SECTION II. ST. PAUL'S QUALIFICATIONS NOT FROM HIMSELF, BUT OF HIS VISIONS AND REVELATIONS. THE AC GOD'S GRACE. RATION TO A CHRISTIAN MIND MAY REDUCE THEIR APOS TLE TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR BROTHER. EXHORTATION CHAPS. XII., XIII. XII. 1. BOASTING, indeed, is not expedient for me: I will 2 come then to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ, fourteen years ago,· whether in the body, I know not; or out of the body, I know not; God knows, — who was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, whether in the body, or out 4 of the body, I know not; God knows, how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words 5 which it is not permitted to any man to utter. For such an one will I glory but for myself I will not glory, un6 less of mine infirmities. For though I should desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will speak the truth; but I forbear, lest any one should account me above that which he sees me, or what he heareth of me. 7 And that I should not be too much exalted through the abundance of these revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me, that I 8 should not be too much exalted. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast in my infirmities, 10 that the power of Christ may tabernacle with me. Wherefore I am well pleased in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits for Christ's sake; 11 for when I am weak, then am I strong. I have become a fool: ye have forced me to it; for I ought to have been commended by you, for I am nothing behind the chief of 12 the Apostles, though I am nothing. Verily the signs of an Apostle have been wrought among you in all persever13 ance, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. For what is there wherein ye were inferior to the other Churches, unless it be that I myself was not burdensome 14 to you? Forgive me this wrong. And now I hold my self in readiness for this third time to come unto you, and I will not be burdensome to you; for I seek not yours, but you; for the children ought not to lay up for the pa15 rents, but the parents for the children. But I will very gladly spend, and be spent, for your souls, even though 16 the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it so, I did not burden you; nevertheless, being crafty, 17 I caught you with guile? Did I make a gain of you, by 18 any of those whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we 19 not in the same steps? Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? Before the face of God, in Christ we speak all these things, beloved, for your edification. 20 For I fear lest when I come I may not find you such as I would, and that I may be found by you such as ye would not: lest there be strifes, envyings, wraths, cabals, back21 bitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults. Lest when I come again my God may humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness, which they have committed. XIII. 1. THIS is the third time I am coming to you: by the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be es2 tablished. I told you before, and forewarn this second time, as if I was present, though I am absent, those who have heretofore sinned, and all others, that if I so come 3 again, I will not spare: since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who towards you is not weak, but is 4 mighty among you. For though he was crucified in weakness, he yet liveth by the power of God. And we also are weak in him, yet shall we live with him towards 5 you, by the power of God. Try yourselves whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves. Or, know ye not of yourselves whether Jesus Christ is in you? If 6 not, ye are without proof. But I trust ye shall know that 7 we are not unproved. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that ye should do that which is right, though we may be unproved. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth; but for the 9 truth. For we are glad when we are weak, and ye are 10 strong, and even this we wish, your restoration. Wherefore I write these things, when absent, that when present I may not act severely, according to the power which the Lord hath given me for edification, not for destruction. 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be reconciled; be of good comfort; be of one mind; live in peace; and the God 12 of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another All the saints salute you. 13 with an holy kiss. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all! TRUE greatness and simplicity of mind, are in nothing more apparent than in their occasional violations of the conventional Moralities of life. They know when to overstep that network of artificial manners and restraints, by which the lower minds sometimes attempt to place them in a false position. And this they do by having the courage to be true, - by showing outwardly what they are feeling inwardly, by having the sincerity to speak what every body knows must be passing in their thoughts. Self-commendation is one of the gravest offences against conventional Morals. It belongs to the class of odious Manners, of which Society is often more intolerant than it is of absolute Vices. This is one of the cases in which evil suppresses evil, not by eradicating, but by forcing it into concealment. It is for the most part our own Self-Esteem, that makes us so determined to suppress the exhibitions of it in others; for to none is it so little offensive, as to those men of large Nature, of calm and self-relying hearts, who are completely free from it themselves. There is an irritation excited by the display of Self-Esteem, which too plainly shows that our Vanity is encroached upon by the Vanity of another; and that the universal suppression of this folly in good Society is rather a compact of decorum, an agreement to avoid mutual offence, than any proof of a prevailing humility or self-forgetfulness. And the minds that are most consumed by Self-Love, are those which adopt the most self-depreciating language, for they well know that this is the only means to extort the flattery of Society. Society, which resents Self-commendation, is, in fact, propitiated by the opposite exhibition of Self-depreciation; and so there is often an ostentatious sacrifice of Self-praise, as the means of evoking that other Praise which is infinitely sweeter. It has often been observed, that nothing is more dangerous than to take at their word those who are in the habit of depreciating themselves;- the Mask is instantly taken off, the tone altered, and the object of the feigned humility exposed. Every one knows, indeed, that some expression of self-disparagement is the common trick by which to direct attention to one's self, and draw forth the very dregs of commendation from the most reluctant lips; - but there are certain refined modes of laying this snare, which by deceiving the common observer are eminently successful, — and even self-deceive the wily heart that practises them. The vainer minds turn to account the conventional rule which prohibits the display of Self-Esteem, by such large sacrifices to the letter of this Propriety, by such open exhibitions of the opposite extreme, that notwithstanding their violations of its spirit, Society is flattered by the seeming concession and takes up their praise; whilst the truly modest minds, elevated far above Self-Esteem by the very nature of their pursuits, by the character of their desires, unconsciously observe these conventional Laws, yet can on occasion set them aside with a manly simplicity, whenever any interest higher than |