The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 254

religious life ns one of gloom, and the teaching of some Christians gives colour to the falsehood. Nature, literature, the arts, society, domestic fellowship,-all may pour their tributaries into the stream of our gladness. Ncne should enjoy God's world like God's own child. But here the tempering thought comes in-" 'l'he time is short." Even this is. not our highest joy, for it springs from a source that will soon be dried up. The "JOY unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. i. 8) belongs to the re!!ion of faith and flows from those things which faith alone apprehends. Apply this to ~-imusements'. Pure and wholesome entertainments are to be encouraged, especially for the young. But whatever will not bear the thought of the brevity of life is not good for a Christian. Instead of the sword of Damocles or the de:ith's head, the believer moderates his joy with the thought that "the Lord is at hand." 4. Possessions. "Those that buy, as though they possessed not." Christians are not forbidden to engage in trade or merchandise with a view to the acquisition of property. Every lawful calling is open to them. They are not prohibited from possessing wealth. 'l'he real question is-What 1ilace bas it in the heart? Earthly possessions are to be held under the recollection that they belong to a transitory state of things, 'l'he man of substance is to sit loosely to what be possesses, not forgetting that "the things which are seen are temporal" {2 Cor. iv. 18). 5. The use of the world. "'l'bose that use the world, as not abusing it." All that God gives us of this world is to be used as ministering to our need. 'l'he thing to be guarded against is the wrong use of it. It is to be our servant, not our master. God has put it under our feet (Ps. viii. 6), nnil we must keep it there. We abuse the world (lJ if we seek it as the chief good of life, or (2) if we use it so as to hurt or binder our spiritual life.-B. Ver. 24.-Quietness of spirit. St. Paul knew bow to bold the balance between the stirring forces of Christianity, and its calming, soothing power. He exemplified the combination in bis own character; for he was ever moving yet never restless, enr aspiring yet always content, ever fighting, and that not as one that beats the air, and yet always breathing and making peace. The application of Christianity to actual conditions -of society in ancient Greece raised many questions on which the Corinthian Church needed apostolic guidance. Such were the continual obligation of marriage after husband or wife had become a Christian; the question whether Judaism should yield to Gentilism, -or vice versa, in the new community; and the problem of domestic slavery. St. Paul bad no express command from the Lord Jesus on such mntters, but guided, as be firmly believed, by the Spirit of God, he bandied these three points with rare wisdom anJ foresight, I. 'l'HE LESSON FOR THE FIRST CENTURY, The introduction of the Christian faith into such cities as Corinth could not but operate as a disturbing, unsettling force. It was therefore the duty of the Christians to avoid as far as possible giving alarm to rulers, by abruptly or violently assailing the forms of life and the established institutions round about them. If their religion should present itself to the eye of observers as mainly an agitation or social revolution, it would be put on a false issue, and would gi~e to its adversaries a strong argument for its suppression. 'l.'berefore, though the apostle hated all social injustice, be perceived and taught that precipitate action, even with the best intentions, would be a serious mistake; and that the only sound policy was to work on men's consciences and subdue their hearts, and gradually lift them up into a condition of moral feeling and a love of righteousness which could no longer brook such inHtitutions as Greek and Roman slavebolding. On this topic, therefore, he cbeckeci impatience. The first thing needful was to bring Jesus Christ into every station and walk of human life. When Christ should dwell among and in men, society would take to new moulds by an inward necessity, not from any outward dictation. This was the best course to be taken even with regard to slavery. The endurance of it was hard; for St. Paul wrote at a period when the rich in Greece and Italy were cruel and contemptuous to their slaves, and it was possible for a Roman emperor to give their flesh to feed bis pet fishes. But the institution was so familiar to the public mind that it was regarded as indispensable; and so Christianity was not to assail it directly, but to teach masters to give to their slaves what was just and equal, and slaves to ~e .faithful and honest in service. If a slave could get bis liberty, be was to take it joyfully~" use it rather." If not, be waR to abide with God in that calling. H1~  256 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORIN'l'HIANS. [ea. vu. 1-40.