responsibility under which it places him. His whole position as an accountable bein"' is henceforth changed. He may affect to disown the claim, but the sovereign authority of that claim is over him still, and he must answer for his neglect (John xii. 47). 'l'he testimony accomplishes its end only when the Spirit of God writes it in livina characters on the "fleshy table of the heart." How important a transition of thouaht to pass from the region of words, ideas, outward revelations, to that of the perceptio~s, affections, and energies of a personal life! Consider the confirmation: 1. As regards its e_tfect on the believer himself. "He that believeth on the Son of God bath the witness in himself" (1 John v. 10). It has become emphatically his own. The Christ revealed to him is now "in him," a quickening, sanctifying power, "the hope of glory," "a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." All life is self-assert.ing selt~assuring. It proves and verifies itself. We don't question the reality of ou; physical life. We know that we live in livin,g. We think, feel, breathe; move, act- therefore we live. So spiritually; in the sensibilities and energies that accompany Christian faith we have sufficient proof of the power of Christ "to give eternal life to as many as believe in him." And as no external evidence can supply the place of this, so no outward assault of the forces of unbelief can have any real power against it. "·we know that the Son of God is come," etc. (1 John v. 20). This is what is wanted to give firmness to men in these days of restless thought and unsettled opinion ; not mere doctrinal safeguards, not theological rigidity, but the deep inward consciousness of the lire-giving power of Christ. 2. .As regards its effect on others. The testimony of Christ wins its victories in the world on the strength, not so much of historic or miraculous or argumentative proof, but of what it is and what it can do. 'fhe fruits of Christian character and deed are the mightiest of all arguments. Saintly, conse- crated lives ;-it is these that give convincing force to the doctrine. "Ye are our epistle," etc. (2 Cor. ii. 2, 3).-W.
Ver. 13.-Divisions. The "contentions" in the Church at Corinth, the report of which had reached St. Paul, and which he here rebukes, were probably not the out- growth of definite party •divisions, but were individual <lifferences as to who among the great Christian leaders should receive superior honour. They were individual strifes, however, that might develop into very serious divisions-schisms (O'xluµ.11ra) that would utterly rend asunder the fellowship of the Church. It must have been deeply painful to the apostles that they should thus be set in rivalry with one another, as if they were seeking the ends of their own vain ambition, and still more that their names should be permitted in any way to obscure the glory of the Name of their Divine Master. "Is Christ divided?" The question snggests- I. THE ESSENTIAL UNITY OF CHRIST. Consider different aspects of this unity. As it regards: 1. Bis own person. In him we see the blending of the Divine and human in one glorious personality, the balance and harmony of all conceivable forms of moral excellence. No discord in his being, no flaw in his character, no failure in his life; he stands before us in every light, on every side, a cotnplete, symmetrical, and perfect whole. 2. His redeeming purpose and the means by which lte effects it. He comes to deliver men from the power of evil, to turn them from their iniquities, to restore them to fellowship with God. The end he seeks is the same for all. "There is no distinction ; for all have sinned," etc. (Rom. iii. 22-24). And as all human distinctions are lost in the common need of salvation, so in Christ the same possibility of good is placed within the reach of all: "As through one trespass the judgment came unto all men," etc. (Rom. v. 18). There is but one gospel m~ssage, and it is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." 3. The life with which he inspires those who receive him. In whomsoever it dwells this life is always one- one in its affections and energies, in the laws of its development, in the fruit it bears, in the ends to which it leads. The inspiration of a common spirit-life is the grand uniting principle amid endless individual diversities. "By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body," etc. (eh. xii. 13). 4. His authority as the sole Head of the Church. There can be no divided authority. In the very nature of things, Christ can own no rival. The body can ha,·e but one living head, the source of informing, guiding, and controlling power. Its own unity lies ma.inly in the recognition of this; "One Lord, one faith, one baptism," etc. (Eph. iv. 5, 6; eh. viii. 6; xii. 5).. cH, 1. 1-31.] 'l'llE FHlST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 43-