,seems to us--demands that this verse," What knowest thou," etc., should be construed in close sympathy with the context. A break here would not only be at the expense of the general argument, but a violation of unity at its most essential point, viz. as a ne:rus between what precedes and what follows. Understand what the time was. Outwardly the sceptre of Rome ruled, tranquillity was maintained, and the disturbances which came on some years later scarcely gave a threatening sign of their approach. But, notwithstanding this condition of things, the foundations of society were under- mined, and the instincts of men, thoui,;h unable to foresee the chancres that were to occur, were conscious of impending revolutions. Unrest was common, ~nd unrest n,ever appears alone. A host of apprehensions, an undefinable dread, a disposition to exacrge- rate dnngers, ue¥er fail to attend it. St. Paul's disciples could not escape this at~o- spheric feverishness, and consequently one of his solicitudes was to keep them contented '"ith their al10!~1euts in li~e. If. Christianity proposed to regenerate human society, oue of the cond1t10ns on which this vast result rested was: "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" to be a Christian. Whether circumcised or uncircumcised, let him remain satisfied. Was he a servant? "Care not for it: but if thou rnayest be made free, use it rather." Providence that had the past on its side was the best providence for them. "'}'herein abide with God," Was not this con- tentment one of the elements of that sanctification in marriage, and one of the means of holiness in children, and again one of the agencies for the furtherance of the Spirit's work in the unbelieving husband or wife? To this one point all the lines of his thought converge, viz. let peace be your object, and, in order to attain it, be contented with your position. Beyond question, St. Paul ardently desired to see certain of these 11ositions changed, but he would not have his disciples to be agitators and revolu- tionizers. Is this a plea for blind conservatism, for an Oriental lethargy, for an -unaspiring and unhoping slavishness to things as they were? Does the argument forestall progress? Nay, at that very moment a mighty revolution was going on in society. Christianity guarded all rights and interests; Christianity protected the marriage institution;- Christianity, in due time, would make the slave a freedman. But "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," and {)hristianity must be left to do its work according to God's mcthod.-L.
Vers. 29-40.-.Apostolic counsels for the times, and general, principles applied now ,as before. Some minds are so organized as to be peculiarly open to those impressions which the local and circumstantial produce on thought and feeling. If these become €:x:cessive, they are almost sure to trench on principles. Such persons are devotees of sectionality; their prudence is shrewd, but not sagacious; intelligence is narrowed down to time, place, and immediate results ; and expediency is with them "the previous question." St. Paul was not one of these men. Other minds, fond of abstractions and habituated to cloistered thinking, lose the helps of the senses and especially that very important culture, derived from contact with the open world, which teaches us to adjust principles to measures and measures to occasions. Expediency is seldom in their view. St. Paul was not one of these men. A marked fact about his conversion to Christianity was that he ceased to be an intellectual extremist; not only his opinions and convictions were radically changed, but likewise his method of looking_at all things. We see in this chapter a man who adheres firmly to his ideal of the Christian Church, and, at the same time, a man who is thoroughly sensible of the uses of expediency. With him, nothing that Christ had settled could be unsettled. Nothing wrong could be expedient, and, in every case, expediency was to render homage to fundamental principles, so that the Spirit of Christ should manifest its purity and beauty. Such an expediency is always morally safe, because it rests, not on self-gratification, but on self-denial. This is the temper of his argument in the paragraph now under notice. "No commandment of tbe Lord;" and yet "my judgment" as an apostle is entitled to respect and confidence; the truth none the less a truth, and worthy of this consideration because the utterance of one who had "obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful." That great transparency was not tben glowing as in special hours with the resplenclency behind it ; but the same Divine illumination was there, and every line, touched by the almighty hand, faithfully represented the original. "Mercy to be faithful;" fidelity to truth just as ,much in advice and counsel a.s i.o. direct and authoritative command; ay, this iR oH. vu. 1-40.) THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 237