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just in proportion as the pure example of Jesus Christ is kept before a people; and the world is made happier and better just as that example is kept constantly in view. To the gay and the thoughtless, the ministers of the gospel are to show how serious and calm was the Redeemer; to the worldly-minded, to show how he lived above the world; to the avaricious, how benevolent he was; to the profane and licentious, how pure he was; to the tempted, how he endured temptation; to the afflicted, how patient and resigned; to the dying, how he died: to all, to show how holy, and heavenly-minded, and prayerful, and pure he was; in order that they may be won to the same purity, and be prepared to dwell with him in his kingdom. (4.) To set forth the design of his death. To show why he came to die, and what was the great object to be effected by his sufferings and death. To exhibit, therefore, the sorrows of his life; to describe his many trials; to dwell upon his sufferings in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross. show why he died, and what was to be the influence of his death on the destiny of man. To show how it makes atonement for sin, how it reconciles God to man, how it is made efficacious in the justification and the sanctification of the sinner. And were there nothing else, this would be sufficient to employ all the time, and the best talents in the ministry. For the salvation of the soul depends on the proper exhibition of the design of the death of the Redeemer. There is no salvation but through his blood; and hence the nature and design of his atoning sacrifice is to be exhibited to every man, and the offers of mercy through that death, to be pressed upon the attention of every sinner. (5.) To set forth the truth and the design of his resurrection. To prove that he rose from the dead, and that he ascended to heaven; and to show the influence of his resurrection on our hopes and destiny. The whole structure of Christianity is dependent on making out the fact that he rose; and if he rose, all the difficulties in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead are removed at once, and his people will also rise. The influence of that fact, therefore, on our hopes, and on our prospects for eternity, is to be shown by the ministry of the gospel; and were there nothing else, this would be ample to command all the time, and the best talents of the ministry. (6.) To proclaim him as "Lord." This is expressly specified in the passage before us. "For we preach Christ Jesus the Lord;" we proclaim him as the Lord. That is, he is to be preached as having dominion over the conscience; as the supreme Ruler in his church; as above all councils, and synods, and conferences, and all human authority; as having a right to legislate for his people; a right to prescribe their mode of worship; a right to define and determine the doctrines which they shall believe. He is to be proclaimed also as ruling over all, and as exalted in his mediatorial character over all worlds, and as having all things put beneath his feet. (Psa. ii. 6. Isa. ix. 6, 7. Matt. xxviii. 18. John xvii. 2. Eph. i. 20. Heb. ii. 8.) And ourselves your servants, &c.-So far as we make any mention of ourselves, it is to declare that we are your servants, and that we are bound to promote your

welfare in the cause and for the sake of the Redeemer. That is, they were their servants in all things in which they could advance the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom among them. The doctrine is, that they regarded themselves as under obligation not to seek their own interest, or to build up their own reputation and cause, but to seek the welfare of the church, and promote its interests, as a servant does that of his master. They should not seek to lord it over God's heritage, and to claim supreme and independent authority. They were not masters, but servants: the church at large was the master, and they were its servants. This implies the following things. (1.) That the time of ministers belongs to the church, and should be employed in its welfare. It is not their own; and it is not to be employed in farming, or in speculating, or in trafficking, or in idleness, or in lounging, or in unprofitable visiting, or in mere science, or in reading or making books that will not advance the interests of the church. The time of the ministry is not for ease, or ambition, or self-indulgence, but is to promote the interests of the body of Christ. So Paul felt, and so he lived. (2.) Their talents belong to the church. All their original talents, and all that they can acquire, should be honestly devoted to the welfare of the church of the Redeemer. (3.) Their best efforts and plans, the avails of their best thoughts and purposes belong to the church, and should be honestly devoted to it. Their strength, and vigour, and influence should be devoted to it, as the vigour, and strength, and talent, and skill of a servant belong to the master. See Psa. cxxxvii. 5, 6. The language of the ministry, as of every Christian, should be:

I love thy church, O God,
Her walls before thee stand,
Dear as the apple of thine eye,
And graven on thy hand.

If e'er to bless thy sons
My voice or hands deny,
These hands let useful skill forsake,
This voice in silence die

If e'er my heart forget
Her welfare or her wo,
Let every joy this heart forsake,
And every grief o'erflow.

For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend,
To her my cares and toils be given,
Till toils and cares shall end.

And it implies, (4.) That they are the servants of the church in time of trial, temptation, and affliction. They are to devote themselves to the comfort of the afflicted; they are to be the guide of the perplexed: they are to aid the tempted; they are to comfort those that mourn, and they are to sustain and console the dying; they are to regard themselves as the servants of the church to accomplish these great objects; and are to be willing to deny themselves, and to take up their cross, and to consecrate their time to the advancement of these great interests. And they are, in all respects, to devote their time, and talents, and influence to the welfare of the church, with as much single-mindedness as the servant is to seek the interest of his master. It was in this way eminently that Paul was favoured with

For God, who commanded, &c.—The design o this verse seems to be, to give a reason why Paul and his fellow-apostles did not preach themselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord. (Ver. 5.) That reason was, that their minds had been so illuminated by that God who had commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that they had discerned the glory of the Divine perfections shining in and through the Redeemer, and they therefore gave themselves to the work of making him known among men. The doctrines which they preached they had not derived from men in any form. They had not been elaborated by human reasoning or science, nor had they been imparted by tradition; they had been communicated directly by the source of all light-the true God-who had shined into the hearts that were once benighted by sin. Having been thus illuminated, they had felt themselves bound to go and make known to others the truths which God had imparted to them. Who commanded the light, &c., (Gen. i. 3.)-God caused it to shine by his simple command. He said, "let there be light, and there was light." The fact that it was produced by his saying so, is referred to here by Paul, by his use of the phrase (o inor,) “who saying," or speaking the light to shine from darkness. The passage in Genesis is adduced by Longinus as a striking instance of the sublime. Hath shined in our hearts.-Marg., "It is he who hath." This is more in accordance with the Greek, and the sense is, "The God who at the creation bade the light to shine out of darkness, is he who has shined into our hearts; or it is the same God who has illuminated us, who commanded the light to shine at the creation." Light is every where in the Bible the emblem of knowledge, purity, and truth; as darkness is the emblem of ignorance, error, sin, and wretchedness. See Note, John i. 4, 5. And the sense here is, that God had removed this ignorance, and poured a flood of light and truth on their minds. This passage teaches, therefore, the following important truths in regard to Christians-since it is as applicable to all Christians, as it was to the apostles. (1.) That the mind is by nature ignorant and benighted to an extent which may be properly compared with the darkness which prevailed before God commanded the light to shine. Indeed, the darkness which prevailed before the light was found, was a most striking emblem of the darkness which exists in the mind of man before it is enlightened by revelation, and by the Holy Spirit. For (a) In all minds by nature there is deep ignorance of God, of his law, and his requirements; and (b) This

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is often greatly deepened by the course of life which men lead; by their education; or by their indulgence in sin, and by their plans of life; and especially by the indulgence of evil passions. The tendency of man, if left to himself. is to plunge into deeper darkness, and to involve his mind more entirely in the obscurity of moral midnight. Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John iii. 19.) (2.) This verse teaches the fact, that the minds of Christians are illuminated. They are enabled to see things as they are. This fact is often taught in the Scriptures. See 1 John ii. 20. 1 Cor. ii. 12-15. They have different views of things from their fellow men, and different from what they once had. They perceive a beauty in religion which others do not see, and a glory in truth, and in the Saviour, and in the promises of the gospel, which they did not see before they were converted. This does not mean (a) That they are superior in their powers of understanding to other men-for the reverse is often the fact; nor (b) That the effect of religion is at once to enlarge their own intellectual powers, and make them different from what they were before in this respect. But it means that they have clear and consistent views; they look at things as they are; they perceive a beauty in religion and in the service of God which they did not before. They see a beauty in the Bible, and in the doctrines of the Bible, which they did not before, and which sinners do not see. The temperate man will see a beauty in temperance, and in an argument for temperance, which the drunkard will not; the benevolent man will see a beauty in benevolence which the churl will not; and so of honesty, truth, and chastity. And especially will a man who is reformed from intemperance, impurity, dishonesty, and avarice, see a beauty in a virtuous life which he did not before see. There is indeed no immediate and direct enlargement of the intellect; but there is an effect on the heart which produces an appropriate and indirect effect on the understanding. It is at the same time true, that the practice of virtue, that a pure heart, and that the cultivation of piety all tend to regulate, strengthen, and expand the intellect, as the ways of vice and the indulgence of evil passions and propensities tend to enfeeble, paralyze, darken, and ruin the understanding; so that, other things being equal, the man of most decided virtue, and most calm and elevated piety, will be the man of the clearest and best regulated mind. His powers will be most assiduously, carefully, and conscientiously cultivated, and he will feel himself bound to make the most of them.-The influence of piety in giving light to the mind is often strikingly manifested among unlettered and ignorant Christians. It often happens, as a matter of fact, that they have by far clearer, and more just and elevated views of truth than men of the most mighty intellects, and most highly cultivated by science and adorned with learning, but who have no piety; and a practical acquaintance with their own hearts, and a practical experience of the power of religion in the days of temptation and trial is a better enlightener of the

wax bears the perfect image of the seal-perfect not only in the outline, and in the general resemblance, but in the filling up—in all the lines, and features, and letters on the seal-so it is with the Redeemer. There is not one of the divine perfections which has not the counterpart in him; and if the glory of the divine character is seen at all, it will be seen in and through him. VER. 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

i 1 Cor. ii. 5.

But we have this treasure.-The treasure of the gospel; the rich and invaluable truths which they were called to preach to others. The word "treasure" is applied to those truths on account of their inestimable worth. Paul in the previous verses had spoken of the gospel, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, as full of glory, and infinitely precious. This rich blessing had been committed to him and his fellow-labourers, to dispense it to others, and to diffuse it abroad. His purpose in this and the following verses is, to show that it had been so intrusted to them, as to secure all the glory of its propagation to God, and so also as to show its unspeakable value. For this purpose, he not only affirms that it is a treasure, but says that it had been so intrusted to them, as to show the power of God in its propagation; that it had showed its value in sustaining them in their many trials; and they had showed their sense of its worth by being willing to endure all kinds of trial in order to make it every where known. (Ver. 8-11.) The expression here is similar to that which the Saviour uses when he calls the gospel "the pearl of great price." (Matt. xiii. 46.) In earthen vessels.-This refers to the apostles and ministers of religion, as weak and feeble; as having bodies decaying and dying; as fragile, and liable to various accidents; and as being altogether unworthy to hold a treasure so invaluable: as if valuable diamonds and gold were placed in vessels of earth of coarse composition, easily broken, and liable to decay. The word "vessel" (Kevoç) means properly any utensil or instrument; and is applied usually to utensils of household furniture, or hollow vessels for containing things. (Luke viii. 16. John xix. 29.) It is applied to the human body, as made of clay, and therefore frail and feeble, with reference to its containing any thing, as, e. g. treasure. Comp. Note on Rom. ix. 22, 23. The word rendered "earthen" (borpakivoic) means that which is made of shells, (from oorpaкov,) and then burnt clay, probably because vessels were at first made of burnt shells. It is fitted well to represent the human body; frail, fragile, and easily reduced again to dust. The purpose of Paul here is, to show that it was by no excellency of his nature that the gospel was originated; it was in virtue of no vigour and strength which he possessed that it was propagated; but that it had been, of design, committed by God to weak, decaying, and crumbling instruments, in order that it might be seen that it was by the power of God that such instruments were sustained in the trials to which they

Paul

were exposed, and in order that it might be manifest to all that it was not originated and diffused by the power of those to whom it was intrusted. The idea is, that they were altogether insufficient of their own strength to accomplish what was accomplished by the gospel. uses a metaphor similar to this in 2 Tim. ii. 20. That the excellency of the power.—An elegant expression, denoting the exceeding great power. The great power referred to here was that which was manifested in connexion with the labours of the apostles, the power of healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out devils; the │ power of bearing persecution and trial, and the power of carrying the gospel over sea and land, in the midst of danger, and in spite of all the opposition which men could make, whether as individuals or as combined; and especially the power of converting the hearts of sinners, of humbling the proud, and leading the guilty to the knowledge of God and the hope of heaven. The idea is, that all this was manifestly beyond human strength; and that God had of design chosen weak and feeble instruments, in order that it might be every where seen that it was done, not by human power, but by his own. The instrumentality employed was altogether disproportionate in its nature to the effect produced May be of God.-May evidently appear to be of God; that it may be manifest to all that it is God's power, and not ours. It was one great purpose of God that this should be kept clearly in view. And it is still done. God takes care that this shall be apparent. For, (1.) It is always true, whoever is employed, and however great may be the talents, learning, or zeal of those who preach, that it is by the power of God that men are converted. Such a work cannot be accomplished by man. It is not by might or by strength; and between the conversion of a proud, haughty, and abandoned sinner, and the power of him who is made the instrument, there is such a manifest disproportion, that it is evident it is the work of God. The conversion of the human heart is not to be accomplished by man. (2.) Ministers are frail, imperfect, and sinful, as they were in the time of Paul. When the imperfections of ministers are considered; when their frequent errors, and their not unfrequent moral obliquities are contemplated; when it is remembered how far many of them live from what they ought to, and how few of them live in any considerable degree as becometh the followers of the Redeemer, it is wonderful that God blesses their labours as he does; and the matter of amazement is not that no more are converted under their ministry, but it is that so many are converted, or that any are converted; and it is! manifest that it is the mere power of God. (3.) He often makes use of the most feeble, and unlearned, and weak of his servants to accomplish the greatest effects. It is not splendid talents, or profound learning, or distinguished eloquence, that is always or even commonly most successful. Often the ministry of such is entirely barren; while some humble and obscure man shall have constant success, and revivals shall attend him wherever he goes. It is the man of faith, and prayer, and self-denial that is blessed; and

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