The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 256

or his letter, he is replying to a question put to him from Corinth regarding the course most expedient in the special circumstances of tlie time, i.e. in view of impendin" persecution and distress. Should unmarried persons marry at such a time? Should parents give their daughters in marriage? Should married Christians, if joined to heathens, remain in the marriage bond? These questions the apostle deals with, giving his opinion, not for all time, but for· a time of trouble. It was no sin, or even fault, in any one to marry; but it would be wise to form no new ties at such a crisis, not to burden one's self with new anxieties. In this sense the text is not for us, except in special emergencies and exceptional circumstances. It is hardly needful to say that a man who is about to start on a uangerous expedition, or one who is invdved in serious pecuniary difficulty, or one who has some arduous task to accomplish by a given date which will require incessant attention, ought not to marry. Men in such conditions ought not to drag another into their difficulties or dangers, nor shouid they 17ratuitously add to their own anxieties. Let them keep their minds undistracted, and defer marriage to some easier and more auspicious day. II. DEDUCE A PRINCIPLE WHICH WILL APPLY TO ALL OCCASIONS. It is this: the Christian life ought not to be hampered with cares. \Veil for it to move on simple lines, as much as possible free from distraction and solicitude. Novelists and poets hal'e said much against over-anxiety and the black curse of care. Spcn~et· describes care as forging iron wedges day and night. "Those be unquiet thoughta tho.t careful minds inrnJ.e." Shakespeare says- "Co.re is no cure, but rather corrosive, For thing~ that a.re not to be remedied." Another writes of "low-thoughted care." And it is easy to show that it clouds the judgment and defeats itself by restlessness and over-anxiety which betray men intu ruinous mistakes. But arter all that has been said against care, it is not shaken off- no, not by those moralists and poets themselves. Every man we meet has some ve:1:ing care about money, or reputation, or health, about the conduct or misconduct of others. We want some deeper teaching and some stronger help. 'vVe have both in and from our Master ,Jcsu~ Christ-the most profound teaching and the most timely and effectual help. 1. 1'he life without care. Our Lord spoke or it in the Sermon on the mount. His disciples ~hould not he anxious about food, or raiment, or tho possible mishaps or ro-morrow. Such wisdom they might learn from the birds and from the flowers, that are fed and clothed by God. If it be rejoined that the lifo and wants of binls and flowers arc very much more limited than ours, who have to run so many risks and are vulner- able 11t so many poinLs, the reply is obvious. \Ve ought so to conduct our lives as to keep our grounds of anxiety at the lowest possible limit; in short, to simpliCy our habits, restrain our self-tormenting bustle, and, reducing om external wants, give more voice to those which are inward and spiritual. 2. 7'he model of that life. lt is Christ him- solf; for the perfect 'l'eacher lived all his doctrines, practised all he prcacheu. 'l'he way of human life which the Son of God selected, and to which he adhered, was the best for the purpose of developing a model humauity. We pass over the station in which he was born, because we have no discretionary power over our own birth. Ilut we take note of this, that he grew up in a home of piety, remote from those excitements and temptations that render our modern town-bred youth so precocious. Ho had a quiet time among the hills and valleys round Nazareth, to let his thoughts grow large and his character acquire deliberate strength. Then, when the time was ripe for opening his prophetic mission, he kept his personal life as simple as possible, and allowed no room for nnxieties on his own account. He also surrounded himsclr with fricnus who wero of simple habits and little worldly ambition. He taught them as they walked from ono villago to another or rowed their boat upon the hike, and did good everywhero without a particle of ostentation. And so he went on to the encl, implicitly trusting and obeying the heavenly Father who had sent him and was always with him. Thus was ho always calm an,l self-possessed. No dust of brooding care lay upon his heart. And, indccu, it was because he held himself so free of petty entanglements, that he could bo and was so engrossed with the work which the Father gave him to do. Easily satisfied as to I. COnJNTHIANS. S  258 THE FIRST EPISTLE 'l'O 'l'HE CORINTHIANS. [ea. vu. 1-40.