The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 558

which "hopeth all things, endureth all things, and thinketh no evil." Chrysostom•~ note on tliese 'l'erses brings out a somewhat different association. It is as follows:- " Now in saying these things, he seems, indeed, to advise; but be is reprimanding them as iudolen_t. Wherefore he ~aith, ~atch, as though they slept; stand, as though they were rock mg to and fro; qmt you like men, as though they were playinCT the coward, let all your things be done with charity, as thou~h they were in dissensi;ns. And th~ firs! caution ~efers t~ the deceivers,. viz. watch, stand; the next to those who plo11 agamst us, quit you like men; the third to those who make parties and endeavour to distract, let all youi· things be done with charity, which thinCT is the bond of perfect,.. ness, and the root and fountain of all blessings." In the teachinCT both of our Lord and of his apostles, the passive and gentle graces were so constantly commended that the enemies of Christianity might Pasily, and with some show of reason, say that it was ~ wea~,, unmanly thing, ,~ith_yielding; .and patiently enduring and quietly waiting, as its chief _an_d characteristic virtues. J herefore 8t.. Paul makes so much of his point, that Christianity was the only force that could really and harmoniously culture the full ~nanhood. Only this i_s true-t~e supreme grace of Christianity is love, charity, and 1t must tone and qualify and direct all other graces, all expressions of character in action. Consider- I. THE TENDENCY OF RUMAN NATURE TO CORRUPT EVERY1'HlNG. .A.II the good thin"S men may possess or attain are in constant peril of running over into extremes a;d exaggerations. Observe two points. 1. A man's strong side becomes inspired by self- will, and spoiled. 2. Some tiides are unduly cultured by expression, and th,i whole character is put out of harmony and fair balance. Self-reliance, which has a small place in every good charact,er, becomes corrupted into self-conceit; and so of other features of character. II. How FAR IS THIS HUMAN-NATURE FORCE KEPT IN THE REGENERATE? It mil!ht seem that St. Paul's counsel only suited the worldly, and was hardly needed by the Christian. But we have to accept the fact, which both observation and experience attest, that the renewal of the principle on which our life is conducted does not involve an immediate deliverance from the ordinary deteriorating influences which affect men. Christian men's very graces ruay become so exaggerated as to be really vices. Strong- willed men may "love to have the pre-eminence,'' and be masterful and inconsiderate. The Christian life in a man ought to hold the evil tendency in strong bonds, but we cannot get free from the evil influence while we dwell in a body aud are surrounded by earthly scenes. III. How DOES THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT AFFECT THIS EVIL? Apply especially to the robuster virtues. Manliness is liable to become rnasterrulness. Those who can watch come to despise the weak ones who must sleep. The strong try to force the frail to go at their pace, and easily quarrel with them when they cannot. Now, the Christian spirit proposes one effective triumph over all these evils. 'J'one all your life and rela- tions with charity, which is, as treated in the New Testament, precisely this-consider- ation for others rather than self. All the evil comes out of thinking of and glorifying self, and the conquest surely comes by thinking of and glorifying others: getting the mind of Christ, who "pleased not himself."-R. T. Ver. 15.-'l'he natural right of priority. "The firstfrnits of Achaia." We need not think of the household of Stephanas as being actually the first converts St. P,1ul made in the Peloponnesus, as apparently another person is spoken of in the same terms in Hom. xvi. 5 : "Salute my well-beloved Eprenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ." The meaning need only be that the household of Stephnnas was among those brought to Christ at St.. Paul's first missionary visit. The apostle had an affec- tionate regard for his first converts in new spheres, as may be illustrated in the case of Lydia at Philippi. The intrrest we always feel in first things can be illustrnted by wny of introduction. 1. Firstborn children. 2. First forms of enterprise. 3. First- fru:ts of onr Jabour, etc. Natural feeling gives all first things prominence; and the Old Testament history and religion rested on the recognition of the rights of the first- born and the interest or first thing~. They are the key to the life; the strong impress of the character. They are like the first proofs of an l·ngrav,ng; every lrno is shnrply defined in them. They may become the reproach of our weaker after-doings, for tht·J cu. xvr. 1-24.] THE FinST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 573