The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 142

fidelity to suffering, reconciliation to it, acceptance of its law as basic to his life, not an exceptional thing occurring at rare intervals as most of our sad experiences, but common and habitual, 'll'Ounds unhealed and yet deeper wounds, "even unto this present hour." Hunger and thirst, nakedness, buffctin~s, homeless, refusing all remuneration aud earning our own support, returning good for evil and blessing for cnrsina, objects of persecution, denied recognition as the friends of humanity and lovers of their kind, abused and vilified, ay, treated iu the centres of this world's intelligence and refinement as "the filth of the world and the offscouriog of all things," and no break or cessation, "unto this day." The sameness of these sufferings is twice mentioned, and the wondrous biography, first and last, is one chapter of woes. Over all stands a sinole motto, which came and could only come from Christianity: "For Christ's sake." At this juncture, call to mind a fact of some moment. Men are wonderfully individualized. by sufferings. Considering how suffering abounds, it is noticeable that few truly reg:trd themselves as provi,~ential sufferers, and realize in their experience the Divine discip)ine they are ~ppo!nted to undergo. Th~re. is much selfishness in our ways of endurmg the ills of hfe, m the uses made of affi1ct10n, and the habits of intellect arnl sensibility growing therefrom; and St.. Paul strikes the heart of the subjects when he connects his sufferings with "Christ's sake." This gives an instant pathos to the- r~cita) and an instant nobil!ty to _the ap?stle as. a sufferer. Furthermore, only for " Chnst's sake" docs he go mto this affectmg detail of the number, variety, and con- tinuation of his sorrows. A noble sufferer like St. Paul could find no selfish pleasure in such an enumeration; nay, in itself it would be painful. Vain men, ignoble men, gratify their littleness in recounting what they have endured, and these pensioners of pnhlic opinion-it may be the public opinion of a very diminutive world-find their account in the ill usury sense of sympathy. Far from this weakness-very far-was thi:, heroic man, to whom it was a new suffering to tell his sufferings, but who, in the courage of humility, the most courag~ous of the virtues in a true man, was even ready to uncover a bleeding heart for " Christ's sake." We shall no•;,, see that his love for these erring Corinthians prompted him to make the narration of his sufferings.-L. Vers. 14--21.-Warnin_qs rf tenderness. From mood to mood, yet in all, St. Pan! had the same dominant zeal and affection in behalf of his converts. Rebuke was nut with him a pleasure to which the natural man ministered, but a very painful duty that proceeded from conscience and kept sensibility unalloyed by animal passion. Herei;; he is distinguished from men who love authority because it is a signal of personal eminence and a means to make others feel their inferiority. A really superior miu,I ne~er likes to dwell on the infirmities of ignorance and littleness in those below him. The mountain points upward, and the higher the summit the more is it lost in tl1e heavens. "·who maketh thee to differ?" is always present as the interrogatory uf consciousness in such a nature, and the answer thereunto, whenever a true man has tu vindicate his authority and especially in rebuke, is as Divine as the question. The delicacy of the apostle and his depth of insight have not forsaken him in this try in~ hour, nor would he expose the vanity of such as made themselves leaders and assumed transcendent powers, save in a manifest spirit of self-abnegation. Manner is not a mere mode; it is a spirit; it is the very spirit of a man taking on a visib.e embodiment, a □ •l hence the rebuke administered by St. Paul is impregnated with the humility of his soul. There are men who co=it "Mischievous foul sin in chiding sin ; " but it would be a poor compliment to the apostle to say that he was not one of thi& class. What is most truly to his honour is his purpose to make the Corinthians sensible of the wrong to their better nature, and quicken from that side of their character the feelinc,- of repentance. This brings out the sentiment of his soul in the words, "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you;" and again the master-thought of all his thinking recurs-Christ Jesns-in whom he had begotten them throtwh the gospel, urging them to be imitators of Christ in him. To be genuinely servic~able, imitation must not be mechanic.al aud servile, not be the liternl copyin~ ut' 11. pattern or model, but an education ir.. the art of discriminating, and particularl_r a i;eme of the ideal in those whom we follow. For this rea~on, that they may be remindcJ CII. lV. 1-21.] THE FrnS'r EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 115