1 Cor. i. 4 — 9. / thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge ; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you : so that ye come behind in no gift ; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ : who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
WE cannot but admire the address which is ma- nifest in all the Epistles of St. Paul. He of course has frequent occasion to mention truths which are far from palatable to those to whom they are spoken : but he always introduces them in so kind a manner, and accompanies them with such expressions of the most unfeigned love, that it is almost impossible for any to be offended with him. He never shrinks from a faithful discharge of his duty : but he exerts himself always, to the utmost of his power, to heal the wounds which his fidelity inflicts. The Corinthian Church was in a far worse state than any other that he had occasion to address : indeed the manners of the Corinthians, previous to their conversion, were dissolute even to a proverb ; and therefore it is the less to be wondered at, that, after their conversion, many of them should still need admonition on points which they had hitherto been accustomed to regard