LECTURE XXXVI.

2 CORINTHIANS, i. 23, 24.

JULY 25, 1852.

"Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. - Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand."

1 CORINTHIANS. ii. 1-5. "But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all."

We have seen that a double charge had been alleged against St. Paul- of duplicity both as respected his ministry, and also as respected his personal character. The charge against his personal character had been based on the non-fulfilment of his promise to visit Corinth and we found his defence was twofold:

1. General-resting on the moral impossibility of one in Christ being wilfully untrue; and this was our subject last Sunday.

2. Special- and this is our business to-day. This part of the defence extends from the twenty-third verse of the first chapter to the fifth verse of the second.

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The first reason for the non-fulfilment of his promise was one of mercy: Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth." By "spare "the Apostle means - to save them from the sharp censure their lax morality would have necessitated. They had treated this great crime which had been committed amongst them as a trifle;

they had even boasted of it as a proof of their Christian liberty and had St. Paul gone to Corinth while they were unrepentant, his apostolic duty would have required from him severe animadversion. Now it was to spare them this that he changed his intention. It was no caprice, no fickleness, it was simply tenderness to them; by which we learn two things respecting St. Paul's character.

1. He was not one of those who love to be censors of the faults of others. There are some who are ever finding fault; a certain appearance of superiority is thereby gained, for blame implies the power of scanning from a height. There are political faultfinders, who lament over the evil of the times, and demagogues who blame every power that is. There are ecclesiastical faultfinders, who can see no good anywhere in the Church, they can only expose abuses. There are social faultfinders, who are ever on the watch for error, who complain of cant and shams, and who yet provide no remedy. There are religious faultfinders, who lecture the poor, or form themselves into associations, in which they rival the inquisitors of old. Now all this was contrary to the spirit of St. Paul. Charity with him was not a fine word: it was a part of his very being he had that love" which thinketh no evil, which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but in the truth, which beareth, believeth, hopeth all things." It pained him to inflict the censure which would give pain to others: "to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth."

2. St. Paul was not one of those who love to rule: "Not for that we have dominion over your faith." He had nothing within him of the mere Priest.

Let us draw a difference between the priest and the minister. Both are anxious for men's salvation, but the priest wishes to save them by his own official powers and prerogatives; while the minister wishes to help them to save themselves. Now see how exactly this verse expresses the distinction between these two spirits: "Dominion over your faith:" there is the very spirit of the Priest. "Helpers of your joy:" there is the

spirit of the Minister; a desire, not to be a ruler, but a helper; not that he shall hold men up, but that they shall "stand."

This is the great quarrel between Paganism and Christianity, between Romanism and Protestantism, between the proud pretensions of mere Churchmanship and spiritual Christianity. How are men saved? Directly through Christ? or indirectly by Christ through the priest? by personal faith? or by the miraculous instrumentality of the sacraments? What is the Christian minister? Is he one whose manipulations and meddling are necessary to make faith and moral goodness acceptable, and to impart to them a spiritual efficacy? or is he simply one whose office is to serve his brethren, by giving to them such superior knowledge as he may possess, or such superior influence as his character may command? The Apostle's decision here is plain; and it is marvellous how any can read his writings, and support the "priestly view."

But do not mistake the meaning of the word "priest;" as used by the Church of England, it is simply a corrupted form of presbyter. In her formularies she does not claim sacrificial or priestly powers for her officers, but only ministerial ones. Observe, therefore, it is not a question of words, but of things: Priestcraft is a spirit, a temper of mind; and does not depend upon a name. It is not because a man is called a priest, that, therefore, he is unlike St. Paul; nor because a man is named a minister, that, therefore, he is free from the priestly temper. In Rome, where all are called priests, you have had the humble, servant-like spirit of many a Fénélon. Among Dissenters, where the word "priest" is strenuously avoided, there has been many a proud, priestly spirit, domineering and overbearing. Such men are willing that others nay, zealous should be saved, provided it is only through them; and hence their estimate of goodness in others is a peculiar one. Those who accept their teaching, and admit their authority, they call humble, meek, Christlike. Those who dare to doubt, who seek Truth for themselves, not

blindly their truth, they call latitudinarians, proud, heretics, presumptuous, and self-willed. Thus the priestly estimate of saintliness is always a peculiar one, since the main element of it is obedience and submission, and a blind subservience to individual teaching. Besides, these men are always persecutors: the assumption of dominion over men's faith necessarily makes them so, although in different ways. In some ages they burn, in others curse, in others they affix stigmas and names on their fellow ministers, and bid people beware of them as dangerous teachers. Now I give you a criterion : Whenever you find a man trying to believe, and to make others believe, himself to be necessary to their salvation and progress, saying, "Except ye be circumcised, except ye believe what I teach, or except I baptize you, ye cannot be saved," there you have a priest, whether he be called minister, clergyman, or layman. But whenever you find a man anxious and striving to make men independent of himself, yea, independent of all men; desiring to help them—not to rest on his authority, but to stand on their own faith, not his ; that they may be elevated, instructed, and educated; wishing for the blessed time to come when his services shall be unnecessary, and the prophecy be fulfilledThey shall no more teach every man his brother, saying, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him from the least to the greatest," there you have the Christian minister, the servant, the "helper of your joy. The second reason St. Paul alleges for not coming to Corinth is apparently a selfish one: to spare himself pain. And he distinctly says, he had written to pain them, in order that he might have joy. Very selfish, as at first it sounds: but if we look closely into it, it only sheds a brighter and fresher light upon the exquisite unselfishness and delicacy of St. Paul's character. He desired to save himself pain, because it gave them pain. He desired joy for himself, because his joy was theirs. He will not separate himself from them for a moment: he will not be the master, and they the school : it is not I and you, but we; "my joy is your joy, as

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your grief was my grief." And so knit together are we beloved, minister and congregation!

Here it is best to explain the fifth verse, which in our version is badly punctuated. If we read it thus, it is clear: "If any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part (that I may not overcharge) you all."

To resume: It was not to pain them merely, that he wrote, but because joy, deep and permanent, was impossible without pain; as the extraction of a thorn by a tender father gives a deeper joy in love to the child. It was not to inflict 66 sorrow, not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you." Again, it was not to save himself pain merely, that he did not come, but to save them that pain which would have given him pain. Here there is a canon for the difficult duty and right, of blame. When, to what extent,-how, shall we discharge that difficult duty, so rarely done with gracefulness? To blame is easy enough, with. some it is all of a piece with the hardness of their temperament; but to do this delicately-how shall we learn that? I answer, Love! and then say what you will; men will bear anything if love be there. If not, all blame, however just, will miss its mark; and St. Paul showed this in the fourth verse, where love lies at the root of his censure. Nothing but love can teach us how to understand such a sentence as this from a higher Heart than his "He looked round about Him in anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts.”

Here, too, arises an occasion for considering the close connection between ministers and congregations. Let us compare the fourteenth verse of the first chapter "We are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus with the third verse of the second chapter-" Having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of all " and what a lesson of comfort shall we not learn! But no doubt much

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mistake is made in representing the case of ministers now as parallel to that of the Apostles, and claiming,