V8J11. 14-18.-2'7ie true sphere of human usefulnesa and the sourcs of human g'l,o,ry. .. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly. To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." Here are two subjects for meditation. L THE TRUE SPHERE OF HU?UN USEFULNESS. 1. It is a sphere in which we are placed by Divine appointment. Paul teaches that his sphere of labour in Corinth was according to the Divine wilL "We stretch not ourselves beyond our measure [over- much], as though we reached not unto yo1L" As if he had said, "I am not come to Corinth merely by my own inclinations, or as a matter of impulse or caprice, or as an intruder. I am come here by the will of God. I am licensed by him to this sphere." 2. The consciousness that we are in this sphere is a;"ust reason for exultation. "Not boasting of things without our measure." As if Paul had said," My boasting, or my exultation, is not that I have entered into the sphere of other men's labours, but that I am in the sphere to which I have been divinely commissioned." The opponents of Paul, in Corinth, boasted of the influence they had gained in the Chlll'ch which he himself had founded by his self-sacrificing labours, and whose members owed, either directly or indirectly, their conversion to him ; whereas his rejoicing was that he was doing the work of God in the ephere to wh-ich he had been sent. 3. It is a sphere which wi<lens with our weful!n,esr.. Although Paul felt that Corinth was the sphere to which he had been sent, he knew that the field would be widened according to his spiritual success. "Having hope, when your faith is increased [that as your faith groweth], that we shell be enlarged [magnified] by you according to our rule [province] abundantly." The increase of their faith would lead to an enlargement of his sphere of labour. The true method of e:r:tending the sphere of labour to which we have been sent is by the multiplication of Of//1' converts. Each soul which a minister brings to Christ enlarges the field of his usefulness, enables him to break np uew ground still further on. II. THE TRUE SOURCE oF HUJU.N EXULTATION, In what did Panl exult or " boast " ? L Not in crediting himsilf with the laJJours of other men. He did not "boast in another man's line [province] of things made ready to our hand." How common it is for men to credit themselves with the labours of others I We find this in every department of labour. In literature there are plagiarists, in scientific dis- coveries e.nd artistic inventions there are unjust claimants, and even in religion one minister is often found to claim the good that others have accomplished. Paul was e.bove thi.a. The genius of Christianity condemns this mean e.nd miserable dishonesty. 2. Not in self-commendation. "For not he that commendeth himself is approved." That conscience approves of our conduct, though at all times a source of pleasure, is not a true source of exultation; for conscience is not infallible, Conscience some- times deceives. What, then, was his true source of exultation? " He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." "God forbid that I should glory,_save in the cross."
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vars. 1-7.-<Jhange ln the Epistle; spirit of his defena. No one can fail to notice ths change in the tone of the Epistle which appears in this chapter, Every thought- en. x. 1-18.] 'rllE SECOND EPISTLE TO 'l'I-IE C.:ORINTHIANS, 2-L,