The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 288

What little aohos and pains sto·p 118 I An avalanche of grief and trial failed to arrest Paul I IV. IT WAS ONLY WHEN SUBJECTED TO GREAT PRESSURE, AND THEN ONLY UNDER PROTEST, THAT THl!l APOSTLE ALLOWED HIMSELF TO DWELL UPON THIS PERPETUAL MARTYRDOM, He rejoiced in it; yet he did not like to speak about it. He almost calls himself n fool for doing so, The martyi- has sometimes sullied his crown by pride• but the apostolic affliction _seemed strangely sanctifi~d to him. Some are not great en°mgh to suffer much for Chnst, God does not allow 1t. It would make them so intolerable that prayer would ascend on all hand.q for their transference to a world where they would have a humble opinion of themselves. Paul went through all the privation anguish, peril, catalogued here, and came out fr()'TYI, it with the spirit of a liltk child.-H. Ver. 3.-T/ie simplicity in Ohrist. "So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Some manuscripts read," simplicity and chastity." By the term " simplicity" is first meant "singleness of affection," "single-minded devotion to Christ," and the word is used in connection with the marriage figure of vers. 1, 2. It should be remembered that, in the East, the time of espousal is regarded as sacred, and any infidelities.during the time of espousal are treated as adulteries are after marriage. In St. Paul's conception the Church is the espoused bride of Christ, and he had been the means of arranging the espousal in the case of the Church at Corinth. "What the apostle now urges is that it is as natural for him to be jealous for the purity of the Church which owes its birth to him, as it is for a father to be jealous for the chastity of the daughter whom he has betrothed as to a kingly bridegroom." The older theocratic :figure of idolatry as adultery, which so often appears in the books of the prophets, should be compared with this. The term "simplicity" may, however, be more full and suggestive to us, and mean singleness of devotion to Christ, entireness of service to him, unmixed love for him. F. W. Robertson says that the expression, "the simplicity of the gospel," is constantly mistaken. " People suppose simplicity means what a. child or a ploughman can understand. Now, if this be simplicity, evidently the simplicity of the gospel was corrupted by St. Paul himself; for he is not simple. Who understands his deep writings? Does one in a thousand? St. Peter says there a.re things hard to be understood in St. Paul's Epistles. We often hear it a.lleg~d as a. charge against a. book, a. lecture, or a sermon, that it is not simple. If we are told that what we a.re to preach must be on a level with the most inferior intellect, so that without attention or thought it may be plain to all, we are bound to disclaim any obligation to do this; if it is supposed that the mysteries of God, of which we a.re the stewards, can be ma.de as easy of comprehension as an article in a newspaper or a novel, we say that such simplicity can only be attained by shallowness. There must be earnestness, candour, patience, and a certain degree of intelligence, as well as a sort of sympathy between the minds of the preacher and his hearers, and there must be a. determination to believe that no man who endeavours to preach the gospel will deliberately and expressly say what he knows to be false or wrong. 'Simple' means, according to St. Paul, unmixed or unadulterated." I. THE PLACE OF CHRIST m THE CmraCH. It is as unique as that of the husband in relation to the wife. A place that can know il.O rivalry. Christ is Head, Lord, Husband. "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye a.re brethren." The old testimony is renewed for the Christian spheres," Hear, 0 lsra.el, the Lord your God is one Lord," "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." No earthly teachers may push into his place. No claim of Judaic ceremonies may spoil the trust in and devotion to him. "Him first, him midst, him last, him all in all." The bride has but one Husband, even Christ. !I, ~HE BPIBIT OF THE CHURCH TOWARDS CBJUST. It is that full loyalty which follows upon setting our whole affection on Christ, and which finds expression in all loving submissions ll!ld obediences. It is precisely set before us by the great apostle when he says, "To me to live in Christ." "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth inme," Ill, THll: TEMPTATIONS TO WHICH THE CHURCH IS EXPOSED. Answering to the disloyalty of a wife. And such temptations may take forms of subtlety, like those presented by the serpent to Eve. In every age there are things which tend to take the  288 TIIE S]jjOOND EPIS'l.'LE TO THE CORINTHIANS. Loa. xr. 1-33.