~ a bondafe to _the elements of t~ world. , :" ,The Law," it has be\)n pow.erfully ao..~il. was propllrly a schoolmaster to bnng them to Christ; but in so far a.sits temporl'~~ discipl_ina.cy charac~r was lost sight of➔~ _far as it was ,mado a gro,u~~, of nq.~iop,~ cxclu~1vC'nC'ss, and its observe.nee a matter ot personal pride-it cot it,e :VO¥\rles .oil' from t!ie ri,g~teousness of God, which is essentially a derived, c9mmunicnted,,.q.nd, uni~qrs11l r:_gh_teousnes~ ;_ not of ,works, but of grace; not for a peculiar feople, r.ut for .nll rn~}• 'lhey ~ere hvmg, not m the _freedom and self-!l,band.onme~t o the S,y1r~t,J1u~ in ~lio exclus1\'eness and selfishness of the flosh.'' Re'rice tho sowmg -~ tho, flpsh, m its ¥UJr8 ele\'ated or more degraded forms, can hav~ only one issue, apd this is ''..c:prrup~ior;i.1'. ~hat comes o~ the exclusive~ess and fair show in the flesh 7 Does i~ P;0ru,oto spir!,~}\~1 mterests? Is 1t not productiv11 of va.m-glory and of the corrupt, self-wrhteous sp1r~f- ~ 'l'h~ harvest is one_ of disappointment, It p1:ofit~th nothing.. In\o th; ,corruption: t9 which the grosser sms of tlie fl,esb lead we 11eed not here enter with nn:y:, particularity. ·:, III. THOSE WHO sow TO THE SPIRIT SHALL REAP E'.l'ERNAL LIFF;, '.(Ver, El,). ' 11:111 so~!ng to the_Spirit is t~e antithesis of sowing to tho_fle~\l· It ~e~s,:µ;ying'wi~~ spmtual and immortal am1s. It means, as .. the succeedmg context sho,','.s;'the life, ~f acti\'e philanthropy. Now' a harvest of "eternal life" (Revis~d Version) ,is befo}o all such philanthropists. Their life on earth is a seed-t~e which )la.s ,!:!i~ 1wmon~a-{ harvest. 'fhc very life of God, who is eternal, becomes ours, and' it~. (11!11ess\vith1~,\~s isjustp,roportionaltoourpresentdiligenceinphilanthropy. ,,, ·: ,'i': .,::·, .. ·., • ; IV. 1Hl'S SHOULD LEAD TO GREAT PATmNCE AND COURA,G.Jl: ,µI', OUR W<>RK,, (Ver. 9.), We should not faint or get weary in our well-doing. Wor)c /!,long this 1line.is. sure to tell. Let us not be discouraged. Let us give the first place in our philailtliropy1.to. "the household of faith," and the second place to ',' all ljlen '.' .indfacrimiqa~e,y. Le(us honestly he public benefactors, and a multipli~tio~ pf! .blessin~ wiU be_ f!:nmcj. awaiµD;~ us whe_n the harvest co~es,_ beyond our most sa~gum~J!.?pe~, ,.The'.pat11:nc,e ?f h~~e .~~ the attitude of every believmg soul, e.nd the har"est JS ma wealt~,of. l.ifo, beyond,t,lie shadows proportional to our philanthropic spirit her~:-1t M.,E. • • • • • ·' '. ,:l 0
Vers. 11-18.-Gloryi?1g in the cross. '.Pa~ has be~n ~rging, the Gala~ian~ :~() dQ good to_ all men. for now 1s the se(!d-ti.me of phtlanthrop;r, and the ¥a~vest will b!l,after~ wards. And now be appeals to them by the "large letters'! of this uniqu1;1, Epistl/z, which seems to have been the only one_ which ·wa. s a CO!IlJ?lete_ ~_u__._tqgraph. Th_ough'peQ._§ man.ship was a trouble to him, .he we.a yet anxious to do for these Galatians 'what gool\ he could in the spirit he bas been enforcing. But philanthropy has its counterfeits: Cousequently he warns them once again against those _teacher~ of ceremon_~\ism, who would have the heathen converts to try to ~ve themselves by J~wisp. qereinonj.~s. Th~s9 art merely making tools of them to save th1;1mselves. They wisb. to escape per~13cut10n for Christianity. Paul, on the other band, glories in· tlie cross; ood. carries in p.\S, body the marks of the Crucified One. The following tho~gjll~ are here suggested\-..' , L THE TOLERATION EXTE:KDED BY TliE HEATHEJ, 'IVORLD TO JUDAJSM. The heathen world was largely latitudinarian. The idea w~,coinpi'eheosive, All gods wer~_to be·pl.lt in the Pantheon. But among the idolatries of the East, Jud[!.ispf11 a_spiritual wo~ship, i::ot a footing. Its synagogues were built side by side with the h~a~hen t~mpl~s,_aµ,~ they were allowed to worship without molestation. Their proselytism was trdlrn_g~ their missionary enterprise was unworthy of the name. The, heathen, qould. not _fear them. Hence their immunity from persecution.. •• . , •' . .. , :· ,. 1 IL THE JEWISH TEACHERS THOUGHT THAT, IF THEY llµDE ALJ;, CHRISTIAN 0QW.ERl'~ JEWISH PROSELYTES, THEY WOULD SECURE CHRISTIANITY. ]/'ROM l~ERSEfll1TfPN,,'·: .. They did not want to h: persecuted forth~ c~os~. ~'b~y w.auteq to ll,VaJI the,gis~~v-~s,ipf J,hp toleration of Juda= and mergeCbnst1an1ty rn 1t. An ema.;;pulj\-te~ Ohn~ha1l)t_y,,ro1g}i~ escape the persecution which, in its naked simplicity, it w~s fitte4, t.9, reeur~. ~t wn~ a policy of compromise, begotten of cowardice and fear. 1,'pde ~,~nt,,Y,l,9I1g.w1th ~t. l~ would be a grand thing to .count up so i;nany converts to_JudiJ,lSII), 1~ .glory m _the growth of circumcision. It was a selfish stroke under the guis!lpf plµf~,t~_)lrOfY• .. •·, ID. THE AISTAGON18?4 JNDICATED. JlY. pIE CllPBS.. Now, the cross: ot Christ IS the w expression of the antagonism of t]le wortd the self~sacrificing Phi!anthropi,t wh~ thus perished. It co.ulrl not and would not toler11te the p(lrson who would not save himself when he had the JJOWtf. ,It beJievea only ~n those who can ta~e care of number OllJl, 011, Vl, 1-lB.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 327