The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 319

hie power. Welcome such unapproval I It would be in exact conformity to the spirit and encl of bis apostolic e.dministration, which was in accordance with the truth of the gospel and designed to show forth that truth. What is the test of a great and wise ruler? The test is the uselessness of a punishing power (except in extreme cases and as an ultimate resort), because his subjects govern themselves. Such was the apostle's argument. Nothing against the truth, all for the truth, Christ the Truth; this was the beautiful summation in which be rested. If this should appatently exhibit his weakness, what a glorious weakness it would be! Apostolic judgment made needless by self-government; what could be a grander testimony to the truth and excellence of his work among them? Then, verily, they would be strong. "Perfection" in the order and unity of the Church," perfection" of individual character, was the object of his prayer, and hence this Epistle. Whoever teaches Christianity as God's truth cannot fail to teach much else besides. These verses are maxim!! of infinite wisdom. What man in authority, what statesman in the affairs of a nation, what father at the head of a family, what office-holder in the Church, if he would bear his faculties so meekly and be thus "clear in 'his great office," would not be a providence of instruction and help- fulness in the world I Decay of reverence for law begins in decay of reverence for men who administer the law, Unhappily e_nougb, this decline in reverence for law is one of the growing perils of the age. It .is peculiar to no form of government. It is spreading everywhere as an atmospheric evil, and threatening like an epidemic to travel round the globe. Power to build up, not to destroy; this is St. Paul's idea of power divinely bestowed. .And accordingly we see what a blessed discipline it was to him personally and officially; and having accomplished this result in his own soul, it is not remarkable that it achieved its ends in this distracted and corrupted Church at Corinth.-L. Yers. 11-14.-Paf'ting tenderness. If ever great principles of government were subjected to the severest of ordeals, it was in the instance which baa been under review. If ever personal qualities and official prerogatives were inextricably mixed in pending issues, and those issues diffuse.d over a vast surface, it was in this affair at Corinth. If ever. the,chief actor in the intertlst of tranquillity and social purity had to fight a battle absolutely single-handed and.11,lone, it was St. Paul's fortune in this struggle to save a. community from degradation and.destruction. We have seen what he endured when endurance was probably harder_ than at any period of his life. What aids he summoned in .(hese critical hours, what recourse he bad to the past, what account he gave of the "-thorn -in the flesh" and its uses in his work, we have seen in the progress of this, interesting section of his career. Most of all, we have seen how the man and the apostle, the tentl)laker and the preaqher, ,the liberal Jew and the sagacious Christian, were most happily. interblended in the rare~t harmony and unity while doing the work of pacifica- tion a~d reformatiop.. .And no,w that he. comes before us in the last expression of himself as to this weighty controversy, it is ennobling to see how finely poised he is, and ,what anxiety be has" lest,.being present," he should be compelled against all his prayers and hopes" to use sbarpness'according to the power which the Lord ha.d given him." That miraculous gift was his as the apostle of Christ, but it was for" edification, and not to.clestr.uction." .At the cost of personal humiliation, he would be" glad" if .the Corinthians were "strong," and. he "weak." How like his Master he was! "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me moro than twelve. legions !)f ange1s?" Had he waved his hand, Jerusalem would have been darkened by the wings of gathering angels for his rescue; but he was to be crucified in "weakness 1, that the "power of God" might be the more gloriously manifesteJ in his resurrection. Power. denied in one of its uses, to be more signally displayed in another and higher use, was the lessol!, St.. Paul had learned of his dyillg Lord. " I am crucified with Christ," said he on a subsequent occasion; but he shares that crucifix.ion word in one of its most painful forms by withholding the exertion of ll,Uthority to punish. his enemies till all other means had been exhausted. He preached Christ " the Wisdom of God," no less than Christ "the Power of God," Under circumstances of extreII\e hnzard, reputation and influence and future success trembling in the balance, flesh and blood supplyincr clamorous reasons for a self-asserting course and the swift riddance of e. most vexatio~s trouble, he abides with heroic fortitude by Christian principle in its demands for self-crucifixion, and makes everything yield to magnanimity i.n his ardeut  320 THE SECOND El'IS1'LE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [c:n. xm 1-14.