Though these prospects were so glorious, yet they created some embarrassment in his mind. He pro- ceeds to mention,
II. The straits and difficulties to which they reduced
him —
He speaks not indeed of any serious difficulties,
but only of a dilemma to which he was reduced by the contrary desires within him a :
For his own sake he wished to die — [" To die," he says, " would be gain to him." And a glorious gain indeed it must be to one so prepared for death as he ! To get rid of sin, and sorrow, and temptation, and suffering, of every kind ; to have all the faculties of his soul perfected, all its capacities enlarged, all its wishes accom- plished ; to behold all the glory of his God and Saviour ; to join with all the hosts of heaven in songs of joy and triumph ; and to enter upon a state of unalienable everlasting felicity ; well might he say, " This is far better :" for even his exalted happiness whilst on earth, must fall infinitely short of such a state as that
We wonder not therefore that he wished to exchange his present trials for that unutterable bliss ]
For the sake of others he wished to live — [It certainly was very desirable, and, in some sense, "need- ful" for the Church, that his labours should still be continued to them. They still needed his instruction to guide them, and his influence to preserve them, in the right way. Doubtless God could have guided and preserved them, without the in- tervention of any human being : but He has ordained men to be the instructors of his Church, and has connected the prosperity of his people with the labours of their ministers : and therefore the Apostle's labours were of infinite value to those who could enjoy them. This he felt : he had reason to think, that, if he were spared to come to them again, their faith would be strengthened, and their rejoicing in Christ Jesus would be more abundant " through himb." Indeed the Church is a great hospital, in which experienced physicians regularly attend to the wants of the patients, and administer to them respectively from the inexhaustible storehouse of God's word, whatever they judge most suited to their neces- sities
From this consideration, he was as willing to live, as from other views he had been desirous to die : and he was for a while perplexed by the opposite attractions of the public benefit on the one hand, and his own personal advantage on the other.]
a We apprehend that the 22d verse should rather be translated thus : " But whether it be worth my while to live in the flesh, and what I shall choose, I know not."- This not only renders the verse intelligible, but the whole passage luminous. See Beza, in loc.
b ver. 25, 26. kv tjioi. To translate this "for me," lowers the sense exceedingly.