of our warfare are not Jff^s" v's^* 
 carnal, but ^ mierhty 11 through God ^ to the pulling « i Tim. i. is. 
 
 ° ; '' ^ ° r & 2Tim.ii. 3. 
 
 down of strong holds ;) f Acts vii. 22. 
 
 5 ^ Casting down || imaginations, and every high Jh. vV. 7." & 
 thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge ^Q^'^aQod 
 
 . g Jer. i. 10. 
 
 h 1 Cor. i. 19. 
 4. "Not carnal," "not of the flesh" — not meaning that they are & "'• l^- 
 actually evil. I] Or. reason- 
 
 ings. 
 
 flesh." "We walk in the flesh," i.e., we are encompassed by its 
 wants, and necessities, and weaknesses. 
 
 " We do not war after the flesh." In our campaign against 
 idolatry and all forms of sin, we use no carnal weapons, only the 
 sword of the Spirit, the word of God. 
 
 4. " For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty 
 through God," &c. " What sort of weapons," asks Chrysostom, 
 *' are carnal ? Wealth, glory, power, fluency, cleverness, circum- 
 ventions, flatteries, hypocrisies, and whatsoever else is similar to 
 these." Do we not forget this Apostolic word when we lay such 
 stress upon men of wealth, rank, influence, and commanding 
 ability being on the side of Christ ? 
 
 " But mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." 
 Mighty, not in their own power, but in the power of God. What 
 words could be weaker in the eyes of the world than the account of 
 the Lord's Incarnation and conception by a Virgin, that a crucified 
 Jew was the very and only Son of God, that His Crucifixion was the 
 reconciling of the world to God, and His Eesurrection the power of 
 God against sin and the seed of a new and eternal Life : but these 
 truths when proclaimed shook the fastnesses of Satan both in the 
 world and in the soul. 
 
 Dean Stanley supposes that the Apostle here covertly alludes to 
 to what took place in St. Paul's own country during the Mithradatic 
 and Piratical wars. Both of these contests partook of the character 
 here indicated ; the second especially, which had been raging 
 amongst the hill forts of the Cihcian pirates not more than sixty 
 years before the Apostle's birth, in the very scene of his earlier 
 years, and which was ended by the reduction of one hundred and 
 twenty strongholds, and the capture of more than ten thousand 
 prisoners. 
 
 6. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that 
 
398 THE OBEDIENCE OF CHEIST. [II. Cor. 
 
 of Grod, and bringing into captivity every thoTiglit to the 
 obedience of Christ ; 
 
 i ch. xiii. 2, 10. 6 ^ And having in a readiness to revenge all 
 & vii"."5. * disobedience, when ^ your obedience is fulfilled. 
 Ih^v^u!'^^' '^ ^^o ye look on things after the outward 
 & xi. 18. appearance ? '"If any man trust to himself that 
 
 m 1 Cor. xiv. ^^ '' 
 
 37. 1 John 
 
 iv. 6. 
 
 exalteth itself," &c. The strongholds are here said to be imagina- 
 tions, or reasonings, the proud, daring speculations of men exalting 
 themselves against heaven like forts on the tops of high hills. 
 These the word of God " casts down " by such humbling truths as 
 the knowledge of sin, the consciousness of coming judgment, the 
 atoning worth of the Lord's sufferings, the glory of His Cross, and 
 the power of His Kesurrection. 
 
 " And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of 
 Christ." Just as the heart, the will, the imagination is made sub- 
 ject to Christ, so must the intellect be with its reasonings and specu- 
 lations. The man who truly accepts Christ as the wisdom of God, will 
 humble beneath Him his own intellect and wisdom, and if there be 
 anything in nature or in philosophy which seems contrary to the 
 doctrine of Christ, he will be content to wait till God is pleased to 
 make the matter clear. "He that believeth shall not make haste " 
 (Isaiah xxviii. 16). 
 
 6. "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience," 
 &c. Being prepared at once to excommunicate those who trouble 
 the Church with their false and factious teaching till they come to 
 a better mind. This discipline was his only weapon, but it was 
 with God's blessing a most effectual one, as was proved by the 
 example of the repentance of the incestuous person. 
 
 " When your obedience is fulfilled." He would not take strong 
 measures till the greater part, perhaps nearly all of them, had sub- 
 mitted. From this place we learn that the recalcitrants were 
 probably a small minority, but exercised an influence out of pro- 
 portion to their numbers. 
 
 7. " Do ye look on things after the outward appearance ? " Per- 
 haps rather to be taken in the indicative. *' Ye look on things 
 after the outward appearance." Ye have regard to a commanding 
 presence, eloquence of speech, skilfulness in human logic, and such 
 
Chap. X.] EVEN SO ARE WE CHRIST's. 399 
 
 lie is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he 
 is Christ's, even so are ° we Christ's. "■ i Cor. iii. 
 
 23. & ix. 1. 
 
 8 For though I should boast somewhat more th. xi. 23. 
 
 " of our authority, which the Lord hath given us ° ^^' ^'^i- 1^. 
 
 for edification, and not for your destruction, ^ I 
 
 should not be ashamed : p ch. vii. i4. 
 
 & xii. f^. 
 
 9 That I may not seem as if I would terrify 
 you by letters. 
 
 8. "For yonr destruction ; " or rather, " casting down,"' see note below. 
 
 things. "Well," he says, "if any man trust to himself that he is 
 Christ's, let him of liimself think this again," &c. Most expositors 
 suppose that the Apostle here alludes to that party whom he 
 mentions as saying, "I am of Christ" (1 Cor. i. 12). They were 
 the ultra Judaizers who would bind on the Gentiles the law in its 
 entirety, because Christ observed it religiously : they would point 
 to the original apostles as the first-called of Christ, and so above 
 one who was called " out of due time." Though these Apostles had 
 on the most solemn occasion repudiated their teaching, they would 
 still exalt them to the personal disparagement of St. Paul. Now 
 to this specious arguing the Apostle answers : If any man, Peter, 
 James, John even, says that he is Christ's, so are we. We have 
 every mark of the approval of Christ as being His. We have been 
 called personally by Christ as directly as any of the first-called 
 Apostles. We have had the direct witness of Christ in all the gifts 
 of the Spirit, in the performance of miracles, and in the extraordi- 
 nary success of our ministry in the conversion of souls. If any are 
 Christ's, we are. 
 
 8. " For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, 
 which the Lord," &c. Though I should magnify somewhat more 
 than I have done the Apostolical authority which Christ has given 
 me, for building you up in Him rather than pulling you down 
 by severe discipline, I should be fully warranted in so doing, and 
 60 should not be ashamed. Dean Stanley remarks that the build- 
 ing up and casting down is another reference to the fortresses. 
 " My power is given to me to build men up in Christ, not to cast 
 them down, but if there be a necessity I must assuredly use this 
 latter power." 
 
 9. " That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters." 
 The connection between this and the last clause is difficult to make 
 
400 HIS SPEECH CONTEMPTIBLE. [II. Cor. 
 
 10 For his letters, f say they, are weighty and powerful ; 
 
 + Gr. saith but "^ Ms bodily presence is weak, and his "" speech 
 
 q 1 Cor. ii. 3, contemptible. 
 
 ch. xfL'5/7, 9. 11 Ijet such an one think this, that, such as we 
 
 r 1 Cor i 17 ^^^ ^^ word by letters when we are absent, such 
 
 * "• .1' 4- will we be also in deed when we are present. 
 
 out satisfactorily. Perhaps, as x\lford says, we should supply some 
 such words as, "I say this that I may not seem to terrify you 
 by mere letters," and so he proceeds with stating the allegation of 
 his opponents against himself. 
 
 10. " For his letters, say they [or, says he] are weighty and 
 powerful, but his bodily," &c. His letters threaten terrible punish- 
 ments, but when you come to see him you behold a miserable 
 creature, whose appearance inspires you with no fear, and whose 
 speech you despise because of its want of all that can command 
 attention. 
 
 All the traditions of St. Paul's personal appearance are in 
 accordance with this, that " his bodily presence was weak." Their 
 testimony is summed up thus in the article in Smith's Dictionary. 
 " They all agree in ascribing to the Apostle a short stature, a long 
 face with high forehead, an aquiline nose, close and prominent 
 eyebrows." But the assertion that his speech was contemptible, 
 was evidently a slander. His letters, written from dictation, 
 contain many passages of great eloquence and beauty. When the 
 idolaters of Lystra would do sacrifice to him, it was as to 
 Mercury, the god of eloquence. But there can be no doubt 
 that in preaching the Gospel he shunned all such graces of 
 oratory as the Greeks delighted in. He presented the Gospel in 
 the plainest language possible, feeling how utterly unsuitable it 
 was that a message of life and death — and that from God — should 
 have a single word in it which might detract in the least degree 
 from the infinite importance of the matter. "Where is the place for 
 tricks of oratory when "Jesus Christ and Him crucified " is the 
 one thing to be enforced ? 
 
 11. " Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by 
 letters," &c. This is a repetition of what he had written in the 
 first Epistle. " But I will come unto you shortly, if the Lord will, 
 and will know not the speech of them that are pujffed up, but the 
 power . . . what will ye ? shall I come to you with a rod, or in 
 
Chap. X.] ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE. 401 
 
 12 ^ For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or 
 compare ourselves witli some that commend » ch. iii. i. & 
 themselves: but they measuring themselves by 
 themselves, and comparing themselves among 
 themselves, 11 are not wise. II Ot, under. 
 
 •1 r» t -i-» -n 1 r» 1 • Stand it not. 
 
 13 *But we Will not boast of things without tver. 15. 
 our measure, but according to the measure of the 
 
 II rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure II Or. ^"»c. 
 to reach even unto you. 
 
 love and in the spirit of meekness ? " There is, however, this dif- 
 ference, that there he is writing to the whole Church, as if all were 
 in fault, now he seems to single out one person as the centre of the 
 mischief— " Let such an one think." There is a similar allusion to 
 one leading opponent in Gal. v. 10, " He that troubleth you shall 
 bear his judgment whosoever he be." 
 
 In this verse he must allude to something over and above the 
 excision from the Church of the offending person, but what that 
 " something " is we cannot say with certainty. 
 
 12. " For we dare not make ourselves of the number," &c. The 
 meaning of this dif&cult verse seems to be, "We desire to take a 
 due estimate of ourselves. In order to effect this we must act very 
 differently to members of a clique who hold themselves to be every- 
 thing, and all the outer world to be nothing, and so judge them- 
 selves by themselves, and compare themselves only amongst one 
 another. They who do this act senselessly, and will always over- 
 rate themselves, and will sooner or later be robbed of their self- 
 complacency." In this, of course, he alludes to the conduct of the 
 Judaizers, but it is the bane of all cliques and coteries to ignore all 
 excellence out of their own party, and set up amongst themselves a 
 factitious standard, and so live complacently in a sort of fool's 
 paradise till they are rudely awakened out of their dream. 
 
 13. " But we will not boast of things without our measure, but 
 according to," &c. The present verse seems suggested by the word 
 " measuring " (ixeTpovvTsg). It instantly suggests itself to him as 
 soon as he has written the word, that God had measured to him 
 his hne or limit of work, beyond which line or limit he had 
 never gone. Under the compact made between himself and the 
 
 D D 
 
402 ACCORDING TO OUR RULE. [n. Cor. 
 
 14 For we stretcli not ourselves beyond our measure, as 
 
 u 1 Cor. iii. 5, thoufifli we reaclied not unto you : " for we are 
 
 10. & iv. 15. ^ ^ 1 • 7 . . , 
 
 & ix. 1. come as far as to you also m preaching the gospel 
 
 of Christ : 
 
 15 Not boasting of things without owrmeasure, 
 X Ro. XV. 20. that is, ^ of other men's labours ; but having hope, 
 
 when your faith is increased, that we shall be 
 II Ov, magnified 11 enlarprcd by you according to our rule abun- 
 dantiy, 
 
 16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond 
 
 Apostles of the circumcision, Corinth, as a leading Gentile city, 
 came into his province, and in accordance with the expressed will 
 of God (Acts xviii. 8, 9, 10,) he had preached the Gospel there and 
 gathered out the Church from among the heathen. 
 
 And his opponents, the Judaizers, had, as plainly, gone beyond 
 their measure, and set at nought the compact of Gal. ii. 9. If they 
 chose to assert that they represented Peter, James, and John, they 
 certainly had no business in Corinth to act contrary to the Apostle 
 of the Gentiles, and undermine his authority ; for they should 
 have had regard to what the three aforesaid Apostles had con- 
 ceded to St. Paul. 
 
 14. " For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though 
 we reached not," &c. There is something to be supplied here 
 to complete the sense — for we do not extend ourselves beyond 
 our measure, as would be the case if our sphere reached not unto 
 you, for we came before others, even unto you, in preaching the 
 Gospel. Wordsworth paraphrases it, " We are not straining our- 
 ourselves by an unnatural effort (as it were) to grasp at you, as if 
 ye were not within our arm's length. For (he adds) we arrived at 
 you — we did attain to you in an appointed range of preaching the 
 Gospel." 
 
 Or it may by adopting another reading be taken as a question, 
 •' For do we extend ourselves beyond our measure?" &c. But the 
 meaning is the same. 
 
 15, 16. " Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, 
 of other," &c. In saying this, he implies that his opponents, the 
 Judaizers, had been guilty of this ; they had entered into his field 
 
Chap. X.] LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD. 403 
 
 you, and not to boast in another man's || line of things made 
 
 ready to onr hand. II Or, rule. 
 
 17 ^ But he that glorieth, let him glory in the jer!ix^24 
 Lord. ^^^^•^•^^- 
 
 18 For * not he that commendeth himself is « Pro. xxvii. 2. 
 approved, but ^ whom the Lord commendeth. 1 cor/lv.^l'. 
 
 of work, and, as far as lay in their power, were spoiling it. " Well," 
 he says, " he will not imitate them, but when their (the Corin- 
 thians') faith in God, and in himself as God's Apostle, is increased, 
 he hopes to be enlarged in his further operations against heathenism 
 by their liberality, and adhering to the same rule or limit of break, 
 ing up new ground, and not trespassing on that which others have 
 enclosed and cultivated, he will preach the Gospel in the regions 
 beyond them, and not glory in another's province of things made 
 ready to his hands." 
 
 17. '* But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Let him 
 glory in what the power of Christ had wrought through his instru- 
 mentality, and not boast of the fruit of other men's labours, as if 
 they had been his own. The Corinthian Christians had been won 
 to the Gospel by Christ's blessing on St. Paul's labours, and now 
 these interlopers, because they had succeeded in converting some 
 of them to Judaical rites, claimed them, and boasted of them as 
 theirs. 
 
 18. "For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but 
 whom the Lord commendeth." The Lord commended the Apostle 
 and those who worked with him by following up their preaching by 
 the repentance, and faith, and love of those converted by them — 
 these signs being the only ones by which the approval of Christ 
 could be certainly known. 
 
404 I AM JEALOUS OVER YOU. [II. Cor. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 WOULD to God ye could bear witli me a little in 
 ^ my folly : and indeed || bear with me. 
 • ver. 16. ch. 2 For I am ^ jealous over yon witli godly 
 \\OT,yedobear jealousy : for '^ I bave espoused you to one hus- 
 b'^Mv 17 l^and, ^ that I may present you ® as a cbaste virgin 
 18. ' . ■ ' to Christ. 
 
 c Hos. n. 19, 
 20. 1 Cor. iv. 
 
 15. 
 
 d Col. i. 28. 
 e Lev. xxi. 13. 
 
 1. '* Bear with me a little in my folly." So K,, L., most Cursives ; bat N, B., D., F., 
 G., 17, 118, 121, 137, &c., read, " bear a little folly." 
 
 1. "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly,'* 
 &c. What is this "folly" in which he would have them "bear 
 with him a little " ? Evidently his self-assertion, in which he in- 
 dulges as it were in the greater part of this chapter, and in the 
 next ; asserting how he was not a whit behind the chiefest Apostles 
 — how he refrained from being chargeable — how in the real glories 
 of Judaism he was equal with the chiefest Apostles, how he was in 
 labour more abundant, and foremost in every privation and form 
 of distress and persecution. And how in visions and revelations of 
 God he was favoured above all. 
 
 All this assertion of himself, and of what he had done and suf- 
 fered, would be folly, because vain-glory, unless he had been com^ 
 pelled to it for Christ's sake, his Master, Who had conferred on 
 him the grace thus to do and suffer ; and for their sakes, that they 
 might see how little the false teachers had to boast of compared 
 with himself. 
 
 "Bear with me a little in my folly." Some MSS. read "bear 
 from me a little folly." 
 
 "And indeed bear with me." " But, indeed, ye do bear with 
 me." 
 
 2. " For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy : for I have 
 espoused you," &c. Because they had been converted by his preach- 
 ing, and joined to the Church of Christ through his ministry, he con- 
 
Col. ii. 
 
 4,8,18. 
 
 1 Tim. 
 
 i.3.& 
 
 iv. 1. 
 
 Heb. 
 
 xiii. 9. 
 
 2 Pet. 
 
 Chap. XL] I FEAR. 405 
 
 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as ^ tlie serpent ' Qen. lu. 4. 
 
 . . . John viii, 44. 
 
 beguiled Eve througb bis subtiltj, so your minds g Eph. vi. 24, 
 ^ sbould be corrupted from tbe simplicity that is 
 in Christ. 
 
 iii. 17. 
 
 3. "From the simplicity." So K., L., M., P., most Cursives, f, Vulg., Syriac ; but 
 ^?, B., F., G., 17, 74, Goth., .^th., add " aad purity " (" the simplicity and purity "). 
 
 siders them to be his daughter, and he their father who, in convert- 
 ing them, had espoused them to Christ ; and so he is beyond mea- 
 sure anxious that they should be presented to Christ uncorrupted, 
 faithful in their spiritual allegiance to the One Husband of the 
 Church, which they would not be, if they yielded to the seductions 
 of the false apostles.-^ 
 
 3. " But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve 
 through," &c. No one could be conceived more pure from sin and 
 evil desire than Eve, and yet she, in her state of innocence, suc- 
 cumbed to the temptation ; and so might the Corinthian Church, 
 though, as a body, they were converted and dedicated to God 
 through Christ. 
 
 " The simplicity that is in Christ." Eather, "towards Christ." It 
 means single-hearted devotion to Christ. Some MSS. and autho- 
 rities add " purity ;" see critical note. 
 
 Dean Stanley remarks that this is the only passage in St. Paul's 
 Epistles in which there is any reference in the New Testament to 
 the story of the serpent in the Fall. This is hardly correct, at least 
 the inference which the Dean would have us draw is not : Eom. v. 
 12-19, is far more explicit than this place in connecting the Fall 
 with one man, Adam ; and that his fall was not from himself, but 
 from an external tempter. Our present passage says nothing re- 
 specting the meaning of the nan-ative of the Fall, except what lies 
 on the surface — that Eve was beguiled, and that the Corinthian 
 Church must see that it be not similarly beguiled. 
 
 4. "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we 
 have not preached," &c. " If he that cometh." By the use of the 
 
 1 Mr. Blunt has a valuable remark on this. *' This allegory runs, indeed, through the 
 whole of Scripture, but it is always the body of the Church which is represented as the 
 bride of our Lord. The application sometimes made of the allegory to individual persons, 
 as in the case of women devoting themselves to the religious life, is little short of pro- 
 fanity, and is entirely unjustified by Scriptural Theology." 
 
406 ANOTHER JESUS. [II. Cor. 
 
 4 For if lie that cometli preaclietli anotlier Jesus, whom we 
 have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye 
 h Gal. i. 7, 8. have not received, or ^ another Grospel, which ye 
 O Or, with me. havo not accepted, ye might well bear || with him. 
 i 1 Cor. XV. 10. 5 For I suppose ' I was not a whit behind the 
 
 ch. xii, 11. T . r. 1 
 
 Gal. ii. 6. very chiefest apostles. 
 
 k 1 Cor. i. 17. 6 But though ^ Ihe rude in speech, yet not ^ in 
 
 ch. X. 10. ' knowledge ; but ™ we have been thoroughly made 
 
 m^h^'iv"2*& inanifest among you in all things. 
 
 T. 11* & xii*. 
 
 12. 
 
 6. "We have been thoroughly made manifest." So E., K., L., P., most Cursives, Syr., 
 Copt. ; but H, B., F., G., 17, read, " have thoroughly made it (i. e. by knowledge) mani- 
 fest." 
 
 singular number he seems to point to one leading heresiarch, or 
 false teacher. 
 
 "Another Jesus." A better Jesus, one more full of grace and 
 truth. 
 
 •' Or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received." 
 A spirit with higher and more abundant gifts than the Spirit which 
 ye received through my ministrations. 
 
 " Or another Gospel." The embodiment of still more glad 
 tidings than those which ye have received. 
 
 "Ye might well bear with him." But none of these things 
 are so. 
 
 5. " For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest 
 apostles." In preaching to you Jesus the Son of God ; in minis- 
 tering to you the One Spirit, accompanied with all His super- 
 natural gifts ; in preaching to you the pure Gospel of the grace 
 of God. 
 
 6. " But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge," &c. 
 The word " rude " is used to describe him who is unskilled in any 
 branch of learning, as compared with him who is learned in it. It 
 thus answers pretty nearly to our use of the word " laj^man," which 
 is applied not only to the laity in comparison with the clergy, but 
 to the person ignorant of law as compared with the lawyers. He 
 certainly was not rude in speech in the sense of not being elo- 
 quent, though he was rude in speech as compared with those who 
 used the rhetorical arts of the Greek sophists and orators. 
 
Chap. XL] I EOBBED OTHEli CHURCHES. 407 
 
 7 Have I committed an offence '^ in abasing myself that ye 
 might be exalted, because I have preached to yon » Acts xviii. 3. 
 the Gospel of God freely ? 12. c'h. x. 1. 
 
 8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of 
 them, to do you service. 
 
 9 And when I was present with you, and 
 wanted, ° I was charp^eable to no man : for that ° Acts xx, 33. 
 
 ch, xii. 13. 
 
 which was lacking to me ^the brethren which 1 Thess.'ii. 9. 
 
 came from Macedonia supplied : and in all things 8, 9. ' 
 
 I have kept myself *J from being burdensome unto isf fe." '' ' ^^' 
 
 you, and so will I keep myself. '^^^' ^"- 1** 
 
 7. " Freely," i. e, " gratis." 
 
 " Yet not in knowledge ; but we have been thoroughly made 
 manifest." However tbey may despise his oratory, yet they can- 
 not impugn his knowledge, for all their knowledge of Christianity 
 is derived from him. 
 
 *' We have been thoroughly made manifest," or perhaps (adopt- 
 ing another reading) " we have thoroughly made it manifest to 
 you." 
 
 7. '* Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye 
 might be exalted ? " &c. The thought of his having thoroughly 
 manifested his knowledge makes him think of how this was accom- 
 plished. He abased himself amoug them by not requiring from 
 them that sustenance which, as their Ai)Ostle, was due to him. 
 He asks them ironically, " Have I committed an offence in having 
 acted thus? " 
 
 8, 9. " I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you 
 service. And when I was present with you .... so will I keep 
 myself." " I robbed other churches." I acted as if I robbed them 
 for I allowed them to send contributions for my support, which, 
 on any principle of justice, they were not called upon to do ; and 
 so it came to pass that when I preached the Gosj)el to you I was 
 able to preach it gratuitously, because these brethren living at a 
 distance supplied all my wants.^ 
 
 1 " I was chargeable to no man," This, " I was chargeable," is a word having a very 
 singular derivation. It is derived from the word yapx)), a torpedo; which, pressing itself 
 
408 BECAUSE I LOVE YOU NOT ? [11. Cor. 
 
 10 "■ As the truth of Christ is in me, f ' no man shall stop 
 r Rom. ix. 1. mc of thls boasting in the regions of Achaia. 
 boasting Ihaii H Wlicrefore ? * because I love you not ? G-od 
 
 not be stopped i , t 
 
 in me. KUOWeth. 
 
 t cVTi' n & ^^ ^^* ^^^* -'■ ^^' *^^* ^ ^^^^ ^^' "*^^* ^ ™^y 
 vii. 3. & xii. cut off occasiou from them which desire occasion ; 
 
 15. . 
 
 u 1 Cor. ix. 12. that wherein they glory, they may be found even 
 as we. 
 
 And with respect to themselves he declares that this will ever be 
 his practice. 
 
 10. "As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of 
 this boasting," &c. So important was the acting on this principle 
 in the eyes of the Apostle, that he confirms it here with something 
 of the nature of an oath. 
 
 " As the truth of Christ is in me." This may be " As Christ has 
 given to me His truth that I may preach it to you and to others," 
 or " As Christ in giving me other graces, has given me to partake 
 of His truthfulness." 
 
 11. •' Wherefore ? because I love you not ? God knoweth." 
 Whether he received maintenance from the Church of Corinth, or 
 whether he refused it, was equally turned by these implacable 
 adversaries into a matter of accusation against him. If he received 
 it they accused him of working in the cause of Christ for hire ; if 
 he refused it it was either because, not being a real prophet, he felt 
 that he had no right to it ; or else it was out of a haughty disdain, 
 quite incompatible with real love — he was too proud to receive any- 
 thing from such as they. 
 
 12. " But what I do, that I will do ... . even as we." It is 
 somewhat doubtful whether these false Apostles received mainten- 
 ance or not. Wordsworth supposes that they did, and that they 
 accused him of not doing so because he was conscious that he was 
 not a true Apostle. His refusal to receive maintenance would 
 give him the advantage over them as being the more disinterested 
 
 against other fish, numbs them, and so makes them its prey. There probably is an allu- 
 sion to the numbing or deadening effect of the preaching of the Judaizers. Jerome 
 (quoted in Stanley) supposed it to be a Cilieianism. " Multa sunt verba quibus juxra 
 morem urbis et provineiae suae familiarius Apostolus utitur ; e quibus exempli gratia, 
 pauea ponenda sunt : ol Kar£vapKY,ir(x v[jlwv, i. e. non gravavi vos. Quibus et aliis multis 
 verbis usque hodie utuntur Cilices." 
 
Chap. XL] SUCH AEE FALSE APOSTLES. 409 
 
 13 For such ^are false apostles, ^deceitful 'tActsxv. 24. 
 
 „ . . 1 • T 1 Rom. xvi. 18. 
 
 workers, transiorminsr themselves into the apostles Gai. i. 7. & vi. 
 
 f n-u ' ^ -^12. Phil. i. 
 
 01 Chnst. 15. 2 Pet. 
 
 14 And no marvel ; for Satan himseK is trans- iv. 1. Re'^v." 
 formed into ^ an angel of light. ^ '^.j^* jj j^ 
 
 Phil.' iii. 2.' 
 
 Tit. i. 10, 11. 
 
 « Gal.i.S. 
 14. " Is transformed," " transformeth himself." 
 
 in his work. If, however, they preached gratuitously because they 
 had other means of livelihood, or because they were supported by 
 wealthy Judaizers elsewhere, they would be able to taunt him with 
 preaching for hire, if he claimed his Apostolical right ; and so he 
 felt that it was better for him to waive that right, even at the ex- 
 pense of being doubly taunted — as one who loved them not, and as 
 one who was conscious that he was not a true Apostle — rather than 
 that he should lay himself open to the charge of preaching for 
 gain : that was, in his eyes, the most deadly charge of all. 
 
 13. *' For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transform- 
 ing," &c. It is not improbable that they professed to have seen 
 Christ, or to have been amongst those who were converted at 
 Pentecost. Let the reader notice that not all who profess to come 
 from Christ are sent by Him. What was in all probability the 
 teaching of these persons ? They professed to set forth the example 
 of Christ, in that He was circumcised, and scrupulously observed 
 the law. Though unable, of course, to reckon themselves with the 
 Twelve, they might easily assume to be such Apostles as Barnabas. 
 It is to be noted that the book entitled " The Teaching of the 
 Apostles," assumes that some ministers, who were certainly not 
 the Twelve, bore this name. " And as touching the Apostles and 
 Prophets according to the command of the Gospel, so do ye let 
 every Apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord " 
 (ch. xi). 
 
 14, 15. " And no marvel ; for Satan himself . . . according to their 
 works." Satan desiring to destroy a Christian soul would never 
 present himself, either outwardly or inwardly, to that soul in the 
 shape of an enemy of God. He would assume the garb of virtue, 
 of holiness, of self-denial, and would profess zeal for the glory of 
 God. In the Apostolic age he endeavoured to subvert the Gospel 
 under zeal for the observance of the elder revelation. In this age 
 
410 AS A FOOL RECEIVE ME. [U. Cor. 
 
 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be 
 a ch. iii. 9. transformed as the ^ ministers of righteousness ; 
 b Phil. iii. 19. ^ whose end shall he according to their works, 
 c ver. 1. ch. 16 ° I sav asjain, Let no man think me a fool ; 
 
 xii. 6, 11. . . . 
 
 11 Or, siifer. if otherwise, yet as a fool || receive me, that I may- 
 boast myself a little, 
 d^i Cor. Tii. 6, 17 That which I speak, ^ I speak it not after the 
 e eh. ix. 4. Lord, but as it were foolishly, ^ in this confidence 
 of boasting. 
 
 he seeks to divide Christ's Church under the cloak of devotion to 
 the cause of the pure Gospel, or to ruin individual souls under the 
 idea that, if they accept Christ, they are absolved from any need of 
 imitating His Holiness. " Christ has done all, they say. It is 
 treason to him to work out our own salvation, though an Apostle 
 has told us that we are to do so " (Phil. ii. 12). 
 
 15. "Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be trans- 
 formed." What a terrible thing to contemplate, that a professing 
 minister of Christ may be really a minister of Satan ! But it has 
 been so, and it now may be so. Under the cloak of righteousness 
 they may encourage party spirit, divide the Church, preach super- 
 stition on the one side, or Antinomianism on the other, disparage 
 sacraments, and in other ways hinder or undermine the work of 
 Christ. At the same time we must remember that there is a vast 
 difference between opposing the Apostles then and opposing their 
 successors now : for none now can pretend to the credentials of St» 
 Paul. Such was his holiness, such were his miracles, and such his 
 success in converting souls and founding Churches, that to oppose 
 him was manifestly to oppose Christ. According to Christ's own 
 words, " He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth 
 you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent 
 me " (Luke x. 16). 
 
 "Whose end shall be according to their works." "If any man 
 defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." " Woe to that 
 man through whom the offence cometh ! " 
 
 16, 17, 18. " I say again. Let no man think me a fool . . . con- 
 fidence of boasting ... I will glory also." He says this in order 
 to introduce what he is on the point of saying. " I am no senseless 
 
Chap. XL] I WILL GLORY ALSO. 411 
 
 18 ^ Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory 
 also. f Ptil. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 19 For ye suffer fools gladly, ^ seeing ye your- s i Cor. iv. lo. 
 selves are wise. 
 
 20 For ye suffer, ^ if a man bring you into ^ '^ai. n, 4. & 
 bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of 
 
 20. " If a man take of you." *' If he taketh yon captive," Revisers ; but see below. 
 
 person, as my detractors say ; yet suffer me for a few moments to 
 play the part of one, and, as senseless people are in the habit of 
 doing, let me display myself a little. In what I am now saying, 
 regard me not as an Apostle speaking by the Holy Ghost, but as a 
 man, a mere uninspired man, who has been defamed and slandered, 
 and so bear with me whilst I seem to assert myself, and proclaim 
 my own doings and sufferings in the cause of Christ. Others assert 
 themselves — see whether I have not sufficient cause, if I am driven 
 to it, to assert myself." 
 
 19. " For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.'* 
 *' In asking you to bear with me a little in my folly, I only ask you 
 to do what you do daily, in respect of these persons who exercise 
 this evil influence over you. You deem yourselves wise, and so ye 
 suffer all manner of things at the hands of these self-exalting 
 persons." He speaks, of course, ironically. He can only account for 
 the patience which the Corinthians exercise towards the Judaizers 
 on the assumption that the Corinthians have too exalted an idea of 
 their own wisdom to take notice of such things — ^just as full-grown 
 persons bear with the pranks of children. 
 
 20. " For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man 
 devour you," &c. These Judaizers bring you into bondage ; they 
 would impose a yoke upon you which he whom you look upon as 
 the chiefest Apostle declared that neither he nor his fathers were 
 able to bear (Acts xv. 10). 
 
 *• If a man devour you." If he presses upon you his claims of 
 wages and maintenance above what you can afford to pay him. 
 The Lord speaks of the Pharisees, of whom these persons were the 
 true representatives, as "devouring widows' houses " (Lukexx. 47). 
 
 " If a man take of you " — catches you, makes you his prey. "A 
 metaphor taken from fishing or hunting, and in this passage pro- 
 
412 I AM BOLD ALSO. [IL Cor. 
 
 you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the 
 face. 
 
 21 I speak as concerning reproach, ' as though » ch. x. lo. 
 we had been weak. Howbeit ^ whereinsoever any ^ Phii. iii. 6. 
 is bold, (I speak foohshly,) I am bold also. 
 
 22 Are they Hebrews ? ^ so am I. Are they ^ Acts xxii. 3. 
 
 '' '' Rom. xi. 1. 
 
 Israelites ? so am I. Are they the seed of Abra- Phii. iu. 5. 
 ham ? so am I. 
 
 bably applied to the fascination exercised over the Corinthians by 
 their deceitful teachers." (Stanley.) 
 
 *' If a man exalt himself " — by pride and boastfulness, which for 
 the time depresses you, and makes you feel how contemptible you 
 are in comparison with him. 
 
 " If a man smite you on the face." Apparently a form of insult 
 by no means unfrequent. Thus our Lord's words (Matth. v. 39) : 
 *' Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
 other also " (also Luke xxii. 64, and Acts xxiii. 2). 
 
 21. "I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been 
 weak." The Eevisers translate this: "I speak byway of disparage- 
 ment, as though we had been weak." The meaning of this very 
 difficult verse, on which there are very great differences amongst 
 expositors, appears to be somewhat of this sort. "I sj)eak as dis- 
 paraging myself, as though, when I was among you, I was weak 
 and pusillanimous, not venturing on asserting my authority in any 
 such ways as these." 
 
 " Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foohshly,) I am 
 bold also." However, if it comes to this — that I must assert my- 
 self — I say emphatically that, in all their strong points on which 
 they rely, I am as strong as they are. 
 
 22. "Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am 
 I," &c. He asserts the same, and for the same purpose in Phil. iii. 
 4, 5, 6, though he there characterizes it as "trusting in the flesh." 
 
 It has been supposed that one of the slanders uttered against him 
 was that he was not of pure Hebrew blood. Epiphanius (Haer. 
 XXX. 16) asserts that the Judaizers denied that he was a Jew at all 
 by birth, but was a Gentile, and adopted Circumcision that he 
 might marry the high priest's daughter. 
 
 23. "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) lam 
 
Chap. XL] IN LABOURS MORE ABUNDANT. 413 
 
 23 Are they ministers of Christ ? (I speak as a fool) I am 
 more ; "^ in labours more abundant, ° in stripes -^ i cor. xv. 
 above measure, in prisons more frequent, °in nActsix. i6. 
 deaths oft. xxfA'i. ch. 
 
 24 Of the Jews five times received I ^ forty ^i^cor xv 
 stripes save one. 20, 3i, 32 
 
 -'■ _ _ ch. 1. 9, 10. & 
 
 25 Thrice was I ^ beaten with rods, ^ once was I i^'- n- ^ ^'i- ^• 
 
 P Deut. XXV. 3. 
 
 q Acts xvi. 22. 
 
 r Acts xiv. 19. 
 23. " I speak as a fool," "as one beside himself." A different word in the Greek from 
 what has been used before. 
 
 more." They profess to be servants or ministers of Christ. Well, 
 what said Christ respecting the lot of his servants ? "Ye shall be 
 hated of all men for my name's sake." *' If they have called the 
 master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call 
 them of his household ? " (Matth. x. 22, 25.) "In this mark or 
 badge of Christ's servants, I am more than they; nay, it is given 
 to me to endure more than any of the Apostles with whose lives I 
 am acquainted." 
 
 " In labours more abundant," for I have a far larger field. 
 
 " In stripes above measure." Probably meaning the scourgings 
 inflicted by the heathen, which were not hmited to the forty stripes 
 save one to which the Jews deemed themselves restricted. 
 
 "In prisons more frequent." The only one recorded in the 
 Acts, that at Phihppi (Acts xvi. 23), being but one amongst a 
 multitude. 
 
 "In deaths oft." As when he was stoned at Lystra, and drawn 
 out of the city as one dead (Acts xiv. 19). 
 
 24. " Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one." 
 The law prescribed (Deut. xxv. 3) that forty stripes should be 
 given, and the number not exceeded ; and so the Jews, in order to 
 make certain of not exceeding, inflicted one short of the number. 
 It is said that it was not unusual to inflict only half, in which case 
 the Apostle was treated with exceptional severity. Not one of these 
 cases is mentioned in the Acts. 
 
 25. " Thrice was I beaten with rods," &c. The only case men- 
 tioned in the history is that at Philippi (Acts xvi. 22). 
 
 "Once was I stoned." This must have been the stoning at 
 Lystra before alluded to, in which he was left for dead. 
 
414 IN PERILS. [II. CoK. 
 
 stoned, thrice I ® suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have 
 
 ' Acts xxTii. been in the deep ; 
 
 t Actsix. 23. 26 In journejings often, in perils of waters, in 
 
 xiv"5. & xvii. perils of robbers, ^ in perils by mine own country, 
 
 xxi.aL"!' men, " m perils by the heathen, m perils in the 
 
 A^xiv! 3/^' city, m perils in the wilderness, in perils in the 
 
 « Acts xiv. 5. sea, in perils amonor false brethren ; 
 
 & XIX. 23. ^ ^ ' 
 
 " Thrice I suffered shipwreck." Not one of these is recorded in 
 the history, for his shipwreck on his voyage to Eome took place 
 long after this letter was written. 
 
 "A night and a day I have been in the deep." Of this also no 
 mention is made in the history. Some suppose that the Apostle 
 alludes to his having been immured for twenty-four hours in a deep 
 dungeon at Cyzicus in Cilicia, called by the name of Bythos. The 
 Apostle was probably in an open boat, or on some raft. Good 
 Bishop Wordsworth supposes that for a night and a day the 
 Apostle was swimming, but this is impossible, except by a special 
 miracle. 
 
 26. " In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers," 
 &c. " In journeyings often." Look at the tracings of his journeyings 
 on the maps, and remember that from each place where he stayed 
 any time he would make short expeditions to neighbouring places 
 to preach the Gospel. Eemember, too, that in many cases there 
 were no roads, and consequently that a journey, even in the most 
 favourable weather, was not the pleasant jaunt it is now, 
 
 " In perils of waters," i.e., of rivers whose fords, during the time 
 of rain, were impassable. 
 
 " In perils of robbers." Every road in Asia Minor then, as now, 
 was infested with robbers. 
 
 *' In perils by mine own countrymen." As in Cenchrea, when 
 he was about to embark, and was obliged to change his route (Acts 
 XX. 3), though this took place after the writing of this Epistle. 
 
 " In perils by the heathen, in perils in the city." As at Lystra, 
 Phihppi, their own city Corinth, and Ephesus. 
 
 " In perils in the wilderness." Most probably the wild, thinly 
 peopled regions in Galatia and other parts of Asia Minor. 
 
 " In perils in the sea." From storms, and rocks, and pirates. 
 
 **In perils among false brethren." From this we cannot but 
 
Chap. XI.] IN COLD AND NAKEDNESS. 415 
 
 27 In weariness and painfulness, ""in watchings often, ^in 
 liunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and ^ Acts xx. 31. 
 nakedness. y 1 cor. iv. 11. 
 
 gather that the virulence of Jndaizing brethren against him was 
 such as at times to endanger his life. 
 
 27. " In weariness and painfulness," &c. The two same words 
 translated in 2 Thess. iii. 8, " with labour and travail." 
 
 " In watchings often." In sleepless nights. Compare the mid- 
 night Psalms at Philippi (Acts xvi. 25) ; the discourse all through 
 the night at Troas (xx. 7-11) ; the ministrations " night and day " 
 at Ephesus (xx. 31) ; the working to support himself night and day 
 at Thessalonica (2 Thess. iii. 8). (Stanley.) 
 
 " In hunger and thirst, in fastings often." Not so much religious 
 fastings which, being voluntary, he would not have mentioned, but 
 fastings through want of necessary food — not hunger only, but 
 hunger unsatisfied for a long time. 
 
 " In cold and nakedness." As in his shipwrecks, or in his journeys 
 over the high land and mountain passes of Cilicia, badly shod and 
 badly clothed. 
 
 In pausing to review these enumerations of the dangers and dis- 
 tresses of the Apostolic life, we must remember that there were 
 eight or ten years in store for him of similar affliction and distress — 
 in particular there was the tumult in Jerusalem, the long imprison- 
 ment in Caesarea, the peril of the shipwreck on the coast of Malta, 
 and the two imprisonments in Eome, the last ending with his 
 martyrdom. What a life of hardship in the cause of Christ did 
 the grace of God enable him to lead! " I laboured more abun- 
 dantly than they all, yet not I but the grace of God." 
 
 By far the greater part of the Acts is devoted to his life and 
 labours, and yet how fragmentary it is. Not a tenth part handed 
 down to us ! We have not a full account of one single day of the 
 life of this man of God. He kept no journal, and the account 
 which has descended to us is but an imperfect outline of a small 
 part, and yet not one hour of it is lost, for it is all in the memory 
 of Him Whose grace made him what he was, and Who forgets not 
 one moment of pain endured on His behalf. " Almighty God, Who 
 hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in 
 the mystical Body of Thy Son, Christ our Lord ; grant us so to 
 follow Thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we 
 
416 THE CARE OF ALL THE CHURCHES. [H. Con. 
 
 28 Beside tliose things that are without, that which cometh 
 « See Acts XX. -upon me daily, ^the care of all the churches. 
 
 18, &c. Rom. ^ "^ , T T- 1 o 1 • 
 
 i. 14. 29 ^ Who is weak, and I am not weak r who is 
 
 13. &"ix. 22!' offended, and I burn not ? 
 
 23. "That which cometh upon me daily." The Text Rec. (following K., L., M., P., 
 and most Cursives), has emc-Ca-Tac-i;, which signifies a riotous tumult, a hostile rush of 
 adversaries against one. Thus Chrysostom explains it as " The tumults, the disturbances, 
 the assaults of mobs, onsets of cities," and may refer to the way in which the Apostle was 
 daily besieged by crowds of inquirers, of persons requiring interviews, &c. • but N, B., D., 
 E., F., G., 17, 39, 67, read, iTn'o-rao-tf, which signifies a bringing to a stop, then a halt, and 
 finally thought and anxiety. 
 
 may come to those unspeakable joys which Thou hast prepared for 
 them that unfeignedly love Thee, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord." 
 
 28. " Beside those things that are without, that which cometh 
 upon me daily," «S:;c. The Apostle never dreamt of making each 
 Church independent and leaving it to itself, to develope itself 
 in freedom according to its own will. On the contrary, he never 
 let the reins out of his own hands. Through his messengers or 
 Apostolic vicars, as we may call them, he kept a strict eye upon 
 each, discerned the first budding of false doctrine or loose practice, 
 and acted with promptness and decision, and yet with the utmost 
 forbearance and consideration. 
 
 " Those things which are without " has been explained as " those 
 things which I omit." 
 
 " That which cometh upon me daily," or which presseth upon 
 me. " More possibly," says Stanley, " the concourse of people to 
 see me, to ask advice, &c." " The care of all the Churches." Each 
 Epistle which he has written manifests different causes of anxiety, 
 and different admonitions, and different thanksgivings, and parti- 
 cular prayers for each, so that he must have kept himself perfectly 
 aUve to the spiritual necessities of each part of the great mystical 
 Body under his care. 
 
 29.. "Who is weak, and I am not weak? " " Whom do I hear of 
 that is weak in the faith, and I do not throw myself fully into his 
 position, enter into his doubts, sympathize with the infirmities of 
 his flesh?" 
 
 " Who is offended, and I burn not ? " Burn not with indigna- 
 tion against him who has thrown an occasion of stumbling in his 
 
Chap. XI.] AKETAS THE KING. 417 
 
 30 If I must needs glory, ^ I will glory of the things which 
 concern mine infirmities. J «^^- ^'i- 5, 9, 
 
 31 '^ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus « Rom. i. 9. 
 Christ, ^ which is blessed for evermore, knoweth i. 23.' Gai. i. 
 
 4--U i T T J. 20. 1 Thess. 
 
 that 1 ue not. ii. 5. 
 
 32 ^ In Damascus the erovernor under Aretas ^ ^°™-. *^- f * 
 
 . ^ e Acts IX. 24, 
 
 the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a 25. 
 garrison, desirous to apprehend me : 
 
 brother's way, or, as some suggest, bum with zeal to restore 
 him. 
 
 30. " If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which 
 concern mine infirmities." All the things which he had recounted 
 in verses 23-26, had to do with the weak part of his nature — his 
 body, and the weaknesses, infirmities, deprivations, which he 
 suffered through his body. But if he was forced to glory, he would 
 glory in these infirmities and persecutions, and he gives the reason 
 in the next chapter (verse 9), " Most gladly, therefore, will I rather 
 glory in mine infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon 
 me. . . . Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches . . , 
 for when I am weak then am I strong." 
 
 31. " The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is 
 blessed for evermore." *' Which is blessed for evermore." This 
 is scarcely an adequate translation. The words " which is " are 
 really 6 wv, "He which is," "He which exists," "the Eternal 
 One," aud is the same as in Eev. i. 4, " which is, and was, and is 
 to come." 
 
 What need of so solemn an af&rmation ? Because that which 
 the Apostle affirms of himself that he glories in weaknesses, is so 
 strange, so contrary to flesh and blood, so alien from all that is in 
 the natural man, that he might well call the Searcher of hearts to 
 witness to the truth of what he said. 
 
 32. 33. " In Damascus the governor under Aretas .... escaped 
 his hands." The very abrupt introduction of the mention of this 
 incident cannot be explained. Out of many conjectures each one 
 is left to choose that which seems to himself most probable. 
 It will suffice to mention two given by Dean Plumptre — one that 
 the Apostle here commences a fresh account of the various cir- 
 cumstances of his life, of which this, which occurred very shortly 
 
 E E 
 
418 THEOUGH A WINDOW IN A BASKET. [II. Ck)R. 
 
 33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by 
 the wall, and escaped his hands. 
 
 after his conversion, was the first, and that the narrative was 
 suddenly broken off at this point, or (2) that this escape being 
 somewhat undignified and partaking of the ludicrous, was another 
 and the last instance of the indignities suffered by one who, it is 
 said, was sensitively alive to ridicule. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAP. xn. 
 
 T is not expedient for me doubtless to glory, fl will 
 come to visions and revelations of the Lord, 
 t Or. For I 2 1 kuew a man ^ in Christ above fourteen 
 
 wiU come. 
 
 « Rom. xvi. 7. 
 
 ch. V. 17. 
 
 Gal. i. 22. 
 
 1. "It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory." So H, D., K., M., Copt., most 
 Cnrsives, ^th. ; but B., E., F., G., L., P., 17, 31, 37, 39, 108, 137, and about twenty 
 more, d, e, f, g, Vnlg., Goth., Syr., read, " h~." See below for translation. 
 
 1. "It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come 
 to visions," &c. It is very difficult to decide upon the reading of 
 the original, and, depending upon it, the rendering of this passage. 
 
 If we read according to the Eeceived Text, then, as in our Autho- 
 rized, ^ should be rendered "indeed," or "verily." Thus Alford, "To 
 boast verily is not to my advantage." If we read with B, ^a, then we 
 must render it, " I must needs glory, but it is not profitable to me." 
 
 " I wiU come to visions and revelations of the Lord." It is to 
 be remembered, as the latter part of the passage shows, that these 
 visions and revelations are not introduced as a matter for glorying, 
 but as introducing a state of continuous humiliation and distress. 
 So that the whole account corresponds with what he had written 
 in verse 30 of the last chapter, " If I must needs glory, I will glory 
 of the things which concern mine infirmities," and nothing in his 
 view was such a manifestation of his infirmities as this "thorn in 
 the flesh," of which he is about to speak. 
 
 2. '* I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether 
 
Chap. XII.] I KNEW SUCH A MAN. 419 
 
 years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether 
 out of the hodj, I cannot tell : Grod knoweth ;) such an one 
 * caught up to the third heaven. »> Acts xxn. 17. 
 
 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the a.d. 46. 
 body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God Icts^xiv^^e. 
 knoweth :) 
 
 4 How that he was caught up into '^ paradise, IJ"^^^ '^^' 
 
 in the body," &c.). " I knew," rather " I know." He does not 
 say outright that he is speaking of himself, but we can infer 
 nothing else. Above fourteen years ago would lead us back to the 
 time covered by the narrative in the Acts between ix. 30, when on 
 account of the persecution of the Jews he was sent by the brethren 
 to Tarsus, and xi. 25, when he was sought out by Barnabas, and 
 brought to Antioch. 
 
 (" Whether in the body I cannot tell ; or whether out of the body 
 I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) such an one caught up to the third 
 heaven." Whatever is meant by this it seems to me quite clear 
 that it excludes aU idea of a mere trance. St. Paul knew perfectly 
 well what a trance (karao-ie) was, for he fell into one in the temple, 
 and had therein a most important revelation of the will of Christ 
 vouchsafed to him (Acts xxii. 18). 
 
 In the present case he was *' caught up " out of this world, instead 
 of the Lord coming or appearing to him, as occurred at the time of 
 his conversion. He was taken up to the third heaven — which, what- 
 ever it means, cannot possibly designate a state of rapture occurring 
 here below. And if the transitions of verses two and four be the 
 same, or part of the same event, then he was taken up to some 
 sphere where other spiritual beings were present, for he seems to 
 have heard their voices uttering unspeakable things. 
 
 3, 4. " And I knew such a man (whether in the body, or out of 
 the body, &c.) .... how that he was caught up into Paradise," &c. 
 What is the third heaven? It seems to me useless, and almost 
 irreverent to quote Rabbinical explanations all put forth hundreds 
 of years after the writing of this Epistle. St. Paul must mean by 
 it the highest heaven, where the throne of God is, and where the 
 angels are. 
 
 And what, then, is Paradise ? Our Lord says to the penitent 
 malefactor, *' This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." This 
 
420 UNSPEAKABLE WORDS. [II. Cok. 
 
 and heard -unspeakable words, wMcli it is not || lawful for 
 I Or, possible, a man to utter. 
 
 seems to indicate the place of departed saints, where they rest from 
 their labours. But in Eev. ii. 7 compared with Kev. xxii. 2 it evi- 
 dently designates the highest state of blessedness, though a future 
 one, for in the first of these places Christ promises to him who finally 
 overcomes, that he shall " eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
 midst of the Paradise of God ; " and in the latter passage, this tree of 
 life is said to be on either side of the river which flows out of the 
 throne of God and of the Lamb. I have no doubt whatsoever that 
 one and not two places are meant. How much or how little in 
 these two latter visions is real or objective, how much spiritual or 
 how much mystical, I cannot stop to inquire ; but I believe that 
 St. Paul simply means to say that either in spirit only, or in spirit 
 and body united, he was caught up to the highest region in the 
 unseen and spiritual world. Less than this cannot be implied in 
 such a term as " the abundance of the revelations vouchsafed " to 
 him, and that it requh-ed a thorn in the flesh to keep a spirit so in- 
 tensely honoured by God in a state of humility.^ 
 
 " And heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man 
 to utter." He heard them ; he understood them ; but it was not 
 lawful for him when he came to earth again, either to speak them, 
 or put them into writing. There are mysteries of God which are 
 so infinitely above us that in our present state of knowledge and 
 of sin, we could not dwell upon them without profaning them. It 
 is in the highest wisdom of God that so many mysteries of grace 
 are so dimly or inadequately revealed. 
 
 1 Three opinions are held by expositors. 
 
 1. That there was one vision or revelation — so Alford and others. 
 
 2. That there was one vision or revelation which had, as it were, two stages in it. 
 This is Meyer's view. " Paul relates first how he was caught up into the third heaven, 
 and then adds, as a further point in the experience, that he was transported further, 
 higher up into Paradise, so that the I'a'j rpkov ovpavoij was a break, as it were, or resting 
 place of the rapture." 
 
 3. That there were two distinct raptures or visions — one to the third heaven, in which 
 he beheld the throne of God and the angels surrounding it : the other, the one in Paradise, 
 ■where he saw the peace and rest ineffable, even in their intermediate, and therefore 
 imperfect state, of the souls which had fallen asleep in Christ, and were waiting for their 
 resurrection. Both Dean Plamptre and Bishop Wordsworth hold this third view. 
 
Chap. XII.] OF SUCH AN ONE WILL I GLORY. 421 
 
 5 Of sucli an one will I glory : ^ jet of myself I will not 
 glory, but in mine infirmities. d ch. xi. 30. 
 
 6 For ^ though I would desire to glory, I shall '.ch. x. 8. & 
 not be a fool ; for I will say the truth : but now 
 
 I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which 
 he seeth me to he, or that he heareth of me. 
 
 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through 
 the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a 
 
 5, 6. " Of such an one will I glory .... or that he heareth of 
 me." He separates himself, as it were, into two men — the one 
 exalted with a sight and experience of the highest heaven ; the 
 other proportionately depressed and humiliated. And he says that 
 if he is compelled to glory he will glory in the one whom he denies 
 to be himself, for in his present true self, his self which is depressed 
 and humbled by what he is now about to relate, he cannot well 
 glory. 
 
 " Lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth 
 me to be," &c. He is compelled to speak the truth about himself, 
 which truth is that what he had experienced was not a false or a 
 mere human vision, but a true one, one from God, and the honour 
 of receiving it was of such a sort that the Lord saw it necessary that 
 he should have in himself a permanent source of humiliation, and 
 he desires that men should regard him, not as he once was for a 
 short time, a very exalted creature, but as he is now, humbled and 
 distressed. 
 
 7. "And lest I should be exalted above measure .... thorn in 
 the flesh," &c. The explanations of this "thorn in the flesh" are 
 very numerous, but before recounting some of them, let us see 
 whether we have not some clue given to us by the Apostle himself 
 as to what it may most probably have been, or as to the direction 
 in which we are to seek for the explanation. Such a clue seems to 
 be given us in Gal. iv. 13, 14, " Ye know how through infirmity of 
 the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you at the first. And my 
 temptation, which was in my flesh, ye despised not, nor rejected, but 
 received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." Now this 
 account seems to me incompatible with any secret form of distress, 
 as for instance, one arising from secret temptations to gratify im- 
 
422 THE THORN IN THE FLESH. [II. Cor. 
 
 f See Ezek. ^ thom in the flesh, ^ the messenger of Satan to 
 
 xxriii. 34 
 
 Gal. iv. 13, 14. buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 
 
 g Job ii. 7. 
 
 Luke xiii. 16. 
 
 pure desires, which is the view of the temptation mostly entertained 
 by Romanists as Cornelius ^ Lapide, Bernardino A. Piconio, and 
 others. It was evidently something which struck friend and foe 
 ahke as soon as he began to preach : for such can only be the 
 meaning of " at the first " in Gal. iv. 13. Also from comparing this 
 notice in the Epistle to the Galatians with many indications of his 
 sensitiveness to ridicule in this Epistle, it seems to have been some- 
 thing which caused contempt rather than some ailment which was 
 attended with pain. Thus in Gal. iv. 14, " My temptations .... 
 ye despised not." Now men would not despise a perpetual head- 
 ache, or earache, or any other painful malady. They would pity 
 it, but not despise it. I think that the passage In Gal. iv. would 
 certainly lead us to beheve that it was something connected with 
 his speech, his dehvery, his utterance, the sound of his voice, or his 
 collectedness in speaking. To me it seems to have been a something 
 which exposed him to ridicule, and tended to make him, as the 
 saying is, unacceptable. Now this must not militate for a moment 
 against his being naturally, and as a rule, eloquent, but it might 
 have been something that at any moment might mar his eloquence, 
 make it fitful and disjointed, and constantly provoke a smile, or 
 even laughter, in those who were not under the spell of his extreme 
 earnestness.^ 
 
 In writing this I am aware that few take this view. From his 
 calling it a thorn in the flesh many will hear of nothing but a 
 bodily pain, as headache — but such a thing would not be so mani- 
 fest at first sight as this was. Again, by "the flesh," St. Paul 
 seldom means the mere body : he rather means the whole lower 
 man — glorying in the flesh meant with him glorying in any earthly 
 physical advantage. To suppose, with some oi the earher Protes- 
 tants, that it was some constantly recurring doubt as to his final 
 salvation seems to me the most absurd conjecture of all. How 
 
 1 It might have been, for instance, a sudden forgetfnlness of what he desired to say. 
 Thus of the most eloquent preacher of his time in France, Bossnet, it is related that 
 having to preach one day before the king, he totally forgot the beginning of his sermon, 
 and had to descend from the pulpit overwhelmed with shame at not being able to utter 
 a word. 
 
Chap. Xn.] I BESOUGHT THE LORD THRICE. 423 
 
 8 ^'For tMs thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it 
 might depart from me. tSeeDeut. 
 
 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient Mat. xxvi. 44. 
 for thee : for my strength is made perfect in 
 
 9. "My strength is made perfect." ^f, A., B., D., F., G., d, e, f, g.Vnlg., Goth., Arm., 
 .i^th., omit " my ; " but E., K., L., P., most Cursives, Syr., Copt., retain it. 
 
 could the Apostle commence his message with the declaration of 
 doubts as to its final efficacy in his own case ; and yet Gal. iv. 13 
 teaches us that the humiliating thing was palpable as soon as 
 he opened his mouth. Some other questions arise, as, for instance, 
 who gave this thorn? It was given for the best of purposes, to 
 keep the Apostle nearer to God, and yet it was the " messenger of 
 Satan." Surely there need be no difficulty about this. Satan out 
 of his own maUce would, through this humiliating thorn, buffet 
 Paul with the aim of hindering his work by depressing him, but 
 God would bless the very depression to the real exaltation of the 
 Apostle, and so to the success of his work. The patient bearing of 
 "the thorn" would be an acceptable sacrifice which God would 
 reward with the conversion of souls through St. Paul's means. 
 
 8. " For this thing I besought the Lord thrice." When did he 
 thus beseech the Lord ? It could scarcely have been at the first 
 time of the infliction, for he would not have had such experience of 
 its humiliating and hindering nature, nor are we certain that the 
 "thorn" was inflicted on him immediately upon his receiving the 
 abundance of the revelations. 
 
 " I besought the Lord," i.e., the Lord Jesus, addressing Him as 
 God. 
 
 "Thrice," perhaps on three occasions of severe assaults or 
 humiliation. 
 
 9. " And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee : for my 
 strength," &c. My grace — My strengthening and refreshing grace 
 is sufficient for thee. This seems to look to the fact that the 
 "thorn " was a hindrance to his enunciation of the Gospel. The 
 Lord assures him that it shall not be so. On the contrary, the 
 more weak he seems the more the power of Christ shall accompany 
 his preaching. God constantly thus exalts weakness and humbles 
 strength. Thus it was in Gideon's victory over the Midianites 
 
424 WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN AM I STRONG. [II. Cos. 
 
 weakness. Most gladlj therefore ' will I rather glorj in 
 i ch. xi. 30. mv infirmities, ^ that the power of Christ may 
 
 klPet.iv.14. ', 
 
 rest upon me. 
 1 Rom. V. 3. 10 Therefore ^ I take pleasure in infirmities, in 
 
 ch. vii. 4. . ... . . ,. 
 
 reproaches, m necessities, in persecutions, in dis- 
 m ch. xiii. 4. tresscs for Christ's sake : ™ for when I am weak, 
 
 then am I strong. 
 o ch. xi. 1, 16, 11 I am become ^ a fool in glorying ; ye have 
 
 compelled me : for I ought to have been com- 
 
 11. " In glorying." Omitted by ti. A,, B., D., E., P., G., K., fifteen Cursives, Ital., 
 Vulg., Sah., Copt., Arm., ^th. ; but retained by L., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Goth. 
 
 (Judges vii. 7-22). Thus it was in the victory over the world by 
 such weak instruments as the Apostles. 
 
 The Lord seemingly refuses to grant the prayer and yet answers 
 it — refuses the creature's will, and yet meets the creature's deepest 
 needs. 
 
 We are told by some expositors that grace here means favour 
 only ; but is it usual with Christ to regard a man with favour, and 
 bestow nothing upon him ? 
 
 Commentators draw attention to the "perfect, "He hath said," 
 (fipjjKf), instead of simply *'he said." As if Christ's word was 
 abiding, and nothing can reverse it. 
 
 " Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that 
 the power of Christ may rest upon me." " May overshadow me," 
 as a Schechinah. Mr. Blunt refers well to Isaiah xxxii. 2 : "A 
 man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from 
 the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow 
 of a great rock in a weary land." 
 
 10. " Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, . . . when I am 
 weak, then am I strong." " For Christ's sake," i.e., endured in 
 His cause, in the furtherance of the Gospel. " When I am weak 
 then am I strong," because when I despise myself then only do I 
 most fully rely on the power of Christ. Let us remember the 
 words of his brother Apostle : " My brethren, count it all joy when 
 ye fall into divers temptations " (James i. 2). 
 
 11. " I am become a fool in glorying ; ye have compelled me." 
 This may be taken as a question — Have I become a fool in 
 
Chap. XII.] THE SIGNS OF AN APOSTLE. 425 
 
 mended of you : for ° in nothing am I behind the very 
 
 chief est apostles, though ^I be nothing. Ga^'ii^e^i a. 
 
 12 •* Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought p i cor. m. 7. 
 among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, Eph.' iii'. s. 
 and mighty deeds. l9!^"^cor.■i^ 
 
 13 "^ For what is it wherein ye were inferior to & v?4/& ^' 
 other churches, except it he that * I myself was not ^''^^^^^ j - 
 burdensome to you ? forgive me * this wrong. » 1 Cor. is. 12. 
 
 14 "Behold, the third time I am ready to come t t'h. xi. 7. 
 
 u ch. xiii. 1. 
 
 glorying ? if so, ye have compelled me, because instead of my claims 
 having been commended, or enforced by you, my spiritual children, 
 against my adversaries, ye have been silent about them. 
 
 12. " Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in 
 all patience," &c. If Paul had a special mission, not that of an ordi- 
 nary Christian minister, but to speak authoritatively in the name 
 of Christ, as did Peter and John, he must prove it in the same way, 
 and so he did. Let the reader remember, " Then all the multitude 
 kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring 
 what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles 
 by them" (Acts xv. 12). 
 
 13. " For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches,'* 
 &c. In what spiritual gifts which I, as an Apostle, communicate 
 to you, are ye wanting ? Thus at the outset of the first Epistle he 
 had written to them, " Ye come behind in no gift." Then he 
 suddenly recollects himself, and exclaims, as it were, "Yes, there 
 is one sign of an Apostle which I did not insist upon — my main- 
 tenance at your expense — and then in irony he says, " Forgive me 
 this wrong." 
 
 14. "Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I 
 will," &c. No second journey — i.e., no journey between the first 
 one mentioned in Acts xviii. 1, and the one that he is now about to 
 make, is alluded to in the Acts, and so this place has been inter- 
 preted as meaning that this is the third time he made himself 
 ready to come : He had made himself ready to come, but deter- 
 mined not to come to them in heaviness (2 Cor. ii. 1) and so post- 
 poned the journey till he had heard a better account of them. But 
 most probably there had been a short journey, not recorded, daring 
 
42 G I SEEK NOT YOUR'S, BUT YOU. [II. Cob. 
 
 to you : and I will not be burdensome to you : for ^ I seek 
 X Acts XX. 33. not your's, but you : ^ for the children ought not 
 y 1 Cor. iv. to lay up for the parents, but the parents for 
 
 the children. 
 « Phil. ii. 17. 15 And ^ I will very gladly spend and be spent 
 
 a John X. 11. * for t you ; though ^ the more abundantly I love 
 i. 24.* 2 Tim! you, the loss I be loved. 
 
 t Gr your ^^ "^^^ ^^ ^* ^^' *^ ^ ^^^ ^^* burdou you : never- 
 s^uis. theless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. 
 13. * * ' 
 
 c ch. xi. 9. 
 
 15. Several various readings of latter part of this verse, which it would be impossible 
 to give fairly without copying out a long note of Tischendorf's. Revisers render, " If I 
 love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?" Vulgate and Syriac agree with 
 Authorized. 
 
 the time of his prolonged stay at Ephesus, which would make this 
 the actual third time of his coming. 
 
 "And I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not your's, 
 but you." This seems to mean, I will take nothing from you by 
 way of maintenance till I am sure I have your hearts. When I 
 have sought and found you, then it will be time to think of claim- 
 ing my due. 
 
 *' For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the 
 parents for the children." This seems to be said in a sort of play- 
 ful irony. Parents maintain their children. Suffer me to act as 
 a parent inasmuch as I am one to you, and so give you my services 
 and labours free. 
 
 15. " And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though 
 the more abundantly," &c. This is an advance in the avowal of 
 affection beyond the last verse. I will not only act as a parent 
 and give to you rather than take from you, but I will impoverish 
 myself, and that to the utmost, rather than be burdensome. And 
 this I will do even though it is with no hope of return of love — 
 indeed, the contrary. 
 
 16. "But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being 
 crafty, I caught," &c. This is to be taken as an accusation or 
 slander of his adversaries. "Be it so," be supposes them to say. 
 " He himself (lyw) did not spunge upon them ; but, being crafty, he 
 did the same thiug in a deceitful way. He did not burden them 
 
Chap. XII.] DID TITUS MAKE A GAIN OF YOU? 427 
 
 17 **Did I make a gain of you by any of tliem whom I 
 sent unto you ? ^ ch. vii. 2. 
 
 18 ® I desired Titus, and with him I sent a *'=^-J'"'^' 
 
 Id, 22. 
 
 ' brother. Did Titus make a gain of you ? walked f ch. -riii. 18. 
 we not in the same spirit ? walked we not in the 
 same steps ? 
 
 19 ^ Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves g ch. v. 12. 
 unto YOU ? ^ we speak before God in Christ : ' but \ ^°^- »x- 1- 
 
 . ^ ch, xi. 31. 
 
 ive do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. 1 1 cor. x. 33. 
 
 20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not 
 
 19. "Again, think ye" (iraX(v). So D., E., K., L., P., most Cursives, g, Goth., Syr., 
 Copt., Arm. ; but N, A., B., F,, G., d, e, f, Vulg., read, iraXa*, "long ago," "ye have 
 Jong thought." 
 
 himself, but he saddled Titus upon them ; and he inaugurated the 
 collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, and how do we know 
 but that he will repay himself out of this ? " 
 
 17, 18. "Did I make a gain of you? ... I desired Titus, and 
 with him I sent a brother. ... in the same steps ? " Here he in- 
 dignantly repels the charge, and in so doing his feelings seem to 
 have mastered, for the time, his powers of expression. " I desired 
 Titus to come and make up your contributions; and that there 
 might not be occasion for even a breath of suspicion with him, I 
 sent a brother — rather, the brother, the one I mentioned (viii. 22). 
 Did Titus make a gain of you ? So far from this, we walked in the 
 same spirit of ministering the things of the Gospel to you freely ; 
 walked we not, too, in the same steps ? Did not he, Uke myself, 
 work in other ways than preaching for his livelihood ?" 
 
 19. "Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you?" The 
 oldest MSS. read irdXai, "long ago," instead of Tra'W, "again; " and 
 if so, the sense would be, "Ye have long ago thought that we 
 merely stand on the defensive on our own account, and make 
 humble apologies. It is not so. On the contrary, we speak not 
 before you, but before God in Christ ; but still it is for your sake, 
 for your edification, for if ye think of us as crafty, deceitful persons, 
 the word of God spoken by us will not profit you." 
 
 20. " For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as 
 I would," &c. " I shall not find you such as I would." To whom 
 
428 LEST THERE BE DEBATES. [II. Cok. 
 
 find you sucli as I would, and that ^ I shall be found unto 
 i 1 Cor. iv. you sucli as VG would uot : lest there he debates, 
 
 21. ch. X. 2. "^ . '' 
 
 &xiu.2, 10. envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisper- 
 ings, swellings, tumults : 
 
 does he allude ? Surely, we hope, not to the greater part of them ; 
 but the Apostle invariably treats a Church as an unit, and if some 
 were sinful or impenitent or remiss, he seems to impute it to the 
 whole, as if mutual exhortation, and internal discipline, and kind 
 consideration would have prevented much, if not aU, the evil. 
 
 " And that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not." He 
 was their father in God, but he was also the special messenger and 
 ambassador of Christ, to retain, if needful, their sin, and to bind it 
 upon them ; and whether, as he writes in 1 Cor. iv. 21, he comes to 
 them " with a rod, or with love, and with the spirit of meekness," 
 depends upon themselves. And so he proceeds. 
 
 " Lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings," 
 &c. "Debates." This is to be taken in the old meaning of the 
 word, which signifies, not controversies, but quarrels even to blood- 
 shed. Thus in Shakespeare (" Henry IV.," part ii. iv. 4) ; — 
 
 " Now, lords, if heaven doth give successful end 
 To this debate that bleedeth at our doors." 
 
 "Envyings" — rather anger, used most frequently in a bad sense. 
 In Gal. V. 20 it is put down as a vice which will exclude from the 
 kingdom of God, though most unfortunately there translated by 
 the almost creditable term " emulations." 
 
 " Strifes," or, perhaps, parties — always regarded by the Apostle as 
 sinful — " backbitings, whisperings." The first ought not to be ren- 
 dered " backbitings," but rather open reproach and obloquy, in 
 contrast with the second, which is rightly rendered " whisperings." 
 
 " Swellings, tumults." " Swellings," the same word at the root 
 as that in 1 Cor. iv. 18, and v. 2. It cannot be better translated. 
 It reminds all of the old fable of the frogs puffing themselves out to 
 vie with the oxen. 
 
 This passage is much to be remembered. In any body of men 
 where there is freedom of speech, and matters are decided by the 
 majority, there is a tendency — and, in fact, more than a tendency — 
 to quarrelling, and factiousness, and sharp, cutting language, just 
 
Chap. Xn.] LEST, WHEN I COME AGAIN. 429 
 
 21 And lest, when I come again, my God ^ will humble me 
 among you, and that I shall bewail many ™ which ^ <-h. u- 1, 4. 
 have sinned already, and have not repented of 
 
 as in an opposite state of things, where no free expression of 
 opinion is allowed, there are engendered apathy, and spiritual 
 slumber, and want of energy. But if we have the very great ad- 
 vantage — in fact, we should say the privilege — necessary to any 
 healthy condition of the Church, of coming together to consider 
 matters pertaining to the well-being of the Church, we must every 
 one of us consider that all which engenders angry passions, and 
 parties, and schisms, and strife, is deadly sin. Ebullitions of it 
 have to be repented of and confessed, just as sins of uncleanness or 
 dishonesty have. At least we cannot but learn this from the sins 
 which are all classed together as deadly in Gal. v.^ 
 
 There should always be freedom of speech, and there should be 
 always the abiding consciousness that the abuse of it is not merely 
 wrong, but deadly. In this it is only in the same category with 
 many other good gifts of God, which in their use are most salutary, 
 but in their abuse most destructive. 
 
 21. "And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me," 
 &c. The Apostle held that the souls whom he had gathered into 
 the Church were, as he had said before (1 Thess. ii. 19), his crown 
 of rejoicing. Every impenitent sinner then among them was as a 
 jewel loosened, and ready to fall out. He had gloried in this his 
 beloved Church — but in what ? not in their numbers, but in their 
 faith, hope, and obedience. Now he was afraid lest his glorying 
 should be turned into shame. 
 
 *' Many which have sinned already." Eevisers translate " which 
 have sinned heretofore." This cannot well mean before their con- 
 version, as some suppose, but must of necessity mean during their 
 
 1 I am writing this at the conclusion of the second Manchester Church Congress. The 
 first was held some twenty-five years ago, and I remember well the fiery weapons which 
 different parties hurled at one another, and the confident prediction by worldly wise 
 people of my acquaintance that the ship of the Church was going all to pieces. But these 
 persons did not take account of one thing — of the presence of the Spirit of God within us. 
 He was provoked to depart, but He has not. And the account of the Second Congress is 
 indeed a proof of this. There was the presence of representative Churchmen of all 
 classes— there was the freest expression of opinion, there was no attempt at a hollow and 
 enforced unanimity, but there was charity such as no one who remembered the first 
 Congress in that city could have hoped for. 
 
430 THIS IS THE THIRD TIME. [H. Cob. 
 
 the Tincleanness and "^ fornication and lasciviousness which 
 n 1 Cor. V. I. thej have committed. 
 
 Christian state. It reads us now a lesson, for there are very many 
 who hold and unblushingly declare that sin is not sin in believers, 
 whereas their belief does not protect them from falling into even 
 gross sin, if they are careless and unwatchful, and unquestionably 
 increases the guilt of their fall. 
 
 " And have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and 
 lasciviousness," &c. Each sin committed has to be repented of 
 and confessed, or it may be written against us in God's books. 
 
 Notice how those who, as a Church, " came behind in no gift, wait- 
 ing for the coming of our Lord," might have their consciences yet 
 uncleansed from these deadly sins of impurity. " O cleanse thou 
 me from my secret faults. Keep thy servant also from presump- 
 tions sins, lest they get the dominion over me. . . . Let the words 
 of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be alway acceptable 
 in thy sight, Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 » ch. xii. 14. 'nr^ HIS is ^ the third time I am coming to you. 
 so^TeuL^' i ' In the mouth of two or three witnesses 
 S'" M^t '^" s^^ll every word be established. 
 
 xviii, 16. John 
 
 viii. 17. Hebr. 
 
 X. 28. 
 
 1. " This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth 
 of two or three," &c. 
 
 " The third time." See notes on the fourteenth verse of last 
 chapter. 
 
 " In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall," &c. This seems 
 to mean that in investigating each case of sin or irregularity urged 
 against any members of the Church, he will proceed judicially, 
 according to the rule laid down in Deut. xix. 15, and not on mere 
 nearsay. 
 
Chap. XIII.] I WILL NOT SPARE. 431 
 
 2 ^I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, 
 the second time ; and being absent now I write « ch. x. 2. 
 
 to them '^ which heretofore have sinned, and to all "^ ch. xii. 21. 
 
 other, that, if I come again, ^ I will not spare : « ch. i. 23. 
 
 3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ ^ speaking in J Matt^x. 20. 
 me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty ch. ii. 16. 
 
 ^ in you. s 1 Cor. ix. 2. 
 
 4 ^ For though he was crucified through weak- »» Phil. ii. 7, 
 
 8 1 Pet iii. 
 
 ness, yet 'he livetli by the power of God. For is. 
 
 ^ we also are weak || in him, but we shall live with j, ge^ch?x. 
 
 him by the power of God toward you. ^'^• 
 
 J i- J II Or, with 
 
 him. 
 
 2. " And being absent now I write." So E., K., L., P., most Cursives, Syriac, Arm., 
 Goth. ; but K, A., B., D., F., G., 17, 23*, 67**, 80, d, e, f, g, Vulg., omit " I write." 
 The sense is cai*ried on from the preceding verb " (I foretell) to them which," &c. 
 
 2. " I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present," &c. 
 *' Foretell you," i.e., tell you now beforehand, as if, &c. 
 
 " I will not spare." This seems to mean something of what is 
 implied in 1 Cor. v. 5. It cannot mean, *' I will not spare you in 
 the infliction of reproof," for he could not well exceed in severity 
 the words of reproof written in these two epistles. 
 
 3. " Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me," &c. Do you 
 wish to neglect my commands in order that ye may experience 
 the power of my excommunication ? Remember that in all which 
 I speak as an Apostle, Christ speaks in me. His word in me has 
 been in former times powerful to separate you from your sins. Do 
 not dare its power to separate you, if you fall back into sin, from His 
 Church and grace. 
 
 4. *' For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth 
 by the power of God. For we also are weak," &c. In this verse 
 the Apostle asserts that he and those like him who abide in Christ, 
 partake both of the death and the life of Christ. Their union with 
 Him does not raise them above that weakness of flesh by which 
 He died, but it makes them partakers of that life-power by which 
 He hves. Now this power is not only a power to convert and build 
 up in the Church, it is also a power of reproof, of discipline, and 
 if need be, a power of penal correction. 
 
 5. " Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove your 
 
432 EXAMINE YOURSELVES. [II. Cok. 
 
 5 ^ Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove 
 1 1 Cor. xi. 28. your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, 
 10. Si7i"." ™how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be 
 n^coj.ix. "reprobates? 
 
 2^- 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are 
 
 not reprobates. 
 
 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil ; not 
 
 7. "Now I pray to God," So E., K., L., most Cursives, Syr., Goth. ; bat ti, A., B., 
 D., P., Q., P., 17, 23, 31, 37, 57, 73, 80, Ital., Vulg., Copt., Arm., ^th., read, " we pray 
 God." 
 
 own selves." " Yourselves " being the first word in the sentence, is 
 very emphatic, and seems to throw us back to the words in the 
 third verse. There they sought a proof of Christ speaking in him, 
 now he retorts, " Do not examine me, try, examine yourselves. 
 Try whether ye be in the faith, whether ye yet hold the truths of 
 Christ which I have taught you. See whether ye hold firmly the 
 truth of the Lord's Kesurrection : for ye have among you those 
 who say that there is no resurrection. See whether ye hold to the 
 truth of the Mystical Body, that Christ is the Head and ye the mem- 
 bers. See whether ye hold to the truth assured to you in the Eucha- 
 rist, that we being many are one bread and one body ; for we are 
 all partakers of that one Bread." I fix upon these three things, 
 because respecting each one St. Paul seems to have had misgivings 
 whether they held the truth of it in integrity. 
 
 "Prove your own selves." Prove your faith by your love, in 
 which ye seem so deficient. 
 
 " Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, 
 except," &o. " Reprobates," rather " spurious," when assayed not 
 found to be true metal. " If you are true members of His Body, if ye 
 are not cut off by God, there must be some tokens of His presence 
 within you." 
 
 6. " But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates." 
 There seems something of irony in this. " If we were unapproved 
 by Christ, Christ would leave us to ourselves ; but you will see, I 
 trust, that He wiU not do that : whether we preach, or console, or 
 threaten, or exercise merited discipline, He will show, by His ac- 
 companying power, that He has not rejected us." 
 
 7. " Now I pray to God that ye do no evil ; not that we should 
 
Chap. XIII.] YOUR PERFECTION. 433 
 
 that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that 
 
 which is honest, though ° we be as reprobates. • ch. vi. 9. 
 
 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but 
 for the truth. 
 
 9 For we are glad, ^ when we are weak, and ye p i <^or. iv. lo. 
 
 f ' , . , '^ ch. xi. 30. & 
 
 are strong : and this also we wish, '^ even your xii. 5. 9, 10. 
 
 r. >_• q 1 Thess. iii. 
 
 perrection. 10. 
 
 appear," &c. The sense seems to be — " Our earnest desire in our 
 prayers for you is not that we should appear approved of God by your 
 being, as it were, a credit to our ministrations, but that ye should 
 do what is good and right, no matter whether to our credit or not." 
 A very subtle temptation of ministers of Christ is here made mani. 
 fest. They may pray for their flocks, not with absolute single- 
 mindedness, but that their flocks, or those whom they have con- 
 verted, may be an honour to them. This is not to be. "When we 
 pray for others it must be simply and solely for their own sakes, 
 and our own selves must not come in in any way. 
 
 8. " For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth." 
 " If we find you," he says, "in good repute, having driven away 
 your sins by repentance, and having boldness towards God : we 
 shall not be able thereafter, were we never so wilHng, to punish 
 you, but should we attempt it even, God will not work with us. 
 For to this end God gave us our power, that the judgment we 
 should give should be true and righteous, not contrary to the truth.'' 
 (Chrysostom.) 
 
 9. " For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong : and 
 this also," &c. Weak and strong, here, cannot both be applied to 
 the same thing, as, for instance, faith or hope or charity. St. Paul 
 cannot be glad that he is weak and the Corinthians strong in such 
 things as these : but he rejoices in the presence of his peculiar 
 weakness, most probably his " thorn in the flesh," if only the power 
 of Christ rests upon his converts. 
 
 "And this also we wish, even your perfection." This verse is 
 the only place where the noun here translated perfection {KaTdpnaig) 
 is used in the New Testament : but the verb is frequently used, as 
 particularly in 1 Cor. i. 10. " Now I beseech you, brethren, that 
 ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among 
 you, but that ye be perfectly joined together {Karnpnafiivoi) in the 
 
434 BE PERFECT, BE OF GOOD COMFORT. [II. Cok. 
 
 10 "^ Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being 
 
 'icor. iv. 21. present *I should use sharpness, * according to 
 ch. ii. 3. & X. "^ -.,,_/,'. ^ 
 
 2. & xii. 20, the power which the Lord hath given me to 
 
 8 Tit. i. 13. edification, and not to destruction. 
 
 t ch. X. 8. 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be 
 
 " Rom. xii. * , •"• 
 
 l^ 18. & XV. 5. of good comfort, "be of one mind, live in peace ; 
 Phiiii.k & and the Grod of love ""and peace shall be with 
 
 iii. 16. 1 Pet. ^ 
 
 iii. 8. you. 
 
 » Rom. XV. 33. 
 
 same mind and in the same judgment." All their evils, for which 
 he had so severely blamed them, arose out of their divisions : and 
 here, at the close of the second letter, he desires that these may- 
 exist no longer, but that there may be perfect unanimity in faith, 
 and hope, and practice. This would be their perfection as a Church. 
 Stanley translates it, " Your perfect joining together." 
 
 10. " Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being pre- 
 sent," &c. He dreaded the thought of being among them in a state 
 of righteous indignation against their unrepented sin — what recrimi- 
 nations there might be, perhaps what passion, what opposition ! 
 above all, he dreaded having to use such a weapon as excommuni- 
 cation — cutting off the offending members from Christ's Mystical 
 Body by denying to them the participation in that Most Holy Food 
 which sealed to each his connection with that Body. For the power 
 which Christ had given to him was primarily to build them up in 
 His Body ; not to cut them off from it. That use of Apostolical 
 power was abnormal, as it were, though at times most needful. 
 
 11. *' Finally, brethren, farewell." Literally, rejoice, a different 
 word from that used in Acts xv. 29, but with the same meaning. 
 
 " Be perfect," i.e., be perfectly joined together. 
 
 " Be of good comfort." Literally, be comforted. Some render 
 it, *' Be exhorted : receive my exhortation." Stanley joins the two, 
 •' Be comforted and exhorted." 
 
 " Be of one mind, live in peace." It is to be noted that this 
 final exhortation is all directed against their divisions, the apparent 
 root of all the evil ; but these divisions arose from want of uniform 
 firmness in holding the truths of the Gospel — such truths as the 
 mystical Body and its unity, and the holiness of the bodies of 
 Christians as being members of Christ, and the Eesurrection in the 
 power of Christ's glorified Body. 
 
Chap.XIIL] all the SAINTS SALUTE YOU. 435 
 
 12 ^ Greet one another with an holy kiss. y Rom. xvi, 
 
 T o * n 1 . 1 16. 1 Cor. 
 
 id All the saints salute you. xvi. 20. 1 
 
 Thess. V. 26, 
 , I Pet. V. 14. 
 
 "And the God of love and peace shall be with you." God can- 
 not be with a divided Church in the fulness of His presence and 
 power. The Church must at least endeavour to be of one mind, 
 and God will second the endeavour ; or looking at it from another 
 side, when God, Who is the Author of peace and lover of concord, 
 draws them together, they must obey His drawing. 
 
 12. "Greet one another with an holy kiss." Probably this 
 letter would be read at the next celebration of the Eucharist. St. 
 Cyril of Jerusalem notices the kiss of peace as given just before the 
 Sursum Corda. His words, as explanatory of its significance, are — 
 *' Then the deacon cries aloud, * Eeceive ye one another, and let 
 us kiss one another.' Think not that this kiss ranks with those 
 given in public by common friends. It is not such: this kiss 
 blends souls one with another, and solicits for them entire forgive- 
 ness. Therefore this kiss is the sign that our souls are mingled 
 together, and have banished all remembrance of wrongs. For this 
 cause Christ said : * If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there 
 rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee ; leave there 
 thy gift upon the altar, and go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy 
 brother, and then come and offer thy gift.' The kiss, therefore, 
 is reconcihation, and for this reason holy ; as the blessed Paul has 
 in his Epistles urged : 'Greet ye one another with a holy kiss,' 
 and Peter, ' with a kiss of charity.' " After the reading of such a 
 letter as this, so full of merited reproof of divisions, and such 
 humbling of himself, what a significance this kiss of peace would 
 have ! 
 
 13. " All the saints salute you." The word " saints " here is 
 used in its widest sense. It includes every member of the mystical 
 hody who was dedicated to God, and continued in the outward 
 profession of that dedication. It is impossible to suppose that St. 
 Paul had in in his mind a select number of particularly holy and 
 good Christians as distinguished from the whole Church. In the 
 first Epistle the same salutation runs : " All the brethren greet 
 you." In the Epistle to the Komans it is, "The Churches of 
 Ohrist salute you." 
 
 14. " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
 
436 OF EATING AND DKINKING UNWORTHILY. 
 
 14 ^ The grace of fhe Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
 « Rom. xvi, G-od, and ^ the communion of the Holy Grhost, 
 » Phil. ii. 1. ^6 with you all. Amen. 
 
 % The second ejpistle to the Corinthians was 
 written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, 
 by Titus and Lucas. 
 
 14. "Amen" omitted by H, A., B., F., G., 14, 17, 67**, f, g; retained by D., E., K., 
 P., most Cursives, d, e, Vulg., Goth., Syriac, Copt. 
 
 and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." This is 
 the " grace " with which the daily of&ces of the Church ends. It is 
 the strongest assertion possible of the equality in substance, power, 
 and eternity of the ever-blessed Three. For grace or blessing is 
 invoked from Each, as if Each was the co-equal source of blessing. 
 Who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Who is the Holy Ghost, that 
 They should be thus placed side by side with the Supreme Being ? 
 The only possible answer is m the creed of the Catholic Church. 
 " The Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, is all one ; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal." 
 
 EXCUESUS I 
 
 OF EATING AND DEINKING UNWORTHILY. 
 
 Verses 27, 28, and 29 of 1 Cor. xi. raise the question, What do the 
 wicked receive in the Eucharist ? Upon the answer to this question 
 it has been supposed that the doctrine of the real objective Presence 
 of the Body and Blood of the Lord depends — if good and bad alike 
 receive the Lord's Body and Blood, then our faith does not bring 
 about the Presence in the Eucharist. It must be there quite inde- 
 pendent of our faith ; but if only those who have faith receive It, 
 then it is assumed — I think much too hastily — that we are shut up 
 to the conclusion that there is no Objective Presence in the elements ; 
 and this in point of fact signifies that there is no Inward Part 
 which the faithful take and receive, and consequently that there 
 is no Sacrament. 
 
OF EATING AND DRINKING UNWORTHILY. 437 
 
 Now it seems to me beyond all manner of doubt that the Apostle 
 teaches that the Body of Christ is so present in the elements which 
 have been blessed and given, as to be capable of being profaned. 
 According to him the Body of Christ requires to be discerned. 
 We become guilty of It if we receive It without discerning It. 
 "Whatever meaning we give to the word " discern," such as " con- 
 sidering," it amounts to the same thing. We must discern It in 
 what we take and eat. 
 
 Now the Lord's Body can be in but one of three places : — 
 
 1. It is in heaven locally. 
 
 2. It is in the Bread sacramentally, that is, after some mysterious 
 mode of presence, which no one in our present state can under- 
 stand, and which leads us into endless confusion and contradiction 
 if we try to define or explain it. 
 
 3. It is supposed to be in our hearts spiritually, but this last 
 seems to me an incorrect way of speaking: for "body" and 
 *' blood " can hardly be said to be in the heart. The memory of 
 one dear to us, or his love, or his saintly character, or some 
 emanation of his wisdom, may be in our hearts : but surely not 
 his body and his blood in any true sense. And the Scriptures 
 never speak of Christ's Body and Blood being in our hearts : but 
 He Himself tells us that the reception of His Flesh and Blood is 
 a means to an end, which is, that He should be in our hearts, and 
 so He says, " He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood, 
 dwelleth in me and I in him." 
 
 Now it is impossible to suppose that our Lord by saying, *' This 
 is my Body," and requiring us to say it in remembrance of Him, 
 meant us to believe and profess that His Body is in heaven, and 
 that what He gave or ofi'ered was a symbol of His Body now in 
 heaven — in fact, infinitely distant and apart from and absent from 
 that which He gives to us through His ministers. 
 
 And it is equally impossible to explain it as if He meant any of 
 those other means by which He comes into our souls, so that we 
 should love Him, such as by the Holy Spirit or the Scriptures or the 
 preaching of the Gospel. For how is it possible that He should 
 offer to us the Spirit or knowledge by a name which is the very 
 opposite of Spirit, for flesh and spirit are the very opposites of 
 one another? 
 
 Now the Lord offers to us a Sacrament, a thing which has, to 
 use most ancient words (those of Irenseus, quoted on page 182), an 
 
438 OF EATING AND DRINKING UNWORTHILY. 
 
 outward and an inward reality — a thing which, to use the words of 
 the Catechism, has two parts, an outward part or sign, and an 
 Inward Part. 
 
 This is what the Lord offers. But what do we receive ? It is 
 clear that we must receive that which He gives unless something 
 inter^'-enes between His giving and our receiving to prevent it. 
 And here apparently the matter would rest in our acquiescing in 
 the fact that the wicked receive the same thing offered and given 
 as the good do, though of course not the same benefit : but it does 
 not rest here ; for in the discourse in which our Lord prepares His 
 Apostles to expect some extraordinary blessing in the reception of 
 His Flesh and Blood, He only contemplates that Flesh and Blood 
 being received beneficially : *' He that eateth my Flesh and 
 drinketh my Blood, dwelleth in me and I in Him " (John vi. 56). 
 
 Our Lord here, as I said, was leading His Apostles to expect 
 some very great benefit which He would give to them, but when> 
 and in what form, they were to receive it, He did not then tell 
 them. Shortly after this He ordained the Eucharist in terms which 
 would lead them to think of His previous words respecting eating 
 His Flesh and drinking His Blood, but in instituting this Com- 
 munion He says not a word respecting either benefit or danger. 
 When His Church was founded it was instructed orally in all 
 necessary truth respecting the Eucharist, just as it was instructed 
 orally in all other truth, because every Epistle of the Apostles 
 assumes that the Christians to whom it was written were grounded 
 in all the truths of the Gospel ; for there is no single Epistle which 
 assumes to teach Christian doctrine ah initio, as we have to do 
 with children when we catechize them in schools, or as we have 
 to do in the case of ignorant heathen just converted. 
 
 An occasion, however, arose very early in the history of the 
 Church in which the Christians of Corinth needed to be sharply 
 reminded that there was great danger as well as great blessing 
 attending the reception of the Eucharist. It might be received 
 to salvation, or it might be received to condemnation. The 
 Christians in question had profaned the Lord's Supper by mixing 
 it up with the Agape, and receiving the consecrated Bread as if it 
 was the bread of the Agape : and the Apostle as the organ of the 
 Holy Spirit speaks to them in the strongest terms about the danger 
 of profaning the Most Holy Food, and the terms which he uses are 
 only consistent with the fact that the Body of Christ was there to 
 
OF EATING AND DRINKING UNWORTHILY. 43D 
 
 be profaned, and that men might be guilty of It, and eat and 
 drink their own condemnation in consequence. 
 
 These are all the places in the Scriptures which bear directly on 
 this matter. The Lord in John vi. only contemplates His people 
 receiving a blessing from eating His Flesh and drinking His 
 Blood. On His offering to them His Body and Blood on the night 
 of His betrayal, He makes no specific mention of benefits to be 
 received or dangers to be avoided. And His servant St. Paul, 
 speaking as His Apostle and special representative, has occasion 
 to mention only the danger : but let us remember that his view of 
 the danger was that of one who believed thoroughly in the words 
 of Institution, " This is my body," and that the Body of the Lord 
 was there to be received to condemnation ; and so that men must 
 discern It in the consecrated element, or they would eat and drink 
 their own condemnation, and would be guilty not of mere care- 
 lessness or irreligion, but of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 
 
 It is clear, then, that there is but one passage of Scripture to 
 which we must look for direct information as to what we are to 
 warn the wicked against ; and if we follow the guiding of this pas- 
 sage we must warn them of a danger in some sort proportionate to 
 the blessing which they may receive, and St. Paul describes this 
 danger as being "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord." 
 
 Now this would be analogous to the danger we incur in receiving 
 other great gifts of God unworthily, particularly the gift of the 
 Third Person in the Godhead. Men may certainly receive the 
 Spirit of God unworthily. They may receive Him so as to grieve 
 Him (Ephes. iv. 30), even after they have been sealed by Him — so 
 as to rebel against Him and vex Him (Isaiah Ixiii. 10), even to 
 quench Him (1 Thess. v. 19), and provoke God to take Him away 
 from them (Ps. li. 11). 
 
 All this could not be said if God, foreseeing men's wickedness, 
 should give them some other spirit, not His own Spirit. 
 
 And does not the analogy of God's conduct in this respect lead 
 us to consider that What the wicked eat unworthily and to their 
 condemnation is What the faithful receive worthily and to their 
 salvation ? The thought is very terrible, but there is this to miti- 
 gate its severity, that the Apostle does not contemplate in the case 
 of unworthy eaters their consignment to eternal misery, but to 
 some temporal punishments which he specifies. 
 
 This that I have written would suffice so far as the practical 
 
440 OF EATING AND DRINKING UNWORTHILY. 
 
 application of 1 Cor. xi. 27-30, is concerned ; but as I write mainly 
 for Churchmen, it will be necessary to say something respecting 
 this matter of the danger, as it appears in the formularies of the 
 Church of England. 
 
 In the Eucliaristic service itself, the view taken of the danger is 
 undoubtedly the Pauline view. In fact, St. Paul's words respect- 
 ing it are reproduced and contrasted with the words of the Lord in 
 John vi., which promise unspeakable benefits. "Ye . . . must 
 consider how St. Paul exhorteth all persons diligently to try and 
 examine themselves, before they presume to eat of that Bread, and 
 drink of that Cup. For as the benefit is great if with a true peni- 
 tent heart and lively faith we receive that Holy Sacrament ; (for 
 then we spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ, and drink His Blood ; 
 then we dwell in Christ, and Christ with us (John vi. 56), we are 
 one with Christ and Christ with us (1 Cor. x. 16, 17) ; so is the 
 danger great if we receive the same unworthily. For then we are 
 guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour ; we eat and 
 drink our own damnation, not considering the Lord's Body ; we 
 kindle God's wrath against us." Nothing can set forth more 
 clearly this, that the same Body is a blessing to the one and a 
 curse to the other. By some It is realized, and by others It is 
 profaned. 
 
 But there is a passage in a far more sacred part of the Service 
 (in the prayer of humble access, just before the prayer of Consecra- 
 tion,) which is far more important in its teaching — indeed, seems 
 to comprehend in the fewest words the whole matter : " Grant us 
 therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of Thy dear Son Jesus 
 Christ and to drink His Blood, tJiat our sinful bodies naay be made 
 clean by His Body, and our souls washed through His most precious 
 Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in Him, and He in us." 
 If words have any meaning, these imply that we may so eat the 
 Flesh and drink the Blood, that we may not be made clean — not 
 be washed — not dwell in Him, and He in us. The whole passage 
 is unintelligible except on the hypothesis that there are two 
 eatings of the same most Holy Thing, an outward one, which must 
 take place wherever the Sacrament is received, and a spiritual 
 one, in which the spirit takes its part in the eating — discerns what 
 it eats, and so eats to life eternal. 
 
 One of the thirty-nine articles (the twenty-ninth) deals with this 
 question as to what the wicked receive. From the heading of tiiis 
 
OF EATING AND DRINKING UNWORTHILY. 441 
 
 article, we should gather that the wicked in no sense eat the Body 
 of Christ, for it runs : " Of the wicked which eat not the Body of 
 Christ in the use of the Lord's Supper ; " but when we come to 
 look to the contents of the article, we find that the categorical 
 affirmation of the heading or title is carefully avoided, for we read 
 that the " wicked, although they do carnally and visibly press 
 with their teeth the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, 
 yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ." This carefully avoids 
 the direct statement which, contrary to the plain words of St. Paul, 
 would make us hold that the wicked eat a mere symbol, and it 
 is also perfectly consonant with the expressions in the prayer of 
 humble access, that we must so eat the Flesh of Christ as to be 
 made clean, which implies that we may so eat as not to be made 
 clean. 
 
 And besides this, the Article recognizes that all who eat eat a 
 Sacrament, i.e, a thing which has an outward part and an Inward 
 Part. The Lord offers and gives, not the outward part merely, but the 
 whole Sacrament, when He says, " Take eat, this is my Body," and 
 St. Paul follows this up by saying, " He that eateth and drinketh 
 unworthily is gailty of the Body and Blood of the Lord." Now the 
 Article says that the wicked eat to their condemnation, because 
 they do " eat the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." The sign 
 here, having regard to the nature of a Sacrament, is a sign of the 
 presence of the Inward Part, and so the fact that the wicked 
 receive both parts to their condemnation is not impugned by the 
 article. 
 
 I said at the beginning of this note, that it is clear that we re- 
 ceive that which He gives, unless something intervenes between His 
 giving, and our receiving, to prevent it. 
 
 Now this is not an impossible supposition. One of our greatest 
 authorities on the Eucharist, Dr. Pusey, in speaking of what the 
 Lutherans hold, writes : " The belief that the wicked too receive 
 that which is Sacramentally the Body and Blood of Christ, even 
 while they can in no wise be partakers of Christ, implied a firm 
 belief in the Objective Presence of that Body and Blood. This was 
 explicitly stated in the Smalcald Articles, the larger Catechism of 
 Luther, and the Formula Concordiae. The belief in the Objective 
 Presence may indeed be maintained without it, if it be held that 
 God withdraws that presence in such cases, as if through careless- 
 ness (as has often happened when the Sacrament has been reserved) 
 
442 OF EATING AND DRINKING UNWORTHILY. 
 
 the consecrated element be devoured by an animal " (Sermons on 
 the Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist," vol. i., Note b, page 
 36 of Notes). 
 
 This withdrawal, however, in the case of the wicked, does not 
 seem consonant with the teaching of St. Paul, which we have been 
 considering. 
 
 The reader who has paid any attention to the history of the 
 Prayer Book and Articles is, of course, aware that this article was 
 not in the first draught of the Articles. The Articles in their 
 present form were ratified in 1563, but the 29th was not printed 
 as one of them till 1571. It appears that though approved by 
 Archbishop Parker, it was unacceptable to the court, probably 
 more particularly to the Queen. The Article, especially with 
 regard to its reference to a passage in Augustine, formed the 
 subject of some correspondence between Parker and Cecil. ^ Now 
 I do not mean to infer from this that the Article is not now on the 
 same footing as the other Articles as regards its authority, but this 
 difference of opinion respecting its contents audits non-publication 
 for so long a period assures us that the discrepancy between the 
 heading of the Article, which seems levelled against Lutheranism 
 as well as Eomanism, and the sentence in it which merely says 
 that " the wicked in eating in no wise partake of Christ," and care- 
 fully avoids saying that they in no sense eat His Body, is inten- 
 tional. It is impossible to give the author of this Article credit for 
 a mistake. The Article is of too much importance controversially 
 for that, and so we must perforce read into the title of the Article 
 some such words as "to their soul's health" — " of the wicked which 
 eat not the Body of Christ to their salvation in the use of the 
 Lord's Supper." In this way only can it be reconciled with the 
 words of the Apostle, with the analogy of God's dealings in giving 
 very great gifts which may be received to destruction, and with 
 many words in the Eucharistic service, especially those in "the 
 prayer of humble access." 
 
 "With respect to the opinion of Augustine, it is to be remembered 
 that in several places that father very plainly expresses himself as if 
 there were two sorts of eating of the Flesh of Christ. " Do so many 
 who either in hypocrisy eat that Flesh and drink that Blood, or 
 who after they have eaten and drunk become apostate — do they 
 
 1 See Bishop Forbes on the Articles, p. 590, fourth edition. 
 
APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 443' 
 
 dwell in Christ, and Christ in them ? Yet assuredly there is a 
 certain manner of eating that Flesh and drinking that Blood in 
 which whosoever eateth and drinketh dwelleth in Christ. He then 
 doth not dwell in Christ and Christ in him who eateth the Flesh 
 and drinketh the Blood of Christ in any manner whatever, but 
 only in some certain manner" (Serm. 71). 
 
 Again : " Any one who unworthily receives the Sacrament of 
 the Lord does not, because he himself is evil, cause It to be evil, 
 nor because he receives not unto salvation, has he received noth- 
 ing, for that was no less the Body and Blood of the Lord to those 
 also to whom the Apostle said : ' He that eateth and drinketh un- 
 worthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself ' '* (De Bapt. 
 cont. Don., v. 8). I owe these quotations to Bishop Forbes on 
 the 29th Article, where the reader will find more to the same 
 purport. 
 
 EXCUESUS II. 
 
 ON THE TKADITIONS DELIVEEED BY ST. PAUIi 
 TO THE CHUECHES. 
 
 Verse 2 of Chapter xi. of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
 in connection with several other passages, forces upon us the con- 
 sideration of the question, " What was the instruction given by 
 St. Paul to the Churches planted by him in such things as the idea 
 and the conduct of public worship ? " 
 
 I trust I shall be pardoned if I repeat what I have written on this 
 verse in my notes, as it will serve to make my present remarks 
 better understood. 
 
 " ' I praise you that ye remember me in all things, and keep the 
 ordinances,' &c. No doubt this means that they followed the 
 directions which he had given respecting a large number of what 
 we should deem secondary matters. The ordinances, or traditions, 
 or paradoseis are the laws and rules respecting public worship and 
 private conduct, which he delivered to them to observe. He did 
 not preach the Gospel to them and then say, ' I have done my part ; 
 now you are at liberty to follow your own fancy, and to make what 
 
444 APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 
 
 ecclesiastical regulations you think will suit you best.' Nothing 
 of the sort. We find that he uses such expressions as, * as I teach 
 everywhere in every church,' * so ordain I in all churches,' 
 * stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, 
 whether by word or our epistle.' 1 Cor. iv. 17 ; vii. 17 ; 2 Thess. 
 ii. 15. It may be asked, why have these ordinances and traditions 
 not been preserved and come down to us ? To which we answer, 
 we do not know whether these traditions, many of them, at least, 
 have not come down to us. In all human probability they form 
 part of that body of Church observance, which we find everywhere 
 recognised in the very early Fathers, and prevailing in all parts of 
 the Catholic Church (such, for instance, as the reverent use of the 
 sign of the Cross, the remarkable features common to all the 
 typical Liturgies, Infant Baptism, the early rather than the late 
 celebration of the Eucharist). Anyhow, the ship of the Church, 
 from the first, has gone in one direction, in the Catholic direction, 
 in the direction of Catholic dogmas and marked ritual observance, 
 and it is impossible to conceive how it could have done so if these 
 'traditions' of St. Paul — and, doubtless, those of his brother 
 Apostles — had been conceived in a Puritan rather than in a Catholic 
 spirit. The direction in which the Church was to sail was given 
 from the first." 
 
 I will now explain what I mean with respect to one point, and 
 that is, public worship on the Lord's day. 
 
 The large Protestant bodies which took their stand outside the 
 pale of the Catholic Church, and severed their connection with the 
 past at the time of the Eeformation, insisted on a fact, for the truth 
 of which they had not a particle of evidence to show, viz., that the 
 Apostles ordained — or at least that the Apostolic Churches fell in 
 with — a type of service which, whatever it was in other respects, was 
 non-Eucharistic and non- Sacrificial. It is assumed to have usually 
 consisted of a psalm for the commencement of worship, a long prayer 
 (in the Continental bodies, I believe, mostly a written or printed 
 form), sermon, a psalm, another sermon, and a concluding prayer, 
 also of considerable length. This service was non-Eucharistic, 
 and therefore non- Sacrificial, for the only service in Christian 
 times to which the idea of sacrifice in any sense could be connected, 
 was the Eucharist. The Eucharist, or Holy Communion (for its 
 celebration among these bodies can scarcely be called Eucharist), 
 was quite separate from the usual weekly service on the Lord's day. 
 
APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 445 
 
 It was observed very few times in a year, certainly not so much as 
 monthly. In the form of observance ordered by Calvin, though 
 prayers are permitted, there is not a single Eucharistic prayer, 
 though the minister is directed to expound the words of the Lord 
 in the Institution. Such was, and to a great extent is, the Divine 
 service of all non-Catholic bodies in Western Europe. It will 
 suffice to say that there is no trace of it whatsoever in any 
 ancient writer, and that it was invented for the express purpose 
 of keeping the Eucharistic idea out of the usual Lord's day 
 worship. 
 
 ]3ut in two writers, each one of whom dates from the first 
 century, there is a notice of Church worship which is totally in- 
 consistent with this, the ultra-Protestant idea. 
 
 One is in an Epistle to the Corinthians by Clement, whom all 
 ancient writers who mention his name identify with the Clement, 
 the companion of St. Paul.^ This Epistle is mentioned by Eusebius 
 as having been read as a Canonical Epistle in some churches. No 
 ecclesiastical historian puts the writing of it later than the year 
 100. Most assign it to between 80 and 90 after Christ, that is 
 about twenty-five years more or less after the martyrdom of St. 
 Paul. He writes thus respecting the worship of the Church : 
 *' These things being manifest to us, and looking deep into the 
 depths of Divine Knowledge, we ought to do all things in order, 
 whatsoever the Lord has commanded us to perform at stated times. 
 The Oblations and Liturgies to be celebrated {rdg re Trpoccpopdg Kai 
 Xetrovpyiag liriTiktiadai), and that they should not take place at 
 random, or disorderly, but at definite times and hours. "When and 
 by whom they should be celebrated He has fixed by His own 
 supreme will, in order that all things, being holily done according 
 to His good pleasure may be acceptable unto Him " (first Epistle to 
 the Corinthians, ch. 40) ; and again, '* Our sin will not be small if 
 we eject from the Episcopate those who have blamelessly and 
 holily offered the gifts " {irgoatvsyKovTaQ to, diopa), ch. 44. Now I 
 
 1 Thus Ireneeus describes him as " This man as he had seen the blessed Apostles, and 
 had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the Apostles still 
 echoing in his ears, and their traditions before his eyes." And then he proceeds to state 
 the occasion on which he wrote the Epistle to the Corinthians. Origen speaks of him as 
 referred to by St. Paul in Philippians iv. 3, and as the third Bishop of Rome (Origen on 
 John i. 29) ; Eusebius as having been proved by St. Paul's Epistle to have been his 
 lellow labourer. Book 3, ch. iv. 
 
446 APOSTOLICAL TEADITIONS. 
 
 •do not intend to discuss this passage as to its orthodoxy or the 
 contrary, but simply to draw attention to the fact that it was 
 written by a friend and companion of St. Paul within, at the out- 
 side, twenty-five years after his death, to a church planted and 
 watered by the same Apostle. St. Clement then must have known 
 the traditions which St. Paul delivered to the Churches, and so 
 must the Church to which he wrote, for St. Paul commends them 
 for having kept them. Is it then conceivable that if the Apostle 
 had ordained the typical form of worship which has prevailed 
 amongst ultra-Protestants since the time of the Eeformation, ?.e., 
 two or three metrical psalms or hymns, two long prayers, and 
 one or two sermons,^ a contemporary of his should have alluded 
 to it in the above terms ? Whatever be the exact meaning of the 
 words used by Clement no terms could possibly be conceived 
 more unfit to describe the worship of the Protestant bodies in 
 Scotland, or Holland, or France. 
 
 But though totally inconsistent with the idea of ultra-Protestant 
 worship, these terms are quite in harmony with the Sacrificial 
 Eucharistic terms which we find in all the ancient Liturgies. These 
 Liturgies, of which we have specimens yet remaining, were used 
 in aU parts of the world, and all contain sacrificial terms answering 
 to those used by Clement. I give those in two or three of the most 
 ancient. The Clementine, " Wherefore having in remembrance His 
 Passion, Death and Eesurrection from the dead. His return into 
 heaven, and His future second appearance, when He shall come with 
 glory and power to judge the quick and the dead, and to render to 
 every man according to his works : we offer unto Thee our King and 
 our God according to His Institution, this bread and this cup, giving 
 thanks to Thee through Him, that Thou hast thought us worthy 
 to stand before Thee, and to sacrifice unto Thee ; and we beseech 
 Thee that Thou will graciously look on these gifts now lying before 
 Thee, O thou all-sufficient God, and accept them to the honour of 
 Thy Christ, and send Thy Holy Spirit, the witness of the suffer- 
 ings of the Lord Jesus on this Sacrifice, that he may make this 
 bread the body of Thy Christ," &c. 
 
 This passage, taken from what is undoubtedly the most ancient 
 
 1 In Holland, where, I believe, the original form of service of the Calvinists is yet 
 more strictly adhered to, there are two sermons following close npon one another. It is 
 not so, however, I believe, in Scotland. 
 
APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 447 
 
 type of Liturgies, fairly represents the Sacrificial expressions found 
 in all of them. In order not to break too much the continuity of 
 my argument, I give a few more instances from other typical 
 Liturgies in a note.^ 
 
 Another instance of this Sacrificial language, applied to the 
 worship of Christians, I shall take from a source representing 
 apparently a very different body of tradition from that of St. Paul 
 — a much more legal one — viz., the " Didache of the twelve 
 Apostles." " And on each Lord's day of the Lord be ye gathered 
 together, and break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your 
 transgressions, that our Sacrifice may be pure. And let none that 
 hath a difference with his fellow come together with you until they 
 be reconciled, that our Sacrifice be not defiled. For this is that 
 which was spoken by the Lord. * In every place and time offer 
 me a pure Sacrifice (literally, mincha or bread-offering). For I 
 am a great king, saith the Lord, and my name wonderful among 
 the Gentiles.' " 
 
 Now there can be little doubt but that the treatise from which 
 this is quoted is of the remotest antiquity. I believe that the 
 writer or compiler was unacquainted with any one Epistle of St. 
 Paul, or was opposed to his claims, as might well be the case if he 
 
 1 Thus St. James : " Wherefore, having in remembrance His Life-giving Passion, 
 Salutary Cross, Death, Burial, and Resurrection from the dead on the third day; His 
 Ascension into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of Thee His God and Father, and 
 His Second bright and terrible appearance, when He shall come again with glory to 
 judge both the living and the dead, and shall render to every man according to his works, 
 we sinners ofiFer to Thee, O Lord, this tremendous and unbloody Sacrifice," &c. 
 
 St. Mark : "Sanctify also, O God, this Sacrifice with Thy heavenly benediction." 
 
 The Malabar : " Lord, mighty God, strengthen my weakness by Thy mercy, and 
 make me worthy of the assistance of Thy grace that I may offer to Thee an oblation for 
 the benefit of all men," &c. 
 
 The ^thiopic : " And now, O Lord, celebrating the Memorial of Thy Death and 
 Resurrection, we offer to Thee this bread and this cup," &c. 
 
 The Ancient Galilean Ofiice used in Gaul, Britain, and Spain before being superseded by 
 the Roman : "Thou art truly holy, truly blessed, O Lord God, the Father Almighty, 
 by the salvation of them that believe, and the Redeemer of all in Christ ; through Whom 
 we pray and beseech thee, that thou wouldest vouchsafe to receive, bless, and sanctify 
 this oblation that it may be grateful and acceptable, which we offer unto Thee for the 
 peace of Thy Church," &c. 
 
 These are from Liturgies used in the most ancient times in all parts of the world, and 
 many more might be added. They are to be fonnd in " Brett's Collection of the Primitive 
 Liturgies;" in "The Liturgies of St. Mark, St. James, St. Clement," Ac, translated by 
 Rev. J, M. Neale, and a "Translation of Four of the most Ancient" in a volome of 
 Clark's Ante-Nicene Library. 
 
448 APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 
 
 was -writing for Palestinian Jews. I believe the treatise was pub- 
 lished before any of the Apostolical Epistles were in circulation 
 throughout the Church ; for if such Epistles had been received by 
 most churches, such a treatise as this, so legal, so unevangelical, 
 so undoctrinal, never could have been put out as the Didache of 
 the Apostles. 
 
 But the important point to be obsen-ed is, that the writer, by 
 quoting (partially) the famous passage, Malachi i. 11, as referring 
 to the Eucharist, substantiates, so far as his authority goes, the 
 Sacrificial idea in the Eucharist. In this he is followed by two or 
 three very ancient writers. Thus Justin Martyr, "Hence God 
 speaks by the mouth of Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, as I 
 said before, about the Sacrifices at that time presented by you. 
 * I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord ; and I will not accept 
 your Sacrifices at your hands : for from the rising of the Sun unto 
 the going down of the same, my name has been glorified among 
 the Gentiles, and in every place incense is oflered unto my Name 
 and a pure ofiering (mincha, bread, or flour- ofi'ering).' . . . He 
 then speaks of those Gentiles, namely us, who in every place ofi'er 
 Sacrifices to him, the bread of the Eucharist, and also the cup of 
 the Eucharist." Now, supposing that Justin Martyr was of middle 
 age when he wrote this, his own memory of Ecclesiastical matters 
 would reach to the time of Clement's Epistle, or nearly so, i.e., to 
 within twenty or thirty years after the martyrdom of St. Paul, and 
 to the latter years of the life of St. John. 
 
 Irenaeus writes, "He (Jesus Christ) took that created thing, 
 bread, and gave thanks, and said, * This is my Body : ' and the cup 
 likewise, which is part of that creation to which we belong. He 
 confessed to be His Blood, and taught the New Oblation of the 
 New Covenant : which the Chm-ch, receiving from the Apostles, 
 offers to God throughout all the world, to Him Who gives us the 
 means of subsistence, the first-fruits of His own gifts, concerning 
 which Malachi, among the twelve prophets, thus spoke before- 
 hand." And then he quotes Malachi i. 10, 11. "The oblation of 
 the Church, therefore, which the Lord gave instructions to be 
 ofifered throughout all the world, is accounted with God a pure 
 Sacrifice, and is acceptable to Him." (" Irenseus against Heresies," 
 Book 4, xvii. 5 ; xviii. 1.) 
 
 Irenaeus' personal memory of Church matters would have 
 reached to about a.d. 120 ; that is, to about twenty years after the 
 
APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 449 
 
 death of Sf. John, and fifty years after the death of St. Paul, at 
 which time it is impossible to suppose that the traditions respecting 
 worship which he had delivered to the Churches had become for- 
 gotten or extinct, and that other regulations and ideas of worship 
 of a totally opposite character had taken their place. 
 
 The state of the case, then, is this. There are two types or 
 modes of solemn Christian worship in question ; one which con- 
 sists of prayers wholly unconnected with the Eucharist, and hymns 
 or metrical Psalms, and a sermon or sermons : and the other, such 
 a service as has been handed down to us from ante-Nicene times 
 in such a Liturgy as that called the Clementine, and in the 
 Liturgies of St. James and St. Mark, and in Liturgies used in parts 
 so remote from one another as Gaul, Spain, -(Ethiopia, Meso- 
 potamia, and Malabar, all containing Sacrificial terms and expres- 
 sions used with reference to the consecrated elements as connected 
 most closely with the words and action of our Lord at the 
 Institution of the Eucharist. 
 
 Of the first of these, the non-Eucharistic service, not a single 
 tradition or notice has come down to us. Of the second, the 
 Eucliaristic or Sacrificial, we have a continuous series of notices, 
 reaching from the time of contemporaries of the Apostles Paul and 
 John, to 348 or 350 a.d., when a celebrated Father of the Church, 
 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, delivered a catechetical lecture upon it, 
 describing it somewhat minutely. 
 
 Now of the things to which St. Paul in this Epistle alludes under 
 the name of traditions or paradoseis, only two apparently have come 
 down to us, and their appearance in the Epistle seems owing to the 
 fact that they had been neglected or not realized. One of these is the 
 veiling of women in church, the other the mode in which the 
 Lord instituted the Eucharist, the latter of which the Corinthians 
 had, for jjrcfane and unworthy purposes, confounded with the 
 Agape. 
 
 It was not, therefore, beneath the Apostle's notice to lay down 
 very strict regulations respecting the conduct of public worship. 
 Now, seeing that in his time the Sacrificial nature of the Eucharist 
 was fast getting hold on the Church, and seeing that prophecies 
 respecting the nature of the pure worship of the Messianic future 
 were appealed to in support of this, it was surely incumbent upon 
 the Apostle to deUver, either in writing or orally, some such 
 tradition as this : " We ordain, as the Apostle of the Lord, that on 
 
 a a 
 
450 APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 
 
 no account is there to be anything in your worship which can he 
 called Sacrificial. Your prayers are to be the utterances of the 
 president of your assemblies at the moment. Your praises and 
 thanksgivings are not to be over the cup or the bread which repre- 
 sents the Lord's Body and Blood ; rest assured that you wrongly 
 interpret the prophecies of Malachi and other prophets if you 
 imagine that they refer to the Communion of the Lord's Body 
 and Blood." 
 
 The Apostle's zeal for the glory of Christ and the purity of 
 Christian worship would have certainly led him to deliver some 
 such tradition as this ; but if he had, how was it that the worship 
 he ordained wholly disappeared, and the worship which he must 
 have denounced was prevalent everywhere, even in his own genera- 
 tion, though his memory was everywhere cherished as the most 
 honoured servant of the Lord ? 
 
 I am well aware in writing all this of the difficulty which very 
 many Christians have in accepting the Sacrificial idea of the 
 Eucharist, but let such remember that by Sacrifice we mean 
 nothing offered in the least degree after the manner of a Jewish 
 Sacrifice, neither do we mean anything approaching to a fresh 
 immolation of the Lord. 
 
 Which mode of worship seems most in accordance with the will 
 of the Father ? One in which all is left to the will of the presiding 
 minister or elder, whether he should plead the Sacrifice of Christ 
 at all — whether he should even so much as mention the atoning 
 Death ; ^ and if he does, it should be apart from, and, as a rule, 
 wholly unconnected with, the one Kite which the Lord ordained 
 for His people, that in it they should show forth His Death till He 
 comes. 
 
 Or one in which the Christian worship should be that which 
 the Lord Himself ordained — in which, no matter how it is cele- 
 brated, the Death of the Eternal Son must be set forth — in which 
 Christian people are united together as one Body in the Crucified, 
 whilst the idiosyncrasy of the minister is put as much in the back- 
 ground as possible, and in which, in closest union with the Sacrifice 
 
 1 Let the reader remember that in this I am not fighting with a shadow. The 
 Reformed bodies of Holland, France, and Switzerland have been so rationalized or 
 Sociniani-aed that the all-atoning Death may for weeks and months together be not 
 pleaded in the prayers. 
 
APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS. 451 
 
 of the Eecleemer, we are privileged to offer up ourselves living 
 Sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God, our reasonable service. 
 
 Note. — I have fully discussed this subject of the Sacrificial nature 
 of the Eucharist in my "One Offering," to which I refer the 
 reader. 
 
 CH IS WICK press:— C. WMITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 From The Church Quarterly, October, 1883. 
 "It is far the best practical Commentary that we know, being plain- 
 spoken, tearless, and definite, and containing matter very unlike the milk 
 and water which is often served up in [so-called] practical Commentaries. 
 . . . For solid Church teaching it stands unrivalled. Nothing could be 
 better than the notes on the Sermon on the Mount, and the practical lessons 
 drawn with convincing clearness from our Lord's words on the subject of 
 Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. Throughout the whole book the writer 
 is ever on the watch for general principles and teaching applicable to the 
 wants of our own day, which may legitimately be deduced from the Gospel 
 narrative." 
 
 From The Church Times, February 2Srd, 1883. 
 " The question of the origin of the Four Gospels is well treated, and a 
 more succinct account of the real standing of the Evangelists with respect to 
 each other, or to a supposed original document from which all copied, could 
 scarcely be found than that contained in these few pages. Some few pages 
 introductory to the critical portion of the volume, and explaining the 
 elements of textual criticism, bring us to the text of the Commentary itself. 
 Throughout the whole of its pages the same evidence of scholarship and 
 critical acumen, which distinguishes all the author's work, is apparent ; 
 while the faculty of conveying such knowledge to the minds of the least 
 learned m a simple and forcible manner, is abundantly preserved, and will 
 procure tor this work the position of one of the best of popular commentaries. 
 Many of the notes extend beyond the scope generally implied by the term, 
 and become full explanations of doctrinal subjects such as will prove of 
 immense value to the student as well as to the general reader. We may 
 cite as an instance of this exhaustive process the lengthy note on St. Matt. 
 XV i. 18, and those notes on the Parables, which, severally ti'eated in their 
 entirety, present a more intelligible meaning than when explained in short 
 disjointed notes. Finally, it remains to mention the fact, which, however, 
 goes without saying, that the tone of the Commentary is thoroughly 
 ("atholic, so that the reader will find here a firm defence of the supernatural 
 and divine character of the Gospel stoi'y, which never condescends to the 
 tone of much of modern criticism, but remains true to primitive Catholic 
 leaching." 
 
 From Church Bells, November ISth, 1882. 
 " It is written in a clear and sensible style, with a healthy tone ; and its 
 practical portions are devout without being wearisome or ' goody.' " 
 
 From The Church Review, November, 1883. 
 " A valuable and substantial contribution to the litei'ature of the New 
 Testament is made by Mr. Sadler in the volume now before us. . . . It 
 might be said that every page of the work lights up the grand historical 
 character of the Church as the one supreme authority for the authenticity 
 and interpretation of the books of Scripture." 
 
From The Church Times, Decemher 21st, 1883. 
 
 " We have much pleasure in announcing the issue of ' Tlie Gospel according- 
 to St. John, with Notes, Critical and Practical,' by the Rev. M, F. Sadler 
 (George Bell and Sons), a companion volume to his gloss on St. Matthew, 
 and a redemption of the pledge he gave therein to carry on his labours 
 to the remaining Gospels. This is admirably done, being exactly what 
 is wanted for that large and increasing class of readers who need the results 
 of genuine scholarship and sound vigorous thought, but who are repelled by 
 any surface display of erudition, and still more by dryness of treatment, 
 
 The admirable lucidity, which is the distinctive quality of Mr. 
 
 Sadler's style, comes out markedly in his annotations, whether they take 
 the form of pithy clearings up of verbal difficulties or more elaborate 
 dissertations on important points of doctrine ; and he is a good judge in 
 selecting the best matter supplied by his precursors, such as Olshausen, 
 Stier, Godet, and, above all, St. Augustine, whose commentary on St. John 
 is one of that Father's ablest works. This is much less of a mere 
 grammatical inquiry than Professor Westcott's volume in the ' Speaker's 
 Commentary,' but it is much more of a theological explanation, and that of a 
 far sounder and deeper school." 
 
 From The Literary Churchman, December 7thf 1883. 
 "... Apart from these longer and more continuous glosses, the reader 
 constantly meets with single pithy notes, which by their clear common 
 sense solve a difficulty at once, and satisiy the understanding promptly, 
 so that this is quite the best popular commentary on S. John we know, 
 without implying by that epithet that even advanced students of Biblical 
 literature will not find ample profit in consulting it." 
 
 From The Church Times, Odoh&r Srd, 1884. 
 " We gladly chronicle the third instalment of Prebendaiy Sadler's clear 
 and sensible Commentary on the Gospels, which exactly meets the needs 
 of that large and increasing class, which, without pretending any interest 
 in the more abstruse problems of scholarship in connection with the Greek 
 Testament, is desirous of having in its hands a trustworthy guide to the 
 actual meaning of the sacred writers, and some plain statement of the 
 results accepted by that calmer type of scholars who understand the nature 
 of evidence, and ai*e not disposed to admit the validity of unsupported con- 
 jecture, however original and brilliant, as proof. .... The notes, as 
 always with Mr. Sadler, are singularly lucid, pithy, and to the point." 
 
 From Church Bells, November 22nd, 1884. 
 " This is a work of a veteran scholar and divine to whom the Church 
 owes much. Prebendary Sadler's writing is characterized by great clear- 
 ness of style, and he has a remarkably persuasive way of putting things. 
 His sermons, as well as his ' Church Docti'ine Bible Truth,' &c., have done 
 much towards furnishing the parochial clergy with materials for feeding 
 their flocks. In this commentary he aims at a yet more important object, 
 the instruction of the educated classes. He has carefully compared the 
 original Scriptures with the authorized and revised versions, and has set 
 himself to meet objections of scientific sceptics, and he has achieved great 
 
 success The volume is full of thoughts and suggestions for preachers 
 
 as well as for general readers." 
 
From The Saturday Eeyiew, February 21st, 1885. 
 " We can recommend his book to devout and cultivated Churchmen who 
 want to read the Gospels for instruction as well as for edification." 
 
 From The Church Quarterly, January, 1885. 
 
 "In reading the notes upon the text, the feature which strikes us 
 most is their intensely practical character. Mr. Sadler has a remurkable 
 faculty of bringing the teaching of the incidents of our Lord's life on 
 earth to bear upon the circumstances of our own time. Even where 
 the points brought out are well worn and familiar, there is a freshness in 
 his manner of treating them which adds greatly to the charm and value of 
 the Commentary." 
 
 From The Chtjech Times, July Srd, 1886. 
 " Indeed, one great merit in this commentary and its companion volumes 
 is the frequency with which notes are found, which are capable of being each 
 expanded into useful sermons. They are like very strong essences or tinc- 
 tures, which will bear considerable dilution before being employed medically, 
 though for convenience they are usually kept in the more portable form." 
 
 From The Church Quarterly, July, 1886. 
 " We must begin our notice of this volume by offering Prebendary Sadler 
 our hearty congratulations on the completion of his work on the four 
 Gospels. The previous volumes were all reviewed in our columns as they 
 appeared, and we have no hesitation in extending the welcome which we 
 gave to them to their present companion. It is no slight distinction for a 
 writer, after having made his reputation by what is confessedly the best 
 popular work on Church doctrine, to have produced what we hold to be the 
 best popular commentary on the Gospel narrative. There is no other 
 occupying quite the same ground, and we cordially recommend these four 
 volumes, in the now familiar blue binding, as for practical purposes the 
 most useful to the general reader." 
 
 From Church Bells, July 2nd, 1886. 
 " Mr. Sadlei-'s excellent qualities as a theological writer and expositor 
 are so well known that we need only introduce the reader to this, his last 
 Commentary on the Gospels, completing the series, by saying that it 
 presents the same features as its predecessors. It is somewhat longer than 
 any of the other three, a circumstance quite intelligible to those who con- 
 sider how a commentator's view of his responsibility must enlarge as he 
 proceeds with his work. To begin at the beginning, the Introduction is 
 excellent, clear, concise, and full. In short, it says all that need be said on 
 the authorship of the Gospel, and says it well." 
 
 From The Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, Nov. 6th, 1886. 
 
 " Originality of treatment, depth of insight, and thorough grasp of the 
 practical side of Divine truth characterize these commentaries of Mr. Sadler 
 on the four Gospels." 
 
THE ACTS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. 
 
 From The Guardian, July, 1887. 
 
 " We find, however, in the notes on St. Luke and the Acts the same 
 freshness in thought and style, the same direct and independent considera- 
 tion of the themes brought up on the sacred pages, the same knowledge of 
 what has been said by others, the same masterly use, alike without sub- 
 servience and without neglect, of the great and varied stores which our 
 predecessors have left to us of these days who study the New Testament. 
 The result is that Mr. Sadler's Commentary is decidedly one of the most 
 unhackneyed and original of any we have. It will often be found to give 
 help where others quite fail to do so, and its special value will be to the 
 preacher or teacher who has to give oral and practical instruction ; Mr. 
 Sadler's strong point being decidedly in pointing the application to con- 
 temporary thought and to life, its trials and its duties, of the divine words 
 with which he has to deal." 
 
 From Church Bells, July Sth, 1887. 
 
 " We can hardly imagine a commentary better adapted than Mr. Sadler's 
 for giving to the reader an antidote to that unsettling influence which is 
 now going about in the world, making people have a different set of 
 religious opinions every month or so." 
 
 From The Church Quarterly Review. 
 
 " There is vigour and freshness about his vio-itings which makes it 
 a pleasure to read them, while there is certain to be much that is in- 
 structive, and their tone and tendency are equally certain to be sound and 
 edifying. This short commentary on the Acts of the Apostles is no 
 exception to the rule, and it well supports the established reputation of its 
 author." 
 
 From The Church Times, August 2&th, 1887. 
 
 " Prebendary Sadler's useful commentary on the New Testament is 
 advanced another important stage by the issue of this volume on the Acts 
 of the Apostles, a part of Scripture whose interest and value seems to 
 increase daily, as investigation into the beginnings of the Christian Church 
 are pressed on with fresh vigour, alike by those who wish to prove 
 Christianity a mere human evolution out of materials lying to hand in 
 the Augustan era, and those who accept it as a divine revelation. Much of 
 the work which has been done of late years in connexion with the Acts and 
 other Fauhne records has been devoted chiefly to the externals of history, 
 geogi'aphy, antiquities, and the like, rather than to the religious teaching 
 which they contain ; and this fact makes a gloss from a theologian like 
 Mr. Sadler all the more welcome." 
 
THE EPISTLES. 
 
 From Church Bells, May 18th, 1888. 
 
 '* Mr. Sadlei* carries on his work with unabated vigour, and now we have 
 some hope of his boinpj able to give us a commentary on the whole of the 
 New Testament. Undoubtedly such a work when completed will be of 
 great value, as giving a well-thought-out exposition of the whole of the 
 sources from which we derive tLe history of the founding, as well as tlie 
 doctrines, of the Chi'istian Church, and this, too, an exposition which sup- 
 plies, not the mere personal opinions of its writer, althougli it is everywhere 
 tinged by his individuality, but the historical meaning of the teaching of 
 individual writers and of the Church at large. The ' introduction ' to the 
 present volume is excellent, giving all the requisite information without 
 any unnecessary waste of words." 
 
 From The Church Times, June, 1888. 
 
 " There are three excursuses at the end of the volume, on Justification, 
 on Election, and on the Christology of St. Paul, all carefully written, but 
 with most pains bestowed upon the second. We do not know a better book 
 than this Commentary to put into the hands of an intelligent Evangelical 
 who is beginning to doubt the soundness of the system he has heretofore 
 accepted, and is striving to find his way out and up into a higher and 
 clearer atmosphere." 
 
 From The Church Quarterly Reyiew. 
 
 " We hail with pleasure this addition to the Commentary on the New 
 
 Testament We think this volume will certainly sustain the high 
 
 position which Mr. Sadler has gained as a practical interpreter of Holy 
 Scripture." 
 
 From The Irish Ecclesiastical G-azette, April ISth, 1890. 
 
 •'Incomparably the best Commentary on the New Testament extant." 
 
 From The Banner, Maij 23rd, 1890. 
 
 " Ordinary readers could hardly have a better exposition of the sacred 
 books." 
 
 From The Literary Churchman, February 6th, 1891. 
 
 " This volume will be found to present all the characteristic excellences 
 of Mr. Sadler's method ; and it would be hard, indeed, to find any points of 
 objection to these terse, thoughtful, Church-like notes." 
 
Uniform tvith the Church Commentary, 
 Second edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 SERMON OUTLINES 
 
 FOE THE CLEEGY AND LAY-PEEACHEES. 
 
 321 Outlines arranged according to the 
 Church's Year. 
 
 This book, a book of suggestions rather than of mere divi- 
 sions, or skeletons as they were formerly called, has been 
 composed with a view to meeting the objection heard on all 
 sides that sermons at the present day are very deficient in 
 setting forth Christian doctrines. 
 
 From The Guardian, April 12th, 1893. 
 
 " It is easy to prophesy a considerable sale for this volume. . . . We 
 meet here all the well-known characteristics of his writings. The style is 
 straightforward and vigorous. There is never any doubt about his meaning. 
 His remarks are always pointed, and the arrangement of his material is 
 excellent." 
 
 From The Church Times, February 17th, 1893. 
 
 *•' This volume differs in three respects from most similar volumes: (1) 
 It aims, primarily, at supplying sketches of sermons on Christian Doctrine, 
 couched in clear, definite language. (2) It is a book t)f • suggestions, rather 
 than of mere divisions or skeletons.' (3) Jt includes lists of texts and 
 subjects for courses of Lenten and other sermons. The well-earned reputa- 
 tion of its author will be a sufficient guarantee for the soundness and 
 usefulness of the work." 
 
 From Church Bells, December 16th, 1892. 
 
 " They are adequate, and they are helpful ; they set forth the elementary 
 teaching of the Church's seasons, the redemption, salvation, and sanctifica- 
 tion of mankind. Each Sunday of each Church season has several appro- 
 priate texts and heads of discourses, and these are rich in wise suggestions 
 as to helpful teaching. There is much simplicity and strong meat for 
 learners. Prayer-book lines are made the rule throughout — the best rule 
 of all." 
 
 From The Eock, November Uh, 1892. 
 
 " We should think that it would be difficult to find anywhere such a real 
 help for preachers as these outlines afford. . . . Such depth of spiritual 
 teaching is seldom to be found." 
 
 From The Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, Nov. 11th, 1892. 
 *' This should be among the most popular and useful of Prebendary 
 Sadler's writings." 
 
 From The Clergyman's Magazine, December, 1892. 
 " These outlines are both Evangelical and doctrinal. They occupy 
 exactly one page of the book, and therefore afford ample opportunity for 
 the preacher's own powers of expansion." 
 
WORKS BY THE REV. M. F. SADLER, 
 
 Rkctor of Honiton and Prebendary of Wells. 
 
 New and cheaper Issue, price 2s. 
 CHURCH DOCTRINE— BIBLE TRUTH. 49th 
 
 Thousand. 
 "Mr. Sadler takes Chnrch Doctrine, specifically so called, subject by subject, and 
 elaborately shows its specially marked Scripturaluess. The objective nature of the faith, 
 the Athanasian Creed, the Baptismal Services, the Holy Eucharist, Absolution and the 
 Priesthood, Church Government and Confirmation, are some of the more prominent sub- 
 jects treated. And Mr. Sadler handles each with a marked degree of sound sense, and 
 with a thorough mastery of his subject." — Guardian. 
 
 New and cheaper Issue, price 2s. 
 THE CHURCH TEACHER'S MANUAL OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION. Being the Church Catechism 
 expanded and explained in Question and Answer, for the Use of 
 Clergymen, Parents, and Teachers. 46tk Thousand. 
 " Far the best book of the kind we have ever seen." — Literary Churchman. 
 
 Confirmation : An Extract from the " Churcli Teacher's 
 Manual." IQth Thousand. Price Id. 
 
 THE ONE OFFERING: a Treatise on the Sacrificial 
 Nature of the Eucharist. lUh Thousand. Trice 2s. GoJ. 
 
 "A treatise of singular clearness and force, which gives us what we did not really 
 possess till it appeared." — Church Times. 
 
 JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE : its Nature, Antecedents, 
 and Results. 2nd Edition, Revised. Price 4s. Gc?, 
 
 THE SECOND ADAM and THE NEW BIRTH; 
 
 or, The Doctrine of Baptism as contained in Holy Scripture. I'lth 
 Edition. Price -is. %d. 
 
 " The most striking peculiarity of this useful little work is that its author argues almost 
 exclusively from the Bible. We commend it most earnestly to Clergy and laity, as con- 
 taining in a small compass, and at a trilling cost, a body of sound and Scripiural doctrine 
 respecting the New Birth, which cannot be too widely circulated." — Guardian. 
 
 THE SACRAMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY; 
 
 or, Testimony of the Scripture to the Teaching of the Church on 
 Holy Baptism. Price -Is. ^d. 
 
 Cheap Edition. Sth Edition. Price &d. 
 
 THE COMMUNICANT'S MANUAL; being a Book 
 
 of Self-Examination, Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving. 32mo. 114^^ 
 Thousand. Price Is. 6d. 
 
 Cheap Edition for Distribution. Price Sd. 
 
 A Larger Edition. Red rubrics. Pcap. 8vo. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 SERMONS. Plain Speaking on Deep Truths. 8th Edi- 
 tmu. Price 6s. 
 
 Abundant Life, and other Sermons. 2nd Edition. Price 6s. 
 
 C. p. 3.98.-10000. 
 

 Date Due 
 
 
 P 27 ^.. 
 
 •niRcmt 
 
 
 ,1^ ' :< - 
 
 .^"•^ME 
 
 
 
 w r^^^^^j ^^1^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ftpl-^l^'AS 
 
 
 
 
 iii-^ 
 
 
 
 
 i . 
 
 
 
 
 ^'<v ^-^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 !• 
 
 
 
 ^NttflBojnjin''^ 
 
 » 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 fMk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i.nA ' ';■"" '^^ 
 
 iSJtt 
 
 
 
 J^^^^^Pi 
 
 
 
 
 ^'"■•'^--■^ 
 
 
 
 
 ahipsT'ti 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
.->;