1 Corinthians 16:1-24

1. Its first condition is sincere personal adhesion to Christianity. Stephanas and his household were converted, baptized, and well instructed in the Christian faith. It was when their had become penetrated with the Spirit of Christ that they were impelled to holy and devoted service. We cannot expect men and women to become unselfish labourers for the welfare of their fellow men, until they have come under the new and Divine motive and power.

2. Christian ministries are of many and very various kinds. These vary with the capacity and opportunity of the labourers, and the necessities of those whose welfare is sought. Too limited a view of ministry is frequently taken; the fact is, that whatever service men render to their fellow men, for the sake of Christ, is a Christian ministry. Not only the preaching of the gospel, but the instruction of the young, the nursing and healing of the sick, the showing of kindness and hospitality, the supporting with generosity of benevolent undertakings, all fall into this class.

3. Services of such kinds involve both labour and cooperation. His people find a pleasure in offering to Christ, their Lord, that which costs them something. And. they delight to help one another; some leading and others following, but all setting before them the same end, and toiling in the same spirit.

4. Ministering "unto the saints" is an especial form of acceptable service. From the beginning Churches have cared for their widows, and for their poor and aged members. The household of faith has a peculiar claim upon the sympathy and affection and liberal support of the Saviour's friends.

II. THE HONOUR AND SUBJECTION DUE TO THOSE ENGAGED IN SPIRITUAL MINISTRY.

1. They should be treated with especial regard and gratitude. Paul himself honoured the good Stephanas and his like-minded wife and household, and he reminded the Corinthians that a family among themselves so distinguished in the annals of the Church, and so dear to the apostle's heart, should be esteemed highly in love for their work's sake.

2. They had a claim upon such as were in a position to render them help in the good cause. Doubtless it was the case at Corinth, as elsewhere, that the burden was too readily left upon the shoulders of those disposed to bear it. But this ought not to be. "When one man is seen working hard for Christ, his neighbour should put to himself the question, "Can I help my brother, relieve him of some pressure, or render his labour more effective?"

3. Submission is, in many cases, a duty in Christian Churches. There are those whom we should be ready not only to work with but to work under.—T.

1 Corinthians 16:18

Spiritual refreshment.

The three honoured members of the Christian society at Corinth who came to Ephesus, came officially as a deputation to consult the inspired apostle upon matters of faith and practice. But their visit was not simply official; for all three were personally attached to Paul, and their sentiments of affection were reciprocated by the fervent nature of the apostle of the Gentiles, whose largeness of heart was even more conspicuous than his keenness of intellect. The grateful language in which Paul acknowledges the benefit he had received from intercourse with his visitors, is suggestive of thought regarding the refreshment of spirit which is one happy result of Christian associations.

I. THE NEED ALL SOMETIMES FEEL OF SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT.

1. Work may be burdensome, and even oppressive, and may weigh down the soul as well as the body.

2. Trials, desertion of friends, disappointment in fellow labourers, etc., may distress the soul and dispose to melancholy.

3. Living much alone and in one's own occupations is wearisome to the spirit; the energies flag; the quality of work suffers; gloom takes possession of the life. These and many other causes render it most desirable that the thirsting, fainting spirit should be reanimated by some suitable influences.

II. THE APPOINTED AGENTS OF SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT. Letters and books are precious, but in the case before us they are inadequate. Living companionship, the society of those like minded with ourselves, alone can meet the requirements of the case. Not only so; sympathizing friends have a peculiar power of restoring the equilibrium of the soul. Sympathy was what Paul sought and valued. It is hard to do even work for Christ without the smile and word of encouragement which our brethren in the Lord are able to give us.

III. THE MEANS OF SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT. The presence of Christian friends is much; but their conversation, the opening of their hearts, the inquiry concerning our labours, successes, and failures,—these are all much to be desired. Not only the communication of knowledge and advice from our superiors, but the friendly conversation of our equals, and even the sympathy and heart revelation of those in some respects beneath us, may prove truly recruiting to our energies and restorative to our spirits.

IV. THE RESULTS OF SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT.

1. Depression gives place to cheerfulness.

2. Weariness gives place to vigour.

3. Sluggishness gives place to vivacity.

4. Despondency gives place to hope.

5. Inefficiency gives place to successful labour.

6. Doubt gives place to living confidence.

In all is seen the operation of that Spirit of grace who does not disdain to work in and through the lowliest of Christ's sincere disciples and friends.—T,

1 Corinthians 16:19, 1 Corinthians 16:20

Christian greetings.

In St. Paul's Epistles personal messages occur in juxtaposition with doctrinal statements and arguments and moral counsels. Their occurrence makes us feel the true humanity of this method of religious communication; we gain an insight into the heart, not of the apostle alone, but of his fellow labourers and friends. And we cannot but admire the evident power of Christianity to hallow and ennoble, to refine and bless, the relations subsisting among friends.

I. FROM WHOM, AND TO WHOM, ARE THESE GREETINGS?

1. Individuals are named. Of Aquila and Priscilla we know that they were regarded by Paul as his dear friends and trusty fellow labourers. Wherever they went they carried the gospel, they formed a circle of Christian friends, they provided a home for workers and a gathering place for worshippers.

2. Households join in the greetings. This is evidently the case, whether we regard the expression "Church in the house" as applying to the Christian family and their dependents and guests, or to a party wont to assemble in a certain house for mutual edification and common worship.

3. Churches send salutations. The Christian congregations of Asia Minor were linked together in bonds of mutual confidence and affection, and expressed their feelings by the medium of the apostolical letter. This practice authorizes communications between Churches and groups of Churches, as promotive of brotherly love.

II. OF WHAT KIND?

1. They are fraternal. In the salutation those who send the messages are termed brethren. Not as fellow professors of one faith, but as members of one family, did these primitive Christians exchange their greetings and good wishes and prayers.

2. Cordial and affectionate. Salutations are often matters of form, and are then cold and all but meaningless. The holy kiss, which was the custom in those primitive communities, was a sign of the warmth and sincerity of the good feeling which prevailed.

3. Mutual; for they were admonished to greet one another. "All ye," Christ had said, "are brethren;" and we see how true an attempt was made to comply with his commands, and to realize his descriptions.

III. UPON WHAT BASIS? Not upon the basis of mere courtesy, or of common interests or expediency, but upon a specially Christian basis; the greeting was "in the Lord." By this we must understand:

1. In fulfilment of the Lord's command, who had so often and emphatically enjoined the cherishing and manifestation of brotherly love.

2. In imitation of the Lord's conduct, who himself, in all his communications with his friends, had been wont to display that love which he desired to witness among his followers.

3. Under the influence of his Spirit, whose presence and gracious operations make themselves felt by the diffusion of courtesy, good will, and kindness.—T.

1 Corinthians 16:22

The absence of love to Christ.

There are those who, not having known Christ, have had no opportunity of loving him. But of all who have heard and read of Christ, we may say that the one test of their character and their position lies in their feeling with regard to him, with all which that feeling involves. The apostle's warm heart could tolerate no indifference, no neutrality, here. The Lord Jesus must be not only respected, but loved. And not to love him proves that the nature is insensible to all that is good and Divine—involves its own condemnation and curse and misery.

I. THE ABSENCE OF LOVE TO CHRIST. Where there is no love to the Lord Jesus there appears to be:

1. A want of appreciation of his perfect moral character. If Jesus be known by a holy and sympathetic nature, he will appear to such a nature "the chief among ten thousand, the altogether lovely." Who can gaze upon the sinless and pure, the just and kind, the meek and patient Jesus, and be unaffected by the spectacle? Only those for whom moral excellence and beauty have no charms.

2. A deep sensibility to his infinite compassion. For it must be borne in mind that the Saviour's disposition and ministry, and especially his sacrifice, have a personal relation to ourselves. It was for us men and our salvation that he lived a life of poverty and contempt, that he deigned to die a death of agony and shame. To withhold the heart's best love from One who endured the cross for us argues a callousness of nature beneath the level of common humanity.

3. A base ingratitude for all he has done and is doing on our behalf. Even those who are indifferent to the Lord Jesus owe him a vast debt for the benefits which, by his mediation, he has conferred upon the human race, and for the forbearance with which they have individually been treated. If ingratitude to earthly friends and benefactors be base, how shall the heinousness be described of ingratitude to the Son of man?

II. THE CURSE AND CONDEMNATION INVOLVED IN INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS CHRIST.

1. We can trace this in the moral degradation which such insensibility occasions. Not to love the worthiest and the best is to debase our nature. Character is largely moulded by love; and they who turn away from the love of Immanuel choose death.

2. The condemnation of conscience is inevitable. Its voice may be stifled for a season, but it will be heard, and that voice must needs utter a censure of no feeble or ambiguous kind. The judge is within, and cannot be escaped; that judge will charge the sinner with hating him who was and is supremely worthy to be loved, and the accusation is self evidencing and brings its curse.

3. The judgment of the Lord may tarry, but it will surely come. The Lord himself is at hand, to deliver those who love him, but to execute a righteous sentence upon the unbelieving, the unloving, the unspiritual.—T.

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

Concerning the collection.

I. THE NECESSITY OF GIVING.

1. For maintenance of public worship in our own community. Churches should aim at self support. Assuredly there should be no unwillingness to give where we ourselves reap the advantage. And often the return, being spiritual, infinitely exceeds all that we part with.

2. For various works which have for their object the dissemination of the truth or the relief of the needy. Gospel at home is good, but we must see that the gospel is sent abroad. There are many societies aiming to reach the heathen in this land and in other lands; ready support should be rendered. "Go ye into all the world," etc. (Matthew 28:19). Relief of the destitute is a bounden duty of the Christian. Here we have a beautiful example. The apostle is no doubt referring to the distressed believers in Jerusalem and Judaea (Romans 15:26). The largely Gentile Church is incited to aid the largely Jewish. This will form a new bond, and do the double work of relieving suffering and breaking down prejudice. Our charity should know no limits but the limits of need and ability.

3. For givers individually. Christians who do not give do not grow. The cultivation of charity is the cultivation, not of one grace, but of many. It is usual to plead the needs of others; our personal need of giving is a strong argument. Parting with some ballast prospers our voyage, and, instead of imperilling our safety, increases it. Right giving is great gaining. We cannot be like Christ unless we give. He "gave himself for us."

4. For the Church. That Church which is not a giving Church will not be a prospering Church. A spirit of charity in a religious community exercises a gracious influence upon everything that that community attempts, and is ever prompting fresh efforts. Church charity should be wide. There is such a thing as Church selfishness. A Church may bestow too much thought upon itself. High shutting in walls are not good for gardens.

5. For the glory of God. Giving manifests the power of the Christian faith. It is a very powerful testimony in the eyes of the world. The world is apt to scoff at profession, even at worship; but this practical outcome often startles, and has sometimes staggered, the world. It is a great instrument of conversion. Moreover, every gift should be a direct offering to God. We must see in the hand of the needy the treasury of the Lord. The Master often sits over against that treasury.

II. THE APOSTOLIC SUGGESTIONS.

1. Setting apart each week. This is very convenient for many. It also ensures frequent and regular giving. Further, and what is of far more importance than is generally thought, it facilitates our knowing how much we give. Those who do not know how much they give think they give three times as much as they really do. Perhaps the most certain way to increase our giving would be to keep a strict account of how little we give! Setting apart each week would provide us with a store from which we could draw as necessity arose. We are ready for the collection in the sanctuary when we have first made the collection in the home.

2. On the first day of the week. How appropriate a time! Associated with so many hallowed memories, and pre-eminently with the completion by his resurrection of Christ's great gift to us. His charity should be the inspirer of ours. A beautiful act for a holy day. How could we refuse to give then, or how could we give grudgingly?

3. The amount of gift to be determined by the measure of prosperity. All gifts are not expected to be of the same value. "She hath done what she could" was the Master's gracious expression of approval. Note: Our prosperity is of God. He gives that we may give. If we take all to ourselves, we are robbers, not Christians. And in so far as we do not give what we know he would have us to, we are defrauders of God. He trusts us with so much: let us see that we do not abuse the trust. Stewards are we, not proprietors. Christ's commendation of the widow's two mites is abused by some well to do folks; they always aim to give that amount. Alas! when the chill of adversity comes to many men it kills at once all offerings to the Lord—retrenchment "begins at the house of God"—and when prosperity comes they give but the old sum, which in the altered circumstances is a beggarly and disgraceful offering.

4. All to give. All have received. The widow gave "all her living? None are too poor to give something. Every Christian should be a giving Christian; it is a part of his Christianity. The gift of a Church is specially valuable when it is a gift of all its members. And right giving is such a joy, that when the most destitute part with something for Christ's sake they do not lose now, but gain. When we give we get.

5. Giving is to be voluntary. It is to be giving. The apostle does not propose to make an assessment. The matter is left between the individual and his God. Giving is valuable only as it springs from the heart. Where compulsion (and there are many sorts) begins, there charity ends. The beauty of Christ's offering was that it was voluntary. No man took his life from him; he laid it down of himself.

III. GIFTS SHOULD BE CAREFULLY ADMINISTERED. Charity is greatly checked if suspicion arises that gifts do not reach their intended destination. The apostle uses great care here. He arranges that those who give should elect custodians of their gifts, who might bear the offering to Judaea. The loose way in which some Churches manage their finances tends to lessen liberality. A Church should keep its accounts more carefully than a bank! The administration of a Church's gifts is no mean work. The apostle offers to take part in it, if this shall seem well. Not alone—lest some should take opportunity to slander: ministers cannot be too careful in money matters. But with others he is willing even to journey to Jerusalem.—H.

1 Corinthians 16:5-9

Words to those who travel.

I. WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON OUR MASTER'S BUSINESS. This we may be if we are engaged in "secular" affairs. Every part of life is to be consecrated to God. A Christian is a Christian always, and a servant always. Everything may be consecrated. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we may do all to the glory of God. Secular engagements become truly sacred if in them

To do this as we travel, we should

These are often very numerous and strong when we are away from our usual surroundings, and not amongst those who know us. We should embrace every opportunity of doing good. Not only to men in things temporal, but also in things spiritual. At last it will seem marvellous to some that their "cheerily" and "love" extended only to men's lower needs.

II. OUR MOVEMENTS SHOULD BE ORDERED OF THE LORD.

1. In secular affairs we should seek the mind of the Lord. He who can help us in the great can help us in the small. There is nothing too insignificant to pray over.

2. In sacred affairs we need ever say, "If the Lord permit." "D.V." on a bill amounts to little; we need it engraved on the heart.

3. Those who, evangelizing, pass from place to place will do well to study the conduct of their apostolic prototype.

(a) comfort,

(b) applause,

(c) remuneration,

(d) predilection.

Some communities have attempted to sterotype the mind of the Lord in a three years' pastorate; this looks more like the mind of man than the mind of the Lord. Some divines can only hear certain, "calls" of the Lord: it is to be feared that these "calls" are, after all, nothing more than the echoes of their own voices.—H.

1 Corinthians 16:13, 1 Corinthians 16:14

A fivefold exhortation.

This the Corinthians needed. It fitly comes near the conclusion of the Epistle, summarizing much that has gone before. The Corinthians tended towards false security, reliance upon gifts and teachers; so the apostle says, "Watch ye." They were wavering in adhesion to the gospel which Paul preached; so he says, "Stand fast in the faith." They were but "babes" (1 Corinthians 3:1); so the apostle incites them to seek more of the qualities of manhood: "Quit you like men." They were enfeebled by false doctrine, Church abuses, irregularity of spiritual life; so he says, "Be strong." They were more remarkable for jealousy, rivalry, contempt, pride, than for the pre-eminent Christian grace; so Paul says, "Let all that ye do be done in love." Corinthian perils are our perils. Corinthian failures may be our failures—perhaps are. Let us heed the apostolic exhortation to—

I. WATCHFULNESS.

1. Against dangers from without. False teachers, bad examples, unholy influences, Satanic attacks. We who are of the day should be awake.

2. Against danger from within. We often tempt ourselves, often deceive ourselves, often injure ourselves. Our greatest enemy is within, not without. It is the traitor in the camp who does the mischief.

3. For opportunities of usefulness. Our day is short. Soon the final account must be rendered. We have many opportunities, but they never wait for us. We must watch for them, and catch them as they come. Opportunities have no resurrection.

4. For the coming of Christ. The Master himself enjoined this: "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (Mark 13:37).

II. STEADFASTNESS. We have to abide in the faith. He that "endureth to the end" shall be saved. Lack of steadfastness

III. MANLINESS. Christians should be robust. They are not always to be children in the faith. They need a manly temper,

Christians should be bold and fearless. Every Christian should be a courageous Christian. The service in which we are engaged is grand beyond conception—the issues how momentous! "Quit you like men!"

IV. STRENGTH. Does it seem strange that we are commanded to be strong? Some will say we can only be what we are, and it is worse than futile to say to a weak man, "Be strong." But Paul said, "When I am weak then am I strong." When we are bidden to be strong, then we often feel most our weakness; but then we go to the Strong for strength. The Lion of the tribe of Judah can give to us a lionlike might. As to means: if we would be strong we must

V. LOVE. Love should rule all our thoughts, purposes, words, and acts. We are nothing if we are without love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13.). This is the key to the preceding exhortations. If we have a real living love towards God and man, it will become easy to live in watchfulness; we shall not want to relinquish our faith; our Christian manliness will rapidly develop; and we shall be strong, for we shall be like God. "God is love." Love is salt; it will preserve from corruption our whole spiritual life.—H.

1 Corinthians 16:15

Ministering to the saints.

I. A VERY NEEDFUL WORK. Many of God's children are poor children. The saints who presently shall inherit all things, at present often lack the necessaries of life. Not a few of God's choicest servants are afflicted, and need sympathy and aid. Persecution for the faith should be counteracted as far as possible by careful ministration. In early days imprisoned saints were specially cared for by those at liberty. "Remember those who are in bonds." In modern forms of persecution aid is equally needful. Many need to be "taken by the hand." "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).

II. A VERY HONOURABLE AND BEAUTIFUL WORK. Angel like: they are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). Christ like: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Matthew 20:28). At last the Lord will say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). Many do not rightly estimate this "high calling." True love for the brethren (a sign of our salvation, 1 John 3:14) will make us diligent in this service.

III. A WORK WHICH CAN BE EXERCISED IN MANY WAYS. Thus suited to the abilities and opportunities of a large number. Many are idle in our Churches because they can find nothing to do. Let them look in this direction. Visiting the sick, condoling with the bereaved, relieving the destitute, cheering the depressed, securing rest for the overworked, guiding the perplexed, encouraging despondent workers (ministers, sabbath school teachers, etc.),—how many might find a suitable sphere in such holy ministries as these!

IV. A WORK WHICH MERITS RECOGNITION ON THE PART OF THE CHURCH. Those who engage actively in such service as this should be:

1. Highly esteemed. It is no slight service which they render. They do much to elevate the tone of the Church; much to preserve it in peace and content; much to stimulate its zeal.

2. Encouraged. The work is trying. Those who seek to encourage others often need very much encouragement themselves.

3. Aided. This is probably what the apostle means by "Submit yourselves unto such." "As they serve you, do you serve them." Above all, no obstacles should be put in their way.

V. A WORK VERY BENEFICIAL TO THOSE WHO ENGAGE IN IT. "They who water others shall themselves be watered." Here when we give we take. We grow rich by bestowing. Christians stagnate because they think of themselves. Saints take so much care of themselves that they become spiritual invalids. We may "sit under" our own ministry with great profit. A sure way of getting to heaven is resolving that some one else shall get there. Labours for others make us blind to our own troubles. If our ears are filled with the cries of the needy, we shall not be able to hear the croakings of sceptics or the evil prognostications of Satan. True ministering to the saints is truest ministry to ourselves.—H.

1 Corinthians 16:22

Those who do not love Christ.

I. THERE ARE SUCH, Alas! how many! Not those who have never heard of him, but those who have heard much of him—those before whom the great revelation of Christ has been spread out. Not those who have been brought up under sceptical influences, but those who have been trained in Christian homes. How many of those to whom Christ has been made known as fully as he can be to any who have not received him, yet do not love him! This is

II. THE HEINOUSNESS OF THEIR SIN. Consider:

1. Christ is altogether lovely and lovable. There is nothing in him to check love, but everything to encourage it.

2. He has never done the slightest evil to any man.

3. He has relinquished heaven for men.

4. He has humbled himself to assume human nature for men.

5. He has lived for men.

6. He has died for men.

7. He is willing to redeem men from all things evil, and to ensure to them all things good.

Not to love such a Being as this is the chief of crimes. No tale of guilt could be sterner. It is a fearful revelation of the "carnal heart," which is enmity against God and Christ, instead of love.

III. THEIR DOOM. They are "anathema"—accursed. Their crime merits completest condemnation. If they can be guilty of this, they can be guilty of anything. Their sentence is "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord;" their home, with "the devil and his angels." Their choice is to be accursed. They choose the curse rather than the blessing which Christ waits to bestow. They choose the curse rather than the One who alone can deliver them from it. They are now accursed; their present condition is this condition, and their future condition will be this unless they "turn to the Lord."

IV. A SOLEMN QUESTION—DO WE LOVE CHRIST?

1. Not—Do we admire him? He is admired even by atheists.

2. Not—Do we abstain from hostility towards him?

3. Not—Do we take his name upon our lips, observe his day, meet with his people?

4. Not even—Do we work for him?

5. But—Has he touched our heart? Do we love him?

Christ is the great test applied to human hearts. The issue reveals condition, character, prospect.—H.

1 Corinthians 16:1, 1 Corinthians 16:2

The law of Christian giving.

It is interesting to note that one of the first and most natural expressions of the Christian spirit was a consideration of the needs of the poorer members of the Church, and a readiness to share what good things were possessed with them. Of this spirit Barnabas is presented to us as offering the highest example (Acts 4:36). His thought and feeling in this matter had very probably influenced his companion St. Paul. We can well understand that the Jewish Christians, dwelling in the holy city, would be placed under great disabilities. Many of them were very poor; their opinions would prevent their obtaining the ordinary charities; perhaps they found it even difficult to secure remunerative labour; and, when times of famine and distress came, they would be the first to suffer. When Christianity was proclaimed freely to the Gentiles, there was this grave danger to face; the separation between Jew and Gentile might be kept up within Christianity, and the conception of one Church—one flock under one Shepherd—might fail to be realized. To correct this tendency, St. Paul sought to keep up the sympathy of the newer Gentile with the older Jewish Church, and guided the expression of such sympathy, letting it take the form of collections and money gifts. In the passage now before us the principles upon which Christian giving should be regulated are indicated. They concern—

I. THE CLAIM OF ALL TO A SHARE IN CHRISTIAN GIFTS. Nothing that a man possesses is his own. Money, talents, position, influence,—all are Divine gifts and trusts; none are sent for the man's sake alone who receives them. He is only made an agent for ministering God's good gifts to others. The whole Church has its claim to share in whatever good things any of its members possesses. It should be impossible to find, among Christians, an unrelieved sufferer, or a helpless, poverty stricken beggar. We must distinguish between charity and the meeting of the family claims of our brethren in the Lord. It is not charity, it is duty, it is faithfulness, that leads us to share what is entrusted to us with those who share m the same salvation, and who have the same "good hope through grace." We do not speak of charity among brothers and sisters of the same family, and the right view of Christian giving is taken only when the Christian Church is regarded as a family.

II. THE NEED FOR PREPARATION BY PREVIOUS STORING. The claims upon us only come at times, but they do come at times in forms quite beyond our meeting, if we have made no preparations. And there is the further danger that when, through circumstances of distress, our feelings are unusually moved, we act from impulse, not from principle. So St. Paul urges that the separation of shares for the needy brethren be made regularly, as a matter of duty; that a proportion of all our acquisitions be regularly set aside and stored up for due occasions, and that so we keep our brethren and their needs constantly in mind.

III. THE TIME MOST SUITABLE FOR SUCH STORING. "First day of the week." The Lord's day. The memorial day of the Lord's resurrection; which, we cannot doubt, had become the Christian day for worship. When minds were directed more especially to Christian privileges and duties, the separations and storings would be more liberally done, and would be made acts of worship. It seems probable that the amounts thus regularly laid by were not stored privately, but made offerings at public worship, and stored by the treasurers.

IV. THE RULE THAT REGULATES THE AMOUNT STORED. Many have argued for a tenth, but it was not in St. Paul's way to fix any limitations upon the free expression of Christian feeling. He does not mean to suggest any proportion by his law, "As God hath prospered him." Really he means, "Let your separation for others be according to your sense of God's goodness to you." And this he suggests because, while the due provision for the poor is of grave importance, it is even more important that our storing and giving should be a means of grace to ourselves, an agency of spiritual culture. Practically it is found that brotherly and generous regard for our needy fellow Christians bears most directly on the efficiency of our own graces and the culture of the true Christian spirit. "The liberal soul is made fat."—R.T.

1 Corinthians 16:3

The relations of Gentile to Jewish Churches.

Apart from the historical interest of this subject, which was one of the chief causes of anxiety to the apostle, it may be studied as illustrating for every age the principles on which older and younger Churches, richer and poorer Churches, can be brought into practical union and fellowship. Then the topic for consideration becomes this—How can the idea of the Christian brotherhood be applied to Churches? As introductory it may be well to show, concerning the duty of brotherliness,

(3) its examples;

These may be treated in connection with the personal and individual relationships of life, and also in connection with the social and Church relationships. Then in practical detail, varying according to the sentiments and associations of the Christian bodies to which we may belong, we may consider—

I. BROTHERLINESS AS EXPRESSED TO EQUAL CHURCHES. In this case the brotherliness will take such forms as:

1. Fellowship in worship.

2. Mutual aid in enterprise and work.

3. Due watchfulness of each other's honour and spiritual health.

4. Anxious repression of all jealousies of each other's successes.

5. Manifestations of sympathy in times of Church depression or sorrow.

Among equal Churches there is little opportunity for the charity of material help.

II. BROTHERLINESS EXPRESSED TO INFERIOR OR DEPENDENT CHURCHES. Besides those already dealt with, there should be these further expressions.

1. Careful conservation of the rights of the dependent Church.

2. Readiness to give material and moral help, as occasion demands.

3. Avoidance of superior airs or assumptions of authority.

4. Use of all opportunities that may be offered for the manifestation of sympathy.

While it is true that times of calamity find special occasions for brotherliness, it is also true that those in any way dependent on us would not have us wait for the trial times. True Christian brotherhood wants to find utterance for itself every day, and to fill all the ordinary associations of life with its helpful spirit.—R.T.

1 Corinthians 16:9

The mission of our hindrances.

"There are many adversaries." In life we always find that the "open door" and the "many hinderers" go together. Very seldom can we have the one without the other. For the use of the term "doer" as a figure for "opportunity," see Acts 14:27; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3. For the narrative which illustrates the expression here used, see Acts 19:19, Acts 19:20. Of hindrances affecting St. Paul, we may think of

That which was so evidently true of St. Paul is the common experience of God's servants; and we must accept the conditions, and win virtue out of the very limitations.

I. GOD'S PROVIDENCE IS EVER MAKING OPEN DOORS FOR US. This is true in educational life, and in business life. Every man sooner or later gets his turn and opportunity. But we observe how true it is both of personal Christian life and of Church life. God sets before us open doors, shows us spheres of service which we may occupy. And such we enter upon with great hopes and expectations, assuming that if Providence has so manifestly opened the door, the path within must be straight and plain and easy. This we find is not always true; for—

II. GOD'S PROVIDENCE IS ALSO EVER MAKING HINDRANCES.

1. Often health fails at the moment of opportunity.