second coming to judge the world we may be found an accept(<ble people in thy sight." For whilst the judgment shall be Divine; it shall be accomplished by "that Man whom God hath appointed to judge the quick and the dead." 3. This shall be accompanied by revelation. There are bidden things of darkness which must be brought to light; virtues and vices of which the world has taken little or no note, but which must be brought forward and taken into account, in order to a just decision and award. There are counsels of the heart to be made manifest; for whilst men necessarily judge by the conduct, God will take into account the secret intentions and motives of those who have laboured for him, both good and evil. 4. This will be by a perfect discrimination. The hypocrite shall be distinguished from the sincere, the diligent from the idle, the time-server and men-pleaser from the true servant of God. 5. 'l.'his will be the occasion of recompense. The case of the utterly unfaithful is left out of view as irrelevant in this connection. But among the faithrul it is presumed that there are degrees of fidelity; and every man shall have his praise from God. This implies that each has a special meed for special service; anrl it also implies that praise shall be accompanied by a substantial and everlasting recompense. It is well, therefore, to work "as ever in the great Taskmaster's eye,'' to avoid judging one's ~elf, tu be indifferent to the partial judgment of men, and to wait for the revelation and the awards of eternity.-'!'. Ver. 7.-.A.ll is of grace. Paul's quick, impulsive mind here flashes out into indignation at the spectacle of partisanship and schism in the Corinthian Church. They who lay great stress upon individual human teachers and ministers are in danger of forgetting, perhaps already have forgotten, two things, viz. (1) that every minister and teacher has a special blessing for the Church; and (2) that all such agents are but messengers from the court of heaven, and distributors of the blessings of God. l. \VE MAY TAKE CREDIT TO OURSELVES ONLY FOR OUR WANTS AND FOR OUR CAPACITY. \Vhy should any man be proud, when he remembers that he was born a helpless babe; that he was dependent upon the kind services of others for the preservatiou of life; that he has learned nothing which he was not taught; that. he enjoys nothing except through the good offices of his fellow-men? And why should auy Christian be "puffed up" with spiritual conceit, when he remembers that all be brought to the Scriptures, to the Church, to the Lord, was just his necessities and his capacity tu receive spiritual blessings? II. WE ARE INDEBTED FOR ALL THINGS TO HUMAN MINISTRATIONS. When we reganl our circumstances, our worldly possessions, our education, our position in life, our family, our friends, this fact is obvious enough. But the same is true of our religiol1s advantages, our spiritual blessings. The Bible was secured to us by human efforts and labours; the gospel was preached to us by human lips; the Church bas been to us the fellowship of our human teachers and brethren; our religious knowledge has been conveyed to us by human interpreters; our piety has been inspired by human examples, Ill. DIVINE MERCY HAS MADE HUMAN MINISTRIBS SUBSERVIENT TO OUR SPIRITUAL WANTS. It is not wise or just to d1scriminnte too nicely between human gilts and Divine. The human gifts are Divine gifts bestowed by humau hands. It is the privilege of the devout and enlightened mind to look through the seen to the unseen; to recognize in every Christian helper and friend the messenger of God, the minister of Christ. 'l'he form, the voice, may be earthly, but there 1s behind a spiritual presence and a Divine power. It is the Giver of every good gift e.nd every perfect gift who is so near.-T. Ver. 9.-.A spectacle. In the midst of his irony and sarcasm, Paul here reverts to the more natural habit of his mind. The self-exaltation and self-importance of the Corinthians were mingled with depreciation of the apostle, at least on the part of some. But alas! if his own converts, so deeply indebted to his labours and his care, could think slightingly of him, what earthly compensation could he expect for all the paiu, hardship, contempt, and danger he cheerfully endured? Wero not be and his fellow- apostles like gladiators doomed to be flung to the wild beasts-" a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men "? THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [cH. 1v. 1-21.
J. THE GRAl\DEUR Al\D SUBLIMITY OF THEIR POSITION DEMANDS OUR ADMIRATION. They were not r.s slaves cast to tlie lions. They were men who might have led a quiet and peaceful, and some of them an honourable and distinguished, life. Dut they gave their hearts to Christ, and having done so gave up all for him. Thero was no exacrcrera- tion in the apostle's language. On the contrary, he spoke tl,e plain truth wh;~ he 1 eprcsented himself as standing before the universe as a witness to the Lord Christ, The position was one of dignity and moral impressiveness; the an()'els 0 felt it then and the world of humanity has come to feel it now. '