The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 168

right-hearted men, A groat Christian is one to whom the Lord has given ''largeness" of heart. Paul, Uhrysostom, Bengel, Baxter, Whitefield, Chalmcrs,-were these great Christiane? And what had they in common? Great hearts, large generosity of soul, the caracity of loving much, and of enlisting the love and sympathy of others for worthy objects, " The truly generous is the truly wiee, And he who loves not others livee nnbleet." III. BE ENLARGED IN LAnouns AND GIFTS, A grudging hand and indolent temper in the Church go with e. oarrow spirit; but where mind and heart are enlarged in Christ, the hands will be found ready to every good enterprise e.nd open in giving up to the measure of e.bility.-F. Vere. 14-18,-Separation. St. Paul wished to see the Corinthian brethren enlarged, enlivened, and encouraged. But this was not to be by the easy and unprincipled method of ignoring all distinctions and binding together incongruous materials and moral opposites. '!'he exhortation, "Be ye enlarged," must be taken with this, "Be ye separate;" and charity must go hand in hand with purity. The contrasts expressed in this passage were very apparent in ancient Corinth, where the Christians, as saints, were openly separated from the heathen worship and heathen vices around them. .A similar state of things may be seen now at mission stations in populous heathen cities. 'l'he Christians turn away from the temples, disown the priests and soothsayer~, disregard the festivals, and have nothing a.ny more to do with idols. They may still maintain family a.nd social intercourse with the heathen, because conversion, as St. Paul explains, does not break family ties, or change the station in which one is when .,. ealled," or drive Christ's followers "out of the world." But they may not be unequally yoked with non-Christians or profane persons in Church fellowship. The distinction cannot be made so palpable where all society has accepted the Christian name as when a.nd where the Church is in sharp contrast with a powerful heathenism. Yet in prin- ciple the distinction insisted on by St. Paul must be maintained, else the strength of the Church as e. spiritual institution is sapped, and a compromising spirit enters which destroys the glory of Christ. To carry out the principle in actual Church discipline is confessedly difficult ; but the Church has a right to expect that her overseers will prevent the admission of scandalous persons ; and individual professors of the Christian faith should not claim Church fellowship without examining themselves as to the side on which they stand with reference to the five points of contrast indicated in this text; 1. Between righteousness and iniquity. This takes us at once into the region of conscience and moral conduct. The Christian should be a righteous man. He may not lie, or cheat, or overreach, or take unfair advantage of another, because to do so would not be right or righteous. The rogue and the worker of iniquity are as heathen mea, and not fit for Christian fellowship. 2. Between light and darkness. This points to the mental a.nd moral environment as affecting thought, feeling, and action. It is e. mode of expression common with St. Paul, a.s may be seen in other Epistles. The Christian is a. child of the light and of the day. Darkness, on the contrary, is the covering of the heathen world; a.nd its works a.re unfruitful and shameful. 3. Between Ohrist and Belial. Abstractions are left, and the leaders of two conflicting hosts are set in opposition. A Christian is "of Chriat,n as the Lord whom he obeys a.ud the pattern which he follows. On the other side is a man of Belia!, or the follower of a worthless and profligate spirit. So this contrast has reference to disposition, and excludes every false and wicked person from Christian fellowship. 4. Between the believer and the unbeliever. This takes us to the question of religious persuasion and conviction. A Christian is a believer on the Son of God. In this lies the secret of his life, strength, holiness, and patience. A man without faith is no more fit for fellow- ship in the Church than a heathen. To him the trials and triumphs of the life of faith a.re alike unknown. 5. Between the temple of God and idols. The Church is the living temple of the living God, the holy temple of the holy God. The individual Christians are stones in that temple, a.nd must be in harmony with its sacred character and use, What agreement has it with idols? If the Jew would have thought it a horrible profanation to set up a graven image in the temple at Jerusalem, much morn should Christia11 minds abhor the setting 1.1p of idols of selfishness, covetousness, or  164 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORIN'I.'HIA.NS. [cu. vr. 1-18.