sentiment is parallel to that expressed by the And the idea may be, that the glory of God, the splendour of the divine perfections, was thrown on the gospel, so to speak, like a bright light on a polished mirror; and that that glory was reflected from the gospel on him who contemplated it, so that he appeared to be transformed into the same image. Locke renders it. "We are changed into his very image by a continued succession of glory, as it were, streaming upon us from the Lord." The figure is one of great beauty; and the idea is, that by placing ourselves within the light of the gospel; by contemplating the glory that shines there, we become changed into the likeness of the same glory, and conformed to that which shines there with so much splendour. By contemplating the resplendent face of the blessed Redeemer, we are changed into something of the same image. It is a law of our nature that we are moulded, in our moral feelings, by the persons with whom we associate, and by the objects which we contemplate. We become insensibly assimilated to those with whom we have intercourse, and to the objects with which we are familiar. We imbibe the opinions, we copy the habits, we imitate the manners, we fall into the customs of those with whom we have daily conversation, and whom we make our companions and friends. Their sentiments insensibly become our sentiments, and their ways our ways. It is thus with the books with which we are familiar. We are insensibly, but certainly moulded into conformity to the opinions. maxims, and feelings which are there expressed, our own sentiments undergo a gradual change, and we are likened to those with which in this manner we are conversant. So it is in regard to the opinions and feelings which from any cause 1. The best of all evidences of a call to the office we are in the habit of bringing before our minds. of the ministry is the divine blessing resting on It is the way by which men become corrupted our labours. (Ver. 1, 2.) If sinners are converted; in their sentiments and feelings in their contact if souls are sanctified; if the interests of pure with the world; it is the way in which amuse-religion are advanced; if by humble, zealous, and ments, and the company of the gay and the dissipated possess so much power; it is the way in which the young and inexperienced are beguiled and ruined; and it is the way in which Christians dim the lustre of their piety, and obscure the brightness of their religion by their contact with the gay and fashionable world. And it is on the same great principle that Paul says that by contemplating the glory of God in the gospel, we become insensibly, but certainly conformed to the same image, and made like the Redeemer. image will be reflected on us. We shall imbibe his sentiments, catch his feelings, and be moulded into the image of his own purity. Such is the great and wise law of our nature; and it is on this principle, and by this means, that God designs we should be made pure on earth, and kept pure in heaven for ever. From glory to glory. From one degree of glory to another. "The more we behold this brilliant and glorious light, the more do we reflect back its rays; that is, the more we contemplate the great truths of the Christian religion, the more do our minds become imbued with its spirit."-Bloomfield. This is said in contradistinction probably to Moses. The splendour on his face gradually died away. But not so with the light reflected from the gospel. It becomes deeper and brighter constantly. This His REMARKS. self-denying efforts, a man is enabled so to preach as that the divine blessing shall rest constantly on his labours, it is among the best of all evidences that he is called of God, and is approved by him. And though it may be true, and is true, that men who are self-deceived, or are hypocrites, are sometimes the means of doing good, yet it is still true, as a general rule, that eminent, and long-continued success in the ministry is an evidence of God's acceptance, and that he has called a minister to this office. Paul felt this, and often appealed to it; and why may not others also? 2. A minister may appeal to the effect of the gospel among his own people as a proof that it is from God. (Ver. 2, 3.) Nothing else would produce such effects as were produced at Corinth, but the power of God. If the wicked are reclaimed; if the intemperate and licentious are made temperate and pure; if the dishonest are made honest; and the scoffer learns to pray, under the gospel, it proves that it is from God. To such effects a minister may appeal as proof that the gospel which he preaches is from heaven. A system which will produce these effects must be true. 3. A minister should so live among a people as to be able to appeal to them with the utmost confidence, in regard to the purity and integrity S of his own character. (Ver. 1, 2.) He should so live, and preach, and act, that he will be under no necessity of adducing testimonials from abroad in regard to his character. The effect of his gospel, and the tenor of his life, should be his best testimonial; and to that he should be able to appeal. A man who is under a necessity, constantly or often, of defending his own character; of bolstering it up by testimonials from abroad; who is obliged to spend much of his time in defending his reputation, or who chooses to spend much of his time in defending it, has usually a character and reputation not worth defending. Let a man live as he ought to, and he will, in the end, have a good reputation. Let him strive to do the will of God, and save souls, and he will have all the reputation which he ought to have. God will take care of his character, and will give him just as much reputation as it is desirable that he should have. See Ps. xxxvii. 5, 6. 4. The church is, as it were, an epistle sent by the Lord Jesus, to show his character and will. (Ver. 3.) It is his representative on earth. It holds his truth. It is to imitate his example. It is to show how he lived. And it is to accomplish that which he would accomplish were he personally on earth, and present among men; as a letter is designed to accomplish some important purpose of the writer when absent. The church, therefore, should be such as shall appropriately express the will and desire of the Lord Jesus. It should resemble him. It should hold his truth; and it should devote itself with untiring diligence to the great purpose of advancing his designs, and spreading his gospel around the world. 5. Religion has its seat in the heart. (Ver. 3.) It is engraven there. It is written, not with ink, or engraven on stone, but it is written by the Spirit of God on the heart. That professed religion, therefore, which does not reach the heart, and which is not felt there, is false and delusive. There is no true religion which does not reach and affect the heart. 6. We should feel our dependence on God in all things. (Ver. 5.) We are dependent on him, (1.) For revelation itself. Man had no power of originating the truths which constitute revelation. They are the free and pure gift of God. (2.) For success in saving souls. God only can change the heart. It is not done by human reasoning; by any power of man; by any eloquence of persuasion. It is by the power of God; and if a minister of religion meets with any success, it will be by the presence and by the power of God alone. (3.) We are dependent on him for the power of thought at all; for clearness of intellect; for such a state of bodily health as to permit us to think; for bright conceptions; for ability to arrange our thoughts; for the power of expressing them clearly; for such a state of mind as shall be free from vain fancies, and vagaries, and eccentricities; and for such a state as shall mark our plans as those of common sense and prudence. On such plans much of the comfort of life depends; and on such plans depends also nearly all the success which men ever meet with in any virtuous and honourable calling. And if men felt, as they should do, how much they are dependent on God for the power of clear thinking, and for the characteristics of sound sense in their schemes, they would pray for it more than they do; and would be more grateful that such a rich blessing is so extensively conferred on men. 7. Religion has a living power. (Ver. 6.) It is not the letter, but the spirit. It is not made up of forms and ceremonies. It does not consist in cold, external rites, however regular they may be; nor in formal prayer, or in stated seasons of devotion. All these will be dead and vain, unless the heart is given to God, and to his service. If these are all, there is no religion. And if we have no better religion than that, we should at once abandon our hopes, and seek for that which does not kill, but which makes alive. 8. The office of the ministers of the gospel is glorious, and most honourable. (Ver. 7-9.) It is far more honourable than was the office of Moses; and their work is far more glorious than was his. His consisted in giving the law on tables of stone; in the external splendour which attended its promulgation; and in introducing a system which must be soon done away. His was a ministry "of death" and of "condemnation." Theirs is a ministration by which the Holy Spirit is communicated to men-through| them as channels, or organs by which the saving grace of that Spirit is imparted; it is a work by which men are made righteous, justified, and accepted; it is a work whose effects are never to fade away, but which are to live amidst the splendours of heaven. 9. The responsibility and solemnity of the work of the ministry. It was a solemn and responsible work for Moses to give the law amidst the thunders of Sinai to the children of Israel It is much more solemn to be the medium by which the eternal truths of the gospel are made known to men. The one, imposing as it was, was designed to be temporary, and was soon to pass away. The other is to be eternal in its effects, and is to enter vitally and deeply into the eternal destiny of man. The one pertained to laws written on stone; the other to influences that are deeply and for ever to affect the heart. No work can be more solemn and responsible renewing and sanctifying power, is conveyed to than that through which the Holy Spirit, with cation of sinners; and that which in its effects man; that which is connected with the justifiis to be permanent as the soul itself, and to endure as long as God shall exist. fied by the law. (Ver. 7, 9.) It is the minis10. We see the folly of attempting to be justitration of death and of condemnation. It speaks only to condemn. Law knows nothing of pardon. It is not given for that purpose; and no perfect law can contain within itself provisions for pardon. Besides, no one has ever complied will. All have sinned. with all the demands of the law; no one ever But if all the demands of the law be not complied with, it speaks only respects has been ever so good a citizen, and yet to condemn. (James ii. 10.) If a man in other the law. If a man has been ever so valiant, and has committed murder, he must die. So says fought ever so bravely, and yet is guilty of an act of treason, he must die. The question is not what he has been in other respects, or what else he may, or may not have done, but has he committed this offence? If he has, the law knows no forgiveness, and pronounces his condemnation. If pardoned, it must be by some other system than by the regular operation of law. So with the sinner against God. If the law is violated, it speaks only to condemn. If he is pardoned, it can be only by the gospel of Jesus Christ. 11. The danger of grieving the Holy Spirit. (Ver. 8.) The gospel is the field of the operations of the Holy Spirit in our world. It is the ministration of the Spirit. It is the channel by which his influences descend on man. To reject that gospel is to reject him, and to cut off the soul from all possibility of being brought under his saving influence and power for ever. He strives with men only in connexion with the gospel; and all hope, therefore, of being brought under his saving power, is in attending to that gospel, and embracing its provisions. The multitudes, therefore, who are rejecting or neglecting that gospel, are throwing themselves beyond his saving influences; and placing themselves beyond the possibility of salvation. 12. We see the guilt of neglecting or rejecting the gospel. It is the scheme, and the only scheme for pardon. (Ver. 8-10.) It is a far more glorious manifestation of the goodness of God than the law of Moses. It is the glorious and benevolent manifestation of God through the incarnation, the sufferings, and the death of his Son. It is the only plan of pardoning mercy that has been, or that will be revealed. If men are not pardoned through that, they are not pardoned at all. If they are not saved by that, they must die for ever. What guilt is there, therefore, in neglecting and despising it! What folly is there in turning away from its provisions of mercy, and neglecting to secure an interest in what it provides! 13. The gospel is to spread around the world, and endure to the end of time. (Ver. 11.) It is not, like the institutions of Moses, to endure for a limited period, and then to be done away. The cloud and tempest; the thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai which attended the giving of the law, soon disappeared. The unusual and unnatural splendour on the countenance of Moses soon vanished away. All the magnificence of the Mosaic ritual also soon faded away. But not so the gospel that abides. That is the last dispensation; the permanent economy; that under which the affairs of the world are to be brought to an end. That is to pervade all lands; to bless all people; to survive all revolutions; to outlive all the magnificence of courts, and all the splendour of mighty dynasties, and is to endure till this world shall come to an end, and live in its glorious effects for ever and ever. It is, therefore, to be the fixed principle on which all Christians are to act, that the gospel is to be permanent, and is to spread over all lands, and yet fill all nations with joy. And if so, how fervent and unceasing should be their prayers and efforts accomplish this great and glorious result! to 14. We learn from this chapter the duty of preaching in a plain, simple, intelligible manner. | (Ver. 12.) Preaching should always be characterized, indeed, by good sense, and ministers should show that they are not fools, and their preaching should be such as to interest thinking men; for there is no folly or nonsense in the Bible. But their preaching should not be obscure, metaphysical, enigmatical, and abstruse. It should be so simple, that the unlettered may learn the plan of salvation; so plain, that no one shall mistake it except by his own fault. The hopes of the gospel are so clear, that there is no need of ambiguity or enigma; no need of abstruse metaphysical reasoning in the pulpit. Nor should there be an attempt to appear wise or profound, by studying a dry, abstruse, and cold style and manner. The preacher should be open, plain, simple, sincere; he should testify what he feels; should be able to speak as himself animated by hope, and to tell of a world of glory to which he is himself looking forward with unspeakable joy. 15. It is the privilege of the Christian to look on the unveiled and unclouded glory of the gospel. (Ver. 12, 13.) He does not look at it through types and shadows: he does not contemplate it when a veil of obscurity is drawn designedly over it: he sees it in its true beauty and splendour. The Messiah has come, and he may contemplate openly and plainly his glory, and the grandeur of his work. The Jews looked upon it in the light of prophecy; to us it is history. They saw it only through obscure shadows, types, and figures; we see it in open day, may survey at leisure its full beauty, and contemplate, in the fulness of its splendour, the gospel of the blessed God. For this we cannot be too thankful; nor can we be too anxious lest we undervalue our privileges, and abuse the mercies that we enjoy. 16. In reading the Old Testament, we see the importance of suffering the reflected light of the New Testament to be thrown upon it, in order correctly to understand it. (Ver. 13, 14.) It is our privilege to know what the institutions of Moses meant; to see the end which he contemplated. And it is our privilege to see what they referred to, and how they prefigured_the_Messiah and his gospel. In reading the Old Testament, therefore, there is no reason why we should not take with us the knowledge which we have derived from the New, respecting the character, work, and doctrines of the Messiah; and to suffer them to influence our understanding of the laws and institutions of Moses. Thus shall we treat the Bible as a whole, and allow one part to throw light on another-a privilege which we always concede to any book. There is no reason why Christians, in reading the Old Testament, should remain in the same darkness as the ancient, or the modern Jews. 17. Thus read, the Old Testament will be to us of inestimable value. (Ver. 14.) It is of value not only as introducing the gospel; as furnishing predictions whose fulfilment are full demonstration of the truth of religion; as containing specimens of the sublimest and purest poetry in the world; but it is of value as embodying, though amidst many types and shadows and much obscurity, all the great doctrines of the true religion. Though to the Jews, and to the world, there is a veil cast over it, yet to the Christian there is a beauty and splendour on all its pages for the coming of Christ has removed that veil, and the sense of those ancient writings is now fully seen. True piety will value the Old Testament, and will find there, in the sweetest poetry in the world, the expression of feelings which the religion of the Messiah only can produce; and pure and elevated thoughts which could have been originated by nothing but his anticipated coming. It is no mark of piety or of wisdom to disparage the Jewish Scriptures. But the higher the attainments in Christian feeling, the more will the writings of Moses and the prophets be loved. 18. Men may have the Bible, and may read it long, and much, and yet not understand it. (Ver. 15.) So it was, and is with the Jews. The Scriptures were attentively read by them, and yet they did not understand them. So it is still. There is a veil on their heart, and they are blinded. So it is often now with others. Men often read the Bible, and see little beauty in it. They read, and they do not understand it. The reason is, the heart is not right. There should be a correspondence of feeling between the heart and the Bible, or a congeniality of view in order to appreciate its value and its truth. No man can understand or appreciate Milton or Cowper who has not a taste like theirs. No man can understand and appreciate a poem, or an essay on patriotism, who is not a lover of his country; or on chastity, who is impure; or on temperance, who is intemperate; or on virtue in general who is a stranger to virtue in every form. And so in reading the Bible. To appreciate and understand fully the writings of David, Isaiah, Paul, or John, we must have their feelings; our hearts must glow with their love to God and the Redeemer; we must feel, as they did, the guilt and burden of sin; and we must rejoice, as they did, in the hope of deliverance, and in the prospect of heaven. Till men have these feelings, they are not to wonder that the Bible is to them a dead letter, or a sealed book, and that they do not understand it, or see any beauty in its pages. 19. This chapter furnishes an argument for the fidelity and truth of the statement of Paul. (Ver. 15.) The argument is, that his description is as applicable to the Jews now as it was in his own time—and that, therefore, it must have been drawn from nature. The same veil is on their hearts now as in his time; there is the same blindness and darkness in regard to the true meaning of their Scriptures. The language of Paul will accurately express that blindness now; and his description, therefore, is not drawn from fancy, but from fact. It is true now in regard to that singular people, and it was true in his own time; and the lapse of eighteen hundred years has only served to confirm the truth of his description in regard to the people of his own nation and time. 20. That veil is to be removed only by their turning to God. (Ver. 16.) It is only by true conversion that the mind can be brought to a full and clear understanding of the Scriptures; and that event will yet take place in regard to the Jews. They shall yet be converted to the Mes siah whom their fathers slew, and whom they have so long rejected; and when that event shall occur, they shall see the beauty of their own Scriptures, and rejoice in the promises and glori ous hopes which they hold out to the view. 21. The duty of meditating much on the glory of the gospel. (Ver. 18.) It is by that we are purified. It is by keeping it constantly before the mind; dwelling on its splendour: thinking of its glorious truths, that we become transformed into the same image, and made like | God. If the character is formed by the objects which we contemplate, and with which we are familiar; if we are insensibly moulded in our feelings and principles by that with which we constantly associate, then we should think much of the truths of the gospel. We should pray much for thus we come in contact with God and his truth. We should read the Scripture much. | We should commune with the good and the pure. We should make our companions of those who | most love the Lord Jesus, and most decidedly bear his image. We should think much of a pure heaven. Thus shall we be moulded, insensibly it may be, but certainly, into the image of a holy God and Saviour, and be prepared for a pure and holy heaven. CHAPTER IV. VER. 1. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; a 1 Cor. vii. 25. This chapter is intimately connected with the preceding, and is indeed merely a statement of the consequences or results of the doctrine advanced there. In that chapter, Paul had stated the clearness and plainness of the gospel as contrasted with the institutions of Moses, and particularly that the Christian ministry was a minis tration more glorious than that of Moses. It was more clear. It was a ministration of justi fication (ver. 9), and of the Spirit (ver. 8), and was a ministration where they were permitted to look upon the unveiled and unclouded glories of God. (Ver. 18.) In this chapter he states some of the consequences, or results of their being called to this ministry; and the design is. to magnify the office of the ministry; to show the sustaining power of the truths which they preached; the interest which the Corinthian Christians and all other Christians had in the ministry, and thus to conciliate their favour: and to show what there was to comfort them in the various trials to which as ministers they were exposed. Paul states therefore in this chapter, 1. That these clear and elevated views of the gospel sustained him; kept him from fainting: preserved him from deceit and all improper acts; made him open and honest; since he had no necessity for craft and guile, but proclaimed a system of religion which could be commended to every man's conscience, and be seen to be true. (Ver. 1, 2.) 2. That if any persons were lost, it was not the fault of the gospel. (Ver. 3, 4.) That was clear, open, plain, glorious, and might be understood; and if they were lost, it was to be traced to the malign influence of the god of this world, and not to the gospel. 3. That the great purpose of Paul and his associates was to make known this glorious truth of the gospel, and that, therefore, the apostles did not preach themselves, but Christ Jesus, the revealer and source of all this glory. (Ver. 5, 6.) Their sole object was to show forth this pure and glorious light of the gospel. 4. That it was so arranged by God's appointment and providence that all the glory of the results of the ministry should be his. (Ver. 7 -11.) He had taken especial care that they should have no cause of self-exultation or glorying in preaching the gospel; and had taken effectual means that they should be humbled, and not lifted up with pride from the fact that they were commissioned to make known such glorious truths, and had a ministry more honourable than that of Moses. He had, therefore, committed the treasure to earthen vessels; to frail, weak, dying men, and to men in humble life, (ver. 7;) and he had called them to submit to constant trials of persecution, poverty, peril, and want, in order that they might be humbled, and that God might manifestly have all the glory. (Ver. 8-11.) 5. All this was for the sake of the church, a fact which was adapted to conciliate the favour of Christians, and excite their sympathy in the sufferings of the apostles, and to lead them to honour the ministry in a proper manner. (Ver. 12-15.) It was not for their own welfare, happiness, honour, or emolument that they endured these trials in the ministry; it was that the church might be benefited, and thus abundant praise redound to God. 6. These considerations sustained them in their trials. (Ver. 16-18.) They had comfort in all their afflictions. They felt that they were doing and suffering these things for the salvation of souls, and the glory of God, (ver. 16); they had inward strength given them every day, though the outward man perished, (ver. 16); they knew that the result of this would be an eternal weight of glory, (ver. 17;) and they were enabled to look to another and a better world; to keep the eye on heaven, and to contemplate by faith the things which were unseen and eternal. (Ver. 18.) These things supported them; and thus upheld, they went cheerfully to their great work, and met with calmness and joy all the trials which it involved. Therefore, (Aid TоUTO.)-On account of this. That is, because the light of the gospel is so clear; because it reveals so glorious truths, and all obscurity is taken away, and we are permitted to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. (Chap. iii. 18.) Since the glories of the gospel dispensation are so great, and its effects on the heart are so transforming and purifying. The object is, to show the effect of being intrusted with such a ministry, on the character of his preaching. Seeing we have this ministry.-The gospel ministry, so much more glorious than that of Moses, (chap. iii. 6 ;) which is the ministry by which the Holy Spirit acts on the hearts of 66 men, (chap. iii. 8;) which is the ministry of that system by which men are justified, (chap. iii. 9 ;) and which is the ministry of a system so pure and unclouded. (Chap. iii. 9-11, 18.) As we have received mercy.-Tindal renders this, even as mercy is sure in us." The idea is, that it was by the mere mercy and favour of God, that he had been intrusted with the ministry, and the object of Paul is doubtless to prevent the appearance of arrogance and self-confidence by stating that it was to be traced entirely to God that he was put into the ministry. He. doubtless, had his eye on the fact that he had been a persecutor and blasphemer; and that it was by the mere favour of God that he had been converted and intrusted with the ministry. (1 Tim. i. 13.) Nothing will more effectually humble a minister, and prevent his assuming any arrogant and self-confident airs, than to look over his past life; especially if his life was one of blasphemy, vice, or infidelity; and to remember that it is by the mere mercy of God that he is intrusted with the high office of an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Paul never forgot to trace his hope, his appointment to the ministerial office, and his success, to the mere grace of God. We faint not. This is one of the effects of being intrusted with such a ministry. The word here used (EKKαкovμev) means, properly, to turn out a coward; to lose one's courage; then to be faint-hearted, to faint, to despond, in view of trial, difficulty, &c.-Robinson. Here it means, that by the mercy of God, he was not disheartened by the difficulties which he met; his faith and zeal did not flag; he was enabled to be faithful, and laborious, and his courage always kept up, and his mind was filled with cheerfulness. See Note on chap. ii. 14. He was deterred by no difficulties; embarrassed by no opposition; driven from his purpose by no persecution; and his strength did not fail under any trials. The consciousness of being intrusted with such a ministry animated him; and the mercy and grace of God sustained him. But have renounced, (απειπάμεθα, from ἀπὸ and slov.) The word means properly to speak out or off; to refuse or deny; to interdict or forbid. Here it means to renounce, or disown; to spurn, or scorn with aversion. It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament: and the sense here is, that the apostles had such a view of the truth of religion, and the glory of the Christian scheme, (chap. iii. 13-18,) as to lead them to discard every thing that was disguised, and artful, and crafty; every thing like deceit and fraud. The religions of the heathen were made up mainly of trick, and were supported by deception practised on the ignorant, and on the mass of |