The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 138

Ver. 15.-Spiritual paternity. "For tho11gh ye have ten thousand instructors in -Cbrist, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Ghrist Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." The suLject of these words is spiritual paternity, and three remarks are ~uggested. l. THAT O~E MAN MAY BECOME THE SPIRITUAL FATHER OF ANOTHER. \Vhat is it lo hecome the spiritual father of another? 1. Something more than to become the father -0f one's ideas. 'fhere are men in society gifted with that intellectual vitality and ,igour which enablPs them to generate the leading ideas in the minds of their con- temporaries. This they do by their conversation, their speeches, their writings. But these are not spiritual fathers, they are mere schoolmasters or teachers. Coleridge a.nd <":arlyle are examples of this. 2. Something more than the a11thor of a certain style of tl1inking. There are men in Rociety who not only generate leading thoughts in the minds of their contemporaries, but, what is perhaps something higher, a style of thinking-a style characterized by precision, freshness, and force. Aristotll', Bacon, etc., are examples. But a spiritual father is one who is the father of man's moral character, one who generates in another his own spirit, sympathies, and aims, one who tra □ storms the character of another into his own image. ] J. THAT THE NOBLEST SPIRITUAL FATHER IS HE WHO BEGETS IN ANOTHER 'l'HE CmasTLY CliARACTE!l. Many are the moral characters prevalent amongst men-the i;ensual, the sceptical, the selfi~h. 'l'he Christly character stands in sublime contrast to these; it is disinterested, spiritual, Divine. 1. The man who generates in others this character imparts the highest yood. ln tbe Christly character is harmony, kinghood, and paradise. To be like Chri~t is the highest end of being, it is the summum bonum of so1d,;, 2. The man who generates this chara"rer in others creates the highest mutual affection. Far deeper and profounder is the affection subsisring between the spiritual father and his offal'rin~ than that which exists bPtwi,en the physical. Christ recognize,l 1l1is when be said, "Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and 1!1y sister, and my mother." Paul called Timothy his "beloved son;" and elsewhere J1e spe:::.h with inexpressible tenderness of his converts as his little children, with whom lie travailed i11 birth (Gal. iv. 10). ]JI. 'l'HA'I' THE CHRISTLY CHARACTER IS ONT,Y BEGO'l'TEN IN OTHERS DY THE G0SPF.L oF CrrllIST. "I have begotten you through the gospel." Natural rtligion cannot do it; Judaism cannot do it; Mohammedanism cannot do it; heathenism ca □ not do it; no speculative creeds, no moral codes, no ritualistic religions can do it. The gospel alone 011. 1v. 1--21.] 'IUE FIIlST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. lH