may through Thy blessing spring up, and bear much fruit to Thy praise; and grant that I may not only receive a knowledge of the truth, but labour also to instruct others in it. I earnestly desire so to live, that by my example I may be helpful to the building up of others in our most holy faith.

Give me a wise and understanding heart, that I may build safely and surely upon Christ the only true Foundation. Suffer me not to mislead or deceive any

one.

Teach me to labour in Thy service with zeal and judgment; with diligence and discretion; with boldness, and yet with sobriety; so that when "the day," the great judgment day shall declare my work, it may be approved of by Thee.

O Lord, grant that my body may be a Temple in which Thy Spirit may continually be pleased to dwell. Cleanse me from all the defilement of sin. Make me perfectly pure and holy. Let me not seek after the wisdom of this world, but be willing to be counted a fool, so that I may but be really wise. Preserve me from glorying in men, or looking to them for guidance and support without regard to Thee, from whom all good things do come. Grant, Lord, that I may but be truly united to Christ; that I may but find Him to be my all in all; then while I live I shall rejoice to live, and when I die, I shall count it to be indeed great gain. Help me thus to regard all things present and future as mine, as given unto me for my good, for the perfecting in me the work of faith.

O Lord, this is all my desire, that I may be made one with Christ, even as Christ is one with Thee; to whom in the unity of the Spirit be all honor and glory, now and for evermore. Amen.

CHAPTER IV.

Verse 1 to 6.

EXPLANATION.

In this Chapter St. Paul continues the subject he had been speaking upon in the last. His object is to convince the Corinthians of their error in having divided themselves into separate parties under separate teachers. He therefore

shows them in what light he and his fellow-labourers wished to be regarded. We wish not, he says, to be considered as rulers over the people, but (1) to be accounted only as the servants of Christ, as stewards commissioned to dispense the benefits of the Gospel, here called mysteries, because they are truths which human reason could never have discovered, but which are now made known by revelation from God. (2) Now, as stewards, it is absolutely necessary that we should be found faithful. (3) But our faithfulness is not to be judged of by you. It is of little consequence to me what men think of me; for I do not even pretend to judge myself, as to whether I am superior or inferior to other teachers. (4) It is true, I know nothing against myself regarding the work of the ministry; nevertheless I am not thereby proved to be free from blame; I am not to pass sentence upon myself; it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is to judge me. (5) Therefore do not you set yourselves up to be judges, but wait the time of Christ's second coming,

when He will bring to light all the hidden things of darkness, and will make known all that has been passing in the hearts of men, who according to their faithfulness and sincerity, will then have praise from God. (6) Now these remarks, brethren, I have made with reference to myself and Apollos, but I wish you to regard the rule as generally applicable to all Ministers; and what I have said has been entirely for your own sakes, that you might learn not to think of mere human beings more highly than is warranted by the written word of God, and that you might not be puffed up, and glory in one Minister to the prejudice of another.

APPLICATION.

Man's opinion not to be the Rule of our conduct.

Verse 3. In studying the word of God, the first thing of course is to endeavour to understand the meaning of it. Then in order to profit by that holy Word, we must compare ourselves with it; we must stop to consider whether our conduct and feelings are what we there find they ought to be. The passage before us suggests this question: Can I truly say, "With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of man's judgment." Certainly as regards the generality of men, it is the very last thing they could say with truth. So far from being a very small thing what the world thinks of them, it is in fact the chief thing they care about. The opinion of God is, in comparison, quite of trifling importance to them. And this we must conclude, because we

D

see people so perfectly satisfied, if they can but hide their sin and shame from the eyes of men. But perhaps there is no one, who really sifts his heart to the bottom, that could use the apostle's words; for men's opinion of us, is so generally of more consequence in our eyes than it ought to be.

At any rate, it will certainly be found by every Christian to be one of his most difficult duties to keep his eye singly fixed on God, for guidance, and for approbation. Solomon says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare ;" and certainly the love of man's praise bringeth a snare also. We are continually forgetting whose we are, and whom we profess to serve. If we are real Christians, we are not our own; neither are we the servants of men. But we are Christ's. We are His servants, His stewards. If we are not the stewards of His mysteries, still we are the stewards of His goods. All we have is His, to spend and be spent in His service, to His honor. And to Him, our own Master, we must stand or fall. If this truth be lost sight of, a very unscriptural line of conduct will be the consequence. For in endeavouring to shun the blame of man, or to seek his praise, the straightforward path of duty is sure to be forsaken. The question will not then simply be, What will God have me to do?' but, 'How can I please my friends? If I do so and so, what will my neighbours say?"

6

It is impossible that they can prosper in their Christian course, who are looking for "honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only." (John v. 44.) Oh, let us beware of this most dangerous evil, the evil of consulting man's opinion instead of God's. Let us beware, lest

it should be said of us, "ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke xvi. 15.)

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That it is not for us to judge one another.

Verse 5. Again, while we are to be thus cautious how we regard the judgment of men, so in like manner it becomes us to be careful not to judge others. We know not the hidden things of other men's hearts. And He alone must be the Judge, who does know them, and who also will one day bring them to light, and make them manifest to all the world. Then, in that awful day, will the mask of the hypocrite be torn away, and the slandered character of Christ's saints will be fully justified. For that day let us wait. Let us judge nothing before the time. The day of the Lord's coming is the time of judgment; and it is not far from any one of us. The Judge standeth at the door. Death is the door. It may close upon us any day; and we know that there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither we are all hastening.

Let us then keep in mind, that the Judgment is very near; that there is but a little while to wait, until God will make manifest the counsels of the heart. We must therefore withhold our judgment of others for the present; and be careful ourselves now so to act that then we may have praise of God.