The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 249

with suc~ men. Instead or me,asuring themselves by 11, Divine rule, these persons thought 1t enough to measure themselves by themselves or by others • and this modo or judgment, originating in self and ending with self, was without und~rstanding. Yet there was 11. measure, and he acknowledged it whenever he thought or spoke of himself. If he referred to his labours, if he enumerated his sacrifices, if he cited his su[erinas it was not with any human standard in view, but in the sight of God and with rcsp;ct solely to the sphere of ac~ivity to which God bad appointed him as 11.n apostle. Had he come to Corinth? Corinth bad been given him of God as a field of apostolio e[ort. "The surveyor's chain" bad laid off the territory, and he bad traversed Macedonia and Ach~ia ~nly because Providence had assigned the ground to him, and the Holy Spirit had msp1red him to undertake the task. " As fe.r as to you ; " so far in the warfare of the West the campaig~ had ex:tende~, so fur had he gone in the great fight of pulling down strongholds, and m demonstratmg that the weapons were not carnal, but mighty through God. If he had reached Corinth as a place within the boundaries of his province, would he pause there? Was this the outer line of the vast battle-field? He hoped not. There he was only waiting till another territory had been marked out, and he should hear the signal to arise and possess the land. Was he looking across ,the !Mla of Adria and wondering when he should visit Rome? And when would that glad opportunity come? But one thing was clear to him just then, and this was that, if the faith of the Corinthians were increased, he would have his own heart enlarged, and be further endowed and qualified for apostolic labour. One moment, a gl~nce at the Judaizers and their presumptuous occupancy of fields delegated of God to him (ver.15), "not boa.sting of things without measure, that is, 1Jf other men's labours;" the next moment, a thought of new work so soon as the Church at Corinth should recover from it!! troublee anc. he should find it safe to leave them. Already his heart was burning to preach the gospel in the regions beyond Corinth, and "not to glory in another's province in regard to things ready to our hand." Observe how often this last idea recurs: ver. 13, "We will not boast of things without our measure;" ver. 14, "We stretch not ourselves beyond our measure;" ver.15," Not boasting of things without our measure;" ver. 16, "Not to boast in another man's line of things [see Revised Version, above] made ready to our hand." 'l'wo thin,.,as here are noteworthy. 1. The apostle is willing and ready to wage the holy war in new territories. He is not tired of fighting the Lord's battles. Nor is he afraid of greater and more numerous enemies. Probably his eye was on Rome. If God will, he shall go further West. Hi!j_;weapons have been tried and proved. He himself bas been tested. Grace has been sufficient. Cast down, he has not been destroyed. Dying, he has lived. The promises of God have been Y.ea and .A.men to his soul. nor conld any experience happen that would not bring the •treogth and consolation of Christ to his heart. How much he had lived and how rapidly! ''-'hat years had been compressed into each year I Berore the dilating eye of intellect, what visl.as had spread afar in the light that brightened towards the perfect day ! And then the blessed realizations, ability increasing perpetually, and capacity growing even faster so as to supply fully the ex:pand.ing spheres of ability, consciousness of self enlarging as self in Christ, deep opening into deep, wonder springing afresh from wonder, and, with every victory gained by the weapons of his warfare, a larger assurance that, if he had been "mighty through God" at Ephesus and Corinth, he should be mightier still" in the regions beyond." Here is a most useful lesson to teach us what we are slow to learn, namely, that no natural endowments, no amount of culture, no inspiration of knowledge, no miracles wrought in his behalf, can set aside the necessity of Christian experience, a personal work of grace in the soul, a profound sense of that work as from the Holy Spirit, in the case of one called to the highest office of minis- tration. 2. We see how we are, as Christians," members one of another." Although St. Paul was so highly endowed and so remarkably successful in the apostleship, yet he dt:per.ds on the Church at Corinth for his enlargement to the work opening before him io Europe. "We shall be enlarged by you." Thie was conditioned on their conduct. If their divisions were healed, their false teachers silenced, their energies set free from exhausting strife and concentrated on building up Chriet'e kingdom, would Corinth and Achaia be the only gainers? Nay; he himself would be liberated from restraintt1 that clog~ed his feet. A fresh impulse would be given his apostleship. A new current ot life would flow from their hearts into his heart, for it was not his working nor any oil. x. 1-18.J 'l'HE SECOND EPIS'fLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 249