1 Corinthians 9:16

ostle? Am I not free? - These questions are all designed as assertions of the affirmative: I am an apostle; and I am free - possessed of all the rights and privileges of an apostle. Have I not seen Jesus Christ - From whom in his personal appearance to me, I have received my apostolic commission. This was judged essentially necessary to constitute an apostle. See Act 22:14 , Act 22:15 ; Act 26:16 . Are not ye my work - Your conversion from heathenism is the proof that I have preached with the Divine unction and authority. Several good MSS. and versions transpose the two first questions in this verse, thus: Am I not free? am I not an apostle? But I cannot see that either perspicuity or sense gains any thing by this arrangement. On the contrary, it appears to me that his being an apostle gave him the freedom or rights to which he refers, and therefore the common arrangement I judge to be the best. Verse 2 If I be not an apostle unto others - If there be other Churches which have been founded by other apostles; yet it is not so with you. The seal of mine apostleship are ye - Your conversion to Christianity is God's seal to my apostleship. Had not God sent me, I could not have profited your souls. The σφραγις or seal, was a figure cut in a stone, and that set in a ring, by which letters of credence and authority were stamped. The ancients, particularly the Greeks, excelled in this kind of engraving. The cabinets of the curious give ample proof of this; and the moderns contend in vain to rival the perfection of those ancient masters. In the Lord - The apostle shows that it was by the grace and influence of God alone that he was an apostle, and that they were converted to Christianity. Verse 3 Mine answer to them - Ἡ εμη απολογια τοις εμε ανακρινουσιν· This is my defense against those who examine me. The words are forensic; and the apostle considers himself as brought before a legal tribunal, and questioned so as to be obliged to answer as upon oath. His defense therefore was this, that they were converted to God by his means. This verse belongs to the two preceding verses. Verse 4 Have we not power to eat and to drink? - Have we not authority, or right, εξουσιαν, to expect sustenance, while we are labouring for your salvation? Meat and drink, the necessaries, not the superfluities, of life, were what those primitive messengers of Christ required; it was just that they who labored in the Gospel should live by the Gospel; they did not wish to make a fortune, or accumulate wealth; a living was all they desired. It was probably in reference to the same moderate and reasonable desire that the provision made for the clergy in this country was called a living; and their work for which they got this living was called the cure of souls. Whether we derive the word cure from cura, care, as signifying that the care of all the souls in a particular parish or place devolves on the minister, who is to instruct them in the things of salvation, and lead them to heaven; or whether we consider the term as implying that the souls in that district are in a state of spiritual disease, and the minister is a spiritual physician, to whom the cure of these souls is intrusted; still we must consider that such a laborer is worthy of his hire; and he that preaches the Gospel should live by the Gospel. Verse 5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife - The word εξουσιαν is to be understood here, as above in 1Cor 9:4 , as implying authority or right; and authority, not merely derived from their office, but from Him who gave them that office; from the constitution of nature; and from universal propriety or the fitness of things. When the apostle speaks of leading about a sister, a wife, he means first, that he and all other apostles, and consequently all ministers of the Gospel, had a right to marry. For it appears that our Lord's brethren James and Jude were married; and we have infallible evidence that Peter was a married man, not only from this verse, but from Mat 8:14 , where his mother-in-law is mentioned as being cured by our Lord of a fever. And secondly, we find that their wives were persons of the same faith; for less can never be implied in the word sister. This is a decisive proof against the papistical celibacy of the clergy: and as to their attempts to evade the force of this text by saying that the apostles had holy women who attended them, and ministered to them in their peregrinations, there is no proof of it; nor could they have suffered either young women or other men's wives to have accompanied them in this way without giving the most palpable occasion of scandal. And Clemens Alexandrinus has particularly remarked that the apostles carried their wives about with them, "not as wives, but as sisters, that they might minister to those who were mistresses of families; that so the doctrine of the Lord might without reprehension or evil suspicion enter into the apartments of the women." And in giving his finished picture of his Gnostic, or perfect Christian, he says: εσθιει, και πινει, και γαμει - εικονας εχει τους Αποστολους, He eats, and drinks, and marries - having the apostles for his example. Vid. Clem. Alex. Strom., lib. vii., c. 12. On the propriety and excellence of marriage, and its superiority to celibacy, see the notes on 1Cor 7:1 , etc. Verse 6 Or I only and Barnabas - Have we alone of all the apostles no right to be supported by our converts? It appears from this, 1. That the apostles did not generally support themselves by their own labor. 2. That Paul and Barnabas did thus support themselves. Some of the others probably had not a business at which they could conveniently work; but Paul and Barnabas had a trade at which they could conveniently labor wherever they came. Verse 7 Who goeth a warfare - at his own charges? - These questions, which are all supposed from the necessity and propriety of the cases to be answered in the affirmative, tend more forcibly to point out that the common sense of man joins with the providence of God in showing the propriety of every man living by the fruits of his labor. The first question applies particularly to the case of the apostle, τις στρατευεται ιδιοις οψωνιοις· Does a soldier provide his own victuals? Οψωνιον is used to express the military pay or wages, by the Greek writers; for the Roman soldiers were paid not only in money but in victuals; and hence corn was usually distributed among them. See on Luk 3:14 (note). Verse 8 Say I these things as a man? - Is this only human reasoning? or does not God say in effect the same things? See note on Rom 6:19 . Verse 9 Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox - See this largely explained in the note on Deu 25:4 (note). Doth God take care for oxen? - This question is to be understood thus: Is it likely that God should be solicitous for the comfort of oxen, and be regardless of the welfare of man? In this Divine precept the kindness and providential care of God are very forcibly pointed out. He takes care of oxen; he wills them all that happiness of which their nature is susceptible; and can we suppose that he is unwilling that the human soul shall have that happiness which is suited to its spiritual and eternal nature? He could not reprobate an ox, because the Lord careth for oxen; and surely he cannot reprobate a man. It may be said the man has sinned but the ox cannot. I answer: The decree of reprobation is supposed to be from all eternity; and certainly a man can no more sin before he exists, than an ox can when he exists. Verse 10 And he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope - Instead of ὁ αλοων της ελπιδος αυτου μετεχειν, επ' ελπιδι, many of the best MSS. and versions read the passage thus: ὁ αλοων επ' ελπιδι του μετεχειν· And he who thresheth in hope of partaking. "The words της ελπιδος, which are omitted by the above, are," says Bp. Pearce, "superfluous, if not wrong; for men do not live in hope to partake of their hope, but to partake of what was the object and end of their hope. When these words are left out, the former and latter sentence will be both of a piece, and more resembling each other: for μετεχειν may be understood after the first επ' ελπιδι, as well as after the last." Griesbach has left the words in question out of the text. Verse 11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things - If we have been the means of bringing you into a state of salvation by the Divine doctrines which we have preached unto you, is it too much for us to expect a temporal support then we give ourselves up entirely to this work? Every man who preaches the Gospel has a right to his own support and that of his family while thus employed. Verse 12 If others be partakers of this power - If those who in any matter serve you have a right to a recompense for that service, surely we who have served you in the most essential matters have a right to our support while thus employed in your service. We have not used this power - Though we had this right, we have not availed ourselves of it, but have worked with our hands to bear our own charges, lest any of you should think that we preached the Gospel merely to procure a temporal support, and so be prejudiced against us, and thus prevent our success in the salvation of your souls. Verse 13 They which minister about holy things - All the officers about the temple, whether priests, Levites, Nethinim, etc., had a right to their support while employed in its service. The priests partook of the sacrifices; the others had their maintenance from tithes, first fruits, and offerings made to the temple; for it was not lawful for them to live on the sacrifices. Hence the apostle makes the distinction between those who minister about holy things and those who wait at the altar. Verse 14 Even so hath the Lord ordained - This is evidently a reference to our Lord's ordination, Mat 10:10 : The workman is worthy of his meat. And Luk 10:7 : For the laborer is worthy of his hire. And in both places it is the preacher of the Gospel of whom he is speaking. It was a maxim among the Jews, "that the inhabitants of a town where a wise man had made his abode should support him, because he had forsaken the world and its pleasures to study those things by which he might please God and be useful to men." See an ordinance to this effect in the tract Shabbath, fol. 114. Verse 15 Neither have I written, etc. - Though I might plead the authority of God in the law, of Christ in the Gospel, the common consent of our own doctors, and the usages of civil society, yet I have not availed myself of my privileges; nor do I now write with the intention to lay in my claims. Verse 16 For though I preach the Gospel - I have cause of glorying that I preach the Gospel free of all charges to you; but I cannot glory in being a preacher of the Gospel, because I am not such either by my own skill or power. I have received both the office, and the grace by which I execute the office, from God. I have not only his authority to preach, but that authority obliges me to preach; and if I did not, I should endanger my salvation: yea, wo is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel. As every genuine preacher receives his commission from God alone, it is God alone who can take it away. Wo to that man who runs when God has not sent him; and wo to him who refuses to run, or who ceases to run, when God has sent him. Verse 17 For if I do this thing willingly - If I be a cordial co-operator with God, I have a reward, an incorruptible crown, 1Cor 9:25 . Or, if I freely preach this Gospel without being burthensome to any, I have a special reward; but if I do not, I have simply an office to fulfill, into which God has put me, and may fulfill it conscientiously, and claim my privileges at the same time; but then I lose that special reward which I have in view by preaching the Gospel without charge to any. This and the 18th verse have been variously translated: Sir Norton Knatchbull and, after him, Mr. Wakefield translate the two passages thus: For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if I am intrusted with an office without my consent? what is my reward then? to make the Gospel of Christ, whilst I preach it, without charge, in not using to the utmost my privileges in the Gospel. Others render the passage thus: But if I do it merely because I am obliged to it, I only discharge an office that is committed to me, 1Cor 9:18 . For what then shall I be rewarded? It is for this, that, preaching the Gospel of Christ, I preach it freely, and do not insist on a claim which the Gospel itself gives me. Verse 18 That I abuse not my power - I am inclined to think that καταχρησασθαι is to be understood here, not in the sense of abusing, but of using to the uttermost - exacting every thing that a man can claim by law. How many proofs have we of this in preachers of different denominations, who insist so strongly and so frequently on their privileges, as they term them, that the people are tempted to believe they seek not their souls' interests, but their secular goods. Such preachers can do the people no good. But the people who are most liable to think thus of their ministers, are those who are unwilling to grant the common necessaries of life to those who watch over them in the Lord. For there are such people even in the Christian Church! If the preachers of the Gospel were as parsimonious of the bread of life as some congregations and Christian societies are of the bread that perisheth, and if the preacher gave them a spiritual nourishment as base, as mean, and as scanty as the temporal support which they afford him, their souls must without doubt have nearly a famine of the bread of life. Verse 19 For though I be free - Although I am under no obligation to any man, yet I act as if every individual had a particular property in me, and as if I were the slave of the public. Verse 20 Unto the Jews I became as a Jew - In Act 16:3 , we find that for the sake of the unconverted Jews he circumcised Timothy. See the note on Act 16:3 . To them that are under the law - To those who considered themselves still under obligation to observe its rites and ceremonies, though they had in the main embraced the Gospel, he became as if under the same obligations; and therefore purified himself in the temple, as we find related, Act 21:26 (note). After the first clause, to them that are under the law as under the law, the following words, μη ων αυτος ὑπο νομον, not being myself under the law, are added by ABCDEFG, several others; the later Syriac, Sahidic, Armenian, Vulgate, and all the Itala; Cyril, Chrysostom, Damascenus, and others; and on this evidence Griesbach has received them into the text. Verse 21 To them that are without law - The Gentiles, who had no written law, though they had the law written in their hearts; see on Rom 2:15 (note). Being not without law to God - Instead of Θεῳ, To God, and Χριστῳ, To Christ, the most important MSS. and versions have Θεου, Of God, and Χριστου, Of Christ; being not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ. Them that are without law - Dr. Lightfoot thinks the Sadducees may be meant, and that in certain cases, as far as the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion were concerned, he might conform himself to them, not observing such rites and ceremonies, as it is well known that they disregarded them; for the doctor cannot see how the apostle could conform himself in any thing to them that were without law, i.e. the heathen. But, 1. It is not likely that the apostle could conform himself to the Sadducees; for what success could he expect among a people who denied the resurrection, and consequently a future world, a day of judgment, and all rewards and punishments? 2. He might among the heathen appear as if he were not a Jew, and discourse with them on the great principles of that eternal law, the outlines of which had been written in their hearts, in order to show them the necessity of embracing that Gospel which was the power of God unto salvation to every one that believed. Verse 22 To the weak became I as weak - Those who were conscientiously scrupulous, even in respect to lawful things. I am made all things to all men - I assumed every shape and form consistent with innocency and perfect integrity; giving up my own will, my own way, my own ease, my own pleasure, and my own profit, that I might save the souls of all. Let those who plead for the system of accommodation on the example of St. Paul, attend to the end he had in view, and the manner in which he pursued that end. It was not to get money, influence, or honor, but to save Souls! It was not to get ease but to increase his labors. It was not to save his life, but rather that it should be a sacrifice for the good of immortal souls! A parallel saying to this of St. Paul has been quoted from Achilles Tatius, lib. v., cap. xix., where Clitophon says, on having received a letter from Leucippe: Τουτοις εντυχων παντα εγινομην ὁμου, ανεφλεγομην, ωχριων, εθαυμαζον, ηπιστουν, εχαιρον, ηχθομην· "When I read the contents, I became all things at once; I was inflamed, I grew pale, I was struck with wonder; I doubted, I rejoiced, became sad." The same form of speech is frequent among Greek writers. I think this casts some light on the apostle's meaning. That I might by all means save some - On this clause there are some very important readings found in the MSS. and versions. Instead of παντως τινας σωσω, that I might by all means save some; παντας σωσω, that I might save all, is the reading of DEFG, Syriac, Vulgate, Ethiopic, all the Itala, and several of the fathers. This reading Bishop Pearce prefers, because it is more agreeable to St. Paul's meaning here, and exactly agrees with what he says, 1Cor 10:33 , and makes his design more extensive and noble. Wakefield also prefers this reading. Verse 23 And this I do for the Gospel's sake - Instead of τουτο, this, παντα, all things, (I do all things for the Gospel's sake), is the reading of ABCDEFG, several others, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala, Armenian, and Sahidic; the two latter reading ταυτα παντα, all these things. Several of the fathers have the same reading, and there is much reason to believe it to be genuine. That I might be partaker thereof with you - That I might attain to the reward of eternal life which it sets before me; and this is in all probability the meaning of το ευαγγελιον, which we translate the Gospel, and which should be rendered here prize or reward; this is a frequent meaning of the original word, as may be seen in my preface to St. Matthew: I do all this for the sake of the prize, that I may partake of it with you. Verse 24 They which run in a race run all - It is sufficiently evident that the apostle alludes to the athletic exercises in the games which were celebrated every fifth year on the isthmus, or narrow neck of land, which joins the Peloponnesus, or Morea, to the main land; and were thence termed the Isthmian games. The exercises were running, wrestling, boxing, throwing the discus or quoit, etc.; to the three first of these the apostle especially alludes. But one receiveth the prize? - The apostle places the Christian race in contrast to the Isthmian games; in them, only one received the prize, though all ran; in this, if all run, all will receive the prize; therefore he says, So run that ye may obtain. Be as much in earnest to get to heaven as others are to gain their prize; and, although only one of them can win, all of you may obtain. Verse 25 Is temperate in all things - All those who contended in these exercises went through a long state and series of painful preparations. To this exact discipline Epictetus refers, cap. 35: Θελεις Ολυμπια νικησαι; Δει σ' ευτακτειν, αναγκοτροφειν, απεχεσθαι, πεμματων, γυμναζεσθαι προς αναγκην εν ὡρα τεταγμενη, εν καυματι, εν ψυχει, μη ψυχρον πινειν, μη οινον ὡς ετυχεν· ἁπλως, ὡς ιατρῳ, παραδεδωκεναι σεαυτον τῳ επιστατη· ειτα εις τον αγωνα παρερχεσθαι· κ. τ. λ. "Do you wish to gain the prize at the Olympic games? - Consider the requisite preparations and the consequences: you must observe a strict regimen; must live on food which you dislike; you must abstain from all delicacies; must exercise yourself at the necessary and prescribed times both in heat and in cold; you must drink nothing cooling; take no wine as formerly; in a word, you must put yourself under the directions of a pugilist, as you would under those of a physician, and afterwards enter the lists. Here you may get your arm broken, your foot put out of joint, be obliged to swallow mouthfuls of dust, to receive many stripes, and after all be conquered." Thus we find that these suffered much hardships in order to conquer, and yet were uncertain of the victory. Horace speaks of it in nearly the same way: - Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam, Multa tulit fecitque puer: sudavit et alsit: Abstinuit Venere et Baccho. De Arte Poet., ver. 412. A youth who hopes the Olympic prize to gain, All arts must try, and every toil sustain; Th' extremes of heat and cold must often prove; And shun the weakening joys of wine and love. Francis. These quotations show the propriety of the apostle's words: Every man that striveth for the mastery, παντα εγκρατευεται, is temperate, or continent, in all things. They do it to obtain a corruptible crown - The crown won by the victor in the Olympian games was made of the wild olive; in the Pythian games of laurel; in the Nemean games of parsley; and in the Isthmian games of the pine. These were all corruptible, for they began to wither as soon as they were separated from the trees, or plucked out of the earth. In opposition to these, the apostle says, he contended for an incorruptible crown, the heavenly inheritance. He sought not worldly honor; but that honor which comes from God. Verse 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly - In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only one could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, all ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he ought, each would receive the prize. The word αδηλως, which we translate uncertainly, has other meanings. 1. It signifies ignorantly; I do not run like one ignorant of what he is about, or of the laws of the course; I know that there is an eternal life; I know the way that leads to it; and I know and feel the power of it. 2. It signifies without observation; the eyes of all the spectators were fixed on those who ran in these races; and to gain the applause of the multitude, they stretched every nerve; the apostle knew that the eyes of all were fixed upon him. 1. His false brethren waited for his halting: 2. The persecuting Jews and Gentiles longed for his downfall: 3. The Church of Christ looked on him with anxiety: And he acted in all things as under the immediate eye of God. Not as one that beateth the air - Kypke observes, that there are three ways in which persons were said, αερα δερειν, to beat the air. 1. When in practising for the combat they threw their arms and legs about in different ways, thus practising the attitudes of offense and defense. This was termed σκιαμαχια, fighting with a shadow. To this Virgil alludes when representing Dares swinging his arms about, when he rose to challenge a competitor in the boxing match: - Talis prima Dares caput altum in praelia tollit, Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras. Aen. v., ver. 375. Thus, glorying in his strength, in open view His arms around the towering Dares threw; Stalked high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare, And dealt his whistling blows in empty air. Pitt. 2. Sometimes boxers were to aim blows at their adversaries which they did not intend to take place, and which the others were obliged to exert themselves to prevent as much as if they had been really intended, and by these means some dexterous pugilists vanquished their adversaries by mere fatigue, without giving them a single blow. 3. Pugilists were said to beat the air when they had to contend with a nimble adversary, who, by running from side to side, stooping, and various contortions of the body, eluded the blows of his antagonist; who spent his strength on the air, frequently missing his aim, and sometimes overturning himself in attempting to hit his adversary, when this, by his agility, had been able to elude the blow. We have an example of this in Virgil's account of the boxing match between Entellus and Dares, so well told Aeneid. v., ver. 426, etc., and which will give us a proper view of the subject to which the apostle alludes: viz. boxing at the Isthmian games. Constitit in digitos extemplo arrectus uterque, Brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras. Abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu; Immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt. Ille (Dares) pedum melior motu, fretusque juventa; Hic (Entellus) membris et mole valens; sed tarda trementi Genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus. Multa viri nequicquam inter se vulnera jactant, Multa cavo lateri ingeminant, et pectore vasto Dant sonitus; erratque aures et tempora circum Crebra manus; duro crepitant sub vulnere malae, Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem, Corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit. Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem, Aut montana sedet circum castella sob armis; Nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat Arte locum, et variis assultibus irritus urget. Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et alte Extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox Praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit. Entellus Vires In Ventum Effudit; et ultro Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pontere vasto Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit, aut Erymantho, Aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus. - Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes; It clamor coelo: primusque accurrit Acestes, Aequaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum. At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros, Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira: Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus; Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto; Nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra Nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros Creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta. Both on the tiptoe stand, at full extent; Their arms aloft, their bodies inly bent; Their heads from aiming blows they bear afar, With clashing gauntlets then provoke the war. One (Dares) on his youth and pliant limbs relies; One (Entellus) on his sinews, and his giant size. The last is stiff with age, his motions slow; He heaves for breath, he staggers to and fro. - Yet equal in success, they ward, they strike; Their ways are different, but their art alike. Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound; A storm of strokes, well meant, with fury flies, And errs about their temples, ears, and eyes: Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws. Hoary with age, Entellus stands his ground; But with his warping body wards the wound; His head and watchful eye keep even pace, While Dares traverses and shifts his place; And, like a captain who beleaguers round Some strong-built castle, on a rising ground, Views all the approaches with observing eyes; This, and that other part, in vain he tries, And more on industry than force relies. With hands on high, Entellus threats the foe; But Dares watched the motion from below, And slipped aside, and shunned the long descending blow. Entellus wastes his forces on the wind; And thus deluded of the stroke designed, Headlong and heavy fell: his ample breast, And weighty limbs, his ancient mother pressed. So falls a hollow pine, that long had stood On Ida's height or Erymanthus' wood. - Dauntless he rose, and to the fight returned; With shame his cheeks, his eyes with fury burned: Disdain and conscious virtue fired his breast, And, with redoubled force, his foe he pressed; He lays on loads with either hand amain, And headlong drives the Trojan o'er the plain, Nor stops, nor stays; nor rest, nor breath allows; But storms of strokes descend about his brows; A rattling tempest, and a hail of blows. Dryden. To such a combat as this the apostle most manifestly alludes: and in the above description the reader will see the full force and meaning of the words, So fight I, not as one that beateth the air - I have a real and a deadly foe; and as I fight not only for my honor but for my life, I aim every blow well, and do execution with each. No man, who had not seen such a fight, could have given such a description as that above; and we may fairly presume that when Virgil was in Greece he saw such a contest at the Isthmian games, and therefore was enabled to paint from nature. Homer has the same image of missing the foe and beating the air, when describing Achilles attempting to kill Hector, who, by his agility and skill, (Poetice by Apollo), eluded the blow: - Τρις μεν επιτ' επορουσε ποδαρκης διος Αχιλλευς Εγχεΐ χαλκειῳ, τρις δ' ηερα τυψε βαθειαν. Iliad, lib. xx., ver. 445 Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart, Thrice, in impressive air, he plunged the dart. - Pope. Verse 27 But I keep under my body, etc. - This is an allusion, not only to boxers, but also to wrestlers in the same games, as we learn from the word ὑπωπιαζω, which signifies to hit in the eyes; and δουλαγωγω, which signifies to trip, and give the antagonist a fall, and then keep him down when he was down, and having obliged him to acknowledge himself conquered, make him a slave. The apostle considers his body as an enemy with which he must contend; he must mortify it by self-denial, abstinence, and severe labor; it must be the slave of his soul, and not the soul the slave of the body, which in all unregenerate men is the case. Lest - having preached to others - The word κηρυξας, which we translate having preached, refers to the office of the κηρυξ, or herald, at these games, whose business it was to proclaim the conditions of the games, display the prizes, exhort the combatants, excite the emulation of those who were to contend, declare the terms of each contest, pronounce the name of the victors, and put the crown on their heads. See my observations on this office in the notes at Mat 3:17 . Should be a castaway - The word αδοκιμος signifies such a person as the βραβευται, or judges of the games, reject as not having deserved the prize. So Paul himself might be rejected by the great Judge; and to prevent this, he ran, he contended, he denied himself, and brought his body into subjection to his spirit, and had his spirit governed by the Spirit of God. Had this heavenly man lived in our days, he would by a certain class of people have been deemed a legalist; a people who widely differ from the practice of the apostle, for they are conformed to the world, and they feed themselves without fear. On the various important subjects in this chapter I have already spoken in great detail; not, indeed, all that might be said, but as much as is necessary. A few general observations will serve to recapitulate and impress what has been already said. 1. St. Paul contends that a preacher of the Gospel has a right to his support; and he has proved this from the law, from the Gospel, and from the common sense and consent of men. If a man who does not labor takes his maintenance from the Church of God, it is not only a domestic theft but a sacrilege. He that gives up his time to this labor has a right to the support of himself and family: he who takes more than is sufficient for this purpose is a covetous hireling. He who does nothing for the cause of God and religion, and yet obliges the Church to support him, and minister to his idleness, irregularities, luxury, avarice, and ambition, is a monster for whom human language has not yet got a name. 2. Those who refuse the laborer his hire are condemned by God and by good men. How liberal are many to public places of amusement, or to some popular charity, where their names are sure to be published abroad; while the man who watches over their souls is fed with the most parsimonious hand! Will not God abate this pride and reprove this hard-heartedness? 3. As the husbandman plows and sows in hope, and the God of providence makes him a partaker of his hope, let the upright preachers of God's word take example and encouragement by him. Let them labor in hope; God will not permit them to spend their strength for nought. Though much of their seed, through the fault of the bad ground, may be unfruitful, yet some will spring up unto eternal life. 4. St. Paul became all things to all men, that he might gain all. This was not the effect of a fickle or man-pleasing disposition; no man was ever of a more firm or decided character than St. Paul; but whenever he could with a good conscience yield so as to please his neighbor for his good to edification, he did so; and his yielding disposition was a proof of the greatness of his soul. The unyielding and obstinate mind is always a little mind: a want of true greatness always produces obstinacy and peevishness. Such a person as St. Paul is a blessing wherever he goes: on the contrary, the obstinate, hoggish man, is either a general curse, or a general cross; and if a preacher of the Gospel, his is a burthensome ministry. Reader, let me ask thee a question: If there be no gentleness in thy manners, is there any in thy heart? If there be little of Christ without, can there be much of Christ within? 5. A few general observations on the Grecian games may serve to recapitulate the subject in the four last verses. 1. The Isthmian games were celebrated among the Corinthians; and therefore the apostle addresses them, 1Cor 9:24 : Know ye not, etc. 2. Of the five games there used, the apostle speaks only of three. Running; 1Cor 9:24 : They which run in a race; and 1Cor 9:26 : I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. Wrestling, 1Cor 9:25 : Every man that striveth; ὁ αγωνιζομενος, he who wrestleth. Boxing, 1Cor 9:26 , 1Cor 9:27 : So fight I, not as one that beateth the air; οὑτω πυκτευω, so fist I, so I hit; but I keep my body under; ὑπωπιαζω, I hit in the eye, I make the face black and blue. 3. He who won the race by running was to observe the laws of racing - keeping within the white line which marked out the path or compass in which they ran; and he was also to outrun the rest, and to come first to the goal; otherwise he ran uncertainly, 1Cor 9:24 , 1Cor 9:26 , and was αδοκιμος, one to whom the prize could not be judged by the judges of the games. 4. The athletic combatants, or wrestlers, observed a set diet. See the quotation from Epictetus, under 1Cor 9:25 . And this was a regimen both for quantity and quality; and they carefully abstained from all things that might render them less able for the combat; whence the apostle says they were temperate in all things, 1Cor 9:25 . 5. No person who was not of respectable family and connections was permitted to be a competitor at the Olympic games. St. Chrysostom, in whose time these games were still celebrated, assures us that no man was suffered to enter the lists who was either a servant or a slave, ουδεις αγωνιζεται δουλος, ουδεις στρατευεται οικετης· and if any such was found who had got himself inserted on the military list, his name was erased, and he was expelled and punished. Αλλ' εαν ἁλῳ δουλος ων, μετα τιμωριας εκβαλλεται του των στρατιωτων καταολου. To prevent any person of bad character from entering the list at the Olympic games, the kerux, or herald, was accustomed to proclaim aloud in the theater when the combatant was brought forth: Μη τις τουτου κατηγορει; ὡστε αυτον αποσκευασαμενον της δουλειας την ὑποψιαν οὑτως εις τους αγωνας εμβηναι· Who can accuse this man? For which he gives this reason: "that being free from all suspicion of being in a state of slavery, (and elsewhere he says of being a thief, or of corrupt morals), he might enter the lists with credit." Chrysost. Homil. in Inscript. Altaris, etc., vol. iii. page 59, Edit. Benedict. 6. The boxers used to prepare themselves by a sort of σκιαμαχια, or going through all their postures of defense and attack when no adversary was before them. This was termed beating the air, 1Cor 9:26 ; but when such came to the combat, they endeavored to blind their adversaries by hitting them in the eye, which is the meaning of ὑπωπιαζειν, as we have seen under 1Cor 9:27 . 7. The rewards of all these exercises were only a crown made of the leaves of some plant, or the bough of some tree; the olive, bay, laurel, parsley, etc., called here by the apostle φθαρτον στεφανον, a corruptible, withering, and fading crown; while he and his fellow Christians expected a crown incorruptible and immortal, and that could not fade away. 8. On the subject of the possibility of St. Paul becoming a castaway, much has been said in contradiction to his own words. He most absolutely states the possibility of the case: and who has a right to call this in question? The ancient Greek commentators, as Whitby has remarked, have made a good use of the apostle's saying, Ει δε Παυλος τουτο δεδοικεν ὁ τοσουτους διδαξας, τι αν ειποιμεν ἡμεις; "If Paul, so great a man, one who had preached and labored so much, dreaded this, what cause have we to fear lest this should befall us?" 9. On the necessity of being workers together with God, in order to avoid apostasy, Clemens Alexandrinus has some useful observations in his Stromata, lib. vii., page 448, Edit. Oberthur: Ὡς δε, says he, ὁ ιατρος ὑγειαν παρεχεται τοις συνεργουσι προς ὑγειαν, οὑτως και ὁ Θεος την αΐδιον σωτηριαν τοις συνεργουσι προς γνωσιν τε και ευπραγιαν· "As a physician gives health to those who cooperate with him in their cure; so God also gives eternal salvation to them who are workers together with him in knowledge and a godly life." "Therefore," says he, "it is well said among the Greeks, that when a certain wrestler, who had long inured his body to manly exercises, was going to the Olympic games, as he was passing by the statue of Jupiter he offered up this prayer: Ει παντα, ω Ζευ, δεοντως μοι τα προς τον αγωνα ταρεσκευασται, αποδος φερων δικαιως την νικην εμοι· 'O Jupiter, if I have performed every thing as I ought in reference to this contest, grant me the victory!'" May we not feel something of this spirit in seeking the kingdom of God? And can any thing of this kind be supposed to derogate from the glory of Christ? St. Paul himself says, if a man contend for the mastery, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. Shall we pretend to be wiser than the apostle; and say, that we may gain the crown, though we neither fight the good fight nor finish the course? Introduction Peculiar circumstances in the Jewish history were typical of the greatest mysteries of the Gospel; particularly their passing through the Red Sea, and being overshadowed with the miraculous cloud, 1Cor 10:1 , 1Cor 10:2 . The manna with which they were fed, 1Cor 10:3 . And rock out of which they drank, 1Cor 10:4 . The punishments inflicted on them for their disobedience are warnings to us, 1Cor 10:5 . We should not lust as they did, 1Cor 10:6 . Nor commit idolatry, 1Cor 10:7 . Nor fornication as they did; in consequence of which twenty-three thousand of them were destroyed, 1Cor 10:8 . Nor tempt Christ as they did, 1Cor 10:9 . Nor murmur, 1Cor 10:10 . All these transgressions and their punishments are recorded as warnings to us, that we may not fall away from the grace of God, 1Cor 10:11 , 1Cor 10:12 . God never suffers any to be tempted above their strength, 1Cor 10:13 . Idolatry must be detested, 1Cor 10:14 . And the sacrament of the Lord's Supper properly considered and taken, that God may not be provoked to punish us, 1Cor 10:15-22 . There are some things which may be legally done which are not expedient; and we should endeavor so to act as to edify each other, 1Cor 10:23 , 1Cor 10:24 . The question concerning eating things offered to idols considered, and finally settled, 1Cor 10:25-30 . We should do all things to the glory of God, avoid whatsoever might be the means of stumbling another, and seek the profit of others in spiritual matters rather than our own gratification, 1Cor 10:31-33 . Verse 1 I would not that ye should be ignorant - It seems as if the Corinthians had supposed that their being made partakers of the ordinances of the Gospel, such as baptism and the Lord's Supper, would secure their salvation, notwithstanding they might be found partaking of idolatrous feasts; as long, at least, as they considered an idol to be nothing in the world. To remove this destructive supposition, which would have led them to endless errors both in principle and practice, the apostle shows that the Jews had sacramental ordinances in the wilderness, similar to those of the Christians; and that, notwithstanding they had the typical baptism from the cloud, and the typical eucharist from the paschal lamb, and the manna that came down from heaven, yet, when they joined with idolaters and partook of idolatrous feasts, God was not only displeased with them, but signified this displeasure by pouring out his judgments upon them, so that in one day 23,000 of them were destroyed. Under the cloud - It is manifest from Scripture that the miraculous cloud in the wilderness performed a three-fold office to the Israelites.

Sermon for the Third Sunday before Lent; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 10:1-5 THE CHRISTIAN RACE FOR THE PRIZE. 1 This lesson is a part of the long four-chapter instruction Paul gives the Corinthians. Therein he teaches them how to deal with those weak in the faith, and warns rash, presumptuous Christians to take heed lest they fall, however they may stand at the present. He presents a forcible simile in the running of the race, or the strife for the prize. Many run without obtaining the object of their pursuit. But we should not vainly run. To faithfully follow Christ does not mean simply to run. That will not suffice. We must run to the purpose. To believe, to be running in Christ's course, is not sufficient; we must lay hold on eternal life. Christ says ( Mt 24:13 ), “But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” And Paul ( I Cor 10:12 ), “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 2 Now, running is hindered in two ways; for one, by indolence. When faith is not strenuously exercised, when we are indolent in good works, our progress is hindered, so that the prize is not attained. But to such hindrance I do not think Paul here refers. He is not alluding to those who indolently run, but to them who run in vain because missing their object; individuals, for instance, who pursue their aim at full speed, but, deluded by a phantom, miss their aim and rush to ruin or run up against fearful obstacles. Hence Paul enjoins men to run successfully while in the race, that they may seize the prize and not lose it by default. In consequence the race is hindered when a false goal is set up or the true one removed. The apostle says ( Col 2:18 ), “Let no man rob you of your prize.” It is true, however, that an indolent, negligent life will eventually bring about loss of the prize. While men sleep, the enemy very soon sows tares among the wheat. 3 The goal is removed when the Word of God is falsified and creations of the human mind are preached under the name of God's Word. And these things readily come about when we are not careful to keep the unity of the Spirit, when each follows his own ideas and yields to no other, because he prefers his own conceit. Such must be the course of events where love is lacking. The strong and the learned desire to be looked upon as peculiarly commendable, while the weak in the faith are despised. Thus the devil has abundant opportunity to sow tares. Paul calls love the unity of the Spirit, and admonishes ( Eph 4:3 ) that we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In Second Thessalonians 2:10 he proclaims the coming of Antichrist “because they received not the love of the truth”; that is, true love. V.25. “And every man that striveth in the games [that striveth for the mastery].” 4 Were he who competes in a race to attempt other things or to make a success of other matters at the same time, he would not gain much; rather he would soon be defeated, lose the race and everything. If he would truly strive, he must attend to no other thing. All else must be neglected and attention centered upon the contest alone. Even then the winner must have fortune's favor; for they who neglect all to run do not all gain the prize. Likewise in the Christian contest it is necessary, and in an even higher degree, to renounce everything and to devote oneself only to the contest. He who would in addition seek his own glory and profit, who would find in the Word and Spirit of God occasion for his own praise and advantage after the manner of the dissenters and schismatics--what can such a one expect to win? He is wholly entangled in temporal glory and gain; bound hand and foot, a complete captive. The race he runs is the mere dream race of one lying upon his couch an indolent captive. V.26. “I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air.” 5 Paul here points to himself as exemplar and hints at the cause of failure, viz., lapse from love and the use of the divine word in a wilful, ambitious and covetous spirit, whereas the faith which worketh by love is lacking. Under such conditions, false and indolent Christians run indeed a merry race; yet God's Word and ways in which they are so alert and speedy are merely a show, because they make them subserve their own interests and glory. They fail, however, to see that they race uncertainly and beat the air. They never make a serious attempt, nor do they ever hit the mark. While it is theirs to mortify ambition, to restrain their self-will and to enlist in the service of their neighbors, they do none of these things. On the contrary, they even do many things to strengthen their ambition and self-will, and then they swear by a thousand oaths that they are seeking not their own honor but the honor of God, their neighbor's welfare and not their own. Peter says ( 2 Pet 1:9-10 ) this class are blind and cannot see afar and have forgotten they were purged from their old sins, because they fail to make their calling sure by good works. Therefore, it comes about that, as Paul says, they run uncertainly, beating the air. Their hearts are unstable and wavering before God, and they are changeable and fickle in all their ways, James 1:8. Since they are aimless and inconstant at heart, this will appear likewise as inconstancy in regard to works and doctrines. They undertake now this and now that; they cannot be quiet nor refrain from factional strife. Thus they miss their aim or else remove the goal, and cannot but deviate from the true and common path. V.27. “But I buffet [keep under] my body, and bring it into bondage [subjection].” 6 The apostle's thought is the same as in his statement above, “Every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all-things.” By “keeping under the body” Paul means, not only subduing the carnal lusts, but every temporal object as well, in so far as it appeals to bodily desire--love of honor, fame, wealth and the like. He who gives license to these things instead of subduing them will preach to his own condemnation, however correct his preaching be. Such do not permit the truth to be presented; this is true particularly of temporal honor. These words of the apostle, then, are a fine thrust at ambitious and self-centered preachers and Christians. Not only do they run in vain and fight to no purpose; they become actual castaways with only the semblance--the color--of Christianity. EXAMPLES FROM SCRIPTURE. V.1. “For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud.” 7 Paul cites a terrible example from Scripture to prove that not all obtain the prize who run. There were about six hundred thousand of them, all of whom walked in the way of God and enjoyed his word and his confidence so completely as to be protected under the cloud and miraculously to pass through the sea; yet among the vast number who ran at that time only two, Joshua and Caleb, obtained the prize. They alone of all that multitude reached the promised land. Later on in the chapter (verses 11-12) Paul explains this fact, saying: “Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition... wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” The design of these dealings of God with Israel is to terrify the pride, false wisdom and self-will; to deter men from despising their fellows and from seeking to make the Word of God minister to their own honor or profit in preference to the honor and profit of others. The intent is to have each individual put himself on an equality with others, each to bear with his fellow, the weak enduring the strong, and so on, as enjoined in the four chapters. 8 How many great and noble men may have been among the six hundred thousand, men to whom we would have been unworthy to hand a cup of water! They included the twelve princes of the twelve tribes, one of whom, Nahshon, Matthew ( ch. 1:4 ) numbers in the holy lineage of Christ. There were also the seventy elders who shared in the spirit of Moses, Eldad and Medad in particular ( Num 11:27 ), and all the other great men aside from the faction of Korah. All these, mark you, strove in the race. They did and suffered much. They witnessed many miracles of God. They aided in erecting a grand tabernacle and in instituting divine worship. They were full of good works. Yet they failed, and died in the wilderness. Who is so daring and haughty he will not be restrained and humbled by so remarkable an example of divine judgment? Well may it be said, “Let him that... standeth take heed lest he fall.” 9 Well, the example of Israel is one readily understood. God grant we may heed it! Let us examine the apostle's text yet further--his mention of baptism and spiritual food, using Christian terms and placing the fathers upon the same plane with us Christians, as if they also had had Baptism and the Holy Supper. He would have us know, first, the oft-repeated fact that God from the beginning led, redeemed and saved his saints by two instrumentalities-by his own word and external signs. Adam was saved by the word of promise ( Gen 3:15 ): The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head; that is, Christ shall come to conquer sin, death and Satan for us. To this promise God added the sign of sacrifice, sacrifice kindled with fire from heaven, as in Abel's case ( Gen 4:4 ), and in other cases mentioned in the Scriptures. The word of promise was Adam's Gospel until the time of Noah and of Abraham. In this promise all the saints down to Abraham believed, and were redeemed; as we are redeemed by the word of the Gospel which we believe. The fire from heaven served them as a sign, as baptism does us, which is added to the word of God. 10 Such signs were repeated again and again at various times, the last sign being given by Christ in his own person- -the Gospel with baptism, granted to all nations. For instance, God gave Noah the promise that he should survive the flood, and granted him a sign in the ship, or ark, he built. And by faith in the promise and sign Noah was justified and saved, with his family. Afterward God gave him another promise, and for a sign the rainbow. Again, he gave Abraham a promise, with the sign of circumcision. Circumcision was Abraham's baptism, just as the ark and the flood were that of Noah. So also our baptism is to us circumcision, ark and flood, according to Peter's explanation. I Pet 3:21. Everywhere we meet the Word and the Sign of God, in which we must believe in order to be saved through faith from sin and death. 11 Thus the children of Israel had God's word that they should inherit the promised land. In addition to that word they were given many signs, in particular those Paul here names--the sea, the cloud, the bread from heaven, the water from the rock. These he calls their baptism; just as our baptism might be called our sea and cloud. Faith and the Spirit are the same everywhere, though the signs and the words vary. Signs and words indeed change from time to time, but faith in the one and same God continues. Through various signs and revelations, God at different times bestows the same faith and the same Spirit, effecting through these in all saints remission of sins, redemption from death, and salvation, whether they lived in the beginning or at the end of time, or while time progressed. 12 Such is Paul's meaning when he says the fathers did eat the same meat, and drink the same drink as we. He, however, qualifies with the word “spiritual.” Externally and individually Israel had signs and revelations different from ours; but the Spirit and their faith in Christ was identical with our own. Spiritual eating and drinking is simply believing in God's Word and sign. Christ says ( Jn 6:56 ), “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.” And in the preceding verse, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” That is, He that believeth in me shall live. V.4. “For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them.” 13 In other words, they believed in the same Christ in whom we believe, though he was yet to come in the flesh; and the sign of their faith was the material rock, from which they physically drank water, just as we in partaking of the material bread and wine at the altar spiritually eat and drink the true Christ. With the outward act of eating and drinking we exercise inward faith. Had the Israelites not possessed the word of God and faith as they drank from the rock, the act of drinking would not have benefited their souls. Neither would it profit us to receive bread and wine at the altar if we were without faith. Indeed, had not the Word of God come first, the rock would not have yielded water and command faith. Likewise, if God's Word did not accompany bread and wine, they would not be spiritual food nor exercise faith. 14 So it is ever the same spiritual meat and drink which God embodies in his word and sign, whatever its material and external form may be. Were he to command me to lift up a mere straw, immediately the straw would hold for me spiritual food and drink. Not because of any virtue in the straw, but because it is a revelation and sign of the divine truth and presence. Again, if God's Word and his sign be lacking or unrecognized, the very presence of God himself has no effect. Christ says of himself ( Jn 6:63 ), “The flesh profiteth nothing.” He makes that statement because his hearers pay no heed to the words in which he speaks of his flesh, though it is these which make his body the true meat, according to his declaration (v. 58), “This is the bread which came down out of heaven.” Therefore we are not to regard unduly, as blind reason does, the works, signs and miracles of God; rather we are to recognize his message therein. This is the act of faith. 15 The apostle refers to a single type--the rock, saying: V.4. “They drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.” By this statement he makes all the figures and signs granted to the people of Israel by the Word of God refer to Christ; for where the Word of God is, there Christ is. All the words and promises of God are concerning Christ. Christ himself refers the serpent of Moses to himself, giving it a typical significance, Jn 3:14. We may truly say the Israelites looked upon the same serpent we behold, for they saw the spiritual serpent that followed them, or Christ on the cross. Their beholding was believing in the Word of God, with the serpent for a sign; even as their spiritual drinking was believing in the Word of God with the rock for a sign. Without the Word of God, the serpent could have profited them nothing; nor could brazen serpents innumerable, had the Israelites gazed upon them forever. Likewise the rock would have profited them nothing without the word of God; they might have crushed to powder all the rocks of the world or drank from them to no purpose. 16 According to the general principle here laid down by Paul, by using the rock as illustration, we may say the Israelites partook of the same bread of heaven whereof we eat; and they ate of the spiritual bread of heaven which followed them--Christ. With them, eating was believing in the Word of God, while they had for their sign the bread from heaven whereof they physically partook. Had not this Word accompanied the bread, it would have been simply material food, incapable of profiting the soul or calling forth faith. Christ says ( Jn 6:32 ), “It was not Moses that gave the bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the bread out of heaven.” And (verse 58), “Not as the fathers ate [manna], and died.” Even Moses says ( Deut 8:3 ), “And fed thee with manna... that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah.” In other words, “In the material manna you must not merely see the work--the act of satisfying the appetite--but much rather the word of promise bringing you the bread of heaven; for by that word you live forever if you have faith.” 17 We may say the same concerning the sea and the cloud. The children of Israel walked under the same cloud that shadows us; that means, they walked under the spiritual cloud that followed them--Christ. Otherwise expressed, walking under the cloud was simply believing in the word of God, the word they had in their hearts, which told them to follow the cloud. Without that word they would have been unable to believe or to follow; indeed, with the word lacking, the cloud would never have appeared. Therefore, the cloud was called the glory of the Lord whose appearance had been promised. So we see how we must in all things have regard to the word of God. To it faith must attach itself. Without it, either there are no signs and works of God, or else, existing, and regarded with the physical eyes only, without reference to the Word, they cause one to open his mouth in wonderment for a while like everything else which is new, but they do not profit the soul nor do they appeal to faith. 18 Some take the words “which followed them” to mean that the spiritual rock accompanied the children of Israel, companioning them--“comitante petra,” not “petra consequente,” Christ being spiritually present in the word and by faith. This view they endeavor to base upon the Greek text. I have rendered it: “the rock following.” The point is not worth contention. Let each understand it as he may. Both interpretations given are correct. I hold to what I have offered because all the circumstances of the incident, and earlier words of God, pointed to a future Christ, a Christ who should follow, in whom they should all believe. Thus Abraham saw behind him the ram in the thicket and took and sacrificed him; that is, he believed in the Christ who afterward should come and be sacrificed. 19 Again, some say the common noun in the clause “and the rock was Christ” means the material rock; and since Christ cannot be material rock they explain the inconsistency by saying the rock signifies Christ. They here make the word “was” equivalent to “signifies.” The same reasoning they apply to certain words of Christ; for instance, they say where Christ, referring to the Holy Supper ( Mt 26:26 ), commands, “Take, eat; this is my body”--they say the meaning is, “This bread signifies, but is not truly, my body.” They would thereby deny that the bread is the body of Christ. In the same manner do they deal with the text ( Jn 15:1 ) “I am the true vine,” in making it “I am signified by the vine.” Beware of such reasoners. Their own malice has led them to such perverting of Scripture. Paul here expressly distinguishes between material and spiritual rocks, saying: “They drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.” He does not say the material rock was Christ, but the spiritual rock. The material rock was not spiritual, and did not follow or go with them. 20 The explanations and distortions of such false reasoners, are not needed here. The words are true as they read; they are to be understood in substance and not figuratively. So in John 15:1, Christ's reference is not to a material but a spiritual vine. How would this read, “I am signified by a spiritual vine”? Christ is speaking of that which exists, and must so be understood--“I am”; here is a true spiritual vine. Similar is John 6:55, “My flesh is meat indeed.” The thought is not, “My flesh signifies, or is signified by, true meat”; spiritual meat is spoken of and the meaning is, “My flesh is substantially a food; not for the stomach, physically, but for the soul, spiritually.” Neither must you permit the words “This is my body” to be perverted to mean that the body is but signified by the bread, as some pretend; you must accept the words precisely as they mean-- “This bread is essentially, by a real presence, my body.” The forcing of Scripture to meet one's own opinions cannot be tolerated. A clear text proving that the infinitive “to be” is equivalent to “signify” would be needed; and, even though this might be proven in a few instances, it would not suffice. It would still have to be indisputably shown true in the place in question. This can never be done. Now, the proposition being impossible, we must surrender to the Word of God and accept it as it stands. 21 Christ has been typified by various signs and objects in the Old Testament, and the rock is one of them. Note first, the material rock spoken of had place independently of man's labor and far from man's domain, in the wilderness, in desolate solitude. So Christ is a truly insignificant object in the world, disregarded, unnoticed; nor is he indebted to human labor. 22 Further, water flowing from the rock is contrary to nature; it is purely miraculous. The water typifies the quickening Spirit of God, who proceeds from the condemned, crucified and dead Christ. Thus life is drawn from death, and this by the power of God. Christ's death is our life, and if we would live we must die with him. 23 Moses strikes the rock at the command of God and points to it, thus prefiguring the ministerial office which by word of mouth strikes from the spiritual rock the Spirit. For God will give his Spirit to none without the instrumentality of the Word and the ministerial office instituted by him for this purpose, adding the command that nothing be preached but Christ. Had not Moses obeyed the command of God to smite the rock with his rod, no water would ever have flowed therefrom. His rod represents rod of the mouth whereof Isaiah speaks ( ch. 11:4 ): “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” “A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” Ps 45:6.

15 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. 16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! 17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. 18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. Here he tells them that he had, notwithstanding, waived his privilege, and lays down his reason for doing it. I. He tells them that he had neglected to claim his right in times past: I have used none of these things, v. 15 . He neither ate nor drank himself at their cost, nor led about a wife to be maintained by them, nor forbore working to maintain himself. From others he received a maintenance, but not from them, for some special reasons. Nor did he write this to make his claim now. Though he here asserts his right, yet he does not claim his due; but denies himself for their sakes, and the gospel. II. We have the reason assigned of his exercising this self-denial. He would not have his glorying made void: It were better for his to die than that any man should make his glorying void, v. 15 . This glorying did imply nothing in it of boasting, or self-conceit, or catching at applause, but a high degree of satisfaction and comfort. It was a singular pleasure to him to preach the gospel without making it burdensome; and he was resolved that among them he would not lose this satisfaction. His advantages for promoting the gospel were his glory, and he valued them above his rights, or his very life: Better were it for him to die than to have his glorying made void, than to have it justly said that he preferred his wages to his work. No, he was ready to deny himself for the sake of the gospel. Note, It is the glory of a minister to prefer the success of his ministry to his interest, and deny himself, that he may serve Christ, and save souls. Not that in so doing he does more than he ought; he is still acting within the bounds of the law of charity. But he acts upon truly noble principles, he brings much honour to God in so doing; and those that honour him he will honour. It is what God will approve and commend, what a man may value himself for and take comfort in, though he cannot make a merit of it before God. III. He shows that this self-denial was more honourable in itself, and yielded him much more content and comfort, than his preaching did: " Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing whereof to glory; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel, v. 16 . It is my charge, my business; it is the work for which I am constituted an apostle, ch. i. 17 . This is a duty expressly bound upon me. It is not in any degree a matter of liberty. Necessity is upon me. I am false and unfaithful to my trust, I break a plain and express command, and woe be to me, if I do not preach the gospel. " Those who are set apart to the office of the ministry have it in charge to preach the gospel. Woe be to them if they do not. From this none is excepted. But it is not given in charge to all, nor any preacher of the gospel, to do his work gratis, to preach and have no maintenance out of it. It is not said, "Woe be to him if he do not preach the gospel, and yet maintain himself." In this point he is more at liberty. It may be his duty to preach at some seasons, and under some circumstances, without receiving a maintenance for it; but he has, in the general, a right to it, and may expect it from those among whom he labours. When he renounces this right for the sake of the gospel and the souls of men, though he does not supererogate, yet he denies himself, waives his privilege and right; he does more than his charge and office in general, and at all times, obliges him to. Woe be to him if he do not preach the gospel; but it may sometimes be his duty to insist on his maintenance for so doing, and whenever he forbears to claim it he parts with his right, though a man may sometimes be bound to do so by the general duties of love to God and charity to men. Note, It is a high attainment in religion to renounce our own rights for the good of others; this will entitle to a peculiar reward from God. For, IV. The apostle here informs us that doing our duty with a willing mind will meet with a gracious recompence from God: If I do this thing, that is, either preach the gospel or take no maintenance, willingly, I have a reward. Indeed, it is willing service only that is capable of reward from God. It is not the bare doing of any duty, but the doing of it heartily (that is, willingly and cheerfully) that God has promised to reward. Leave the heart out of our duties, and God abhors them: they are but the carcasses, without the life and spirit, of religion. Those must preach willingly who would be accepted of God in this duty. They must make their business a pleasure, and not esteem it a drudgery. And those who, out of regard to the honour of God or good of souls, give up their claim to a maintenance, should do this duty willingly, if they would be accepted in it or rewarded for it. But whether the duty of the office be done willingly or with reluctance, whether the heart be in it or averse from it, all in office have a trust and charge from God, for which they must be accountable. Ministers have a dispensation of the gospel, or stewardship — oikonomia ( Luke xvi. 2 ), committed to them. Note, Christ's willing servants shall not fail of a recompence, and that proportioned to their fidelity, zeal, and diligence; and his slothful and unwilling servants shall all be called to an account. Taking his name, and professing to do his business, will make men accountable at his bar. And how sad an account have slothful servants to give! V. The apostle sums up the argument, by laying before them the encouraging hope he had of a large recompence for his remarkable self-denial: What is my reward then? v. 18 . What is it I expect a recompence from God for? That when I preach the gospel I may make it without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. Or, "not so to claim my rights as to make them destroy the great intentions and ends of my office, but renounce them for the sake of these." It is an abuse of power to employ it against the very ends for which it is given. And the apostle would never use his power, or privilege of being maintained by his ministry, so as to frustrate the ends of it, but would willingly and cheerfully deny himself for the honour of Christ and the interest of souls. That ministers who follows his example may have cheerful expectations of a full recompence. The Apostle's Devotedness. ( a. d. 57.)

variously understood by interpreters. The general scope and purpose of the passage is to show what was the ground of his "glorying," or of his hope of "reward" in preaching the gospel. In 1Cor 9:15, he had intimated that he had cause of "glorying," and that that cause was one which he was determined no one should take away. In this passage, ( 1Cor 9:16-18,) he states what that was. He says, it was not simply that he preached; for there was a necessity laid on him, and he could not help it: his call was such, the command was such, that his life would be miserable if he did not do it. But all idea of "glorying," or of "reward," must be connected with some voluntary service--something which would show the inclination, disposition, desire of the soul. And as that in his case could not be well shown, where a "necessity" was laid on him, it could be shown only in his submitting voluntarily to trials; in denying himself; in being willing to forego comforts which he might lawfully enjoy; and in thus furnishing a full and complete test of his readiness to do anything to promote the gospel. The essential idea here is, therefore, that there was such a necessity laid on him in his call to preach the gospel, that his compliance with that call could not be regarded as appropriately connected with reward; and that in his case the circumstance which showed that reward would be proper, was, his denying himself, and making the gospel without charge. This would show that his heart was in the thing; that he was not urged on by necessity; that he loved the work; and that it would be consistent for the Lord to reward him for his self-denials and toils in his service. I have nothing to glory of. The force of this would be better seen by a more literal translation. "It is not to me glorying;" i.e., this is not the cause of my glorying, or rejoicing, (ουκεστιμοικαυχημα.) In 1Cor 9:15, he had said that he had a cause of glorying, or of joy, (καυχημα.) He here says that that joy or glorying did not consist in the simple fact that he preached the gospel; for necessity was laid on him: there was some other cause and source of his joy or glorying than that simple fact, 1Cor 9:18. Others preached the gospel also: in common with them, it might be a source of joy to him that he preached the gospel; but it was not the source of his peculiar joy for he had been called into the apostleship in such a manner as to render it inevitable that he should preach the gospel. His glorying was of another kind. For necessity is laid upon me. My preaching is in a manner inevitable, and cannot therefore be regarded as that in which I peculiarly glory. I was called into the ministry in a miraculous manner; I was addressed personally by the Lord Jesus; I was arrested when I was a persecutor; I was commanded to go and preach; I had a direct commission from heaven. There was no room for hesitancy or debate on the subject, ( Gall 1:16,) and I gave myself at once and entirely to the work, Acts 9:6. I have been urged to this by a direct call from heaven; and to yield obedience to this call cannot be regarded as evincing such an inclination to give myself to this work as if the call had been in the usual mode, and with less decided manifestations. We are not to suppose that Paul was compelled to preach, or that he was not voluntary in his work, or that he did not prefer it to any other employment: but he speaks in a popular sense, as saying that he "could not help it;" or that the evidence of his call was irresistible, and left no room for hesitation. He was free; but there was not the slightest room for debate on the subject. The evidence of his call was so strong that he could not but yield. Probably none now have evidences of their call to the ministry as strong as this. But there are many, very many, who feel that a kind of necessity is laid on them to preach. Their consciences urge them to it. They would be miserable in any other employment. The course of Providence has shut them up to it. Like Saul of Tarsus, they may have been persecutors, or revilers, or "injurious," or blasphemers, ( 1Timm 1:13;) or they may, like him, have commenced a career of ambition; or they may have been engaged in some scheme of money-making or of pleasure; and in an hour when they little expected it, they have been arrested by the truth of God, and their attention directed to the gospel ministry. Many a minister has, before entering the ministry, formed many other purposes of life; but the providence of God barred his way, hemmed in his goings, and constrained him to become an ambassador of the cross. Yea, woe is unto me, etc. I should be miserable and wretched if I did not preach. My preaching, therefore, in itself considered, cannot be a subject of glorying. I am shut up to it. I am urged to it in every way. I should be wretched were I not to do it, and were I to seek any other calling. My conscience would reproach me. My judgment would condemn me. My heart would pain me. I should have no comfort in any other calling; and God would frown upon me. Learn hence, (1.) That Paul had been converted. Once he had no love for the ministry, but persecuted the Saviour. With the feelings which he then had, he would have been wretched in the ministry; with those which he now had, he would have been wretched out of it. His heart, therefore, had been wholly changed. (2.) All ministers who are duly called to the work can say the same thing. They would be wretched in any other calling. Their conscience would reproach them. They would have no interest in the plans of the world; in the schemes of wealth, and pleasure, and fame. Their heart is in this work, and in this alone. In this, though amidst circumstances of poverty, persecution, nakedness, cold, peril, sickness, they have comfort. In any other calling, though surrounded by affluence, friends, wealth, honours, pleasures, gaiety, fashion, they would be miserable. (3.) A man whose heart is not in the ministry, and who would be as happy in any other calling, is not fit to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Unless his heart is there, and he prefers that to any other calling, he should never think of preaching the gospel. (4.) Men who leave the ministry, and voluntarily devote themselves to some other calling when they might preach, never had the proper spirit of an ambassador of Jesus. If for the sake of ease or gain; if to avoid the cares and anxieties of the life of a pastor; if to make money, or secure money when made; if to cultivate a farm, to teach a school, to write a book, to live upon an estate, or to enjoy life, they lay aside the ministry, it is proof that they never had a call to the work. So did not Paul; and so did not Paul's Master and ours. They loved the work, and they left it not till death. Neither for ease, honour, nor wealth; neither to avoid care, toil, pain, or poverty, did they cease in their work, until the one could say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith," ( 2Ti 4:7;) and the other, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do," Jn 17:4. (5.) We see the reason why men are sometimes miserable in other callings. They should have entered the ministry. God called them to it; and they became hopefully pious. But they chose the law, or the practice of medicine, or chose to be farmers, merchants, teachers, professors, or statesmen. And God withers their piety, blights their happiness, follows them with the reproaches of conscience, makes them sad, melancholy, wretched. They do no good; and they have no comfort in life. Every man should do the will of God, and then every man would be happy. (a) "necessity" Jer 1:17, 20:9 Verse 17. For if I do this thing willingly. If I preach so as to show that my heart is in it; that I am not compelled. If I pursue such a course as to sho