b Ch. vii. 2.- Ch. viii. Le Ch. v. 12.--f Rom. ix. 1. 6, 16, 22. a Ch. xi. 9. d Ch. viii. 18.FATHER; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel; see 1 Cor. iv. 15. Ye are my children, and I am your father. You have not contributed to my support, but I have been labouring for your life. I will act towards you as the loving father who works hard, and lays up what is necessary to enable his children to get their bread. Verse 15. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you] I will continue to act as a loving father, who spends all he has upon his children, and expends his own strength and life in providing for them the things necessary for their preservation and comfort. Though the more abundantly I love you] I will even act towards you with the most affectionate tenderness, though it happen to me, as it often does to loving fathers, that their disobedient children love them less, in proportion as their love to them is increased. Does it not frequently happen that the most disobedient child in the family is that one on which the parents' tenderness is more especially placed? See the parable of the prodigal son. It is in the order of God that it should be so, else the case of every prodigal would be utterly deplorable. The shepherd feels more for the lost sheep than for the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. 20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would; and that shall be found unto you ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: 21 And lest, when I come again, my God i will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and 'fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. 1 Cor. x. 33.- h1 Cor. iv. 21. Ch. x. 2. xiii. 2, 10. i Ch. ii. 1, 4. k Ch. xiii. 2.- 1 Cor. v. 1. Verse 16. But be it so, I did not burden you] That is: You grant that I did not burden you, that I took nothing from you, but preached to you the gospel freely; but you say that, BEING CRAFTY, I caught you with guile; i. e. getting from you, by means of others, what I pretended to be unwilling to receive immediately from yourselves. Many persons suppose that the words, being crafty, I caught you with guile, are the words of the apostle, and not of his slanderers; and therefore have concluded that it is lawful to use guile, deceit, &c., in order to serve a good and religious purpose. This doctrine is abominable; and the words are most evidently those of the apostle's detractors, against which he defends his conduct in the two following verses. Verse 17. Did I make a gain of you] Did any person I ever sent to preach the gospel to you, or help you in your Christian course, ever get any thing from you for me? Produce the proof if you cau. Verse 18. I desired Titus] I never sent any to you but Titus and another brother; chap. viii. 6, 18. And did Titus make a gain of you 2 Did he get any thing from you, either for himself or for me? You know he did not. He was actuated by the same spirit, and he walked in the same steps. Verse 19. Think ye that we excuse ourselves] Aлоλоуоνμεla; That we make an apology for our conduct; or, that I have sent Titus and that brother to you because I was ashamed or afraid to come myself? We speak before God in Christ] I have not done so; I speak the truth before God; he is judge whether I was actuated in this way by any sinister or unworthy motive. If I be asked, "Should Christian parents lay up money for their children?" I answer: It is the duty of every parent who can, to lay up what is necessary to put every child in a condition to earn its bread. If he neglect this, he undoubtedly sins against God and nature. "But should not a man lay up, besides this, a fortune for his children, if he can honestly?" I answer: Yes, if there be no poor within his reach; no good work which he can assist ; no heathen region on the earth to which he can contribute to send the gospel of Jesus; but not otherwise. God shows, in the course of his providence, that this laying up of fortunes for children is not right; for there is scarcely ever a case where money has been saved up to make the children independent and gentlemen, in which God has not cursed the blessing. It was saved from the poor, from the ignorant, from the cause of God; and the canker of his displeasure consumed this ill-purposes, and why he sent Titus and his companion. saved property. For your edifying.] Whatever I have done in this or any other way, I have done for your edifying; not for any emolument to myself or friends. Verse 20. I fear, lest, when I come] I think the present time is used here for the past; the apostle seems most evidently to be giving them the reason why he had not come to them according to his former He was afraid to come at that time lest he should Observations on two remarkable CHAP. XIII. sayings of our Lord. have found them perverted from the right way, and | ings of our Lord, which are of infinite value to the he be obliged to make use of his apostolical rod, and welfare and salvation of man; which are properly punish the offenders; but, feeling towards them the parts of the gospel, but are not mentioned by any heart of a tender father, he was unwilling to use the evangelist. The first is in Acts xx. 35: I have rod; and sent the first epistle to them, and the mes-shewed you the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, sengers above-mentioned, being reluctant to go him- IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE. Every self till he had satisfactory evidence that their divi-liberal heart feels this in bestowing its bounty; and sions were ended, and that they had repented for and put away the evils that they had committed; and that he should not be obliged to bewail them who had sinned so abominably, and had not repented for their crimes. If this verse be understood in this way all difficulty will vanish; otherwise, what is here said does seem to contradict what is said, chap. vii. 6, 16, &c.; as well as many things both in the eighth and ninth chapters. every poor man, who is obliged to receive help, and whose independency of spirit is still whole in him, feels this too. To the genuine poor, it is more burdensome to receive a kindness, than it is to the generous man who gives it. The second is recorded in the ninth verse of this chapter: He said unto me, My GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE; FOR MY STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS. Of these two most blessed sayings, St. Paul is the only evangelist. This last is Debates, envyings] From these different expres- of general application. In all states and conditions sions, which are too plain to need interpretation, we of life God's grace is sufficient for us. If in any see what a distracted and divided state the church at case we miscarry, it is because we have not sought Corinth must have been in. Brotherly love and charity | God earnestly. Let no man say that he is overcome seem to have been driven out of this once heavenly by sin through want of grace; God's grace was sufassembly. These debates, &c., are precisely the op- ficient for him, but he did not apply for it as did St. posites to that love which the apostle recommends | Paul, and therefore he did not receive it. Men often and explains by its different properties in the 13th lay the issue of their own infidelity to the charge of chapter of his first epistle. God, they excuse their commission of sin through their scantiness of grace; whereas the whole is owing to their carelessness, and refusal to be saved in God's own way; and in this way alone will God save any man, because it is the only effectual way. Mr. Wakefield translates the original thus: strifes, rivalries, passions, provocations, slanders, whisperings, areilings, quarrels. Verse 21. Lest, when I come again] And even after all that has been done for you, I fear that when I do com-when I pay you my second visit, my God will humble me-will permit me to be affected with deep sorrow through what I may see among you; as I have been by the buffetings of the apostle of Satan, who has perverted you. Humiliation is repeatedly used for affliction, and here raπvwoy has certainly that meaning. Hare sinned already] IponyaprnroTwv Who have sinned before; who were some of the first offenders, and have not yet repented. 2. The apostle must have been brought into a blessed state of subjection to God, when he could say, I take pleasure in infirmities; that is, in afflictions and sufferings of different kinds. Though this language was spoken on earth, we may justly allow, with one, that he learned it in HEAVEN. 3. St. Paul preached the gospel without being burdensome. In every case the labourer is worthy of his hire. He who labours for the cause of God should be supported by the cause of God; but woe to that man who aggrandizes himself and grows rich by the Of the uncleanness, &c.] There must have been a spoils of the faithful! And to him especially who total relaxation of discipline, else such abominations has made a fortune out of the pence of the poor! In could not have been tolerated in the Christian church. such a man's heart the love of money must have its And although what is here spoken could only be the throne. As to his professed spirituality, it is nothing; case of a few; yet the many were ill-disciplined, else he is a whited sepulchre, and an abomination in the these must have been cast out. On the whole, this sight of the Lord. If a man will love the world church seems to have been a composition of excel-(and he does love it who makes a fortune by the lences and defects, of vices and virtues; and should offerings of the poor), the love of the Father is not not be quoted as a model for a Christian church. 1. From St. Paul we receive two remarkable say in him. CHAPTER XIII. The apostle again says that this is the third time he has purposed to come and see them; and threatens that he will, by the power of Christ, punish every incorrigible sinner, 1-4. Exhorts them to examine themselves, whether they be in the faith, 5, 6. Prays that they may do no evil, 7. no evil, 7. And shows how ardently he wished their complete restoration to unity and purity, 8, 9. Tells them for what reason he writes to them, 10. Bids them farewell, 11. Gives them some directions, and concludes with his apostolical benediction, 12-14. NOTES ON CHAP. XIII. Verse 1. This is the third time I am coming to you.] These words are nearly the same with those chap. xii. 14; and probably refer to the purpose which he had twice before formed of seeing them. But the latter clause seems to attach a different meaning to the passage; at least so it has been understood by some learned men. Schoettgen thus interprets the whole: the first coming of the apostle to Corinth was when he personally visited them, and there founded the Christian church. By his second coming, we are to understand his first epistle to them; and, by his being now ready to come to them the third time, we are to understand this second epistle, which he was then going to send them. These were the two witnesses, and the apostle the third, which he gave to the Corinthians concerning the truth of his own ministry, or the falsity of the ministry of the pretended apostle. Calmet contends that the apostle had been twice before at Corinth, and that he now purposed to go a third time; and that these visits were the two or three witnesses to which the apostle appeals. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the two or three witnesses were Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, sent to assure them of his coming. But this opinion cannot be supported. With respect to the two or three witnesses establishing the subject, Dr. Whitby says: "Though these words seem to be cited from Deut. xix. 15, rather than from Matt. xviii. 16, it being rare to find this apostle citing any thing from the New Testament, without calling it an ordinance of the Lord, yet it is probable that he here alludes to the practice there prescribed for the reclaiming of offenders. And then his first epistle being written with this introduction: Paul an apostle, and Sosthenes; his second thus: Paul and Timotheus; may pass for two or three witnesses; and his presence the third time in person, to exercise his censures on those offenders, before the body of the church, may bear a fair resemblance to our Lord's prescription in the above case: If thy brother offend," &c. So far Whitby. See my notes on Matt. xviii. 16. Verse 2. I told you before, &c.] As Calmet maintains that Paul had already been twice at Corinth, it is well to hear his reasons: "St. Paul came to Corinth to examine themselves. 3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. h A. M. 4061. A. D. 57. A. U. C. 810. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 4. 4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. 5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in m Cor. v. 4. Ch. ii. 10. 1 Cor. ix. 2.- Phil, ii. 7, 8. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Rom. vi. 4.- See ch. x. 3, 4. Or, with him. m 1 Cor. xi. 28. the latter end of the year of our Lord 52, and remained there eighteen months, Acts xviii. 1, &c. He came there a second time in the year 55, but staid only a short time, as he had to return speedily to Ephesus, 1 Cor. xvi. 7; hence it is that St. Luke makes no mention of this second journey in the Acts. Finally he determined to visit them a third time; as in effect he did, about the year 57. Of his second voyage to Corinth, which is not mentioned in the Acts, he speaks expressly in this verse." I do not see sufficient evidence to induce me to subscribe to this opinion of Calmet. I believe the apostle had been but once before at Corinth; and this matter is set in a clear point of view by Dr. Paley.— See the Introduction, sect. xi. I will not spare] I will inflict the proper punishfrom all the apostle's threatenings, that he was posment on every incorrigible offender. It does appear, sessed of a miraculous power, by which he could inflict punishment on offenders; that he could deliver the body to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, 1 Cor. iv. 21; v. 5. What he says he told them before probably relates to 1 Cor. iv. 21: Shall I come with a rod, &c. Verse 3. Since ye seek a proof of Christ] The conversion of the Corinthians was to themselves a solid proof that Christ spoke by the apostle; and therefore he could, with great propriety, say that this power of Christ, far from being weak, was mighty among them. Verse 4. For though he was crucified through weakness] It is true Christ was crucified, and his crucifixion appeared to be the effect of his weakness; yet even this was not so; he gave up his life, none could take it away from him; and in his last struggle, had he even been deficient in power, he could have had more than twelve legions of angels to support him against the high-priest's mob, Matt. xxvi. 53; but how then could the scripture be fulfilled? And had he not died, how could the human race have been saved? Yet he liveth by the power of God.] Though he appeared to be crucified through his own weakness, yet he now liveth by the power of God; exerting an almighty energy by which all things are subject to him. We also are weak in him] Because we are on The apostle prays for A. M. 4061. 4. C. C. 810. Anno Imp. Neronus Cæs. 4. reprobates? the faith; prove your own ye should do that which is 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that Rom. viii. 10. Gal. iv. 19.-1 Cor. ix. 27. 41 Cor. iv. 10. Ch. xi. 30. xii. 5, 9, 10. 8 For we can do nothing 8 For we A. M. 4061. A. U. C. 810. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 4. c Ch. vi. 9. 1 Thess. iii. 10.1 Cor. iv. 21. Ch. ii. 3. x. 2. xii. 20, 21. Christ's side we appear to you as weak as he did to the Jews; but it is not so, for we live with himunder the same influence, and partaking of the same life; manifesting by our preaching and miracles the power of God towards you. While I do not use the red, I appear to you weak; I will use it, and then you shall find me to be strong. that God has confirmed it by his testimony; and thus that I am proved and manifested to be what I ought to be, and shown to be approved of God. Verse 7. I pray to God that ye do no evil] That ye do not persist in that course which will oblige me to use the power of Christ, with which I am endued, to punish you. Some apply this prayer to the apostle himself: Now I pray to God that I may do you no evil-that I may not be obliged to use my apostolic rod, and inflict evil upon you. Verse 5. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith] 'Eaurous repašεte Try yourselves; pierce your Leans; bore yourselves throughout; try yourselves by what I have written, and see whether ye retain the tre faith of the gospel. Prove your own selves.] Eavrovs dokiμaZETE Put yourselves to the test, as you would try gold or silver espected of adulteration. No more take that for gospel which is not so, than you would take adulterated money for sterling coin. This is a metaphor taken from testing or assaying adulterated metals. Know ye not your own selves] Are ye not full of wisdom and understanding? And is it not as easy to End out a spurious faith as it is to detect a base coin? There is an assay and touchstone for both. If base metal be mixed with the pure you can readily detect it; and as easily may you know that you are in the faith as you can know that base metal is mixed with the pare. Does Jesus Christ dwell in you? You have his Spirit, his power, his mind, if ye be Christians; and the Spirit of Christ bears witness with your spirit that ye are the children of God. And this is the se except ye be reprobates; adoxo, base counter-coming, and in my rod, you have nothing to fear, if Jet coin; mongrel Christians. This metaphor holds you retain and abide in this truth. excellently here. They had a Judaizing Christian among them; such, presumptively, was the faise pale: they had received his Judaico-christian doctrite, and were what the prophet said of some of the Israelites in his time: Reprobate silver, adulterated in, shall men call them, Jer. vi. 30. And thus, when they were brought to the test, they were found reproate; that is, adulterated with this mixture of bad doctrine. There is no other kind of reprobation menoned here than that which refers to the trial and reetion of adulterated coin; and, by way of metaphor, to the detection of false Christianity. This reproction came of the people themselves: they, not God, adulterated the pure metal. Man pollutes himself; then God reprobates the polluted. Not that we should appear approved] We do not wish to give this proof that we are approved of God, by inflicting this punishment on the transgressors. But that ye should do that which is honest] That ye may do that which is right and seemly, to кalov, though we should be, in consequence of that, as reprobates-as persons not approved of God; because your reformation will prevent the exercise of this power, which would otherwise have given an awful proof that we are approved of God. Verse 8. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.] As we are the apostles of God, we cannot bring to you any false doctrine; and, as we profess to be under the influence of God's Spirit, we cannot do any thing that is opposed to that truth, or which might be prejudicial to it. On the contrary, what we say and do is for that truth, to propagate and establish it. The gospel of Jesus is truth; and my testimony concerning it is truth also. Verse 6. Ye shall know that we are not reprobates.] Ye have had, and ye shall have, the fullest proof that I have preached the true faith among you; and In my Verse 9. For we are glad, when we are weak] It will give me indescribable pleasure that I should still appear to be poor, despicable, and destitute of this extraordinary power with which God has clothed me, so that you be strong in all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. And this also we wish, even your perfection.] We cannot be satisfied that persons, with such eminent endowments, and who have once received the truth as it is in Jesus, should be deficient in any of the graces that constitute the mind of Christ; such as brotherly love, charity, harmony, unity, and order. I have given the above paraphrase to this verse, because of the last term Karaprio, which we render perfection. Karaprioic, from Kara, intensive, and apriw, to fit or adapt, signifies the reducing of a dislocated limb to its proper place; and hence, as Beza says on this passage: "The apostle's meaning is, a Tit. i. 13.- b Ch. x. 8. Rom. xii. 16, 18. xv. 5. 1 Cor. e Rom. xvi. 16. 1 Cor. xvi. 20. i. 10. Phil. ii. 2. iii. 16. 1 Pet. iii. 8.- d Rom. xv. 33. f Rom. xvi. 24. that whereas the members of the church were all, as it were, dislocated and out of joint, they should be joined together in love; and they should endeavour to make perfect what was amiss among them, either in faith or morals." It is a metaphor, also, taken from a building; the several stones and timbers being all put in their proper places and situations, so that the whole building might be complete, and be a proper habitation for the owner. The same figure, though not in the same terms, the apostle uses, Eph. ii. 20-22. The perfection or rejointing which the apostle wishes is that which refers to the state of the church in its fellowship, unity, order, &c. And perfection in the soul is the same, in reference to it, as perfection in the church is to its order and unity. The perfection or rejointing of the soul implies its purification, and placing every faculty, passion, and appetite in its proper place; so that the original order, harmony, unity, and purity of the soul may be restored; and the whole builded up to be a habitation of God through the Spirit, Eph. ii. 22. Verse 10. Therefore I write these things] I only threaten you now, by this epistle, to put you on your guard, and lead you to reformation before I visit you; that I may not then have to use sharpness, añoтoμua, a cutting off, employing thus my apostolical authority to inflict punishment; a power which God has given me, rather to be employed in your edification than in your destruction. Verse 11. Finally] Aorov All that remains for me now to write is, to wish you all manner of happiness, and so to take my leave. Farewell.] A good wish, from our old mother tongue, compounded of faɲan, to go, and pel, fairly, properly, or pela, with felicity; go on prosperously! This is the spirit of this good wish. The Greek xaipere signifies nearly the same thing. Xaipo means to be very joyous; xaipɛTɛ, be joyous and happy, be ever prosperous; this was among the last words which Cyrus, when dying, spoke to his friends. Be perfect] Karaprileσ0ε Be compact; get into joint again; let unity and harmony be restored. See the note on ver. 9. Be of good comfort] Пapaкa\u0ε Receive admonition; for apakaλew signifies to admonish, beg, 1 Thess. v. 26. 1 Pet. v. 14. Phil. ii. 1. entreat, and also to comfort. Receive admonition, that ye may receive comfort. If ye take my advice, ye shall have consolation; if ye do not, ye will have nothing but misery and woe. Be of one mind] To avro ppoverɛ Think the same; let there be no dissensions among you. Be of the same creed, and let disputes about that religion which should be the bond of peace for ever subside. Live in peace] Eionvevere Cultivate peace; or, as he says elsewhere, Follow peace, and pursue it, Heb. xii. 14. Cultivate a peaceable disposition, and neither say nor do any thing which has a tendency to irritate each other. And the God of love and peace shall be with you.] While ye are full of contentions, dissensions, and discord, peace can have no place among you; and as to love, the fulfilling of the law, that worketh no il to its neighbour, it has necessarily taken its flight Love cannot live, neither exist, where there are brawls, contentions, and divisions. And where neither peace nor love is to be found, there God cannot be. And if HE be not there, yourselves and the devil make the whole assembly. Verse 12. Greet one another with an holy kiss.] Use every means by which a good understanding may be brought about. Let the spirit of friendship live among you, and encourage its continuance by every friendly act. See the note on Rom. xvi. 16. Verse 13. All the saints] The Christians of Mice donia or Philippi, from which he wrote this epistle. In the primitive church a saint and a Christian were the same thing; for the Christian religion calls every man to be holy. Verse 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ] All the favour and beneficence that come from and through the Redeemer of the world; as the LORD, the ruler and governor of all things; as JESUS, the Saviour of all men by his passion and death; as Christ, the distributer of all that divine unction which enlightens comforts, harmonizes, and purifies the mind. May this most exalted, glorious, and all-sufficient Saviour, be ever with you! And the love of God] GoD, your Maker, in that infinite love which induced him to create the world, and form man in his own image and in his own likeness, that he might be capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying him for ever; and God in the fullest |