LECTURE XLVII.

WARNING AGAINST DIVISIONS AND PARTIES.

1 COR. i. 10-17.

10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you : but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

In the opening of his letter, Paul spoke favourably of the Corinthian church. Like a candid and faithful judge, who "hopeth all things, believeth all things," he gives them all the credit that he can. They were wanting in no gift: they were enriched in utterance, and in all knowledge.

But he must be faithful as well as kind and now reminds them, that such gifts, in themselves, proved little. "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am nothing."1 And here, with all their gifts, they were in danger of failing. For they were divided into parties; and such divisions are a great hindrance to charity. He

1 Ch. xiii. 1.

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had learnt from authority which he names, from the brethren which are of the house of Chloe, that they set up one teacher against another, and one apostle against another, and called themselves after him. Every one of you saith, I am of Paul: and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. One party might boast that they had followed Paul, whose conversion had been so remarkable, and who had been favoured with such wonderful revelations. Another prided themselves in Apollos, "an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures." And others in Cephas, or Simon Peter, who had followed the Lord from the beginning, and testified the things which he himself had seen and heard. Another party might disregard all teachers, and say, I am of Christ, and despise any human aid. The mind naturally runs into these errors, which are found wherever an interest is really felt in religious things. They are tares which spring up wherever the ground is not altogether barren. We are attached to them who have conferred a benefit upon us. And the greater the benefit, the stronger the attachment. From attachment, comes preference; from preference, comparison; and this leads to divisions. And then that love is impaired which is the very bond of peace and of all virtues; without which religion at any time can have no healthy growth, but without which, in its infancy, it can hardly exist at all. On which account, we may believe, our Lord prayed so earnestly for his disciples, that they "might be one even as He and his Father were one:" that there might be no divisions amongst

2 See 2 Cor. xii. 1, and 7. Gal. i. 12-19. 3 Acts xviii. 24.

4 John xvii. 22.

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them, but that they might be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Paul remonstrates against these party feelings, and shows how contrary they were to right or reason.

13. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

To be a Christian, is to be of Christ: to be of him altogether; to refer all to him; to depend for all upon him. But to say, I am of Paul, and I of Cephas ; is to divide Christ: as if you could be partly his, and partly another's, and each could bear a part in your salvation. Christ is all in all, and his apostles are nothing more than his ministers, through whom you have been brought to trust in him. They were not crucified for you: they did not bear your sins, though they led you to him who bore them. You were not baptized in their name, as if your trust was to be fixed on them; but they baptized you in the name of Christ, the "only name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved."5

And this leads St. Paul to congratulate himself, as if it were a happy circumstance, that so far from baptizing converts in his own name, he had not baptized at all: that was not his peculiar office.

14. I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

15. Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own

name.

16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas : besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the

5 Acts iv. 12.

gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

The commission which was given to St. Paul, is related, Acts xxvi. 17. "Now I send thee to the Gentiles, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." In other words, to preach the gospel: to show how "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself;" and how "he, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, was Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."" Performing this appointed duty, he did proclaim these truths, for example, in this very city of Corinth. "And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house." Crispus, we may suppose, being ruler of the synagogue, was well instructed in his own Scriptures: and when convinced of Paul that all the prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, and that he was indeed "the hope of Israel," the Messiah for whom they were looking;-he was at once prepared for baptism, like the converts on the day of Pentecost. And Paul baptized him. But it was otherwise with the many Corinthians who hearing, believed. They had much to learn; and a long course of instruction would be required before they were admitted to the privilege of baptism. This would have hindered the apostle in his course; this was committed to his helpers and fellow-workers, while he himself used

Phil. iv. 3. Philem. 24. Mr.

9 Rom. xvi. 2, 9. Col. iii. 2. Moffat illustrates this, incidentally, in his account of his "Missionary Labours in Southern Africa. "After the Gospel has been introduced to a town or tribe by the missionary, native assist

the gifts bestowed on him to arouse other hearts, and influence other souls, that they might "awake, and arise from the dead, and Christ might give them light." Therefore it so happened that of the whole Corinthian Church he could recollect none that he had himself baptized, but Crispus and Gaius, and the household of Stephanas. And now this was so far well, that none could say he had baptized in his own name, or led them to esteem any one as concerned in their redemption, save him whose apostle he was, and the message of whose mercy he was commissioned to declare.

Men may justly love and value those, who are the "servants of the most high God, and show them the way of salvation." But such is our nature, that what is good is closely allied to what is evil. Where there is love, there is often jealousy; and envy follows close upon admiration. These feelings must be watched against. And they will be opposed most successfully when the mind is kept most firmly intent upon the author and finisher of our faith. One chief affection

precludes another. The eye which is filled with the sun's rays, can fix on no other objects. And so

ants, by reading, teaching to read, exhorting, and a humble and devout deportment, prepare the people for greater advances in divine knowledge. So fully were we convinced of the value of such auxiliaries, that so early as 1834 we found it conducive to the interests of the mission to have recourse to native assistance, employing Aaron and Paul to catechise the people, and lead on inquirers. In 1837 some of the influential young men among the Batlaros, who were good readers, cheerfully undertook the task of instructing their neighbours, by holding service in a school. P. 589.

1 See Acts xvi. 17.