The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 253

the strained eyes of the Church have not yet beheld that sicrn, Still tho utterance of the apostle is not mistaken. '!'hough the horizon that bou~1dcd his' vision lms been ,~·idening with_ t:ne _nges, the tin~e is still short. For us tho prncticnl truth is that our life-~pan here i~ bn~f, ,~hether its boundary ho_ the Lord's coming to us or our going to_lum. (l)_ 1he tnne is short as compared with o~hor periods. Brevity is a relative th!ng, accordrng to the st~n~ard ?.f measurement. 'Ihe present average of human life is b~ief compared with th~ h'!11t of three score years and ten;" this term is brief compared with that of the antediluvians; the years of Methuselah are but an hnndbreadth com- pared with the durntion of the earth; and this again is ns nothincrcompared with eter- !1ity. Life seems lo~g in l?rospect, short i~ ret~ospect. "Fow and°evil" (Gen. xlvii. 9) 1s ever the _old man_s plamt. (2) The t1"?e 1s short as compared with our life-task. Every true ideal of hfe seems to mock the httle space we nre aiven to reach it. "Art jg long and time is fleeting." We learn little more than tb; alphabet of knowledge, ·we ha,e but placed a few stones on the building when our work-day is over, and we lea,e the structur~ to be comple_te~ by others. What cnn we accomplish in one short life for the perfectmg of our Chnst1an manhood, the extension of Christ's kincrdom the redemption of our fellow-men ? But let us not either lower our idenl within ~ttaidable limits_ or fol~ our ha1;1ds in de~pair. The true worl_c of this life, stripped of its tempor~ry form, 1s earned over mto the hfo to como and contmued there, 2. " The fashion of this world pa:sscth awayt _(ver. 31). It is like a scene in a theatre-vanishing while you gaze on it. (1) This 1s true of external nature. All is in a condition of flux; there is nothing permanent. 'l'be face of the earth, the boundaries of sea and land, even the everlasting hills,-all have changed and are changing. And at last, when the day of the Lord comes, "the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Pet. ili. 10). (2) This is true of human life. "All the world's II stage, And all the men and women merely players." (' As You Like It,' act ii. so. 5.) Within a single lifetime what changes do we see! Nations rise and fall; governments come and go ; public men play their parts and then pass out 01 sight. How few of the friends of our youth and manhood remain with us till old age I New actors are ever coming on the stage and the old disappearing. The customs of society, modes of living, the whole environment of life, are like so many shifting scenes. (3) This is true of ourselves. The seven ages (see reference above) are the seven acts of our little life-drama; and each successive age brings its characteristic habits of mind. Standing smid all this transitoriness, where nothing is stable and abiding, we need to hold by the Unchanging in order to keep our balance. II. THE PURPOSE OF Gon IN THE BREVITY OF LIFE. The time has been shortened that we may sit loosely to all earthly things. '!'heir temporary character is to be remem- bered in all our relations to them. This is illustrated in several particulars. 1. The married life. "That those that have wives may be as though they had none." The apostle does not say that celibacy is a more spiritual condition than marriage. There is no asceticism in his teaching here or elsewhere. The married a.re to be as the unmarried, remembering that marriage is one of those things that are passing away. While loving husband and wife, we are not to forget that the time is short. This stage of existence is but' preparatory to another, where "they neither marry nor a.re given in marriacre " (Luke xx. 85). 2. Sorrow, " Those that weep, as though they wept not.'' Tears ;re not forbidden to the Christian. This is no stoical precept, bidding us refrain from weeping as inconsistent with our dignity. Grief is human, and all that ie purely human Christianity encouracres. "Jesus wept" (John xi, 35). The liker we are to him, the more tender of heart, th~ more sympathetic shall we become, But we are to weep remembering that the time is short. Sorrow also is transitory. It must not master us <>r break our hearts. Whatever touches the spring of tears-bereavement, loss, pain, the sufferings of others-belongs to this temporary condition of things. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Ps. xxx. 6); "And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes," etc. (Rev. xxi. 4). 'l'hereforo weep as though you wept not. 3. Joy. "Those that rejoice, as thongh they rejoiced not." Chri~tinnity <loes not frown upon earthly happiness. It is the pa.rt of Satan to represent the ,oJI, vn. 1-40.J 'l.'IlE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 265