.fied, and justified?" We can settle every difficult question by asking-Is the thinn- befitting a sanctified man? And to realize our C.:hristi,in standing becomes the hes~ resistance of evil. I. REr.ALL YOUR SELF-SEERING PAST. "Such were some of you." Apply to the .Corinthians. Indicate something of the luxury and vice of Corinthian society. For them it was a marvellous change to become pure and sober-minded Christians. We think that we have DO such·rcview; most of us have DO experience of violent and open forms of ungodliness. But if we look a little deeper, may we not see that those Corinthian .sins were but the forms for that age of the universal sin and self-seeking of mankind'! They all mean just this-man, asserting his independence of God, throwing off, all bondages of authority, and seeking his own will and pleasure. 'fhen we can see that the same root of evil has been in our past; and we must not let the mere refinement of modern terms for sin blind us to the fact that, in us, is the same heart-evil (see Eph. ii. 1-3, 10-12). In the light of this fact of depravity revie1v your past, see the stain -0f self-seeking, and then you will feel that St. Paul may say even to you, "And such were some of you." II. ESTIMATE YOUR CHRISTIAN STANDIKG. "Ye are washed," etc. We need not fear to do this; since it is a standing of grace, our so doing need not nourish any pride or self-reliance. Our "standing" is set under three figures. 1. Washed; or perhaps the translation should be, "Ye have got yourselves washed." '!'he figure for putting away old sins and sinful habits. 2. Sanctified. The figure for having consecrated your- selves; being separated unto holy uses; and we are sealed in such consecration, by the gift and abiding presence of the Holy Ghost. 3. Justified. The figure for our being, .as washed and consecrated, received into gracious rebtions of accept:ir.ce with God. '!'he order of the terms seems to be singular, but, when rightly understood, it is seen to be correct: (1) put away sin; (2) devote yourself to God; (3) receive the sense or acceptance. Aud this is our present Christian standi~g; we are clean, consecrated, and accepted. And all is through grace. III. RENEW YOUR SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY. For to such a "standing" something is becoming. The apostle wants us so to feel this that we should not require any telling. We are under obligation to live such a life as would worthily express our 'thankfulness for grace received; such a life as would manifestly harmonize 11·ith our ~,anding. We are called with a holy calling. But we have to find out what precisely is "holy" and "good" in our times. Everything that is pure, true, self-denying, good, and kind we may be sure is becoming to our Christian standing. Nay, we may come in from all mere general terms, and we may say, "A life for Christ, and a life like -Christ's,-these are the 'becoming' for all those who have received his salvation." "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?"- R. T. Ver. 11.-Wnat we were and what we are. The early Churches were gathered out from corrupt heathenism, and this was sadly sensual and immoral. This occasioned difficulty in dealing with the Churches. 'l'he question had to be met-Is moral defilement absolutely incompatible with the Christian profession? Show how this question is answered now, in our day, and by the Apostle Paul in his day. Now tho answer is sadly uncertain, especially if moral delinquency happens to be joined with riches. By St. Paul it is answered with a noble firmness and fidelity. Tako two topics for consideration. I. OUT OF THE SELF-LIFE. Show that the characteristic of a Christian is his <leliverance from the slavery of the self-rule. Then all yieldings to self and p:mion must, for him, be wrong. II. INTO THE CHRIST-RULED LIFE. This process is conceived under three forms and by two agents. (1) Washing; (2) sanctifying; (3) justifying. The two agents arc (1) the Lord Jesus; (2) the t,pirit of our God. Then it follows that an entire yielding to the pure impulses and guidances of God's indwelling Spirit in all the life and all the relationships and all the conduct is for every Christian the right and the necessary thing.-H. 'l'.
Ver. 12.-The lauful and the expedient. "All things aro lawful for me; bnt not THE FlTIST EPJSTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [cu. vr. 1-'.!0.