doubted of his own salvation, than he did of his existence : and the blessing which was thus imparted to him, he had been the means of imparting unto others, even to hundreds and thousands of the Gentile world. Could he then be insensible of the value of that which had filled his own soul with such j)eace and joy, and which, through his ministrations, had diffused such unspeakable blessings all around him? No: he could not but commend to others what had been so effectual for his own benefit, and glory in the cross as " all his salvation, and all his desire."]
As an especial reason for glorying in the cross, he mentions,
II. His experience of its power —
The words " by whom" should rather be trans- lated, " by which ;" for it is to the doctrine of the cross as received into his soul, and not to Christ's personal agency upon his soul, that he traced the effects produced.
The world was in the Apostle's eyes as an object that was crucified ; himself also being as one cruci- fied in respect of it —
[The image here used is very remarkable, and deserving of particular attention, " The world was crucified to him." A person dying upon a cross, how dear so ever he may have been to us, is no longer an object of desire. As soon as he has surrendered up his life, if his body be given to us, we bury it out of our sight. We no longer look to him for any of those comforts which are derived from social intercourse : all rela- tion to him, all dependence on him, all satisfaction in him, are dissolved : every tie that once bound us together is broken, and " we know him no more." The Apostle further adds, that " he also was crucified to the world." This does not mean, that the world despised him, and wished him buried out of its sight (that was indeed true; but it is not the truth that is here intimated) : the expression imports, that, whilst the world was as a crucified object in his eyes, he beheld every thing in it as a man would do who was himself dying on a cross. He may have loved the world in ever so high a de- gree ; but he now loves it no more. He may have sought its pleasures, its riches, and its honours, with the most insatiable ardour ; but he has now no desire after any thing that is in it. He feels himself dying; and he has now no wish but to im- prove his few remaining moments, for his own benefit, and the benefit cf those around him. Take the penitent thief as an example. If crowns and kingdoms could have been given him