The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Timothy — Section 75

or frivolous ; gentle or hard; forgiving or unforgiving; selfish or generous; pitiful or censorious; appreciative or unthankfol. Behaviour is an every-hour sermon. It corrects the notion that a man's religion is mainly in his doctrine or opinions, hie ritual or ceremonial. Manners are not to be pt1t on like a garment, nor can we masquerade in them and pretend to be wb:1t we are not. Bending the knee is nothing, ifwe are not reverent at heart. A gift iu nothing, unless given from love. Prayer is nothing, unles~ ot1r life is a prayer. Praise is nothing, unless our life be a garment of praise. Manners are not etiquette, nor best dresses, nor courtesies of speech ; they are the expressions of a life. In this aspect their potency is wonderful. In church we are to behave well ; not to give ourselves airs, as rich, or learned, or superior people, but to remember that we are bought with a price. Bt1t behaviour is not mt1ch thought about. There is an idea that some men are good at heart, though they are brusqt1e, if you knew how to approach them. This is nonsense. The flower does not wait for me to unfold it; it does not say, "H you knew how to tempt my kindness, I would give you fragrant incense." It is a flower everywhere, to everybody.-W. M. S. Ver. 15.-" Wna.t" Church" means. "In the house of God. which is the Church of the living God." The idea of what the Chllrch is, is to regulate what our behaviour is. The word . "church" comes from the Greek words Kwrios oikoa. These two word& abbreviated make "church" or" kirk." I. IF IT BE THE CHURCH OF GOD, IN OUR BEHAVIOUR THERE MUST D REVERENCE, Reverence is at the root of all religion. Flippancy of manner, indevoutness of heart, will destroy the best service. We read the old command, "Ye shall reverence my sanctuary, saith the Lord;" and wherever we meet together, even in the humblest church, " the Lord is in his holy temple," and we are to "keep silence" or "be reve- rent" before him. II. BEHAVIOUR MEANS LIFE. It is the Church, not merely of the God of Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, but of the living God. We do not build temples as monuments of a past glory. Christ said, "Do this in remembrance of me." Before his departure he said, "I go away and come again ; " and wherever two or three are gathered together m. hie Name, there he is in the midst of them. This Church of God is fllrther described as the pillar, or ground and stay, of the truth; that is to say, that no sacred books will preserve religion without a sacred life. Men may answer an argument or adopt a theory, but the victory of the early Church was won by the Chllrch's life or behaviour. "See how these Christians love one another." Learn, then, the great lesson, that behaviour is everything. "How unblamably we behave ourselves," says Paul to the Thessalonians. "I will behave myself wisely m. a perfect way," says the psalmist.- W. M. 8. Vere. 1-13.-Qualifications of three classes of office-bearers, I. QuALIFICATIOm! OF A BISHOP. Preliminary direction to Timothy. " Faithful is the saying, li a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." The Scnpture idea of the episcopate is that of oversight, viz. of souls. A bishop was one who had the duty of overseeing a con- gregation in spirit\J.al matters, being, in respect of gravity and dignity, called presbyter or elder. Timothy was to encourage any who sought to enter into the episcopate. The saying in Christian circles was to be relied on, "If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." It is not a sinecllre, but a work or employment taxing the energies. Its excellence lies in its having respect to men's highest interests. But if he was to encourage entrance into the episcopate, he was not to do so without regard to the proper qualifications which he has lctid down for l,im. "The bishop therefore must be without reproach." 'l'his is a general qualification. A mm.ister is not to be chosen without regard to character. If a man gives just ground for reproach-has not character behind his gifts-he is not fitted for the office of a mm.ister, which is to m.fluence men in the production of Christian character. "The husband of one wife." Some high authorities take the meaning to be that the contraction of a second marriage, even after the death of the first wife, was a disqualification for the office of a bishop. But thia forbidding to ecclesiastics of what in the New Testament is expressly permitted to others, &eems to belong to a post-apostolic asceticism. The language seems to be directed 11ainst "any deviation from morality in respect of marriage, whether by concubinage.  THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [oe. m. 1-18.