J,w ma){es the solemn avowal, "We do all things, dearly beloved, for yoor edifying." Once more he would conciliate, nor should this long and impassioned outburst oome to a close without calling God in Christ to witness hie deep-felt e.ffection for these nngrateful {Joriuthians.-L. . Vere .• 20, 21.-E:i;pression, of his fears. Wby had he jnet spoken with so much earnestness? Why had St. Paul brought facts to their notice which he had never used iu addressing his Churches? Why had he referred to that extraordinary event in his career, .when he had ~een ushered inta the secret chambers of Paradise and permitted to hear things which were.not to be told? Why a, revelation to be umevea.led? It was to teach the rebellious and evil-disposed among the Corinthians that he was Christ's 11,postle .to them, and, as such, charged with maintaining the order, peace, and purity of' the Church.ea entrusted to hie oversight. Very tenderly had he appealed to the Corinthiaw, and now, having called God, even God in Christ, to witness the depth and sinc.erity of hie ,love for them, he would entreat them not to drive him to extreme measures, 'l'o exercise stern authority gave him no pleasure. The greatest thing in an apostle was love, and he wished to restore harmony and prosperity to the Chorch by means of forbearance and affectionate counsel. Therefore. he had pleaded so fervently; therefore he had condescended to boasting;. therefore he had told them more of bis infirmities than his enemies knew: ; .therefore he had gloried in those things which these very men used to alienate hie own spiritual children by putting contempt on him and his offi~e. ·, .Fears he had, lest :when he should come to Corinth, he should not find them such as he wished, and fears too that he would have to act in an apostolic way not agreeable to them, so that on .their meeting together. each party would be disappointed in the other., Hope .he had, and so he.11pe,1ks doubtingly. But the fatherly heart is overloaded with apprehensions and ".le11~ !' is thrice employed, for he would not conceal these a,pprehensions. What a dark ·llst .of vices and sins is spread out in the last two verses I If he should have to confront these evils, he will not find them such as he wciuld and they will find him such as they would not. First comes the catalogne of moral evils such as originated in the factious spirit so rife in Corinth, viz. strife, jealousy, wraths, (actions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults. These things would reqiµre discipline; But, moreover, he feared the sensual wickedness which had su~h a holdon,Corintl;i. For he might have to deal with gross offenders, men who had commi,tted sins, of "uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness," and had not repented. Such a state of things would grieve him. Disappointed and afflicted by a blight like. this falling on his labours in the ministry of the gospel, he tells them, "My God will humble me among you." . To avoid these distressing results, to restore peace arid epiritual prosperity to a Church rent by faction and disgraced by immorality, be had written and laboured and prayed.. If all failed, "my God will humble me among you."-L. • Ver'. 2.- ".A man in <Jhrist." . When we consider what man is, and who Christ is, the conjunction seems wonderful indeed. Yet, when apprehended, this union appears one fraught with richest blessings for him who is the inferior and dependent member. The thought was one familiar to the apostle ; himself " a man in Christ," he spoke of others who were "in Christ before" himself, and he designated Christian societies, "Churches in Obrist Jesus." I., THE NATURE OF TIIE UNION THUS DESCRlllED, 1. The Christian is grafted "in Christ" as a graft in a tree, joined to 'him as a branch to a vine. The union is thus a vital union, and is to the Christian the means and the occasion of spiritual life. 2. 'l'he Christian is accepted "in Christ," i.e. in the Beloved. For Christ's sake the Christian is received into Divine favour. 'l'he Saviour is in this capacity a Representative, a Mediator, an Advocate. 3. The Christian is incorporated "in Christ" as the member in the body, and has a new function to discharge in consequence of this relationship. 4. 'l'he Christian is hidden "in Christ" as the traveller in the cleft of the rock, as the voyager in the ark, when u the Lord shut him in." 5. The Christian dwells "in Christ" as in a house, a home appointed for him by Divine wisdom !lnd goodness. IT. THE IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGES OF THIS U:!.'lON. 1. As is apparent from conijidcring t4e positiou of those who are out of Christ. For such, wh~re is safety, 300 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE OORIN'l.1llIANR. [ott. xn. 1-21,
where is II law of life, where is a prospect for immortality? For to be out of Obrist la to be without God, and so without hope. 2. From considering what in this life they possess who have Christ and are in him. Whilst; so far &s the bodily life ie concerned, they are in the world, they are in spirit in the Lord, and thus partake a hiaher nature nud existence than belong to earth and to time. 3. From considering the i~1perishable character of this union. To be "in Christ" now is to be " with Christ " for ever. To those who are in him there is no condemnation now, and from him there· shall be no separation hereafter. The visions which Paul beheld, and the declarations he heard when be was caught up into the third heaven, were to him, ancl. may be to us, an earnest and promise of inunort.-il union. Therefore "Abide in him."-T.