1 Cor. iil. 11. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, ivhich is Jesus Christ.
THERE is not any thing more injurious to the Church of God than a party-spirit : yet even in the apostohc age did it begin to distract the Christian community. At Corinth it prevailed, and rose to an alarming height : and St. Paul was obliged to exert all his influence in order to counteract it. He re- minded the partisans, that, as " God's building," they should be cemented together with brotherly love : that they should study to shew themselves worthy of the place they held in the Church, in expectation of that day when all their works should be tried by fire : and that, instead of fomenting strifes and divisions, they should unite with each other in cleav- ing steadfastly to the one foundation, whereon they stood.
The declaration in the text is plain, and of infinite importance —
To enter more fully into it we shall consider, I. What foundations men lay for themselves —
Every man has some foundation for his hope. Though there are many shades of difference in the sentiments of different men, yet their grounds of hope may be reduced to two :
1. Their own goodness — [Some think that nothing but gross sin can expose them to the wrath of God. They therefore congratulate themselves as having never done any thing to merit his displeasure. Others imagine that they may trust in the good works that they have done. They have, in their own apprehension, been regular in their duties to God and man : nor can they conceive that they should have any reason to fear. Thus, like the Pharisee of old, they thank God that they are not as other men ; and are filled with self-complacency, because they are punctual in the observance of certain duties ^]
a Luke xviii. 11, \2.