The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 93

-now;" nnd he tRnght them in pnmhles, "ns believer], Apolloa wrote the Epistle to the they were nble to benr it" (}fork iv. 33). Hebrews, we S•J~ how striking was his power Not even now e.ro ye e.ble. 'fl1ongh you of strengthening the faith of wavering imnp;ine tlrnt you hnve e.dvo.ncecl eo far Churches. Eloquence n.nd a deep insight hoyond my simpler teaching. into the meaning of Scripture, enriched ·by Ver. 8.-For ye e.ra yet co.me.I. This is Alexandrian culture, seem to have been his the renson for the spiritual dulnese which special endowments (Acts xviii. 24, 27). your pride prevents you from recognizing. The referenca of the word " watered" to Envying, e.nd strife, e.nd divisions. The baptism by Augustine (Ep. 48) is one of the two latter words a.re omitted in some of the numberless instances of Scripture distorted beet manuscripts, o.nd mo.y have been added by ecclesiasticism. God gave the increase .frum Gal. v. 20. Partisanship and discord, (comp. eh. xv. 10; 2 Cor. iii. 5). The thought the sins of the Corinthians-sine which of every true teacher always is," Not unto have diegrnced so many ages of Church us, 0 Lord, not unt,, us, but unto thy history-are works of the flesh (Go.I. v. 19), Ne.me ~ve the praise" (Ps. cxv. I) . .-anrl involve many other sine (Jae. iii. 16), and Ver. 7.-Anything. The planter and the are therefore sure proofs of the carnal mind, we.terer are nothing by comparison. They though they are usually o.ccompanied by could do nothing without Christ's aicl (John a boast of superior spiritual enlightenment. xv. 16), and were nothing in themselves As men ; that is," as men, not as Christians." (2 Cor. xii. 11). Bnt God that giveth the To walk as a. mere ordinary human bein:,: is incree.se. The human instruments are no- not to "walk in the Spirit" (Ge.I. v. 25); thing, but' Goel is everything, because, apart oomp., "I speak as a man" (Rom. iii. 5). from him, no result would follow. Ver. 4.-For when one saith, I e.m of Pe.ul. Ver. 8.-Are one; litemilJ', one thing. God This is a proof the.t there were jealousies is the sole Agent: the teachers, so far from .and partisanships among them. We again being able to pose as rival leaders, form but notice the generous coumge of St. Paul in or.e instrument in God's hand. Their relative rebuking first those adherents who turned differences shrink into insignificance when his own ne.me into a party watchword. the source and objfcts of their ministry are Are ye not came.11 The true reading is, considered. His own rewe.rd . . . his own "Are ye not men?" (t.:, A, B, C, and so the le.bour. In the lower individual sphere the Revised Version): i.e. Are ye not swayed by work of teachers shall be fairly estimated mere human passions? The Spirit which and rewarded as in the parable of the you received at baptism ought to have lifted pounds and te.lents (comp. John iv. 36; Bev. you above these mean rivalries. You ought :uii. 12). to be something more than mere men. Ver. 9.--God's fellow-workers. Through- Religions pe.rtisu.nship is, in the eye of St. out the Bible we are taught that God requires Paul, simply irreligious. He sets down the work of me.n, and that he will not help pe.rty controversies as a distinct proof of those wLo will do nothing for themselves or co.rnality. Those who indulge in it are men fur him. The world was to be evangelized, devoid of the spiritue.l element. not by sudden miracle, but by faitLful Vere. 5-15.-The or.efoundation and the human labour (!\fork xvi. 20). God's diverse superstructure. hnsbe.ndry; rather, Got£s field, or tilled land. Yer. 5.-Who then is Pe.ul 1 The better The thought which lie desires again e.nd reading is what f (N, A, B). The neuter a.gain to enforce is that they belong to God, would imply e. still greater deprecio.tion of not to the parties of human teachers. The the importance of human ministers. Minis- word" husbandry" may e.lso mean vineyard, ters. 'fhe same word e.s that renclered a.ml the metnpbor is the same e.s in Isa. v. 1; "deacons" ( dial,onoi); "ministers of Christ xxvii. 2; John xv. I; l\Iatt. xiii. 3-30; Luke @n your behalf" (Col. i. 7). Through whom xiii. 6-9; Rom. xi.16-2-l. God's building. ye believed. " Through whom," not "in This is one of St. Paul's favourite metaphors, whorn" (Bengel). They were merely the as in vers. 16, 17; 2 Cor. vi. 16; Eph. ii. 20 instruments of your conversion. l n the -22; Row.1 :i:v. 20: 2 Tim. ii.19 (comp. I second Epistle (2 Cor. iii. 3) he calls them Ptt. ii. 5: Rev. xxi. H). "the epistle of Christ ministered by us Ver. 10.-Acoording to the grace of God IVritten . . . with the Spirit of the living which is given unto me; rather, ,chich was flod." As the Lord ge.ve to him. 'fbo gift~ given. Here, agnin, wo ba1·e St. Paul's ,:iffer according to the grace given (Rom. baptismal aorist-his habit of regarding his xii. 6). whole spiritual life e.s potentially summed Ver. 6.-1 ple.nted. St. Paul everywhere up in the one crisis of conversion e._nd recognized that his gift lny pre-eminently in baptism. This phrase is a favourite one with I he o.bility to found Churches ( comp. Acts him (eh. xv.10; Rom. n. 15; Gal. ii. 9; Eph. xviii. 1-11; eh. iv. 15; ix. 1; XI'. 1). iii. 2). As e. wise master-builder. "Wise" Apollos watered. - If, as is now generally only in the sense of suborclinnting overy  THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CUHINTlllANS. [en. m. 1-'.!:J.