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 12 3 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 4 5 6 
 
t = 
 
 A SHORT SUMMARY 
 
 OF THK 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE 
 
 i^: 
 
 •SSX^Tii 
 
 
 illi'lSiii 
 
 
 V 
 
 ill 
 
 \ 
 
 Jh- A.P.C. 
 
 •OTTAWA : 
 JOSE?H LOVEDAY, TRACT DEPOT. 
 1873. 
 
 i.'AUv£i Sa JL V^iii^ i3. 
 
^ ^lioii ^uniinuw 
 
 OF TllK 
 
 ^irst J§pi!^th to th^ ^arinthiHtjs. 
 
 The First E])istle to the Corintliiaiiswas written by 
 the apostle T*mil from Ephesiis (1 Cor. xvi. 5-8). 
 He had pi"0])ose<l to visit them from thence (2 Cor. 
 i. 15, 16), l.iit evidently had heard of their bad 
 state, which caused him to chanire his mind, and 
 write them a letter (2 Cor. i. 23). This letter 
 was most likely sent by Titus (2 Cor. ii. 13), 
 who brought back to l*aul the news of their 
 •obedience, and comforted his spirit which was 
 cast down (2 Cor. vii. 5-7). The Second Epistle 
 was written from Macedonia on the reception of 
 the gO(xl news. The contents of it diflter greatly 
 from that of the Papistic to the Romans. It gives 
 to us the picture of the internal condition of an 
 Assembly of God of that time, and shows how^ sadly 
 saints of God may depart from even decent moral- 
 ity if not walking in the light. Tlius it is most 
 practically blessed to us who live in a day when 
 many of the evils mentioned hvire are grown into 
 -enormous proportions, as giving the corrective 
 power, apart from all question of official rule, there 
 oeing ap])arently no elders, or deacons, in the 
 Church at Corinth. Thus the cross of Christ, Christ 
 Himself, and the Holy Ghost, are brought in as the 
 correctives to human philosophy and wisdom in the 
 first and Seconal chapters. The evils of disunion 
 are taken up in the third cha]>ter, and the presence 
 of the Holy Ghost in the temple of God brought in 
 as a corrective power. In the fourth chapter we find 
 
 J7^7^' 
 
the saints ])uffo(.l up for one UL'ainst the othor; se!f-sa- 
 tisfuction and pride manifest anionij^ tJK'ni. Th«' love 
 of the family of God is alluded to to eoi-rect the evil. 
 In the fifth ehapter we tind open sin amonirst them, 
 viz., fornication. In the !-ixth ehapter they are t;()- 
 ing to law one against the other, before the world, 
 The corrective ))ower aij;ainsi foi-nication is exhibit- 
 ed at the end of the chaj)ter. Tlie seventh chajiter 
 is occupied with re<^nlations about marriaij:;e an<l 
 the vai'ious calliiiirs of life. The eiidith c!ia])t( r, 
 about things ot1ei-ed to idols. Tl-e ninth el.aptcr, 
 about Paul's apostleship, ending iij» with a wai-ning 
 to preachers, and to the professing saints in general 
 (Chap. X. 1-15) from the example of Israel. All 
 this part of the Ej)istle may take a wide range as 
 to the house of (rod ; showing at the same time into 
 what sins saints may fall. The Lord's lal'le is then 
 taken up, and put in the very centre of Christian 
 worship, saints there expressing tlieir membershij) 
 of the body. In the eleventh chapter i lie true order of 
 the new creation is taken iij). This, with regulations 
 about men and women praying and jjrophesying 
 take up the lirst part; the Lord's Supper, as the 
 Assemoly meeting, the latter part. The truth of 
 the Church of Go(l us the Body of Christ follows, 
 in the twelfth chapter, showing its action in thi^ 
 members, and by its special gifts. The bond of love 
 which binds all together, follows, in the thirteenth 
 chapter, and the correctives to confusion in the 
 Assembly are treated of in the fourteenth cha])tei'. 
 but without introducing offici^d ride. In the tif- 
 teenth chapter, the question of the resurrection ot 
 the dead is taken up, some having even denied it 
 as God's truth. The sixteenth chapter closes the 
 Epistle. Thus the two aspects of the xVssembly of 
 God are brought out in this Ej)istle. First, as the 
 house of God, which is rather exhiliited in the tbr- 
 rner part of the Epistle (Comp. chaj>. iw. with ciiap. 
 
5 
 
 X., beo-ininni-:). ScHoiidly, the Body of Christ (Seo 
 chaj). X. 17; chap. xii.). Biitno\v*^lot uh look at 
 the P]i)i.stle a little inc.iv eloHely, and may the Lord 
 i^ive eyes to see, and understanding' heartn to iin- 
 <lei'stand. 
 
 ( HAPiEli I. 
 
 Paul was ealled lo f»e an ajK)stk' hy the will of 
 <iod ; he addresses them in connection with 8os- 
 thenes, a l>rother who had heeii converted anioiif^st 
 1 hem. perhaps the chief rulerof the syna^oj^ue, who 
 hadaccusedJ^iul and others hefoi-e (lidlio. If so he 
 was the second chiefi-ulerofthesynaiioirue converted 
 (See Acts xviii. 8-17 ). The A'ssembly of (iod at 
 Corinth is addresse<l. The Assembly ol (iod, out- 
 wardly ex])ressed at Corinth, may be viewed in 
 two aspects : First, ihose wlio were sanctified in 
 Christ .lesus. called naints, niiuht compose it; 
 secondly, those who in .very j)lace called upon the 
 Name of Jesus Christ the Lord. l>o!h theirs and 
 ours. Thus the P]pistle has both a wide and narrow 
 as])ect. and is especially adapted as addressed to 
 those who in every ])lace call on the Name of the 
 Lord. — to the wants of the ])resent dav. The 
 •'sanctitied in Christ Jesus" would have a peculiar 
 reference to the state of thini^s at Corinth. For if 
 set a])art tor God's lioly use. how was it there was 
 so much evil amongst them ? Thus they ai-e called 
 back to their primitive standing, and the usual 
 salutation of grace and jx'Jice from God the Father 
 and the Loitl Jesus Christ, is given +hem. Before 
 exposing their faults, he thanks (Jod for the grace 
 given them, and that in everything they are en- 
 riched by J(!sus Christ, in afl utterance and all 
 knowledge, so that they came behind in no gift, 
 waiting for the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who would confirm them unto the end, that they 
 might be blameless in the dav of the Lord Jesus 
 
6 
 
 Christ, ilo did not looiv at them as to his conli- 
 denee about tliem; if lie had. ho would have had many 
 mis«;ivings ; hut God was fdithfuL by whom they 
 had been called unto the fellowship ot" His Son. 
 Thus they were the Assembly of Go(i ; as to their 
 real standing, sanctitied in ('hrist Jesus ; as to their 
 profession with all others, they called on the Name 
 of the Lord. As to gifts, they were in every thing 
 enriched ; and as to their hope, they were looking 
 for the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus 
 having givea them their proper position and 
 privilegeis. and having thanked Goil for what he 
 could of them too, turns to them about the evils 
 manifested amongst them. He besought them by 
 the Name ot the Lord Jesus Christ that they all 
 might speak the same thing, and that there might 
 be no schism amongst them. The Name of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ was supreme, and tlie corrective of all 
 divisions, which must arise in proportion as that 
 Name was forgo! ten. The house of Chloe had told 
 him about them. Human pride and philosophy 
 were creeping in, and men-leaders elevated to 
 heads of schools of thought. Some said, "T am of 
 Paul, I am of Apollos, T of Cephas, and 1 of Christ." 
 AVas Christ divided ? Was Paul crucitied for them ? 
 Were they baptized in the name of Paul. He thanked 
 God he had only baptized a few of them. Baptism 
 then as now M-as a bone of contention, and men 
 leaders were using it for party purposes, as they 
 do now. Paul was not sent to baptize, like the other 
 apostles (Matt, xxviii. 19), but to preach the gospel. 
 He got his commission directly from heaven ; and 
 that gospel brought out in its fulness, as it is 
 afterwards, is the true corrective power to all 
 human wisdom and philosophy that was creeping 
 in. Wo must remombor that Corinth was one 
 of tiu! cities of Greek civilization. Consoqiiently 
 u young Assembly, just separated from the world. 
 
was in great danger of this influence. The cross 
 of Christ iti brought in (ver. 18-29) as the end of 
 all human wisdom and power. Christ Himself in 
 the jrlory is then exhibited as the wisdom of God 
 (ver. 30, 31), and the Spirit of God come down from 
 lieaven as the Kevealer and Communicator of this 
 wisdom to vessels of His choice in chap. ii. The 
 world, as to its wisdom, had been tested all through 
 the Old Testament times, and, by its wisdom, knew 
 not God (ver. 21). Then it pleased God by the 
 foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 
 This was a stumblingblock to the Jews who requir- 
 ed a sign, and who were looking for the power of 
 the kingdom, whilst it was foolishness to the Greeks 
 who sought after wisdom. Where was the power 
 of the kingdom in a crucitied Man? Where was 
 wisdom in Christ on the cross? Purely it was the 
 weak'joss of God exhibited yet stronger than men, 
 and the foolishness of God yet wiser than men, 
 arid we who are the called have found in it the 
 wisdom of God and the power ol God. As to 
 their calling, they were to know that not many 
 wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, 
 not manj'' noble, were called ; for God had chosen 
 the foolish, weak, base, despised tilings of the 
 world, to confound the wise, mighty, and those 
 things which were something. The cross of Christ 
 was thus the leveller and end of all human wisdom 
 and power. Strong and wise flesh was a mere 
 cypher in the light of it. Where are the boasted 
 schools of thought, the most lofty plans of educa- 
 tion, the highest seats of learning, in the light of 
 the cross? They all come to an end before God 
 there. Man may set them up afresh. He is setting 
 up what God has judged. Now is the judgment of 
 this world (John xii. 31). The cross proclaims bold- 
 ly, There is no wisdom in the world ; the princes of 
 it have crucitied the Lord of glory. Where is wis- 
 
(loin, then? In a Man up in lu'aven — in tlie Person 
 of the Son of (i()(]. Of God tlioy were in C'lirisl 
 .losus. Thai was fhe Chiistian'H position, wlio of 
 (i<hI was nia(U' unto thoni wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanetilication and leiU'niption, so that if they would 
 gh>ry tiiey should i^lory in the Lord. Thus the 
 cross of Christ put an end to all ^loiyin<( in the 
 tlesh. The revelation «»f Christ in tin* i;lory })ro- 
 elaimed that all wisdom, righteousness, sanetitii-a- 
 tion and redemption were centred in His ncj-Hon. 
 and conseijUi'iitly outside the earth. If the\' will 
 glory, let them glory in the Ijord. 
 
 f'HAPTER II. 
 
 As for himself, when he canu! amongst them as 
 heathens, he (li<l not use human wisdom in declar- 
 ing to them the testimony of (lod. His theme was, 
 as lie desci'ihed ahov«-, Jesus ( 'iii'ist andllim cruei- 
 tied. (rod IkkI chosen 'veak vessels to confound the 
 wise, and he was w^ith them in weakness, and fear, 
 and in much trembling, lli^ thus gloried in the 
 cross as pu! ting an end lo all ])ower in his tlcsh ; 
 he rejected all enticing words of man's wisdom as 
 his weaj)on, bat iie spoke in demonstration of the 
 Spirit aiul in power, so that their faith might not 
 stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of 
 God. The Spirit of God tlien was his energy, 
 and he testified of Christ the wisdom of God. 
 llowbeit, he spoke indeed wisdom amongst them 
 that were perfect (that is the saints), yet not the 
 wisdom of the world, nor of the princes of this 
 world which come to nought. Eut they spoke the 
 wisdom of God in a mystery, hidden indeed, but 
 which God ordained for our ijlorv before the world 
 began. This mystery, this hidden wisdom, came into 
 the woi'ld embodied in a Person, but none of the 
 princes of the world knew this, else they would not 
 Lave crucified the Lord of glory. Prophets might 
 
sponk ol iht"'.' iliin^H (luentioiK d in vcr. 7) but did 
 iiot uiuU'r>taii(l tlioni, Jis the pa88ai;e from Isaiah 
 quoted shows: " Kyo hath not Men, nor ear heard, 
 neitlier have entered into the heartot'man, the things 
 which (j!od hath i»roj)ared for them that iove ilim." 
 JFow was it then repealed.'' The Per on in whom 
 it was centred was taken up into t e irlory, hut (Jod 
 had sent down the Holy (Ji ost a-; tie Re etiler, and 
 no one could re\eal ^uch th,n<i:s but Ilim elf Tliia 
 was the j)resent j)ort on of siiints, as contrasted 
 M'ith what wont hefore. when the piophets wrote. 
 It was the dispensation ol ihe Holy Ghost, and 
 we reijuired J lis power as the Kevealer, lor 
 even with reganl to a man, what man outride 
 knows the things of a man, hut ihe spirit of man 
 that is in him? So of the things of God, no one 
 outside knew any! hing of them but the Spirit of 
 God. Xow they had received not the s]>irit of the 
 woi'id, hut the Spirit whicii is ofGod, that we might 
 k7ioir the things that are freely given to us of God. 
 And if we have received them, we cannot but speak 
 of them, not in the words that man's wisdom speak- 
 eth, but whici) the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing 
 spiritual things with sjiiritual. Now as to receiving 
 these things, the natural man d()e8 not do so, for they 
 are foolishness with him, neither can he know them 
 for they are spiritually disceined ; but he that is 
 spiritual discerneth all things, yet he himself is dis- 
 cerned of no man. For wi I at natural man has ever 
 known the mind of the Lord that he might instruct 
 Him ? (Isa. xl. 13). But we, who have leceived the 
 Spirit of God, have the mind of Christ. What want we 
 then with any other wisdom ? All natural wisdom, 
 as represented by the princes of this world, cruci- 
 fied the Lord of glory. God has 2)laced Him in the 
 glory. He is our wisdom. The Si)irit sent down is 
 tlie Hevealerof it (ver. 1(0. He alone knows the 
 mind of God. He is the Communicator of it in vessels 
 
i^Wr^^m 
 
 :.*.y- 
 
 TO 
 
 prepared l)\' Uim, and tl.(ise vessels have recciced 
 it, and iiave written it down in S])irit-taui;'lit words ^ 
 having the mind of ("hriot, Tliis is indeed a mys- 
 tery, but now revealed and ail oui-s in Christ. We 
 Jiave the mind of Christ. Oh, may tiie Lord give 
 us understanding liearts, to take in this^ that the 
 cross shuts oui all human |)4)wer and wisdom, as- 
 well as everything else of man, and that in Christ 
 revealed by the Spirit is centred all the wisdom of 
 which (to<1 is the source. It is tiu^ wisdom of God, 
 (Jod is the source of it (ver. 7). Christ is the cen- 
 tre of it (chai>. i. 30 j, and the Holy (Ihost the Ma- 
 vealer, communicating it in S]»irit-taughl words 
 (chap, ii, lO-lo). This is Cin'istianity as opposed 
 to human wisdom and schools of thought. 
 
 CHAPrEIl III. 
 
 The apostle now returns from his lofty subject to 
 the low state of the Corinthians. The subject of 
 the chapter is divisions (vers, 5-9) and their cor- 
 rection ( vers. 10-2o ). lie could not speak unto 
 them as to spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as 
 unto babes in Christ. They were not natural men, 
 for they were converted; still they were carnalj 
 babes in Christ, lie had fed them with milk, and 
 not with meat, for hitherto they were not able to 
 bear it. neither vet were they able. Their divisions 
 were a j»root of this. Alas, for the divisions of 
 Christendom ! The very things men glory in ])rove 
 their carnality. To say, I am of j'aul. f am of 
 Aj)ollos. was carnal. Who wei-e these men ? They 
 were onlv servants bv whom thev l)elieved. Paul 
 had planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the in- 
 crease. What was a planter and a waterer beside 
 the Lord of the garden ? Tliey should receive their 
 reward. Jiccordin.ijf to their labour, but the truth was 
 the saints on earth were God's husbandry (Comp. 
 John xv. l-il). They were God's building. This 
 
•mmwmrr>m 
 
 II 
 
 18 the mighty lever to diaw back saints from then 
 divisions. You don't belong to Calvinists, or Bap- 
 tists, or Weslov, or this sect or that i>arty, you be- 
 long to God. 'You are God's husbandry; you are 
 God's building. Oh. if tlie saints would only listen 
 to these word's, they would drop all sectarianism 
 at once, and come back to this, that they Ixdonged 
 to God. AVhat was Paul ? The Lord had handed 
 over to him the responsibility- of being a wise 
 master-builder of His building, so J^iul had laid 
 the foundation and another builds upon it. Let 
 every one take heed as to this. As to the founda- 
 tion, no man can lay any other tlian is laid, that is 
 Christ Jesus. ThatVoundatiim had been laid. The 
 builders are to take care what they build upon it. 
 Here the apostle brings out the doctrine of the 
 house of God handed over to the responsibility of 
 man, and tells it out to the Corinthians for their 
 warning, and to correct their divisit>ns. The real 
 building would go on, but Christ was the Builder 
 of the latter (See Matt, xvi. 18; 1 Peter ii 5,6).^ 
 The building was beyond the responsibility of 
 man, and was growing up to be a holy temple 
 in the Lord (See Eph. ii. 19-21). The gates 
 of hades should not prevail against it. But here it 
 is the house handed over to man's responsibility. 
 Man was the builder. One might build on the 
 foundation gold, silver, precious stones; another 
 might build"on it wood, hay, stubble : every man's 
 w-ork should be made manifest in the day of Christ, 
 and every man's work tried by tire, xho good 
 workman's work would abide, and he should receivt; 
 a reward on that day. The bad workman's work 
 should be burned up, and he should sutler loss. 
 Wood, hay, stubble, could not abide the tire. Yet, 
 he himself should be saved, yet so as by tire. It 
 is not here a question of salvation, Initof the saved 
 • )ne's irettinur rewards or sntferinLr h"^-"- There might 
 
i 
 
 12 
 
 indeed be a defiler of the temple of God, but iiim 
 God would destroj-. He had never got on the 
 foundation at all. The conclusion for the saints 
 was thisj that they corporately were the temple of 
 God ; and that the Spirit of God indwelt them. 
 
 They were the living walls of the temple, but the 
 Holy Ghost was the Inhabitant of the house. Won- 
 drous truth, that the Assembly should be made so 
 clean by the blood, that inside living walls com- 
 posed of new-creation men, the Holy Ghost could 
 dwell. Such was the visible Assembly at Corinth, 
 builded together for an habitation of God through' 
 the Spirit, Alas, what has it come to now! Biit 
 the truth is, as it was ever, that the Holy Ghost is 
 there. What has that Spirit to do with'divisions ? 
 He is the Spirit of Unity and Love. Divisions must 
 end amongst the saints if we come back to the ac- 
 knowledgment of His presence and power in the 
 house of God. Oh, that the gracious Lord might 
 brnig about this ! All this divisi(m was the fruit of 
 worldly wisdom, putting men-leaders at the head of 
 schools of thought. All was vanity before the I^ord. 
 The truth was, by circling round men and thus 
 forming sects, they were confining themselves to 
 two or three gifts, w-hilst all were theirs, whether 
 Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, for all belonged to 
 God, and they were Christ's and Christ is God's, 
 The great truths pressed are, tirst, that the saints 
 belonged to God, and not to men ; second, that the 
 Holy Ghost was present in the Assembly. He is 
 the Spirit of Unity and Love— the very opposite to 
 division. In 2 (hv. vi. 14-18, the presence of the 7/o/y 
 (ihost IS brougiit in as the corrective power to world- 
 liness; here (chap.iii.) to division; the two evils at 
 work in the i)resent day. There is on the one hand 
 national Christianity, the religion of the world; on 
 the other hand, seclarian disson.t. nnrrnwinf-' and di- 
 viding the membership of the btxiy. The presc'nc'e of 
 
18 
 
 the Holy Ghost in the house of God is the corrective 
 power to each ; and till the saints come back to the 
 ucknowlodgment of this wondrous truth, division 
 and worldliness mui^t eo on. But then everything 
 contrary to it must be dropped. The saints then are 
 brought back to this truth, that they are Christ's, 
 and God'i^, and that God the Holy Ghost is in the 
 temple of God, the Spirit of unity and not of divi- 
 sion. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 But then, if this was the case, what was the 
 real position of Paul and Apollos, and others like 
 them ? How are they to be accounied of? They 
 are servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries 
 of God (Comp. Matt. xxiv. 45-47; Luke xii. 42-44). 
 Moreover, if stewards, they must be found faithful. 
 As to this, the judgment of the saints, or of man, 
 was a small matter. This was man's day ; they 
 might judge of him as they liked. In a matter like 
 this, he had not even confidence in his own judg- 
 ment, but he so walked in the presence of the Lord, 
 that the Lord's judgment of him every d&y was his 
 greatest delight; and as to all the rest, the Lord 
 was coming, who would bring to light the hidden 
 things of darkness^ and would make manifest the 
 the counsels of the heart, and in that day should 
 every man have praise of God. Thus the apostle 
 always walked in the light of the judgment seat of 
 Christ, where all questions betwixt brethren would 
 be settled (Kom. xiv. 10-12), where every work- 
 man would receive his rewards or suffer loss (Chaj). 
 iii.l4),and where everything would be manifested 
 (2 Cor. v. 10), If the Lord judged him every day 
 now, and he loved it, it would be no ditlerent then. 
 AVhat a blessing, and what confidence, thus to walk 
 
 all stewards. A saijit Ih not a happy saint who 
 
14 
 
 1 
 
 does not walk in the full light of the judgment seat. 
 That light must shine on him in mercy and love 
 before he dies, for no unjudged flesh can stand there. 
 Hence the saint, instead of glorifying Christ on his 
 deathbed, is often brought to sad self-judgment and 
 sorrow, and struggles. Paul had referred to Apol- 
 los and himself in all these thin<»-s (Chap.'iii. 4, 5), 
 for their sakes, that they might learn in them not 
 to think of men above what was written, nor be 
 putted up for one against the other. This was the 
 evil at Corinth. Ministry was beginning to assume a 
 wrong place there. Instead of being servants, some 
 were wanting to be lords. Hence a puffing up. 
 But who made them to differ one from the other? 
 What had anyone, but what he received from God ? 
 They were glorying as if they had not received it. 
 They were rejoicing in their privileges, in their 
 gifts, reigning as kings, anticipating the kingdom 
 which would not be set up actually till the Lord 
 came, and he would to God that that time had come, 
 that ne miffht reiijn with them. Instead of its be- 
 ing the time for reigning, it was the time for suffer- 
 ing, for Christ was rejected, and God had set them 
 the apostles last, appointed unto death, a spectacle 
 to the world, to angels, and to men. To have Christ 
 as wisdom, was to be a fool in the world; to have 
 Him as our strength, was to be weak before the 
 Avorld. The}"^ were often even hungry, thirsty, na- 
 ked, buffeted, having no certain dwelling-place. 
 They laboured, working with their own hands; re- 
 viled, they blessed; persecuted, they suffered it; 
 defamed, thev intreated : thev were made as the 
 filth of the world, the offscouring of all things. Such 
 was the blessed walk of the ministers of Christ of 
 that day! This the Corinthians had forgotten, 
 ley took all the privileges as to position, without 
 
 Tl 
 
 .tv. 
 
 si.'L'iijg liitit Liicy vvCru us u suiit'riiig iej<3Cie(i Oiinst 
 in tlio world. Yet all this sharp rebuke, Avhich he 
 
.:>.^se3^*^- 
 
 15 
 
 was giving tliem, wan all done in love. It was not 
 to Hhiirne them, but as his beloved sons to warn them. 
 They might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, 
 it onlv puffed them up for one against the o^her. 
 But he was a father, a far Letter thing; he had be- 
 iTotteti them in the gospel. An instructor that does 
 not walk in Paul's ways, and who does not fall in 
 with the spirit of the gospel, or have fellowship 
 with it, is a poor thing. It tends to puffing up. But 
 real begetting in the gospel, and the calling to re- 
 membrance of it, begets love. He besought them 
 to be followers of him. For this cause he had 
 sent unto them his son Timothy', who would bring 
 his ways to remembrance, as ho- taught in every 
 Assembly. The love and affection of the family of 
 (lod is thus brought in to correct their vN-ays. Some 
 were puffed up as if the apostle would not come to 
 them, but he would come shortly and he would test 
 them. They might be full of utterance, but the 
 kin«rdom of God was not in word, but in power. A 
 man might be full of words, but is there the unc- 
 tion of the Spirit? This was the test. Did they 
 want him to come with a rod or in love ? 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 But there was something far worse— in the Assem- 
 bly of God at Corinth— going- on, than divisions, 
 and puffing up for one against another. There 
 was fornication allowed amongst them ; such forni- 
 cation as w^as not named amongst the Gentiles, that 
 a man should have his father's wife. A id they 
 were puffed up, and had not mourned that he that 
 had done this deed might be taken away from among 
 them. Sad evidence of the power of evil amongst 
 11,0 saints of God ! But as for himself, though al> 
 M'nt in Ixxly. bu< imxeni in spirit, he had judged 
 
 ..I. u- ..^ il>,^n..-l. iif(W(Mii. foMcerniiiL- him t ut IkkI 
 
 done this deed. In l' c Xamc of t'lC l.>;"l .'v'MIs 
 
...^ 
 
 nil 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 16 
 
 ChriHt when they were gathered together, and his 
 spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, to 
 deliver buch an one to Satan for the destruc- 
 tion of tiic flcsli, that the spirit might be saved in 
 the day of the Lord Jesus. His being absent in 
 body, did not hinder his being present in spirit. 
 One spirit united them, though in two places ; the 
 body was one; the Xame of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as Head and Lord of the .Assembly was one. Evil 
 in one place affected the whole body. They were 
 attachingthe Holy Xame of the Lord Jesus Christ to ^ 
 fornication, by allowing this evil amongst them. He 
 thus at once connects ihis Holy Name with the 
 Assembly ^^■hen fliey are gathered together, and 
 thus getting the conscience of the Assembly in con- 
 nection with that Xame, he forces them to judge 
 the evi'. What was the power ? The power of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Who rub^d outside the Assem- 
 bly of God ? Satan, the god of this world. Thus 
 to Satan ho must be handed, but all for his ultimate 
 salvation. Satan had rule over the flesh. Conse- 
 quently as he w^as permitted, for disciplinary purpo- 
 ses, to atHict Job; so, for the same purpose, would 
 the fornicat,.r be lianded to him, that his spirit 
 might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Eut 
 their conscience evidently was all wrong by allow- 
 ing such evil amongst them. Did they not know 
 that a little leaven leavened the whole lump ? Their 
 dull conscience was an evidence of this. But they 
 as to their position were an unleavened lump. 
 The body of Christ was outside evil, raised by the 
 power of the Holy (rhost out of death together 
 Avith Christ, and seated in heavenly places in Him. 
 It was a new creation, a new man (Eph. ii.). Old 
 leaven then had no place there ; it was to be purged 
 out, so that their practice might correspond to 
 
 w^kki^^^l..... -.,..11 I .* 
 
 what thev reallv 
 
 \VOI"<» 
 
 r:t:ii:\. 1 y 
 
 <.u- 
 
 UliiCUVCiiCd 
 
 ump. As for our past lost position, as connected 
 
n 
 
 with evil, Christ, our Passover Lai .b, was sacriticed 
 for us ; therefore, as Israel was to put away all 
 leaven from their houses where the blood was 
 sprinkled, so let us keep the feast, not with the old 
 leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the un- 
 leavened bread of sincerity and truth. A.s -^ Pass- 
 • over was the memorial of Israel's rede . •; .on out 
 of Egypt, so is the Lord's Table the memorial of 
 our redemption from a i-Tcater slavery, even from 
 eternal wrath. ^Vhilst it is a most blessed and pri- 
 vileged place therefore, it is also a place of self-judg- 
 ment, that is to say, a place from whence all evil is 
 judged and put away. The soul that docs not judge 
 itself is apt to come u.der the judgment of the As- 
 sembly, when tlu' evil is discovered, as the soul in 
 Israel that did not put away the evil U-aven was to 
 be cut oft*. Awful and solemn place for the Church of 
 God on earth to have! Yet such is its responsibility 
 before God. The body of Christ being an unleavened 
 lump, has thus no need of mercy (See Paul's saluta- 
 tion at the beginning of each Epistle). Conse- 
 quently, it has the power of judgment, which 
 individual believers have not (See Matt. vii. 
 1-4). He had written to them not to company 
 with fornicators; 3-et he did not mean altogether 
 that they were not to company with the fornicators 
 or other sinners of the world, for to keep altogether 
 separate from such w^e must go out of the world. 
 The world was full of them. ^ What he meant was 
 this, that if any man that w^as called a In-other was 
 a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, 
 or a drunkard, or an extortioner, witti such they 
 were not even to eat. They had not to judge the 
 world outside. (Jod judged that. But they were 
 responsible to judge evil within, and therefore to 
 jmt away the evil person. This might go against 
 
 ill Hi in ji"- iii%L-a:cr, uiii. \.ii\-. i^i-^-ij •-•i vv -^ - 
 
 Loixl Jesus Christ required it. The without and 
 

 18 
 
 within of tlic Asscm!)lyis thus with jealousy g-imi-d- 
 ed.* Within was an unleavened lump, and in their 
 practical walk they must conform to their position 
 bv putting awav the evil, if not judged, by the dis- 
 cipline of the Assembly. Outside was the world, 
 of which Satan was the god. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The next evil manifested amongst the saints at 
 Corinth, was, they were going to law with one 
 another, and that "before unbelievers. Did they not 
 know that the saints should judge the world? Were 
 they therefore unworthy to judge in the smallest 
 matters ? But they would judge also the fallen 
 angels. Were they not tlien able to judge the things 
 of this life? What humiliation were they exposing 
 themselves to! They were bringing their differ- 
 ences before unconverted judges, and they would 
 sit bereafter in judgment on those very men ! They 
 were going to judge angels, the least esteemed 
 amongst them too, and yet did not think themselves 
 competent to judge in the things of this life. 
 Let the least esteemed in the Church judge such 
 matters. Was there no wise man amongst them? 
 They had far better take wrong, be defraurled, than 
 do this. A manifest lack of love was shown in it 
 all. Did they not know that the unrighteous should 
 not inherit the kingdom of God ? Don't let them 
 deceive themselves; neither fornicators or idolat- 
 ers, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor 
 adulterers, nor effeminate, nor thieves, nor drunk- 
 a,rds, nor revilers, nor extortioners, should inherit 
 the kingdom of (lod. This was the former state of 
 some of them, but they bad nothing to do with 
 such things now; they were washed, they were 
 sanctitied, they were justified, in the Name of the 
 
 * T ■•i-iv' >i-. rl'iiilit tiir-ttne iriihiv and iriih'jut of .\BsembiieF rh-'y'.-.u 
 Ll" uuiw.uviV MKiila.l nii.l ki'!.t<Jiftuiof : uthciwifc there is confusicn. 
 
19 
 
 Lord JesuB and in the Spirit of our God. All 
 things were lawful, but all things were not expe- 
 dient; all things were lawful, but he would irot bo 
 brought under the power of any. He then fully 
 brings out their two-fold individual position, to 
 guard them against fornication and all unrighteous- 
 ness. The first in reference to Christ, the second 
 in reference to the Holy Ghost. They were wash- 
 ed, sanctified, justified, in this double relation. 
 Their bodies were first members of Christ, secondly 
 temples of the Holy Ghost. If committing forni- 
 cation, they were members of an harlot, one body 
 with her; for two, saith God, shall be one flesh: 
 but their bodies were members of Christ, so that 
 he that was joined to the Lord was one spirit. No 
 union therefore in the flesh. We are one spirit 
 with the Lord. But they were to flee fornication 
 for a second reason. An awful sin! for together 
 with other uncleanness mentioned above, it was 
 done against the body, and brings, even in this life, 
 its own judgment. Did they not know that their 
 bodies were temples of the Holy Ghost that was in 
 them, which they Iiad of God, and they were not 
 their own? They were bought with a price, and 
 therefore resjionsible to glorify God in their b<)die8, 
 which were His. Wonderful position I The be- 
 liever's body is a house bought by God Himself, at 
 the cost of His Son's blood, for Himself to dwell in. 
 It is also a member of Christ Himself, washed so 
 clean, set apart so fully, and justified so completely, 
 that the Holy Ghost can fill it, and indwell it. I 
 am fit at any moment then to be introduced into 
 the revealed presence of God. My future destiny 
 is to sit with Christ on His throne, to judge the 
 w^orld and the angels. And yet the saints were 
 going to law before unbelievers ! How could they, 
 if such was the case ? How could they live in sin, 
 if -their bodies were^ members of Christ and temploij 
 2 
 
20 
 
 ftf the Holy Ghost, bought at such a cost, even tho 
 precious blood of Christ. Such is tho truth brought 
 forward in this chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The apobtle now turns to matters whereof they 
 had written to him. The subject of ver. 1-10 
 is concerning marriage, whether it is better to do^ 
 80 or not, under various circumstances; ver. 10-17 
 take up tho case of those already married, and 
 •whether it be better or no to* remain in that 
 stafto, bringing in the special cases of a Christian 
 husband married to a heathen wife, and of at 
 Christian wife married to an unbelieving husband. 
 In siaeh cases, if the unbeliever was pleased to dwell 
 with the other, they were not to part. This was 
 different to what a Jew was to do under Judaism 
 (Comp. Ezra ix.^ Neh. ix.). The unbelieving wife 
 was sanctified by the husband, and the unbelieving- 
 husband sanctified by the wife,, else were their chil- 
 dren unclean, but now are they hcrfy. They are 
 brought into the outward privileges of Christianity. 
 Besides the believing wife was encouraged to count 
 on the salvation of her husband, and vice-versdj. 
 according to the passage. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Chript, and thou shalt be saved and thy house (Acts 
 xvi. 30). Ver. 18-24 refers to the different posi- 
 tions of life, whether Jew, or Gentile, or slave, in 
 which a man might be converted to Christianity. 
 Is any man called being oircumdsed ? Jet him not be 
 uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision ? 
 let him not be circumcised. In the case of a slave 
 it was better if possible not to be the sen^^ants of" 
 men, but if in an honest calling, and this was cer- 
 tainly one if ho could not be ^r^^j he w^as thei*e to 
 abide with God. (Ver. 25) With regard to virgins he 
 had no commandment from the Lord ; he would onl}'" 
 iberefore give iJs jutU^ujuoiit^as Oiiti w.iiu> iLtlii uLLaiii- 
 
21 
 
 ed mercy to be faithful. He judged it ww good Jo 
 abide 80 in the present necessitous times \ et there 
 M^as perfect liberty for such an one o marry, 
 whether man or woman, only they wou d be likely 
 To have tHal in the flesh in these troublous, perse- 
 cutinrtimes. But what regulated every state wa^ 
 thMhe time was short ; those that had wives should 
 be is those that had not; those that wept and re- 
 joiced, as though they did "ot ; those that bc^gh, 
 as though they possessed not ; those that used this 
 worM, ^as not^^busing it, for the fashion of th^s 
 world passeth away. Let the light of the Coming 
 of the iord shine on every thing. He would have 
 them without carefulness. The unmarried cared 
 for the things of the Lord; the married cared for 
 the things of the world and how to please his wife 
 rVer 34) There was a difference also between a wile 
 Ld a virgin. The latter, unmarried, 5^^,^^/^^^ ^f 
 things of the Lord; the former was in danger of 
 putting the world and her husband first. All this 
 was spoken for their profit, that a^ he had said be- 
 fore, and veith the lil^ht of the Second Coming of 
 the Lord also thrown upon it (Comp. Phil. iv. *;, 
 they mVght attend upon the Lord without distrac- 
 tion Ver. 36-38 refer to the case of a father hav- 
 ing an unmarried virgin, and to whether he is to 
 gife her in marriage or not. The wife w^f boun^ 
 to her husband as long as he lived, but if her hus- 
 band died she was free to marry again (v^r. 39). 
 In all these regulations we see the bond of marri- 
 age IL instituted in the Garden of Eden upheld in 
 all its integrity, yet a superior power ^JJ Christian- 
 ity introduced, so that one might live above nature 
 bjthe power of the Spirit of God. We also see 
 here the apostle affirming the mspiration of his 
 writings (ver. 10) ; at the same time ma^^^^/ .^^^^: 
 tinction between what the Lord said, and that 
 
 WiiiUii 
 
 •.V. 
 
 4^1, < 
 
 Li 
 
 jsuU of his own spiritual judg- 
 

 =T 
 
 22 
 
 TTiont JiH one whom the Lord had found faithful (ver. 
 
 12, 25). 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 This chapter is <X'cupie<i with questions about 
 whether it was right to eat things ottered to idols. 
 Those who had knowledge and who knew that an. 
 idol was nothing were otlending their weak breth- 
 ren who had not the same knowledge. With re- 
 gard to this, k,iowledge putfed up, taken simply a» 
 such, but love editied. If any thought he knew 
 any thing, he knew nothing yet as he ought to 
 know, whereas, if any loved God, the same was 
 known of llini. The chai*acter of the now nature 
 is love, and G(xi knows such (See John x, 14). As 
 to things offered to idols, an idol was nothing, and 
 there was none other God but one. There were 
 many in heaven and earth called Gods and Lords, 
 but wi*h us, Christians, there was one God, the 
 Father, of whom are all things and we unto Him,* 
 and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all 
 things and we through Ilim. God w^as the Source 
 of all things; of Him are all things and to Him 
 were all things to be gathered. Christ was the Di- 
 vine Workman through whom were all things 
 and we through Him. Of Him, and through 
 Him, and to Him are all things. That was the 
 true knowledge to have, but every one had not 
 got this knowledge. Some had a conscience that 
 the idol was something, and ate it as such. Their 
 conscience thus became defiled. Not that meats 
 made us pleasing to God, but if my liberty becomes 
 a stumblingblock to a weak brother, I must take 
 heed. A weak brother, seeing me eat in an idol's 
 temple, would be emboldened to do the same, and, 
 not apprehending the truth in ver. 5, 6, would sin. 
 Could you thus let the weak brother perish for 
 
 * This is transluted as the original Greek. (Comp- Rom. xi. 36.) 
 

 ^.?; 
 
 2n 
 
 wliom Ol.rist died ? In thu8 offending the brethren 
 you offlnd against Christ Notice the 7« of the 
 leak brother's perishing .» put m the «0'^ "^ » 
 
 ^".rdoutL's^'wouia priserve Hi» own chUdren 
 
 from being thus the ^'»'««. "' ''. J^^*^ ^1^^ mv 
 ^"riHhin" The conclusion is, It meat maKe my 
 Cther ?o offend, I will eat "o flesh whjle the world 
 standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. 
 
 CUAPTEE IX. 
 The ai>ostle answers, in this chapter, to charges 
 brougl against h.m about his apostlesh.p and 
 prSing,^ and as to extorting .""oney for h.s 
 naintcnance, etc. He asserts '"« f f««* J^^. 
 dom in the Lord, and as to a proof ot his apo^tle 
 shin with regard to them, they were the seal of his 
 Ino'^'tkship in the Lord. A blessed answer to con- 
 found his leasers 1 Was he not free to eat and 
 S^k a'dTr; about a wife -Cephas and others 
 or to forbear to work altogether ? (Y.ej- 1) f"' '' ^.^ 
 did work, he proves from natural similies that he ha« 
 a ri.'ht to reap the fruits of his labour. He relers 
 to he law of Voses t« prove this. An ox was not 
 muzzU who trod out tL corn. It was right for a 
 «rrachervvho sowed spiritual things to reap carna 
 iSs (Ver 12) Nevertheless as to them he had not 
 u edShi'power.'he had not asked any moriey^ Ho 
 .rioried in T)rcaching the gospel without charLe 
 fhou^h referring again to the law, it was quite right 
 that they that preached the gospel should live of the 
 gosp 1 AH fo? himself, he made b-self a servan^ 
 ^f Si, that he might gam the more^ the jews to 
 he became a Jew, that he might p"» the Je'™ ■ t° 
 those under the law, as under the law, that he might 
 0^ain them that were under the law ; to them that 
 
 gain tncm inai. „:»K™t law that he might 
 
 were wiUioui WW, IB mi..--", la", 
 
£4 
 
 gain those that were without law ; not that he was 
 without law to God, but lawfully subject to Christ. 
 To the weak he became as weak, to gain the weak : 
 he became all things to all men, that he might by 
 all moans save some. 
 
 Lastly, he has a word of warning for those 
 preachers who were judging his liberty. He was 
 running a race to win a prize, and he exhorted those 
 others, as they ran in the Isthmian games, so to 
 run that they might obtain. He had one object to 
 win, and that was Christ in glory (Phil. iii.). Every 
 thing else he laid aside as dung and dross. Those 
 in the earthly games, ran for a corruptible crown ; 
 he for an incorruptible. He ran not as uncertainly; 
 he had not a doubt as to the result. He fought not 
 as one that beateth the air, but he kept his body 
 tinder and brought it into subjection, lest by any 
 means, when he had preached to others, he himself 
 should be a reprobate. An awful warning for those 
 preachers who professed so much, and knew so 
 much, and yet were puflfed up! He put himself 
 with them in order to test them, as to whether they 
 were doing what he did. The warning he gives tx> 
 preachers, he gives to the whole company of the 
 professing saints, in the beginning of chap. x. There 
 is no question here as to the final perseverance of 
 the elect. He is testing preachers, and, in the be- 
 
 f inning of the next chapter, the professing Assem- 
 ly at Corinth. This ^ves a meaning to the large 
 address at the beginning of the Epistle, to those 
 who in every place call on the Name of the Lord, 
 both theirs and ours. (Compare, as to preachers, 
 Matt. vii. 21-23, etc.) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 He takes the wider range of the professing Church 
 
 Israel before them as an example. All the Jewish 
 
I 
 
 25 
 
 Acr. ih(, oloud All passed throngli 
 fethers -^«;",to"d o„Sly resfed ui,on them 
 the sea. The cloua u j ^^ through 
 
 typical of th« %l^'C;ism oTwater. The one 
 the sea, typ.cal "f ™e Dapns ^^ ^^^ 
 
 rested on them, the "t"*^ ^f^^y P, p j. in. 21). Be- 
 «°7f.' 't^ef^UatetheSa, aid drank th; rock 
 
 !"** *,, of Christ yet with many of them God was 
 typical of f-hrist, J overthrown in the 
 
 not well pleased, '»'• wiey • ^^ g ^ to Baptism 
 wilderness. Thus o"'™."™. P"J",i|„8 of salvation. 
 
 and the Lord's S«PPf ' *'^l"„ht ' o o" without life. 
 These outward privileges miffht goo ^^ 
 
 the Holy Ghost dwelling in the in.<l«t ^^^^ 
 
 the time (Comp. He.b-. Y'' *4h The various sins 
 partook of *«?" "'l*"* P^^b^^ght forwanl as a 
 Ihat Israel fell mto ^"^ t"!*" ^^e that thought he 
 
 -"";"*-' „^ ta'keSts't he feU. (Comp. I«mb. 
 stood was to tf K® f^**^ encourage them, there was 
 xi.-xvi.) But then ^ en^oi^ « ^^^ ^^^j^ ^ 
 
 no temptation that came^ugn ^^5^1,^,^1,0 
 
 ,va8 common to •"»"• ^X^^^ffer them to be 
 rSefairwTa'^^^herwe-ble to bear, making 
 a way for them to escape. 
 
 THB lord's table. 
 
 1 -^r. ifl floe from idolatry. He speaks 
 
 The ^^^^^iXt^^^Zl^^^^^ l^e BayB. The cup 
 to wise .inen, let them lu g communion 
 
 of blessing f^V'^Bt? The bread which we break, 
 of the blood o^^^^^^'V^-^^f.^^J^'i^^ For 
 
 is it not the communion of the ^7^ ^^^ ^, ^^e 
 
 .ve being ^^^^ ^.^J^^^S The Lord's Table 
 all partakers of the o^e brea^^^ .^ ^^^ 
 
 iH here brought loj^™' Tsafeeuard against idola- 
 of Christian worshm, as ^ff^'^^^.^g, ^ith the 
 try and Judaism. It is P^; 'entiles. In it we do 
 altars of Judaism and o^t^^l^l^^^^^^^^.^^ ^^^ ,o^. 
 two things: First, wo oAi^.-- - 
 
26 
 
 munion with our altar, viz., Christ's death, in eat^ 
 ingand drinking of the two symbols of His broken 
 body and His bk)od ; 2ndlj, we express that we are 
 one bread, one body, for we are all partakers of the 
 Ta ^-^ .^^^ unbroken loaf represents Christ 
 and His Body m union together. This is our cor- 
 
 the^'oneTaf """' '''^'^^' "^^ expresp . partaking of 
 
 (Ver. 18) The Israelite after the il^sh by partak- 
 
 ing of the sacrifices off the Jewish altar, showed 
 
 ^is identity and association with Jewish worship. 
 
 nl i^T''%*^^ ^^?^^^^' ^^^ «^« «f the sacrifices 
 offered to idols (Ver. 19) The idol indeed was 
 nothing in the light of Christianity; (ver. 20) but 
 through the idol they really offered to devfls a'!d 
 be would not have them hold fellowship with devils. 
 ^y eating of these sacrifices they expressed identi- 
 
 JLtLI 7J[T'''^VP\ (Ver. 21) The table was 
 the Table of the Lord ; the cup on the Lord's Table 
 was the cup of the Lord. You cannot drink 
 
 ^L^'lVn^ ^"7^ *^^"' expressing association 
 with Hs altar and the cup of devils. You cannot 
 be par aker of the Lord's Table and the table 
 
 flJ^""'^' ' S''^''' 22) «J««. you provoke the Lord to 
 jealousy who is one Lord (Deut. xxxii. 15-18) An 
 import^ant principle as to sectarian tables in the 
 present day. I cannot sit at any table which is 
 professedlva table of the ;.Lord without express- 
 ing my identity with its system of worship In 
 Ivnr^hf % .national worship, or of Eoman citholic 
 vTftH^' ^^^°fid^i«v^«Beyites, idolators and uncon- 
 verted peonle are there, I express that I am one 
 bread, one Wy with them, fn the case of sectari- 
 anism, I express I am one bread, one body with 
 Buch a system. To be on true groind is to give the 
 
 has authority there. If a great man drives a din- 
 ner ut ois house and invites the guests, the guests • 
 
27 
 
 Bit at his table. To take the great man's place at 
 the head of his table would be to insult him. bo 
 with the Lord at His Table ; no man has a right to 
 preside there but the Lord. We are gathered to 
 the Lord and not to man. And as the Assembly 
 there in the one loaf expresses her oneness with 
 Christ and His members, so only the members ot 
 Christ's body have any place there. To meet on 
 any other ground, but as members of th« body ot 
 Christ, owning the Lord in the midst, and His au- 
 thority, is to be on sectarian ground. The I't-ader 
 will notice that fellowship with the blood and body 
 of Christ is contrasted with Israel's feeding on the 
 sacrifices of their altars, and the Gentiles feeding 
 on their sacrifices which they ottered to devils. 
 How blessed that at the Lord's Table we show our 
 association with, and feed on that sacrific^ which 
 expresses death to every false and even mixed sys- 
 tem, and that we are one bread and one body with 
 Him who thus died, and shed the last drop of His 
 blood for His Church. The Lord's Taolc is thus 
 put in the very central place of Christian worship. 
 Would to God that every dear Christian saw his 
 place thus to walk with the Lord. 
 
 (Ver. 23) Outside the Lord's Table they might 
 have difficulties, but this was the general principle 
 to act upon, viz.. All things were lawful, yet a I 
 thinirs were not expedient ; all things were lawful, 
 yet til things edify not. (Yer. 25) This principle is 
 illustrated in what follows. The Corinthians would 
 continually come in contact with things ottered to 
 idols, so that even in going to market they might 
 be buying things that were offered to idols. V> eii, 
 they were to ask no questions. The idol was nothing. 
 (Ver 26) The earth was the Lord's and the iulness 
 thereof. rVer. 27^ If any unbeliever askod them to 
 a feast, and they were disposed to go, tney were Lu 
 
28 
 
 eat such things as were set before them, askinirno 
 question for conscience sake. (Ver. 28) Buf " f 
 
 tlLT'laVal:"^ f '^^^ "^" ^^^ ^ ^-«^--« of 
 
 an Idol, and told him he was eating h thmp- offered 
 to un ido , he was to respect his brother's < : ' cience 
 and not let his iberty be judged of i .. Orothe; 
 .poke and acted on the sami principle viz the 
 earth ;« the Lord's and the fulness thereof ;onW he 
 judged the Idol to be something, and thit some 
 thing not the Lord's, and so he d?d not eat (Ver. 
 2J) r, who have liberty, therefore, ought to respect 
 hat'whpjr"'- S^''- ^^' ^2) The fonclusion^Ts 
 
 t el ^fd I'.r''"^' ^' ^/'"^'"^' or whatsoever' 
 the> did, they were to do all to the glory of 
 
 God, giving none offence to any, whether Jew Z 
 
 Gentile or the Church of God,-the three circles 
 
 into which the world was divided. (Ver 33rin 
 
 oS;;%irtl?' studying every mL'rpro'fi^t, in 
 oraer to save them. In savins this Paul nuts be 
 fore them his own example, and exhorts fhem to 
 follow h,m as he followed Christ, An important 
 pr.nc.ple w.th regard to devoted Chris ians As 
 
 Christ ' °"'''™'«« I P"' them in the place of 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 fron'vor '^'"f *'>''' /»»! had been speaking of 
 ["ni ^•.- °^ J*"" '^™<"' chapter m.eht affect 
 t^.c Chnst.ans who had fellowsfiip at the Lord^ 
 Tab e from outside. But in chapter .xi. he corned 
 pos.t.vely to talk of the inside.^ The first th?n.r 
 Z ^^ M '' *? '^'"■'' »he persons who c~f 
 
 per. (^ V er, 6) JNow in the new crAnf,<^« vk^ ..^ 
 
 man whose head was Christ ; the::e wl^sTli: w^man 
 
29 
 
 whose head was the man ; there was Clirist whoso 
 
 Sr :-».t,ro, £.7.?;.; vi.'..s 
 
 HedemXn was then not accompl.shed, true, so 
 That Ihe holy men and women therem mentioned 
 were notyet in" oduced into the new place nor had 
 rtev received tl>e Spirit of adoption, wh.ch consti- 
 tutes a man a Christian, bnt they were born agam 
 and the whole atmosphere breathes of the nowcre.^ 
 Ton The relationsiips of man and woman one 
 towards another were important for the Assemblies 
 to k^w? for a woman must always realize her posi- 
 tfon there as having her head in the man, and be- 
 in? of the man (ver. 3-8), and thus being in sub- 
 eftion though aSso created for the man as a help- 
 ^^^P? /ver 9) Therefore, in praying and prophe- 
 Tving her head was to be'covUed, for she was he 
 X^'of the man ; whereas the man, in doing the 
 fa^ was to have his head uncovered, for he was 
 rtmlg^and glory of God The hair was a sjgn 
 
 ^X^wairh^rH^aa^h^h^^^^^^^^ 
 
 il'dTarn^:;tScK^"^^^^^ 
 
 ES^ieirmSKXmtfW"ii^^ 
 ThTwoman wa. to keep her proper place on accnunt 
 nf these angels. Nature even taught the bame 
 ?hing thatTwas uncomely for the man to havo 
 tning, iii^i • I f ^^ woman, for 
 
 long hair, but it was tno gior^ tii,„„. ,.p,<,ps seem 
 it was eiven her as a covering. These io ses seem 
 to owf that in certain places or meetings the 
 I^^^n \raved and prophesied, as also m the case 
 of Philip's 'daughters C^ctB xxi. b, »;. n. »^>;m. 
 
^"^ 
 
 30 
 
 Acts 1. 13, 14; 11. 1-18), but comparinir it with 1 
 Cor. xiy. and 1 Tim. ii., it s^^ems clear that thev 
 were silent m the Assembly meetings, and they ari 
 distinctly forbidden to teach, which however is dis- 
 tmct from prophesying. From chap. xi. 16 to xiv 
 end, the subject is distinctly the Assembly meetin- 
 as such (See chap. xi. 18; xiv. 19-24). There tfe 
 woman has evidently no placeexcept to be silent. 
 
 THE lord's supper. 
 
 As to remembering Paul in all things, and keep- 
 ng the ordinances, he coukl praise them, but as to 
 the matter of detail, and the manner of their doin^ 
 It, he could not pmise them. They came not to- 
 gether for tlie better but for the worse. (Ver 18^ 
 i^or when they came together in Assembly, he 
 1 q^'tv '^''^ '^''''^ schisms amongst them. (Ver 
 ly) Divisions were necessary in a way that those' 
 
 rVor^2T^''^rif K^^^'^h^^ '"^"^^^^ ^™^"^«t them. 
 (Vor 20) Still he could not allow that the way in 
 
 which they came together was to eat the Lord's 
 Supper. ( Ver. 21) They were making it a ti^e of 
 leasting, eating their own suppers ; one was hunirry 
 another was drunken. (Ver. 22) Surelv they hid 
 houses to eat and to drink in ; for to confound a com- 
 mon meal with eating the Lord's Supper, was to de- 
 spise the Assembly of God, of which the latter was 
 the expression. He then puts them right on the sub- 
 ject, not denying that the Lord's Supper was the 
 Assembly Meeting, but denying thatUthey met it 
 was such (Ver 23,24) He had it^ceived of L Lord 
 tha which he had delivered unto them, that the 
 Lord Jesus the same night in which He was be- 
 trayed took bread ; and when He had given thanks 
 He brake it, and said. Take, eat; this is my body' 
 which IS broken for you. I)o this in rememVance 
 
 oi me. v;ni* tiu^iKchf ^ a^^n. /^«^..:„j i i i ., . . 
 
 " ■'•—"■ '-'-•" —■---—■, gilt 
 
 „ J 1 1 i _ . 1 
 
31 
 
 in which the Lord was betraj^ed : and j-et, with a 
 .Judas there, He could give thanks, and break the 
 bread. He could bring that before them which alone, 
 in the midst of evil, could attract their hearts, and 
 enable them to overcome. Blessed Saviour! His 
 love alwaj^s mounted above the evil, and overcame 
 it with good. My heart finds rest in II im. (Ver. 25, 
 26) After the same manner also He took the cup, 
 when He had supped, saying. This cup is the New 
 Testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye 
 drink it, in remembrance of me. For as oft as ye 
 eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the 
 Lord's death till He come. I^ is His little photo- 
 graph which brings to our remembrance His un- 
 bounded love to us in times past. The bread bro- 
 ken, and the blood shed, cause us to remember our 
 precious Lord's body broken and His blood shed for 
 us. He is absent from us. We announce His death 
 till He come. Thus the love of Christ, in putting 
 awaj sin, and bearing our sins, is continually before 
 our minds. His blood also not only answering to 
 all the claims of God against us, but sealing to us 
 all the blessings of the New Testament. We re- 
 member it all, and announce His death till He come. 
 The Lord's Supper thus links our Lord's death with 
 His coming. His death shutting out every thing 
 of the fiesh, world and devil; His coming, as that 
 when we shall no longer have need of a symbolical 
 ordinance to remember Him during His absence. 
 (Ver. 27) But to announce the Lord's death as to 
 responsibility is important, for to eat and to drink 
 unsvorthily, was to he guilty of the body and blood 
 of the Lord. The flesh killed the Lord. (Ver. 28) 
 To come into the Assembly without having ex- 
 amined myself, was to bring living flesh into the 
 Assembly of God. (Ver. 29) The Lord, in such a 
 case, could only be present as a Judge, and for 11 v- 
 iiii' flush io eat and urinli the Lord's deuLh, was to 
 
32 
 
 eat and to drink judgment to itself, not discerning 
 the Lord'8 body, which announced death and judg- 
 ment to the flesh. (Ver. SO) For this cause many of 
 the Corinthians were weak and sickly, and many 
 even had died. This was the Lord's chastening 
 liand, because the Corinthians did not judge them- 
 selves. (Ver. 31) If they had done so, they would 
 not have been judged. (Ver. 32) The effect of 
 this chastening of the Lord was that they might 
 not be condemned with the world. Thus the Lord's 
 Supper holds a most important place, as keeping 
 the saints in a habit of individual self-judgment. 
 (Comp. Matt, xxvi., Mark xiv., Luke xxii.) Not 
 that they ought to judge themselves when they 
 come there, but before (See ver. 28) ; not that they 
 ought, if failing, to keep away: that would be to 
 get worse. But let a man examine himself, and so 
 let him eat. The Lord's government here is shown to 
 be most graciously exercised, in order that the saint 
 might never be condemned eternally. Sickness, 
 and even temporal death, consequently, are the 
 Lord's ways towards Hia saints, to preserve their 
 walk up to their standing before God , and to pre- 
 serve them from ever being lost. Temporal death 
 would be a last resource to separate the Christian 
 from the body of sin, which he ought by faith daily to 
 reckon dead. (Yer. 33, 34) But what confusion had 
 the Assembl}- at Corinth got into. Every one was 
 eating before other his own supper. They did not 
 tarry one for the other ; one poor man was hungry, 
 not getting anything, another was drunken. He ex- 
 horted them, therefore, if any were hungry to eat 
 at home, that they might not come together for 
 condemnation ; and the rest he would set in order 
 when he came. "We have in this Epistle the full 
 doctrine of the Lord's Supper set forth. First, in 
 chap, v., we see it as the centre from which the dis- 
 cipline of the house of God is exen-it^ou , secondly. 
 
83 
 
 in chap, x., we see the Lord's Table placed aa the 
 central expression of the saints' communion on the 
 earth ; thirdl}^ in chap xi., we have the Lord's Sup- 
 per as the place where we are called to remember 
 the Lord's death, and where we are kept in the in- 
 dividual judgment of ourselves in view of that 
 death. The Lord's Supper gives a more individual 
 aspect of the Table, and links it m<»re to the origi- 
 nal institution on the night on which the Lord was 
 betrayed. It is blessed to think that though a Chris- 
 tian may be in a wrong ecclesiastical position, and 
 deny the unity of the body by his position, he may 
 vet get individual blessing to his soul, as remem- 
 bering his Lord, in the midst of a mass of evil. 
 
 CHAPTER XU. 
 
 The Assembly was the place were spiritual gifts 
 would be developed and manifested. These chap- 
 ters are taken up largely with this subject, the 
 apostle takingoccaeion thereby to bring in the whole 
 principles of the Assembly of God, to regulate their 
 working. The Lord's Table was the Assembly 
 Meeting, but gifts might be developed there, and it 
 was important they should be regulated. (Ver. 2,3) 
 The first great thing was to discern what was the 
 true woi :dng of the Spirit of God, for they had been 
 Gentiles, carried away by dumb idols, and the power 
 of the enemy was manifested there. How were 
 they to discern the workings of the true Spirit ? 
 By two tests : first, no one speaking by the Spirit of 
 God would call Jesus, Anathema; and, 2ndly, no one 
 could call Jesus, Lord, but by the power of the Holy 
 Ghost. (Ver. 4-6) But though there were diversi- 
 ties of gifts, there was but one Spirit ; whilst there 
 were diversities of ministries, there was but one 
 Lord ; and, whilst there were diversities of opera- 
 ■ tions, yet it was the same God that Wv-)rked all in 
 mm au. Thus, whilst the upuaile guards the Corinthians 
 
ill 
 
 II 
 
 • 
 
 34 
 
 from what was false, he brings them into holy se- 
 paration to one .Spirit, one Lord, and one God; not 
 exactly the Trinity, yet if each Person were traced 
 back to His source, it mi^ht come to it. If, then, 
 the (Miristian is separated from Satan and all the 
 powers of darkness, as exhibited in false religion, 
 he is separated to God, the Source of all unity and 
 ministry, to the Lord Jesus Christ, »s the Head and 
 Centre of it, giving the persons to minister, and to 
 the Holy Ghost, as the Power of unity, the Giver 
 of the gifts to the persons whom Christ gives. This 
 Spirit of God manifests His Presence in the gifts for 
 every man's profit ; not for show, as the Corinthians 
 used it (See chap. xiv.). (Ver. 8-11) To one is given 
 the word of wisdom, to another the word of know- 
 ledge, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, 
 etc. ; but all these worked that one and the self-same 
 Spirit dividing to every man severally as He will. 
 The unity of the Spirit is here insisted on, as like- 
 wise His presence in the Assembly, for the regula- 
 tion of the gifts. He is the Sovereign Power 
 within the Assembly, manifesting His presence by 
 acting as He pleases, and distributing to every man 
 severally as He wills. What ignorance, then, and 
 unbelief, for Assemblies to be crying out for the 
 outpouring of the Holy Ghost. It is as gr«at ig- 
 norance and folly for Christians to pray for the 
 Holy Ghost to come, as it would have been if the 
 disciples had asked God to send Jesus on earth, after 
 He was there amongst them. The Holy Ghost came 
 down as really on the day of Pentecost, as Jesus 
 came down when He was born in the virgin's womb. 
 Let us rejoice, then, and own His presence, for this 
 is really what Christendom has lost, even the reali- 
 zation of the Presence and Power of the Holy 
 Ghost in the Assembly of God. If this is denied, I 
 ask, why have j^ou your printed prayer books, them- 
 
 <«;elve^i n ^iihuf if ntf» fcft' ntiH o /loniol r>f i-Ui\ xfrkvuVtlw 
 
35 
 
 ^•f the Spirit ? Why your 'Mjonirm mir.istrv, ilself 
 u doriial oftiio ministry oftho Spirit? I a>k, h(i\v 
 can the S|»irit net, as mauifbstod in this cliapt'cr, ia 
 the churches and chapels ot'this day? Man has suU 
 .stitutod his (»rdor for God's order. Tho Spirit cannot 
 Jlimsolt'act in tho <,nt'(s us llowil!. ( Vcr. ]2,i:j) JJut 
 to return to tho chapter, it' tho Spirit acts aiid niani. 
 tests IIisProsonce,it is upon and in a Ho<Jv which Ho 
 iias t'ornjod. This is tho ( Mnu-ch, which is hVro iiivcned 
 to a human iJody and Head. And hs thvrc is only 
 one Spirit (ver. 11), so there is only one I5odv ( vei\ 
 12). (rV)inp. Kph.iv.4.j As the 'body is (;ne, a/id 
 hath many members, and all tho inemk'rs of that 
 one body, boin<^' many, arc ono body, so aUo is tho 
 Christ. Marvellous and holy truth f Christ and tho 
 <'hurch aro so one that they are likened to ono liu. 
 man body, and called tho ('hrist. Tho baptism of 
 the Holy (ihost introduces us into ajid coiistituten 
 as members (if that i^ody, tin* by one Spirit are wo 
 all baptized intoono body, whether Jews or (Jrueks, 
 or bond, or i'vee, and have been all made to drijik of 
 that one Spirit. Before Pentecost, the Holy (J host 
 had not yet come (See John vii, 39; Acts i, 5-8). 
 The Assembly was not yet formod (See Matt, xvi. 
 18) : but on that day 31)00 wero .gathered out of all 
 nations, and, together with tho 120 disciples (who 
 had ahl^ady received life in(Mirist)«lreadygatliore(l, 
 formed the Bod^- of Christ, unitcnl to tlK> Head in 
 heaven by the Jloly Ghost sent down. This was 
 -entij-ely a new creation, a jiew man formed outsido 
 the Jewish and (lenlilc world. IWory sect forined 
 is an addition to thb truth, and a denial of th.i triuh 
 of one Bodj^ and one Sj)irit, If tho Church i.> iii 
 disorder (and who will deny it?)th« saint;/ only re. 
 >ource is to drop every thing' which shows division 
 and worldliness, and come togothej" simply a^-- nicnw 
 bers of Christ, acknowledging that inetal>ci-s!iip as 
 ils-j Only howl of nnioa ihronijhoat tho worifi • not 
 
■^ % 
 
 
 36 
 
 makin- ° fresh l.o<ly, but acknowlixlKinp that which 
 the Holy (ihoHt has already ibrmod. To put tho 
 Lord's fable into a place, then, where I become a 
 member of a body, is wrong; but to own ^^ ^^If 
 place where the Membership of Chnnt, already 
 formed by tho Baptism of the Holy (xhost, ib ex- 
 pressed, is to put it ill it« nght place So are the 
 baintH preserved from sectarianism and worldlmess. 
 AVhat follows in our chapter brings out the 
 
 WORKING OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 There are two chief principles: first (ver. 14), the 
 body is not one member but many ; secondly (ver. 
 20), they are many members yet but one body. ( V er. 
 15) Now if the foot should say, Because 1 am not 
 tho hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not 
 of the body ? .Ver. 10^ And if the ear should say, 
 Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is 
 it therefore not of the body ? Such a princip e 
 would be independency and Bchism, a principle 
 most common all around. (Ver. 17) But if the 
 whole body were an eye, where were tho hearing .*- 
 If the whole were hearing, where were the snaeil- 
 inir? (Ver. 18) But now hath God set the members 
 every one of them in the Body as it hath pleased 
 Him. To own this, is the corrective power to all 
 Avilfulness. (Ver. 19) If however they were all one 
 member, where were tho body ? But now are they 
 many members, yet but one body. A sharp rebuke 
 against the principle of one-man ministry. ( V er. 
 20) Tlie true principle is, many members working 
 in the one great unity, the body. (Ver 21) There- 
 fore the efe cannot say unto the hand, I have no 
 need of thee; nor, again, the head to tj>e feet, i 
 have no need of you. Man may try to do it, but 
 olory be to God, the BlesJ^ed Head will not say, of 
 the smallest member, I can do Avithout you. Oh, 
 that ail dear UiiriBliaud wouiu iuiiuv, 0.*^= v-i-.^.-i-'-- 
 
$7 
 
 (Ver.21-25) Na^, much more, tliofse mtnibersof tl)0 
 Body which seem to be more feeble, are iiecesbRry ; 
 and tho8© wo think to be Iohh honourabje, ujkju these 
 we bestow moj-e ttbmulftut honour. God llimselt' 
 liath joined the body so together, havin^jj^ivon more 
 abundant honour to that part ;vluch Ucked, that 
 there mi/^ht he noschi^ni in the B^wiy, but that the 
 members ahouki have the same care one of another, 
 (Ver. 2Gj And wliether one member 8uler, all the 
 niembers sutler with it, or one member be honoured, 
 all the memberw rejoice with it, (Verso 27) The 
 apostle now directly applies this working of a hu- 
 man body to the local Assembly at (.'orinth. Kow 
 ye aro the Body of Christ, and members in parti- 
 cular. This is a complete) answer to those who deny 
 the present responsioility of the sfiinta tx) manifest 
 the Body of Christ on earth. For though no local 
 Assembly can claim, now-a-days, to be the repre^ 
 sontatlvu of the Assembly of God on earth, the 
 flaints being all divided, and therefore the Assem- 
 bly being not all together; still the saints who see 
 the evil are responsible to own the truth, and come 
 together on the basis of that truths and if they do, 
 God will most surely ow^n thum as far as they are 
 faithful. That all thin part of the chapter applies 
 to the manifestation of the Body on earth Is cer- 
 tain, for members do not suffer in heaven. Miracles 
 and tongues ai'e not for heaven, but are the fruita 
 of the Spirit working on and in the Body, as the 
 manifestation of its unity on earth. If Christendom 
 has failed, yet the responsibility of the saints most 
 fiuroly remains, as long as the truth of God remains, 
 (Ver. 23-30) As fop the need of the Assembly, God 
 has sot in it, first apostles (they are the Ibunda- 
 tions) ; 2ndly, prophets ; Srdly, teachers ; then mira- 
 cles, gifts of healing, helps, governments, different 
 tonguos, All ore not apostles, all are not prophetp, 
 uii are not teachers etc. There was thus lots to covet 
 
38 
 
 for every one, and yet there was something better at 
 the bottom. Better than all gifts ! Better than all 
 theories of truth ! And that was Love. That was 
 the character of the Spirit and of Christ, and what 
 bound all together, and that was what the Corin- 
 thians lacked. We have, then, in this chapter, the 
 doctrine of the Chui-ch of God, the Body of Christ. 
 In the beginning, the Spirit of God is put in con- 
 trast with the spirits of dumb idols, and known by 
 two tests (ver. 3). His presence and unity, work- 
 ing by several gifts, is then insisted on to ver. 11 ; 
 ver. 12, 13 take us on to the truth, that if there was 
 one Spirit, there was one Body, of which Christ was 
 the Head, and altogether named the Christ, the en- 
 trance into which was by the Baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost, who formed it at Pentecost, and constitutes 
 those thus baptized members of it. Yer. 14-27 show 
 us the working of it, by the tigure of a human body ; 
 the two chief principles being, tirst, the Body was 
 not one member but many; secondly, that the mem- 
 bers were several, yet but one body. (Ver.27-31)He 
 applies this truth to the local Assembly at Corinth, 
 and shows the different members God had set in the 
 Church to meet their need. 
 
 CHAPTER XHI. 
 
 Gifts might abound, but love is the more excellent 
 way. It is the bond of perfection and the character 
 of God, the Lord, and the Spirit. Yer. 1-3 show the 
 negative side, viz., all the things I may have without 
 love. Yer. 4-7 give the positive side, showing the 
 different qualities oflove,nodoubt perfectly exhibit- 
 ed by the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. From ver, 8-13 
 it is compared with olher things, and shown to con- 
 tinue in the future state, when all other things have 
 failed. (Ver. 1-3) I may speak with the tongues of 
 men and of angels, but if I have not love, I am be- 
 come as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. 1 
 
may have the gift of prophecy, the gift most to be 
 coveted ; I may understand all mysteries, and all 
 knowledge ; I may have that faith which removes 
 mountains, and yet be nothing. I may give all my 
 goods to feed the poor,and give my body to bo burned, 
 but if I have not love, it profits me nothing.(Ver.4-7) 
 Its positive qualities are those, — -it sutlers long, is 
 kind, it envies not, it vaunts not itself, is not puffed 
 up, is not dishonest or selfish, is not easily provok- 
 ed, thinks no evil. It I'ejoices not in iniquity, but 
 rejoices in the truth ; bears all things, believes all 
 things, hopes all things, endures all things. (Ver. 
 8-13) As to the future, it never fails. Prophecies 
 will fail, tongues will cease, knowledge will vanish 
 away. The present time is then compared with the 
 future state. We know now in part, and we pro- 
 phesy in part, but when that which is perfect is 
 come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 
 The two states are now compared to the states of 
 childhood and manhood ; as a child, I think as a 
 child : as a man, I put away childish things. I know 
 now in part, this is the time of my childhood, but in 
 the world to come, when everything is perfect, and 
 when my manhood is arrived at,that which is in part 
 shall be done away, I shall know as I am known; 
 though at this present time we only see through a 
 glass darkly. All this reasoning shows the seper- 
 iority of that Love which never fails, and which, 
 in the future ages, will stand out when other things 
 have ceased. Three things abide at the present 
 time — Faith, Hope, Love,— but the greatest of these 
 is Love. That abides for ever. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Having made this digression to show the real 
 thing which binds together, he returns to the sub- 
 ject of the gifts, and of the order of the Assembly, 
 showing the superiority of the gift of prophecy to 
 
40 
 
 that of tongues. The great thing in Assembly mo^-- 
 ings was that the Assembly might be edified, but * 
 person speaking in ail unkncrwn tongue, though he 
 spake to God (ver. 2) edified nobody but himself 
 (ver. 4), unless he conld himself interpret (ver. 5)^ 
 for no one understood him; whilst he that prophe-- 
 Bied, spoke to edification, and exhortation, and cora^ 
 fort. (Yer. 6) If Paul himself came amongst them 
 Bpeaking with tongues, what profit was there, unless 
 he spoke in revelation, of what the tongne was, or in 
 knowledgc,sothathc himself could interpret it, or in 
 pro^iheoy, m- in doctrine? rVer.7-13)Even in things 
 Without lifb, such as music, how can it be enjoyed un-- 
 ■ ;s9 there are distinctions in the sounds. If a trumpet 
 gave an uncertain sound, who was to prepat-e him- 
 pelf for the battle ? The great thing was, if they 
 were zealous for the spiritual gifts, to excel in the 
 edification of the Church. If a man therefore had 
 the gift of tongues, let him pray that he might in- 
 terpret, lie then distinctly applies what he had 
 been epoaklng erf to three different actions that are 
 manifested in AssCTOhly meetings— -Prayer, Sing- 
 ing and Praise (ver. 14). A man who was praying 
 in an unknown tongue, does not seem to have un- 
 derstood himself what he was praying about. Biit 
 what fblly and childishness, to think of showing 
 forth in prayer or singing their gift of tongues, and 
 all the time not understanding themselves what 
 they were saying, much less the Assembly! How 
 could the unlearned say, Ameir, if he did not under- 
 Btand what the other was praising God about ? It was 
 all childish pride. (Ver. 18)Paul could thank God that 
 he could speak with tongues more than they all, but 
 he had rather speak five words to be un lerstood,or ta 
 edify others,than ten thoitsand wofds in an unknown 
 ton<nie. AVhftt would he have said if he had gonef 
 
 llilU 'Ol'M Kjl lilt; •v.Iili: v.ii- J -.-i •■' -.; ; ^"r~\ j' 
 
 herself on being the on« apostolic church of God^ 
 
41 
 
 and heard the wliolc service muttered in an un- 
 known tongue, by a shaved priest, with his attend- 
 ant acolytes? Ko wonder, when John got a picture 
 of the liarlot church in the Revelation, and saw in 
 her what the Church of God had turned into, that 
 he wondered With a great astonishment (Comp.llev. 
 3cvii.l-6). Little did the Corinthians think they were 
 working to this end. (Ver.2l,22)The apostle goes on 
 to prove from the law that tongues were a sign for 
 unbelievers, and not for belie vers (Comp. Acts ii.). 
 Whereas, prophesying was for those that believed. 
 (Ver. 23-25) They should think of those outside the 
 Assembly. Supposing an unlearned man, or an unbe- 
 liever, came into the place where the Assembly met, 
 and saw one after another getting up and speaking 
 with unknown tongues^they Would go awaj,and say, 
 these Christians were all mad ; whereas, if one after 
 another prophesied, the unbeliever wo Id be made 
 BO to feel the presence of God amongst them, that, 
 perhaps he would fall down, and publicly acknow- 
 ledge that God the Holy Ghost was among them of a 
 truth. (Yer. 26) But every thing was in confusion in 
 the Assembly at Corinth. Thank God for it, for we 
 have this blessed chapter, which gives u8 an insight 
 into the working of an Assembly in the primitive 
 times. So far from it being the custom for one man 
 to do the whole service, there was liberty for every 
 one to engage, either in speaking, prayer, singing 
 or praise. The liberty of the Spirit was turned into 
 license of the flesh. One came in with his psalm, 
 all ready to give out; another with his doctrine; 
 another with his tongue, etc.: but instead 
 ing, you must have one man over you, to 
 the' confusion, he exhorts, first of all, Lo 
 thing be done to edifying, and then regulates 
 two gifts, of tongues and of prophesying; tellmg 
 them plainly (ver. 33) tiiat God whow^as inthe As- 
 Bembly (chap.in.l6; xii.T-li) wasnottMoGoaufcon- 
 
 of say- 
 correct 
 
 )t 
 
 every 
 the 
 
4-2 
 
 :! 
 
 '■ Sii 
 
 , 3 1 
 
 •' '! * 
 
 ■' ^ 
 
 i 
 
 fusion but af peace. So fur from appointing official 
 rule to correct the disoi'der, he insists on the Pres- 
 ence and Ohayactcv of tluit God who was amongst 
 them, and gives them commandments fi-om Ilim 
 (Ver. 27-S3, 37). Lastly, the women were to keep 
 fiilence in the Assembly. They were not permit- 
 ted to ?tpoak,but to he in subjection, as also said the 
 law. If they would Learn anytliing, they were not 
 to ask in the Assembly, and chatter away there, but 
 to ask their husbands at home, for it was a shame 
 for tiiem to speak in any way in the Assembly,. 
 They were reall}' ,i;'^>Ji^^ <>*i ^^ if the AVord of God 
 Whs their monop(;ly, instead of coming to them from 
 God. If any amcng them thought themselves spiri- 
 tual, they were to acknowledge that what Paul 
 wrote were tlu^ commandmeiits of the Lord. But 
 if any man would be ignorant, let him bo ignorant. 
 The liberty (?f the Spirit however was to be care- 
 full}^ guardol ; they were to covet to prophesj', and 
 not to forhid speaking with tongues, only they were 
 to remetnber that the God of order wa.s amongst 
 them, so that every thing was to be done decently 
 and in order, according to the Character of the God 
 of Order ami of Peace. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The sipostte now comes back to the simple Gospel 
 of the Grace of God. There were some of the Corin- 
 thiUiiS that were striking a blow at that xery gospel 
 that had saved them, for they were denying the 
 resurrection of the dead. 
 
 The cha])ter ma}' be divided thus:' — In ver. 1-11 
 the gospel is brought forward as the foundation of 
 the resurrection of the body; ver. 12-10 give us 
 the consoquenGcs of no resurrection ; ver. 20-34 
 continue the argument of ver. 18, 19 ; ver. 20-28 
 give the direct i-onsequences of the resurrection of 
 Ciirist^ ver.-SG-uO answer the questions oivcfv 35,. 
 
 
43 
 
 Christ's body after resurrection being tlic typo of 
 the one we shall receive; vcr. 61-54 give us the 
 doctrine of the tirst resurrection. 
 
 The gospel then as the foundation of this is insisted 
 on, particularly the resurrection of Christ. This was 
 the gospel that Paul preached, which he now calls to 
 their remembrance,the gospel which he hadannoun- 
 ■ced to thorn, which they had received and in which 
 they stood ; by which also ihey were saved, if they 
 kept it in memory^ as he had announced it to them, 
 unless some of them had indeed believed in vain, and 
 had only professedly received it. What, then, was 
 this gospel ? He only gave to them what he himself 
 had received; and that was, first of all, Christ died 
 for our sins, according to the Scriptures. Our sins 
 •were the cause of Christ's death. He answered in 
 that manner before a just, holy God, for them, and 
 bore the punishment due to them, v^hich was death. 
 This was part of the good news of the gospel. How 
 were they to know that that was true ? It was 
 according to the whole teaching of Scripture from 
 Abel's sacrifice downwards; summed up in the verse, 
 It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul 
 (Lev. xvi. 11). Qod had thus told them so in His 
 own Word, and that was sufficient. But, secondly, 
 Christ was buried. I bury a dead body; I give it a 
 sepulchre. Here is something additional to the 
 good news of the sins having l^en all answered for 
 in the death of Christ. Not only are the sins gone, 
 but the nature of sin is buried ;Ve are buried with 
 Him by Baptism unto death. Our old man is cru- 
 cified, dead and buried in and with Christ, before 
 God, and to faith, so that we may reckon death, by 
 faith, to be alvead^vpast. The actual death of the 
 body, or the coming of Christ, would be the end of 
 death instead of the beginning. But, thirdly, He rose 
 again the third day, and if this was true. He rose 
 without the sins and without the sin. It was the 
 
??a^- ( 
 
 44 
 
 sntrie Life also which dcscen^lod into death and took 
 the Bin and sins on the way, and rose again the third 
 day without tliem ; it was aLifo thoroughly tesi,edj 
 found pcrfVct, obedient itnto death, eO that the Judge 
 in righteousness rait^cd Hiih again, to be our righte- 
 ousness before Ilini. How am I to ivnOW this piece 
 of good news? Tlie Scriptures tell me so (Ps> xvl. 10, 
 etc.)' I am not called to make the feelings of my 
 heart a Ipst of salvation > but I am to know it from the- 
 truth of God's own Word. Besides, the testimony 
 of th"? Bcrijtturcs to the resurrection of Christ, there 
 ■Were living witnesses to It. He w^as seen of Cephas, 
 then of the tv>^elve, then by more than 500 brethren 
 at once, theft lie wa.s seen of James, then of all the 
 apostles, and last of all lie Was seen of Paul, as one 
 born out of due time, lie not only saw Him risen, 
 but in ascended glory. He could say, I have really 
 Been that Jesus, a real Man in Glory; I thoughi 
 He was an impostcr, but He re\'ealed Himself to- 
 me on the way to Hamascus, and I believe that that 
 pom- despised Nazarene is the Son of God. 1 per- 
 secuted the Church of God, and therefore am the 
 least of the apostles, am not worthy to be called an 
 apostle, Bm by the grace of God I am what I am, 
 and His grace was not bestowed on me in vain, for 
 I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not 
 I but the grace of God that was with me. This, 
 then, was the gospel which Paul preached, a gospel 
 which set forth Christ risen and glorified, which all- 
 the apostles also bore witness to, and preached, and 
 which the Corinthians had believed. Ver. 1-10 is 
 the foundation of the doctrine of the resurrection 
 of the body brought forward in this chapter. Christ 
 was risen. This was Paul's gospel. Hovv was it, 
 then, that some of them were denying it by deny- 
 ing the resurrection of the body? Ver. 12-19 
 give Its the consequences oi' the doctrine of 
 no resurrection: iirst, that if luevo were no resur- 
 
45 
 
 J;ection, then Chrbt was not risen; eeeondlv, if* 
 Christ was not risci.; Xhe'w jynachin'j was vain, they 
 Were false witnesses; and, thirdly, if this was the 
 lease, the Cofinthians' faith also was vain they 
 were yet in theit* sihs ; foi- this Was the only gospel 
 they had l-eceived. This was a serious condusmn 
 for the Cormthrans to be brcught to, for the only 
 gospel they had received was that from Paul. But if 
 the doctrine h^ pren-ched was mise, thtiir fmth was 
 vain too. {Yqt. 18) Another* consequence was that 
 those that had fallen aslerp in Jesus had perished, 
 (Ver. 29) If, ho\\^ver, this latter were the case, why 
 was it that as fost as g-aints died, others eagerh' 
 tilled up their places in Baptism, saying, by ^ith, 
 I reckon myself now dead with Christ, in order to 
 liave part in the resurrection ; but why, then, were 
 they baptised for the dead, ifth«dead rose not? 
 (Comp. Rom. vi. 3-^.) (Comp. \-er. 19, ver. 30-32.) 
 and, secondly, why do wij stand in jeopardy everv 
 ho-.^'', having death before us, in every circumstance 
 through which we pass, such as fighting with beasts 
 of EphesUs, pefsBeutio^a, etc., if the dead rise not ? 
 If we have only in this liffe hope in Christ, certainly 
 -we are of all men most misrerable, if this is fhelifb 
 We pass. (Yer. 32-34) If that is th« case, let us ^at 
 and drink, ibr to-mortow we die. These ignorant 
 men Were not only taking away the doctrine that 
 Paul preached, but also all the jpower of the Chris- 
 tian's life ?ind bope. Thry had not the knowledge 
 of God, so that the Corinthians were to beware of 
 evil communications and awake to righteousness.^^* 
 Ver. 20^28-^IIaving now shown the consequences 
 •of the doctrine (^f no resurrection, Ire turns, in these 
 verses, to the direct cons^equences cf the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ-, to the end. Not only were the CoriH' 
 thians not in their sins, not only were they deliv- 
 
 • Read vsr. '_'fl-'2S as a psrerithesis • ver. 29. 30. sivA fiillniri.T-. .♦ i-L-ji 
 ''if) the senpe t)f rer. 18, IP. " ' ^ 
 
46 
 
 lii^ 
 
 ered from tlie body of sin itself by the death and 
 resurrection of Christ, and given a risen and glori- 
 fied (Mirist, as their present portion by faith (ver. 1- 
 11), but Christ risen from the dead was the founda- 
 tion of their hope as to the resurrection of their 
 bodies. (Ver. 20) He was the first-fruits of them 
 that slept. It was a resurrection //"O?/! «7no;i^ the 
 dead, not tlie Jewish thought of a general resur- 
 rection, good and wicked all together. Christ rose 
 {ek nekron) leaving the dead behind. This was to 
 ue the character of the saints' resurrection, — they 
 should be raised from amongst the dead, and in be- 
 ing so, the rest of the dead should be left behind, 
 lo be raised and judged more than 1000 years after- 
 wards (Comp. Jiev, XX.). Christ's resurrection, then, 
 first,was aresurrectio.i from amongst thedead(John 
 V.) ; and, 2ndly, lie was the first-fruits of the har- 
 vest of them that slept, — a term which is never ap- 
 plied except to the bodies of the redeemed, and 
 never to the wicked, (Ver, 21, 22) By man can^ ^ 
 death ; by Man came the resurrection of the deaa . 
 in Adam all die; in Christ shall all be made alive. 
 This is a comparison of the two families linked each 
 to their Heads, The words used are in Adam, in 
 Chriijt. This, of course, gives no ground for teach- 
 ing the evil doctrine of universalism. (Ver. 23-28) 
 Then come the order of events : first, Christ the 
 first-fruitG (this has taken place) j secondly, they 
 that are Christ's at His coming; thirdly, then 
 Cometh the end. Now we know that above 1,800" 
 years have already elapsed between the first and 
 seccmd events ; and we know, from Eev. xx. 5, 6,. 
 that at least 1000 years will take place between 
 Christ's coming and the end, when the wicked will 
 be judged, death destrayed, the kingdom delivered 
 up to God the Father, so that God may be all in all 
 (See Eev. xx. 11-15; xxi, 1-8, etc.). Time is not 
 the ouestir^n when Cicul fnll-rp. i>f lif?. ip.dirip-f- \V^«t 
 

 47 
 
 L-misi8 will be raised from umoiiirst the dead -is 
 w eked. Then cometh the end^lOOO years after 
 
 end. feataii, though boiiiul, will be let loose at 
 
 ^" .',r!.^^ '^' ^'^^« y^-^'^'^ Sin and ie h wd 
 be still then on the earth, but will be kept in al^y 
 
 beChrtt^Y-^'r"^^""^^'- ^^^'^' n^illeinium vvfll 
 bt Chri8t H kingdom set up in power, and at the end 
 subduing all enemies, the last of w'hieh is death 
 Ihen He gives up the kingdom to God the Father 
 and God IS all in all. llis' blessed place of serviee 
 is never given up as long as He is Man, and that 
 will be for ever. As Son of God, then, as ever He 
 IS coequal with the Father. ISTotice, all this is con- 
 nected with the resurrection of Christ. Adam was 
 
 H!!,f.'rfr^u^T^' ^^^^' ^"^ *^^ consequence was 
 death to the body, not to speak of tlie soul and 
 spirit. Christ, the Second Man, obeyed, glorified 
 Crod upto death, and the consequence will be resur- 
 rection to the body, not to speak of present resur- 
 rection with Christ as to the soul, By Man came 
 the resurrection of the dead. In Christ shall all be 
 madeahve Blessed portion for the saints! All 
 the fruit of the work of Christ, the Corn of Wheat 
 that ten into the ground and died (John xii 24) The 
 song shall resound through the ages of eternity — 
 slain""! """"^ '^^^^^':^' Worthy is the Lamb that was 
 
 ^v. ^f ^' ^^~^^ ^'^^® answers to the questions. How do 
 lat mi ^'^"^^ '' ^^'^^^ ^^^^^ '^^^'®^^ ^o they come ?(yer 
 3b) The only answer given is by the simile of the 
 corn. Itdoes not rise and bear fruit unless it die first 
 A corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, then 
 rises and bears much fruit. (Vei ,|37) And as to the 
 body that comes, it is not the same body. You put 
 
 more (Tr;}in nnA annrl J^f^ +1,- J Tt . ^, -, ." 
 
 ;j-~.ti t.tii--t =ww\^ illtV LliU 
 
 iyj iri'vjUii(^. 
 
 x>ul uuu gives 
 
48 
 
 I ii 
 
 each grain itt* body as it hatli pleased llim. There 
 are also diHeroiit kinds of t;rain, ditterent kinds of 
 ilesh also ; there may be diiVerent glories, as ono star 
 differeth I'roni another star in glory, so may it bo 
 with the heavenly saints; others may have their 
 portion on earth, as b(xlies terrestrial. But all these 
 are pi-iniarily but ])ictures of the resurrection of the 
 bodies of the saints. It is a great point in under- 
 standing this chapter to see that P.""l was combat- 
 ing the denial of the resurrection of the body. 
 (Ver. •42-4'4) This is sown in corruption, it is 
 raised in incorrujjtion ; it is sown in weakness, 
 it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body, 
 it is raised a spiritual body. (Ver. 45-47) Adam 
 and Christ are then again^ introduced as the type 
 of each body, but we must remember that as 
 the subject is the resurrection of the body, so we 
 are to look at the Body of Christ in resurrection, 
 as the type or picture of what our bodies will be. 
 There is a natural body, of which Adam was a type, 
 as it is written, The tirst man Adam was made a 
 living soul. That was the life of his body; but 
 there is also a s])iritual body, as the last Adam was 
 a quickening Spirit : as Son of God He had life in 
 Himself, and hence the power of quickening others. 
 The first Adam had no such power, and, as having 
 sinned, it was mortal and liable to death. The soul 
 is only looked ai here in connection with the body, 
 the subjectof the apostle's remarks. In other places, 
 such as Heb. iv., it is closely connected with the 
 spirit, God having breathed into man's nostrils the 
 breath of life. This made him immortal, but that 
 subject is not entered into here. The natural came 
 first, the spiritual next. The first man was of the 
 earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from 
 heaven. The first man has the race of the earthy ; 
 the second Man's race will be heavenly, after the 
 type of His resurrection body that is now in heaven. 
 
 
49 
 
 The thouuht 
 
 have boi!iC the 
 
 now turns more directly to us. A 
 
 inia^e of the earth v, we shall al 
 
 s we 
 
 - — .....,j:,v iM mv c.iriiiv, we s la a so 
 bear the .mage of the heavenly. Fk>h anci blood 
 cannot enter into the kingdom of (iod e 
 - evidenced by the Lord Jesus (Com.). Jo\ 
 
 even as 
 
 11 n XIX. 
 
 x,Z^o7' It "^IT J';'«;vonderful resurrection take 
 place ? (Ver 51-54) Behold, J .how you a mys- 
 tery. unrevea ed in Old Testament timeV bur now 
 
 th. l£ ; ' ^ "T"?^' ^'^ ^^^^' twinkling of an eye, at 
 .K 1.1 u^^'"''"'''''^ 'ncorruptible, and we, the living 
 
 h?ffV u ^''''"^ '''''"^'' '^ '^'^1 ^0 necessary, see- 
 
 f« in^f^^T "^M ^^' ^^^j'^ '"^'>^^ to death, that 
 th,8 mortal should put on immortality; with rk-ard 
 to the sleeping saints, it will be necessary that their 
 corruptible bodies should put on incorruption. When 
 
 f>]fil?.7'''K"'.P^''^^^;^*^""^•'^^'^ ^^'^ Scripture be 
 fulfilled which said Death is swallowed up in Vic- 
 
 ofJh. if ^['^"/jall^ws up a lamb, there is an end 
 of the Iamb; if death is swallowed up in victorv 
 
 Blessed be cH 'f ^' n k ''''^'- ''^^''^ '« '^'^ '^'^'^^ 
 iilessed be God, it will be so in that day. At that 
 
 period will be the ushering in of the glory of the 
 
 kingdom, spoken of in Isaiah xxv. 8. when \he Lord 
 
 takiTwf ^,/^^«^[«^/ll People in Mount Sion, and 
 take away the veil of reproval, and wi,)e away all 
 
 heav.nr' ^\'' '"^;'^^^ I^^'^i^^^'^ 'y^'- This is\he 
 heavenly part in chap. xv. That in Isaiah is the 
 
 earthly part, but the one ushers in the other, and 
 
 the hrst resurrection will not be complete till Israel 
 
 18 again established in Jerusalem. (Comp. l^ev! xx! 
 
 ftndnWi {^T; ^'^•' ''•' '^^^^^^ the eeated, crowned, 
 ^nd n?\ % !^'^''"'' ^' ^'^Presentatives of the Church 
 ana Ukl lestament saints, aro, almnH.^ ;., -.i^>... \ 
 
50 
 
 --^ I 
 
 But with tlif tljou^^lit of tills <^Ioriou?4 ending, thero 
 is the present shout of faith, — Oh, death, where is 
 thy stin^^? Oh, ^rave, where is thy victory? Tho 
 sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is tho 
 law; but thanks he unto Go<l, who giveth us the 
 victory, through our liord .fesus Christ. Resurrec- 
 tion is not only a future reality, as to in}' hope, but 
 it is a present reality t(^ faith, for Christ is risen. 1 
 am victorious over death now, and can say by faith, 
 1 am risen witi: Christ, lie was made sin for us, 
 and put it away, ho tiiat the sting of death is gone. 
 What is death without sin? It is merely the door^ 
 way into glory. C^hrist has died to sin, and in doing 
 so not only has put it away, but taken death also 
 out of the hands of the enemy, and made it Hid 
 own. Tho law having been given as the perfect 
 rule of life for a child of Adam, is the strength 
 of sin. Sin uses the holy commandment to slay 
 man in the flesh. Instead of checking lust it 
 excites it, by discovering it; and then forbidding 
 it, under the penalty of a curse : sin takes advantage, 
 uses its curse to pay to its poor slave its wages, that 
 is death. (Comp. Ilev. vi., vii.) So that the law, 
 instead of being man's power against sin, is sin's 
 power against man. It uses the holy commandment 
 to slay me, Paul saj's, in Rom. vii., so showing it- 
 self exceeding sinful, and making mo cry out as 
 much for deliverance from law as from sin. Christ, 
 having fulfilled it perfectly, died under its curse, 
 thus giving present deliverance from tho law by 
 His death, as from sin. Ho has risen again, tho 
 victorious Son of God, so that I, a believing sinner, 
 now rejoice in His victory, and daily do so. The 
 Christian thus anticipates death by faith, for, on 
 accepting Christ's death by faith, he can gay, I have 
 died with Christ, lie anticipates resurrection too, 
 for he holds the risen Son of God by faith, and says, 
 His life is my life; His victory my victory; His 
 
51 
 
 dluivT'^'/'Tr ?^ righteousncsR. He overromes 
 ttiul^ by laitli, always bearuii,^ about in the body tno 
 ;ivii.ir „t the Lonl Jesus, that the life ot Jesu/mav 
 H^ n.amfe.stod, and the rcsunvc-tio.i ot the body i*^ 
 t ..nil result (Com,,. 2 Cor. iv., v.) Glory be to 
 ^TOd ! iieloved brethren, Neem- then you Imve this 
 .Ulorious victory, and these ,irh.,-ious i.rospects, Bo 
 ye steadfayt, unmoveabU', always abouiKlin.r i,, the 
 vN'orK oi the Lord, forasniueh a.s ve know that your 
 labour IS not in vain in the Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER XVr. 
 ('Ui\v. x\i. concludes the Epistle. fVer.1-4) Thero 
 was a eoiieetion to be made lor the poor sauits at 
 . ••vusalem. Paul eoujisels systematic layin-- asiuo 
 every hrst t ay of the weeic, aceordino- as cSd ha<l 
 prospered them; so that he mi-ht noi^iave to call 
 lor a ooUection when he came. A blessed rule lor 
 the saints at all times, but it is the work ol each in- 
 divjdual, m responsibihty to the Lord, and has no- 
 thin^ir to do witn weekly collections at cliurch-doors. 
 or m boxes at the Lord's Table. Tlien, when therJ 
 IS a specuil need any where, the money is always 
 ready. Special men, ap])roved by letters ofcuQ- 
 mendation by the Assembly, were to take their Lntta 
 to Jei-usa!em. Paul himself might go witn them. 
 ( Ver. 5-9; He hoj^es to see them sooner or later, but 
 Ht present, till Pentecost, he will tarry at l^phesus, 
 tor there a great door was opened, though there wero 
 many adversaries. Thus an open door, and many ad- 
 versaries, oft go together in the work of the Lord, a 
 principle perhaps little thought of in these lax days. 
 (Ver. 10-18) Lilterent labourers then are brought 
 torvyard by name, viz., Timothy, ApoUos, the house- 
 hold of Stephanas, Portunatus, and Achaicus, all 
 having tlieir ditJerent spheres of labour in the 
 Church of God. :No sort of official rule is mentioned. 
 Lach was free to act according to his own yift. in 
 

 i l;i 
 
 
 ro-poiist 
 were to rcc-.n 
 
 nil 
 
 hii'.t V to tiio Lonl. If Tiinolhy caiao, they 
 
 vc him, find as lie wns young and iia- 
 
 to SCO that lie should be 
 
 rally timid, they wert 
 
 amonu'st tiiom wit 
 
 liout Uiar. and no man was to 
 
 (lespHo juni. 
 conic to them. 
 
 lie had ^really desired A])oilos to 
 
 but I he latter was not wi 
 
 llin! 
 
 doubt feariui;- to add to the party leeling atCoriii 
 
 no 
 th. 
 
 thouiih Taul himse 
 
 If had not the slio-htest feclhii* 
 
 d)out it. A polios thus oxer 
 
 ted 
 
 oi jealousy or fear aiiout it. Apoilos 
 his own independent will, in responsibiliiy to the 
 Lord, in refusing- to go at ihe present moment, 
 though he might at some fninre lime. The apostle 
 then'no doubt thinking ol' the character of his 
 brother, Apollos, as an eloquent man. and mighty 
 in the Scriptures, and fervent in s|)irit (Acts xix. 
 24-28), gives to the Corinthians a sunnnaryof what 
 lie thought Apollos's ministry would have su|)plied. 
 Watch ye. stand fast in thet'aith, (put you like men, 
 be strong: at the same time warning them that all 
 things be done in love. The household of Stepha- 
 nas IkkI all ot them addicted themselves to the 
 ministry of the saints. They were to submit them- 
 selves to such, as well as to every one who helped 
 or laboured. Though the Corinthians had, as an 
 Assembly, forgotten Paul in his necessities, there 
 were wliolc-hearted individual saints, such as Ste- 
 phanas. Fortunatus an<l .\ehaicus, who had supplied 
 what had been lacking on the part of the Corinthi- 
 ans; they were also to acknowledge such (lioni. vii. 
 8). (living was a gift in the Assembly of no mean 
 order. Cirace on the part of Paul says, They have re- 
 freshed my spirit and jjoiirs. (Ver. 19) The Assem- 
 blies of Asia saluted them. It is to bo remarked, 
 that wherever Scripture talks of Assemblies in tho 
 plural, thcv are Assemblies in n province, never in 
 a town (Acts ix. 31 ; 1 Cor. xvi. I, 10; l^ Coy. viii. 
 1; (ial. i. 2.22; Rev. i. 11).^ An A^s-nibly in a 
 ]>iace is always in ilif Mn^uiar, tin>iigii tiuy iiUin 
 
r,-) 
 
 liercci many lliousanils f,, nl I..,-,, „• 
 
 ditterent rooms. So P^,,! .11 "''1'' ""^ ■"«' '" 
 
 ofGodofCoi-rnh c^o hn nl "'f ' "'"Assembly 
 
 >-in,,>lo facts u-i 1 l,dn n ,c , o Jf T"""" °''"'«^« 
 
 M..spieion, the only test be i' ^'^j "Ji.'^S «'''i°"' 
 man ovo not tl,o Lord Je^'is a.rKt 'f , " ^"J 
 -Anathonni Maranalhn. i[o nrav« th. 1 '"' 
 
 '■••^Ei.Av. n;iNTi,,: Avn hockski, kk. 
 
 OTTAWA, C.i.v,