The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 305

Confidence that will prompt to exertion, not confidence which kills effort. "Lest ... I myself should be a. casta.way." IV. Succ~;ss MEETS WITH REWARD. Contrast the crowns of earth with the crown of heaven. Many do so much for a corruptible crown, and we so little for an incorruptible one. A garland of leaves and a day's popula1ity: paradise and life eternal. V. MANY SPECTATORS WITNESS THE CON'l'l\ST. The eyes of the ungodly arc upon us. Fellow-Christians watch us closely. 'l'he angels behold us, and are" ministering spirits" to us. Perhaps victors of the past, perhaps those who have failed in race and fight, watch us. 'l'he King sees us-the Judge-he who holds "the crown of righteousness" for those .who have "fought a good fight" and "finished the course." "Wherefore seeing," etc. (Heb. xii. 1,- 2). When we think of the race and fight, we should ponder Phil. iv. 13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtbeneth me."-H. Vers. 1-3.-The marks of apostleship. 'l'his chapter grows out of the noble utterance of self-denial with which the previous one closes. 'l'he apostle illustrates and enforces the duty of curtailing our liberty iu things indifferent for the sake of weaker brethren, by a reference to his own example in foregoing the right of maintenance by the Church. Was he not free? Had he not all the rights belonging to Christians, unfettered by obligations to men? Nay, more, was he not an apostle? At Corinth, as elsewhere, there were some who questioned the full apostolic authority of Paul, on the ground that he was not one of the twelve; and his self-denial seems to have been turned into an argument against him. It was insinuated that he refrained from asking the support of his converts, as the other apostles were in the habit of doing, because be was conscious of bis inferiority. It is apparently for this reason that he here presents the marks of his apostleship. I. HE HAD SEEN JESUS THE LoBD. There is no evidence that he had seen Jesus in the days of bis flesh, but the reference is mainly to the appearance near Da.mascus (Acts ix. 4-6). On that occasion the Lord met him and gave him his commission as an apostle; and this was regarded as an essential mark of apostleship in the highest sense, as we see from the election of Matthias (Acts i. 22; comp. eh. xv. 8). In this respect the apostles can have no successors. 'l'he office was a special and temporary one, needful for the pla.nting and organizing of the Church, and was intended to expire with the men who held it. Ha.ving set the house in order, they were to deliver the keys to the ordinary servants who were left in charge. Still, every one whom Christ sends forth to do his work must first have bad the sight of him that faith gives. Only when we ha.ve beheld him in his glory, invested with" a.ll authority in heaven and on ea.rth," and heard from bis lips the call to go forth, shall we feel ourselves clothed with power as his ambassadors (comp. Isa. vi.; Matt. xxviii. 18, 19), II. TliE CORINTHIAN CHRISTIANS WERE THE SEAL OF ms APOSTLESHIP. Whatever reason others might have for questioning his standing, they at lea.st ha.d none; for as the instrument of their conversion, he could point to them as "bis work in the LorJ." The power which accompanied his preaching, and which ha.d wroug;ht so mighty a. chang;c in them, was a proof that be had not run unsent. 'l'his of itself did not prove apostleship in the high sense in which Paul claimed it, but it proved that the Lord was with him. 'l'his kind of evidence requires to be adduced with caution, inasmuch as it is difficult for us to estimate the real success of e. ministry; but where there aro unmistakable proofs of the con version of sinners and the edification of saints, we are warranted iu viewing these as the seals of our mission. In seeking these high ends, we aro doing truly apostolic work. Happy the minister who can say to his congregation, "Ye are my work iu the Lord "1-ll. Vers. 4-18.-Jllinisterial support. Having vindicated his claim to be reckoned among the apostles of Christ, Paul proceeds to assert his right to a temporal main- tenance at the hands of those to whom he ministered. 'l'ho other apostles received support, not only for themselves, but also for their wives: why should he not make the same claim? '!'hough he was unmarried, and though he bad hitherto supported him- self hy the labour of his own hands, this did not invalidate his right. Consider- I. 'l'IIE RIGHT OF MINISTERS TO A BUITADLE MAIXTENANCE. 'l'his is upheld by various arguments and analogies. 1. The labourer is w11rcliy <!/ Ms reward. 'l'hree 308 THE FIRST EPISTLE 'l'O THE CORINTHIANS, [en. IX. 1-27.