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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,