of his "ways which be in Christ," he has sent Timotheus unto them. Prudence dictated this course. Circumstances were such as that absence would be his most effective presence-one of those occasions when a man's thoughts had better do their work unattended by the emphasis of eye and voice. But would they misinterpret this and attribute it to cowardice? "I will come to you shortly," leaving the time to the will of the Lord, for in executiag a grave purpose it is not enough that we havl! the Spirit in our motive and aim, but we must wait patiently on the providence of the Spirit, which is often our best discipline. St. Paul's expectations were rarely fol filled promptly,- instance his visit to Rome; hope grew morn reverent by delay; and in no aspect is his career more interesting than in that which shows how postponed gratification of desire ennobled the desire itself and secured a larger good to other;. Fruit must grow, ripen, mellow, especially inward fruits, and St. Paul prized the mellowing touch of time. Many a lesson he gives us unawares in psychology, many an insight into the philosophy of true feeling, many a revelation of the soul, which but for him would have been a "hidden mystery." But, while waiting for " time and place to cohere," he utters his opinions strongly as to those who are "puffed up." What an ever-recurring sens~ of cardinal principles! Great truths are never long out of sight, and hence the declaration, "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." Did he under-rate language? Nay; who ever spoke of language in a higher strain· than he who did not hesitate to allude to his own preaching as not in the "words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth "? But the idle and impotent word, the word of swelling vanity, the wonl that dishonoured the \Vord,-for this he had only rebuke and condemnation. Such use was stolen use, the gift turned against the Giver, a recleemeu. gift wrested from the Redeemer, a recognized organ of the Holy Ghost taken from its only Sanctifier. For this must be said of language, that it is not merely or chiefly a medium or acting on others, but that it reacts on the man himself. Apa.rt from its conventional functions, it is au instrument of communion with self, of stating self to self, of inspiring, while defining faculty to faculty in the mind's solitary cognizance of its own powers. Language is far mightier for introverted conception, for images that never escape the picturesque world in which they have their birth and life and death, for emotions and affections to which silence is the most precious of blessings-far mightier, ,ve say, is langu~ge in this respect than in its economic uses. From the lexicon we learn the language that gives us inter- course with men. From our own souls and by conversing with them we learn the langua:!e by means of which we compare "spiritual things with spiritLial." Even on the pbne of common life, the former is confined to communication. Expression is a very different thing from bald communication. Expression is due 'to the ability of the Spirit to vitalize words by imparting its own life to them. Something individual, something distinctly personal, imparts itself in expression. Hyperboles are matters of fact to the inmost consciousness, and all eloquence and poetry are but symbols of what the soul sees and can only intimate in this half-articulate way. "I will kuow wheu I come "-so St. Paul reasons-"whether your speech is empty words, the wisdom which man's wisdom teacheth and is foolishness to God, or the power of the Spirit." This is the test-God's power. Only through that power ca.n these Corinthians advance tho kingdom of God; for ouly through it can they have oneness with Christ anu. fellowship with his disciples. ComQ to them St. Paul will-come to them as a father-the acknowledgment of them as sons, beloved sons, precedes him, and he will not forget his relation to them; but how shall he come? With a father's rod or in love? Will they relieve him of the necessity of discipline? And the thought of love lingers in his miud, amplifies itself, seeks fuller utterance, and the father's heart throbs once more in the associ,ited clause-" the spirit of meekness.''-L.
Vers. 1, 2.-Spiritual steward$hip. In tho Corinthian Church two errors were prevalent with regard to the apostolic and other ministries-there was a tendency to exaggerate the importance of the agents by whom the truth was communicated, an,! there was a disposition to set one of these a.gents up as against another; so that r,artisanship and sectarianism violated the Christian unity. I. 'l'HE SUBORDINATE POSITION OF CHRISTIAN TEACHERS. None need deem it a degradation or an undue humiliation to stand where the apostle stood; indeed, P,rn! is an acknowledged and admired model to all who work for the king,lom. 1. They I. CORINTUIANS. • L 116 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO 'l'HE CORINTHIANS. [err. Iv. 1-21