As for the apostle and the labourers, they were to consider them as
stewards employed by the Lord. And it was to Him that Paul committed the
judgment of his conduct. He cared little for the judgment man might form
respecting him. He was not conscious of anything wrong, but that did not
justify him. He who judged (examined) him was the Lord. And, after all, who
was it that gave to the one or to the other that which he could use in
service?
Paul had thought well, in treating this subject, to use names that they
were using in their carnal divisions, and those, especially himself and
Apollos, which could not be used to pretend he was getting rid of others to
set up himself; but what was the real state of the case? They had despised
the apostle. Yes, he says, we have been put to shame, despised, persecuted,
in distress; you have been at ease, like kings-a reproach in accordance
with their own pretensions, their own reproaches-a reproach that touched
them to the quick, if they had any feeling left. Paul and his companions
had been as the offscouring of the earth for Christ's sake, while the
Corinthians were reposing in the lap of luxury and ease. Even while writing
to them, this was still his position. "Would to God," he says, "ye did
reign" (that the day of Christ were come) "in order that we might reign
with you." He felt his sufferings, although he bore them joyfully. They,
the apostles, were set forth on God's part as though to be the last great
spectacle in those marvellous games of which this world was the
amphitheatre; and as His witnesses they were exposed to the fury of a
brutal world. Patience and meekness were their only weapons.
Nevertheless he did not say these things to put them to shame, he warned
them as his beloved sons; for his sons they were. Though they might have
ten thousand teachers, he had begotten them all by the gospel. Let them
then follow him. In all this there is the deep working of the affection of
a noble heart, wounded to the utmost, but wounded in order to bring out an
affection that rose above his grief. It is this which so strikingly
distinguishes the work of the Spirit in the New Testament, as in Christ
Himself. The Spirit has come into the bosom of the assembly, takes part in
her afflictions-her difficulties. He fills the soul of one who cares for
the assembly,[see note #6]
making him feel that which is going on-feel it according to God, but with a
really human heart. Who could cause all this to be felt for strangers,
except the Spirit of God? Who would enter into these things with all the
perfection of the wisdom of God, in order to act upon the heart, to deliver
the conscience, to form the understanding, and to set it free, except the
Spirit of God? Still the apostolic individual bond was to be formed, to be
strengthened. It was the essence of the work of the Holy Ghost in the
assembly to bind all together in this way. We see the man: otherwise it
would not have been Paul and his dear brethren. We see the Holy Ghost, whom
the latter had grieved, no doubt, and who acts in the former with divine
wisdom, to guide them in the right way with all the affection of their
father in Christ. Timothy, his son in the faith and in heart, might meet
the case. Paul had sent him; Paul himself would soon be there. Some said,
No, he would not, and took occasion to magnify themselves in the absence of
the apostle; but he would come himself and put everything to the test; for
the kingdom of God was not in word, but in power. Did they wish him to come
with a rod, or in love?
Here this part of the epistle ends. Admirable specimen of tenderness and of
authority!-of authority sure enough of itself on the part of God, to be
able to act with perfect tenderness towards those who were thoroughly dear
to him, in the hope of not being forced to exercise itself in another way.
The most powerful truths are unfolded in so doing.
