John the Baptist knew; and being a man of earnest zeal, he spared no pains to communicate to others that portion of knowledge which he possessed. He spoke freely and courageously in the synagogue of the Jews, where Aquila and his wife (who had remained at Ephesus after Paul's departure) had an opportunity of hearing his doctrine. These christian Jews immediately sought his society, and inviting him to their home, they explained to him the full gospel of Jesus Christ in a more accurate manner, and brought him into communion with the Church.

"After his establishment in christian knowledge, Apollos felt a desire to assist the christians in the province of Achaia, where his scriptural knowledge would be of great importance in controversy with the learned Jews of Corinth. The church at Ephesus approved of his desire, and sent him across the Sea, with letters of affectionate commendation to the brethren in Greece. Upon his arrival there, he became an important instrument in building up those who by God's grace, were believers already; engaging in public discussion with the Jews, his powerful arguments, drawn from the Old Testament, had great effect in proving that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah."

"We may infer that Peter was at Corinth, and preached the gospel there after Apollos (1 Cor. i. 12; iii. 22); and there are other reasons for concluding that he went there on his way to Rome, in the course of his missionary journey amongst the Jews of Asia, of Greece, and of Italy; which must have begun about the same time with that of Paul amongst the Gentiles."

Having traced all that is known of the establishment and progress of the church at Corinth, up to the time of Paul's first epistle, we have now to consider the occasion upon which that letter was written.

"It was during the latter part of the two years and three months of Paul's residence at Ephesus, that he wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians, the date of which appears. to have been early in the year 55. (1 Cor. xvi. 8, 19.) Several circumstances connected with the writing of this letter may be gathered from different passages in it, taken together with other passages in the Acts.

"We have already seen that Apollos had gone to

Corinth, with letters from the Ephesian christians, some time before Paul returned to Ephesus. (Acts xix. 1.) After remaining for a season at Corinth, during which he greatly assisted in strengthening and establishing the christians there (1 Cor. iii. 6), he must have returned to Ephesus; for we find that Paul wished him to accompany the messengers whom he judged it necessary to send from Ephesus to Corinth, in consequence of the state of the church there. The chief of these messengers was Timothy; Apollos was not disposed to return to Corinth with them, but promised to do so if he should find it convenient afterwards.

“Paul sent these messengers to Corinth in consequence of information he had received from some members of the family of a person named Chloe; who, arriving at Ephesus from Corinth, made the apostle acquainted with the distressing state of division and contention which prevailed amongst the christians there (I Cor. i. 11, 12); together with other scandalous inconsistencies in the conduct of some. After Timothy and the brethren had set forth on their journey, Paul received a letter from the Corinthian church, in which they sought his advice and instructions concerning several points of discipline and conscience. This letter was brought to him by three Corinthian christians, named Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus. (1 Cor. vii. 1; xvi. 17.) It was in answer to this letter that Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians, in the former part of which (chaps. i. to vi.) he expresses in writing the chief object of his having already sent Timothy; and in the latter part he replies at length to their several inquiries. Acting upon the arrangement made in the conference at Jerusalem (which had taken place since the apostle had left Corinth), he desired the Corinthians to contribute towards the support of the poor christians of the original church of the circumcision; and he states that he had given a similar order to the churches of Galatia."

FIRST PORTION.

May God, for the sake of Jesus Christ, give me the Holy Spirit, that I may understand this portion of His Holy Word, and profit by it. AMEN.

THE SCRIPTURE.

1 CORINTHIANS I. 1-9.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through 2 the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus 3 Christ our Lord, both their's and our's: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace 5 of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; THAT in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

6

EVEN AS the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

7 SO THAT ye come behind in no gift;

waiting for the coming [revelation] of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Who shall also confirm you unto the end,

THAT ye may be blameless in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

EXPLANATION.

The customary manner of beginning a letter, at the time when the apostle lived, has been already referred to in explaining the salutation at the beginning of the first epistle to the Thessalonians. Paul here commences with his name as in the former case, but he inserts his high title with some reference to the peculiar manner in which he was honored with it. He declares himself to be an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, called to that great office by the will of God; which in his case had been miraculously

manifested. (Acts ix.) In the salutation, Paul associates with himself Sosthenes, whom he calls a brother or fellowchristian. This was no doubt the person who had been chief ruler of the synagogue in Corinth, at the time that Paul was brought before Gallio. The crowd of pagans had, upon that occasion, beaten Sosthenes in the court (Acts xviii. 17); and now we find that he (as well as his predecessor Crispus) had been converted to the faith of the gospel. (Acts xviii. 8.) It does not appear, whether Paul included him in his address to the Corinthians because he happened to be with him at Ephesus, or whether he introduced his name for any other reason.

The letter is addressed to the church of God, that is, the body of christians at Corinth; to those who had been made holy by the Spirit uniting them to Christ Jesus, and therefore" called saints." He extends his address to all professing christians every where; whom he describes as persons that call upon the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Master of all. It has been however supposed, that when the apostle speaks of christians in every place, he meant only to include the whole province of Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital. The prayer of his salutation to the Corinthian church was the same with which he had saluted the Thessalonian. He desired that they might be blessed with grace and peace from God, our Almighty Father, and from Jesus Christ our Lord.

He begins by telling them that he constantly thanked God on their account, because God had been pleased to bestow upon them his grace in Christ Jesus. The effect of this grace was very abundant, so that many of them were gifted with much power in preaching the gospel (perhaps the special gift of tongues may also be referred to), and with a complete knowledge of the doctrines of Christ. This had resulted from the way in which they had been settled in the gospel, as it had been testified to them when Paul first preached Christ amongst them. Hence they were deficient in none of those spiritual gifts which God was pleased to bestow upon his church, while they were in constant and earnest expectation of the glorious revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. And that Saviour, who had at first so settled them in

the gospel, would establish them in it even to the end; having begun the good work in them He would perform it, so that in the restitution of all things, their sins being blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, they might be found without fault before God at that day. (Phil. i. 6. Acts iii. 19-21.) The apostle placed before them the ground, upon which this precious encouragement might be received with sure confidence. This is nothing less than the faithfulness of God, of which he had given a pledge to every christian, whom he called into spiritual union with his Son Jesus Christ.

APPLICATION.

See Application 1, to the first Epistle to the Thessalonians.

1. We have already found many instances of the prayerful spirit, which marked every part of the apostle's character, and here we have another evidence that he lived under its abiding influence: so that both his remembrances and his hopes of all those to whom he had ministered the gospel, always directed his heart into prayerful communion with God. (See Applications 2 and 3, to 1 Thess.; and Application 4, to 2 Thess.) The connection in which the subject of his thankfulness stands with the prayer of his salutation suggests a striking application: he knew of the much grace that was given to the Corinthian church, so that he always thanked God on their behalf; and he prayed that grace might be given to them. That necessary blessing, the favour of God, must come upon his people in a continual stream, descending upon them from the source of all grace, the Lord Jesus Christ; and the spiritual blessings which were granted to the prayer of yesterday, must be asked for in earnest supplication to-day. The grace already given, greatly encourages the expectation, that the prayer will be answered again; but it does not preclude the necessity of being instant in prayer, as well as earnest in gratitude.

2. The abundant gifts bestowed upon the Corinthian church, are here mentioned in connection with the manner