upon m2. $0 others Mouths ſhould have praiſed me, and not my own; 1 muſt ſpeak, becau'e you hold your Peace, or do worie in Calumniating me. +7 For you cannot but ſay, that I neither in
my Apotrelical Call and Commiſhon, nor yet in my Gifts and Graces,
nor in my Labours, nor in my Sufferings, come behind thoſe that
are commonly thought to be the chizf-ft of the Apeftl>s3 Tho? (in ſome of your Opinions) I &2 75t2ing; or indeed of or from my (elf,
am nothing ; doiag all tha I do through Chriſt that ſtrezpthorecb
me, and by the Grace of God being whar 1 wn. £
12 * Truly the ligas of an Apotitle were wrought * x Cor.
among you 1n all paticace, 1 fig1s and wonders, aid 9 2
, _
mighty deeds 4. Cl, 4. 2. 2 T had not only a Call to my Apgſil-hip (of which indeed you C& _
* 1, & Lie Gs
were no Witnelies) but I among you evidenced my Call by tuch Signs, as were {uihicient to declare me? to you to be a true Apoſtle, Among theſe, he reckons, 1. 7.ztienc?, 2. Miracles. The firſt refers to thole many Labours which he had, in travelling to propagate the Goſpel, in Preaching, Writing, &:. this manitefred kim ca!l- ed of God to the Work. 2. Miraculous Operations Were another Sign; for tho' the working of Miracles was not reftrained to the Apoſtolical Office, yet when they were wrouzht in confirmation of the Dottrin which the Apoſtle had firſt preached, and ſo were a Seal of his Miniſtry, they were truly Signs of his Apoftleſhip; it being no way probable, that the God of Truth, would have com- municated his power to Men for the confirmation of Lies, or of an employment to which he had never called them.
13 For what is it wherela ye were inferior to other churches, except zt be that * I my ſelf was not burden- *Ch.1 1+9s ſome to you b? Forgive me this wrong.
b Wherein have you not been uſed 2s any other Goſp<l-Churches were, where Peter, or Fames, or any other of the Apofiles have laboured ? Hath not the ſame Dottrin beep preachea to you ? Have not as great Miracles been wrought amorg you? Kath not the Holy Ghoft been as plentifully ſhed abroad among you, to inrich you with all ſpiritual Gifts? So as you have come behind in nv Goſpebenefit. T know of nothing in which it hath not fared with you as with other Churches, except in this; that whereas in other Churches the Apoſtles or their Paſtors, have been burden-
' ſome to them, taking Stipends and Salaries for their Pains; I hare
forborn it and have not at all charged you. If this be a wr9:;7 to you, I hope it is not of that nature, but T may obrain of you a Pardon for it. The reaſons of the Apoſtles thus fparing «he Church of Coriath more than ſome other Churches, we have before oneſicd at. | 14 * Behold, the third time I am ready to come *Ch. 13.1. to you c, and I will not be burdenfom to you 4; for * I ſeck not yours, but you e: For the children onght , FE not to lay up for the parents f, but the parents for the ,,, children g. os c We read in holy Writ but of two Journies which the Apoſtle made to Corinth, AQts 18. 1. & 20. 3. and the latter is believed to have been after the writing of this Epiſtle. We muſt not think that all theſe morions are ſet down in Scripture. It is manifeſt, that 7.1 had thoughts of going oftner, 47s 19. 21. 1 Core 16. 5. Chap. 1. 15. Man purpoſeth, but God dilpoſeth. For which reaſon *ames adviſeth us to add, Jf Go will, to our Expreons, teltity- ins our Reſolutions. 4 He lets them know, that he was coming, to
them, with the ſame Reſolutions he had before taken up, not 16 pur
them to any charge. e For that, which ſhould he ith» detign of
every faithful Minifter, was his defign, viz. the gaining, their *Chs I. 6. Souls to Chriſt, and perfecting of them, that in the day of [udz- Cool. 1.24. ment he mizht preſent them asa pure and chaſt Virgin unto Chrift, 2 Tim. 2+ His buiineſs was not to inrich himſelf by them; he tought the 10 _ good of their Souls, not their Eftates. f Ee looked upon them as F Gre for his Children, upon himſelf as their Parent. And tho” indeed Chil- your Soulss dren ought to relieve their Parents, if in want, yct it is not the *Chap. $+ courſe of the World for Children ro lay up for their Parents. p Put, 12, 13+ on the contrary, It is the courſe of Parents to maintain tNeiwr Children, and to lay up for them.
is And 1 will very gladiy ſpend, aid be ſpent * + for you þ, tho* the * more abiiica uly 1 love you, the ' leſs | be loved 7. h 1
Chap. % 11.
* Cht. To 2,
* x Coreg. 21. ChaP. 10. 2 and 13. 2, IC»
þ T am & far from deſiring your mony, that if T had it, T would willingly ſp-nd it for you; and I do ſpend my fir>h for you, willing to die in your fervic?, labouring for the good of your im- mortal Souls. 7 But Tam very unhappy as to ſome of you, who will rot rightly underſtand me, but love me the leſs, the more they ice my love to them. ;
15 But be ic o: I did not burden you : neverthe-
ek, being crafty, I canght you with guile &.
> 7 hear what ſome fay, Tt is true, that when IT was my ſelf with you, Tlaid no burden upon you, did not put you upon any Colle- Aion for me; but, like a crafty man, I ſet others to take mony of you for my uſ-: <oas, what I did not by my ſelf, I did by thoſe whom I imployed. This appeareth to be the ſenſe, by what tollow- eth in the next Verſe, where he appeareth to them for his vindi- cation in this particular.
17 * Did 1 make a gain of you by any of them, whom [ ſent unto you ?
18 ] delired Tirus /, and with him I ſent a bro- ther m- Did Titns make a gain of you ? walked we not. in the ſame ſpirit? walked we not in the ſame ſteps m ? þ- |
1 The Apoſtle, to avoid or wipe off this imputation, appealeth to themſelves, to name any Perſon (whom he had ſent unto them) that had taken any thin=z of them for his uſ?. He faith, that he defired Titus to come to them, of this defire we read betore Chap. $. 6, 16, 18, 22. m With him (he faith) he ſent another Brother ;