_For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?_ GLADNESS FOR SADNESS I. Self-improvement is preceded by dissatisfaction with self. This is true of all self-improvement. We find it so in education. And other things being equal, that child will l... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if any have caused grief _ THE AIM OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE is in the last resort the restoration of the fallen. The Church has, of course, an interest of its own to guard i it is bound to protest against all that is inconsistent with its character; it is bound to expel scandals. But the Church’s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices._ SATAN’S DEVICES We who “are called to be saints” are not ignorant of his devices. We know them, what they are, whence they come, and whither they lead. These are not matters of report or hearsay, but of personal kn... [ Continue Reading ]
_Furthermore, when I came to Troas._ THE EFFECT OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY I. The work which the minister undertakes. I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel”; “God maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us”; “For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God.” According, then, to the apo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ._ GOD’S TRIUMPH AND PAUL’S The authorised translation at first sight strikes us as most suitable. Practically Paul had been engaged in a conflict with the Corinthians, and for a time it seemed not improbable that he might be beaten... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish._ DISSIMILAR EFFECTS OF THE SAME THING Consider the totally different effects which the same thing has on different people. An act, simple in itself, will rouse the joys of one and the rage of another. A s... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we are not as many, which corrupt the Word of God._ CORRUPTING THE WORD OF GOD The expression has the idea of self-interest, and especially of petty gain, at its basis. It means literally to sell in small quantities, to retail for profit. But it was specially applied to tavern keeping, and ext... [ Continue Reading ]