we gain an insight into the hP:i.rt, not or the apostle alone, but or his fellow-labourers nnd friends. And we cannot but admire the evident power of Christiar,ity to hallow nor! ennoble, to refine and bless, the relations subsisting among friends. I. FnoM WHOM, AND TO WHOM, ARE THESE GREETINGS? 1. Individuals are named. Of Aquila and Priscilla we know that they were regarded by Paul as his dear friends and trusty fellow-labourers. Wherever they went they carried the gospel, they formed a circle of Christian friends, they provided a home for workers and a gatheri na-place for worshippers. 2. Households join in the greetings. This is evidently th~ case, whether we regard the expression "Church in the house" as applying to the Christian family and their dependents and guests, or to a party wont to assemble in a certain house for mutual edification and common worship. 3. Churches send salutations. The Christian congregations of Asia Minor were linked together in bonds of mutual confidence and affection, and expressed their feelings by the medium of the apostolical letter. This practice authorizes communications between Churches and groups of Churches, as promotive of brotherly love. II. OF WHAT KIND? 1. 'l'hev are fraternal. In the salutation those who send the messages are termed brethren. Not as fellow-professors of one faith, but as members of one family, did these primitive Christians exchange their greetings and good wishes and prayers. 2. Cordial and affectionate. Salutations are often matters of form, and are then cold and all but meaningless. 'fhe holy kiss, which was the custom in those primitive communities, was a sign of the warmth and sincerity of the good feeling which prevailed. 3. Mutual; for they were admonished to greet one another. "All ye," Christ had said, "are brethren;" and we see how true an attempt was made to comply with his commands, and to realize his descriptions. IIL UPON WHAT BASIS? Not upon the basis of mere courtesy, or or common interests or expediency, but upon a specially Christian basis; the greeting was "in the Lord." By this we must understo.nd: 1. In fulfilment of the Lord's command, who had so often and emphatically enjoined the cherishing and m1nifestation of brotherly ;ove. 2. In imitation of the Lord's conduct, who himself, in o.11 his communications with his friends, bad been wont to display that love which he desired to witness among his followers. 3. Under the influence of his Spirit, whose presence and gracious operations make themselves felt by the diffusion of courtesy, good will, and kiud- ness.-T. Ver. 22.-The absence of love to Christ. There are t!1ose who, not having known Christ, have had no opportunity of loving him. But of all who have heartl and reacl of Christ, we may say that the one test of their charncter and their position lies in their feeling with regard to him, with all which that feeling invoh·es. The apostle"s warm heart could tolerate no indifference, no neutrality, here. The Lord Jesus must be not only respected, but loved. And not to love him proves that the nature is iusensible to all that is good and Divine-involves its own condemnation and cur~e and misery. I. TnE ADS ENCE OF LOVE TO CHlllST. Where there is no love to the Lord J esns there appears to be: 1. A want or appreciation of his perfect moral character. If Jesus be known by a holy and sympathetic nature, he will appear to such a nnture "the chit-f among ten thousand, the altogether lovely.'' Who can gaze upon the sinless and pure, the just and kin<l, the meek and patient Jesus, and be unaffected by the spectacle? Only those for whom moral excellence and beauty have no charms. 2. A deep sensi- bility to his infinite compassion. !<'or it must be borne in mind that the Saviour's disposition and ministry, and especially his sacrifice, have a personal relation to omselves. It was for us men and our salvation that he livt•d a life of poverty and contempt, that he deigned to die a death of agony and shame. 'l'o withhold the heart's best love from One who endured the cross for us argues n callousness of nature beneath the level of common humanity. 3. A base ingratitude for all he has ,lone and is doing on our behalf. Even those who are indifferent to the Lord Jesus owe him a vast debt for the benefits which, by his mediation, he has confcr!'ed upon the human race, and for the forbearance with which they have individually been treated. If ingratitude to earthly friends and benefactors be base, how shall the hdnousuess be described of ingratitude to the Son of man? 566 THE FIRST EPISTLE '1'0 THE CORINTHIANS. [cH. xvI. 1-2·i.
II, THE CURSE A~"D CONDEMNATION INVOLVED IN INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS CHRIST. 1. "' e can trace this in the moral degradation which such insensibility occasions. Not tu love the worthiest and the best is to debase our nature. Character is largely moulded by love ; and they who turn away from the love of Immanuel choose death. 2. The condemnation of concience is inevitable. Its voice may be stifled for a season, but it will be hea.rd, and that voice must needs utter a censure of no feeble or ambiguous kind. The judge is within, and chnot be escaped; that judge will charge the sinner with hating him who was and is supremely worthy to be loved, and the accusation is self-evidencing and brings its curse. 3. 'l'he judgment of the Lord may tarry, but it will surely come. 'l'he Lord himself is at hand, to deliver those who love him, but to execute a righteous sentence upon the unbelieving, the unloving, the unspiritual.-T.