The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 425

the breath of the multitude, fragrant with adulation, feeds his luncrs, This it is that arteriahzes his blood and sends it hot and poisonous to his brai;, Of courtie theso Corinthians were the very persons to overvalue the crift of tono-ues. It was in thee channel of their tastes and traditions. Dut the apostl; teaches th~m that this wonder- ful power holds a subordinate rank. He does not depreciate it· no he appreciates it to_ the foll: " tongues of mei:i," are associ_ated with "the tpngne; of ;ngels; " and yet, without love, the endowment 1s as" soundmg brnss, or a tinklina cymbal." What is it but mere noise, an idle tumult of the air? Unless love to God and man attend the ~ift, restrain its selfishness, destroy its vanity-making tendency and sanctify it to- t;hc "'elfare of others, it is worthless. Ilut the second verse enlara;s the thoucrht. One may have the gift of prophecy and use his intellect with amazin~ skill and force so as to excite and captivate his hearers, and this, too, under the teachin~s of revelation; and further, one may have insight into Divine secrets, and "understa~d all mysteries,'' and ha Ye them at command as "knowledge;" yet what is he without love? Can it be possible that this resplendent power could exist, and that other light kiudled by love be utterly wanting 'I Observe, it is" all" mysteries and knowledge; the man explorcs- e\'~ry heip:ht and d~pth, and he h:i,s the freedom of the universe. Nay, superadd alt faith, so that matenal nature falls m homage at your feet and the "mountains" remove in obedience to your will ; but of what avail this expenditure of micrhty eneray where the holiness of love is lacking? If, then, the man endowed with universality°of utter- ance-" tongues of men and of angels;" and if the prophet with his clear and broad insight into the counsels of God, and before whose eye the panorama of distant events moves as a spectacle of to-day; if the miracle-worker who transcends all natural capacities and exercises the delegated power of Jehovah in producing supernatural phenomena ;-if these men and their gifts are compared to "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal," and verily are "nothing;" and though they are known as apostles, prophets, miracle-workers, heroes of faith, instruments of the supernatural: if all these are nothingness itself without love, can anything more be said to inteusify the excel- lence of love as a Divine principle and sent.iment and impulse? The third verse answers this question. Charity, almsgiving, philanthropy, even self-sacrifice at the stake, here come into view. How far may one go in the benevolent appropriation of earthly property and yet fall below the highest motive? St. Paul replies that he may "dole out" all he owns, do it gradually, do it cautiously, do it to the exhaustion of his resources, yet do it unmindful of that sovereign law which gathers into itself all other laws and imparts to them a virtue that makes them Divine. Nor is this all. One may have the philanthropic idea and sensibility so largely developed as to accept martyrdoru, have the courage to face it unblenched, and to endure it with fortilude; but he may surrender life without the highest love. Love may be there -love of a truth, love of a cause, love of humanity-not necessarily the love, however. here under discussion; and hence, this distinctive Christian love, which includes the Divine and the human, being absent, the martyrdom is not for Christ's sake, and consequently is nuiatory as to its Chri~tian character. "It profiteth me nothing." If, now such a doctrine as this rested on a ground solely ethical, we confess our inability to s~e how it could be accepted as a trustworthy view of human nature. Logic in itself has no fundamental principle from which it can be deduced. Philosophy a~ such, and as confined to what it finds in our constitution, would be compelled to reject a con- clusion so alien to its spirit. On the other hand, the doctrine may be easily and heartily received on the score of Christian logic and philosophy. For, in the schema of Christianity, human nature is a revelation from God. It is the Diviue thought of this natw·e which we are to embrace, to cherish, to act upon. And if we admit, as we ought to do in the presence of such satisfactory evidence, ~hat God has spoken to man of man, and disclosed to him the once hidden mystery of himself, as well as that other and infinitely greater "hidden mystery" of his redeeming purpose in Christ-if we ack.nowledae 0 tfiis, then we cannot impeach the wisdom, the justness, the stern truth- fulness of St. Paul's argument. The argument assumes that Christianity is of God, and as' such, advances to this point, namely, Christianity alone gives a full and com- plet~ view of our nature. Its ethical teachings, their reasons and motives and ends, are founded in Christ and in his relations to us. Our relations to him and to 006 another are subsequent considerations, and take their quality and bearings simply, cu. xm. 1-13.J THE FinST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 433