LECTURE XIX. DECEMBER 14, 1851. There 1 CORINTHIANS, X. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; — And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat ;And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. - Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. - Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. - Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.--Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. - Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? - For we being many are one bread, and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread. — Behold Israel after the flesh are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? — What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in saerifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. - Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no questions for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and - ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof :- - Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscienoe?— For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." THIS chapter closes with a return to the subject which had been already discussed in the eighth and ninth chapters. Obviously, the intermediate argument is connected with it, although this connection is not clear at first sight. St. Paul had laid down a principle that Christian liberty is limited by Christian charity: "All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient. Then he had shown that he himself obeyed the same law which he imposed on his converts. had abridged his own liberty: he had foregone his right to domestic solaces and ministerial support: he had not preached to others, and been himself a castaway. But then this very word " castaway" brought the subject into a more serious light, and the idea contained in it is the hinge on which this chapter turns. He There was much "light and liberty" in Corinth. Large words were there, and a large comprehension of the Gospel scheme. But it was light without warmth or life, and liberty without charity. There were large words without large action, and a faith which worked not by love. And all this gave rise to serious misgivings in the Apostle's mind. This boasted Church of Corinth, with its sharp and restless intellect, would it stand? Were the symptoms it exhibited those of bursting health, or only of active disease? So thought St. Paul, and therefore the key-note of the whole chapter is the twelfth verse: "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.' Consider, then, I. The danger of the Corinthian Church. Their peril lay in their false security: they were tempted to think that all things were safe to do, because all things were lawful. They were ready to rest satisfied with the knowledge that they were God's people, and God's Church. Now the Apostle shakes this sense of their safety by reminding them that the ancient Church of Israel fell, although they had the same privileges: therefore he infers that spiritual privileges are not perfect security. Now the argument by which he proves that the privileges of ancient Israel were similar to theirs, is remarkable. That people had a baptism as well as they, and a spiritual food and drink: "They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink." Baptism is the solemn profession of our Christianity: and the passing through the Red Sea was the Israelites' profession of discipleship to Moses: then they passed the Rubicon, the die was cast, and thenceforward there was no return for them. One solemn step had severed. them for ever from Egypt: and the cloud, guidance which then began, kept the memory of this act before them by a constant witness in all their journeyings. So far, then, this is equivalent to baptism, which is discipleship a sacrament or oath of obedience, the force of which is kept up and recalled by an outward sign. They had another sacrament in the "rock which followed them." The rock did not literally follow them, as the Rabbins have with dulness dreamed; but go where they would, the wondrous waters from the rock flowed by their path and camp. Figuratively, therefore, it followed, the life of it streamed after them: they were never without its life-giving influence; and, therefore, never destitute of a sacrament: "that rock was Christ." And here observe the Apostle's view of the "sacramental principle." As Christ said of the Bread, "this is my body," so St. Paul declares, "that rock was Christ;" not that the bread was literally transformed into His body, or that the rock was changed into Christ; nor, again, merely that bread represented the body of Christ, or that the rock represented Christ; but this that which is wondrous in the bread and rock, the life-giving power in both, is Christ. The symbol as a material is nothing, the spirit in it-Christ is everything. Now the mystic and formalist say these signs, and these only, convey grace: sacraments are miraculous. But St. Paul says to the Corinthians, the Jews had symbols as living as yours. Bread, Wine, Water, Cloud; it matters nought what the material is. God's Presence is everything; God's Power, God's Life-wherever these exist, there there is a sacrament. What is the lesson, then, which we learn? Is it that God's Life, and Love, and Grace are limited to certain materials, such as the Rock, the Bread, or the Wine? is it that we are doing an awful act only when we baptize? or is it not much rather, that all here is sacramental, that we live in a fearful and a Divine world; that every simple meal, that every gushing stream, every rolling river, and every drifting cloud, is the Symbol of God, and a sacrament to every open heart? And the power of recognizing and feeling this, makes all the difference between the religious and the irreligious spirit. There were those, doubtless, in the wilderness, who saw nothing mysterious or wonderful in the following water. They rationalized upon its origin: it quenched their thirst, and that was all it meant to them. But there were others to whom it was the very Love and Power of God. Having, then, established this parallel, the Apostle draws his conclusion. The Jews had as full privileges as you Corinthians have, and yet they fell; you have your privileges, but you may see in these examples that privileges are no cause for security, but only for greater heed. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." But according to a common view of the Christian state, it is one of easier requirement than the Jewish, more merciful and more lax in its commandments and their sanctions. The Jews, it is urged, were severely punished if they sinned, but Christians may sin, and be more mercifully dealt with. You cannot read this Epistle, or that to the Hebrews, and think so. "All these things happened unto them for ensamples, and were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." And the punishments which their offences met with are specimens of those which we may expect. Four special sins of the Israelites are mentioned by St. Paul as corresponding to the circumstances in which he found the Corinthian Church; idolatry, impurity, doubt, and discontent. "Is God among us, or not?" said the people in the wilderness, tempting Jehovah. Think you we shall be less punished than they, if we similarly tempt our God? This chapter gives the answer. Here, then, we meet a very solemn truth: the sacrifice of Christ does not alter God's Will: it does not make sin a trifle: it does not make it safer to commit offences. It does not abrogate, but declares God's law. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame!" And these Corinthians were boasting of their privileges, vaunting their liberties, talking of rights instead of doing duties, speaking of Freedom, Brotherhood, and Reason, and all the time the same God who judged the people in the wilderness was ruling them by the same unalterable laws. II. The second thing contained in this chapter is the resumption of the argument on the difficulty about eating meat offered to idols, with further advice respecting it. Let me recall briefly what the difficulty was. If they eat the meat they seemed to sanctify idolatry: if they abstained, they seemed to say that an idol was a real being, and so they gave a sanction to superstition. It was one of those circumstances where a true decision on a duty lay in great obscurity. Now the Apostle admits it to be a difficulty, but he will not allow them to think |