1 Cor. vii. 24. Brethren, let every man, ivherein he is called, therein abide with God.
THE state of the Church, at the first introduction of Christianity, was full of embarrassment : the Jewish converts knew not how to conduct themselves in re- ference to the Mosaic law, which was now abrogated; nor did the Gentile converts find it easy to submit to a moral discipline so different from that to which they had been hitherto accustomed, and so strict as that which Christianity imposed. The union also of Jews and Gentiles in the same society, like that of two contending elements, was a source of continual discord. The persecutions too, which each were called to endure, tended yet further to make their path of duty more intricate ; so that not even the wisdom and authority of St. Paul himself were suffi- cient to adjust the difficulties which arose, without a special appeal to the whole college of Apostles, and
the public sanction of their united authority. The epistle before us gives a great insight into the state of things as existing at that day, and shews how much there was to be rectified in the whole Christian Church. But, not to notice the various evils which prevailed in the Church at large, we will fix our attention on some difficulties which the Corinthians had submitted to the Apostle for his advice. Many, who had been converted in the married state, had to encounter the most painful opposition from their un- converted relatives : the husband being filled with resentment against his wife, and the wife against her husband. Hence arose a question, whether it was not expedient for the two to separate, rather than, by continued feuds, to embitter each other's life. On this subject they wrote to him for his advice. The Jewish and Gentile converts also consulted him how they might best satisfy their own minds under their respective circumstances, and most approve them- selves to that God whom they desired to serve. Doubts also arose amongst believing servants, whether they ought not, at any risk, to leave the masters who were hostile to the religion they had embraced. To each of these the Apostle gives an appropriate an- swer : and then lays down as a general rule, that *' whereinsoever any man was called, he should not think of leaving his calling, but should abide therein with God." This rule he twice prescribes, within the space of a few verses'*: and therefore we may well regard it as deserving the most attentive consideration.
For the elucidation of the whole subject, I shall endeavour to mark,
J. The feelings which the Gospel is apt, under pecu- liar circumstances, to engender — There is, as we all know, a great difference between the states and conditions of different men —
[The Jews, for instance, were, for the space of fifteen hundred years, distinguished above all the rest of the human race, by the light of revelation, and by ordinances of divine
a ver. 20, 24.