The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 100

rivo.lries tolero.te merit o.nd worth in those whom it sought to crush. On the oth~r lrnnd, looking at the Church as an organic b0<ly, its virtue was a common stock, to he cherished, honoured, and diligently maintained by every one of its members. lts zeal was not a solitary flame burning on an isolated altar, but the combined warmth of many hearts. Diversity, too, is God's law, diversity reaching down into temper~- meut, diversity in the highest realm of gifts, diversity of insight and experience, an,\ this factious temper was fatal to diversity. Agreeably to the Divine method, diver;;ity was preliminary to unity, and men were allowed free action of individuality, that tlir: strongest and best elements of character, and especially its latent qualities, might ]y~ brought out and incorpornted in the totality of the Church. A very miscellaneous world environed these Corinthians; the Christian community itself was made up of Jews, Greeks, and Homans; and the reasons were, therefore, exceptionally stringent that they should, as brethren, be very closely banded together in one mind, "the mind of Christ." Had they been a homogeneous people, circumstantial moti vcs, which have a very important part to play in the scheme of providence, would not lrn.ve been so imperative. But these dissensions involved their national peculiarities, and hence the antecedents of blood, the residuum of former bitterness, would surely come in to aggravate their animosities. They were "babes in Christ," and furthermore, they were "carnal;" and this infantile and carnal state, in which all growth had been stopped, was due solely to intestine discord. Had they considered what a grievous evil it was? Paul and A polios, 'l'arsian and Alexandrian, had been put by no choice of theirs in a position very unenviable, nay, in despite of their earnest remonstrance. Leaders they were, leaders they must be, leaders of the Church; and on this very account, nothing could be more ill timed, nothing more abhorrent to their personal feelings, nothing so little like "the mind of Christ," as the attempt to make them heads of factions. Alas for such unwise friends, blocking up their way and multiplyinµ: the hazards, already enormous, of their ministry in Achaia ! If this audacious effort continued, how could they withstand their enemies? The heart of St. Paul is stirred, and, in this chapter, it swells to the full compass of his apostleship. In tellectnal heroism is needed now, and in that, as in the other qualities of an habitual hero, he is never wanting.-L. Vers. 5-10.-St. Paul's view of the ministry. After declaring to the Corinthians that they were carnal in their estimates of God's ministers, the apostle exposes their folly in this particular, by assuring them that he and Apollos were bt1t ministers, , r servants, whom God had commissioned to labour in their behalf. Half-way work lie never did. To show their error, and prove that it was a_ worldly sentiment disguis~,l under a fictitious admirntion, he sets before them the true idea of the ministry, as an instrument through which the Divine agency of the Holy Ghost operated. No one enjoyed proper sympathy and affectionate regard more than St. Paul, whose heart overflowed into everything that offered a channel for its diffusion. There is nothin_µ: about him of Cato, whose virtue rnns into the fanaticism of hatred; or of Coriolanm, who looks upon the people as "if he were a god to punish, and not a man of theit· infirmity." Nevertheless, be guards his tenderness against effeminacy, nor will he accept the slightest tribute to himself at the expense of truth. The hardest thing in our nature to organize is impulse; and yet this man, whose sensibilities were so quick and strong (eh. iv. 14, 15; 2 Cor. ii. 13), could not tolerate the homage paid him by partisans. And in this spirit he asks, "\Vho then is Paul?" Only a medium use,\ by 'the Spirit for their faith, and the medium itself valnt>less, except so far as the Spirit made it effective. Their very capacity to receive St. Paul's influence was the gift of Gcd, and would they now turn the gift against the Giver? St. Paul's figun•s are not poetic, but practical, and his imagination is always the offspring of the reason; and hence the illustrative image-" I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase"-began and ended in a breath, with no delight in it beyond utility. 'l'wo conclusions follow: one, the entire dependence upon God for the increase; a:'.,\ the other, the co-working with him who is the only Source of the increase. Neither the sower nor the seed, however good, can secure the yield; this is from the grca t Husbandrnan, who apportions the result according to his sovereignty, and _uiul,•r conditions which St. Paul subsequently points out. The workman is rewarded lur 1. t., 102 THE FlRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [en. m. l-2;l,