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I. THE APOSTOLIC CONGRATULATION. "I thank my God," &c.

1. In the heart of St. Paul, the unselfishness of Christianity had turned this world into a perpetual feast. If we want to know what his life was, turn to 2 Corinthians 11.; yet it was filled with the blessedness which arises from the abilities to enjoy the blessings of others as though they were our own. Personally we get very little in this world; and if we are to mourn that we never had a whole kid to ourselves "to make merry with," life will become desolate indeed. Only by saying, "It is meet we should rejoice and be glad" with our brethren, can life be a blessing. Thus the apostle, in all his weariness and persecutions, was nevertheless always rejoicing with his Churches.

2. Here he rejoices over three gifts to the Corinthians —

(1) That of utterance. To Paul a blessing was nothing unless it could be imparted to others. Knowing a truth is one thing, being able to express it is another, and to dare to express it another. "Utterance" implies both power and courage. A truth hidden is unproductive. And therefore the power of utterance becomes, by the grace of God, a faculty divine.

(2) But there may be utterance without knowledge. St. Paul desired utterance in order to speak out something in him. With many persons utterance is only verbiage. Let us seek, not merely to have utterance, but to have something worthy of uttering. Be sure you speak that you do know, and nothing else.

(3) The attitude of expectation (ver. 7), as though that were the best gift of all.(a) We are to look for a Church of the future — not of the past, nor of the present. The coming of Christ includes the perfect state of human society, and here — Christ coming to us, not our going to Him. And we are to be looking forward to this; not busying ourselves in dreams about, and mournings after, the past, nor complacently praising the present, but thankful to God for what we have, feeling that the past was necessary, and, still dissatisfied with our. selves, hoping something better yet, both for God's Church and world.(b) It, implies a humble expecting state; not dogmatising, not dreading, but simply waiting. The kingdom of God is within us; but the kingdom of God developed will be as the lightning, sudden and universal.

3. Note the ground of hope for the continuance and successful issue of those blessings. Not on any stability of human goodness, but the character of God (ver. 9). Had not Saul once had the Spirit? Had not Judas once had gifts? Who, then, could say that the Corinthians might not make shipwreck of their faith? The apostle answers this, not by counting on their faithfulness to God, but on God's faithfulness to them. Of course, this doctrine may be misused. We may rest upon it too much, and so become unwatchful and supine; but, nevertheless, it is a most precious truth, and without it I cannot understand how any man dares go forth to his work in the morning, or at evening lay his head on his pillow to sleep.

II. THE APOSTLE'S WARNING AND REPROOF.

1. Parties had arisen in Corinth.

(1) That which called itself by the name of Paul. Now the teaching of this apostle differed from that of the others in the prominence which it gave to certain truths — justification by faith, the salvability of the Gentiles, and Christian liberty. Some of the Corinthians exaggerated all this, and said, "This is the truth and nothing else": accordingly they made the doctrine of justification by faith an excuse for licentiousness, and the doctrine of Christian liberty a cloak of maliciousness.

(2) That which named itself after Apollos, the difference between whom and Paul seems to be not so much a difference of views as in the mode of stating those views; the eloquence of St. Paul was rough and burning, that of Apollos was more refined and polished.

(3) That called by the name of Cephas, between whom and Paul there was this difference — that whereas the Spirit of God had detached Paul from Judaism by a sudden shock, in the heart of Peter Christianity had been slowly developed; he had known Jesus first as the Son of Man, and afterwards as the Son of God. It was long before he realised God's purpose of love to the Gentiles. Therefore all the Jewish converts preferred to follow him.

(4) That calling itself by the name of Christ, who doubtless prided themselves on their spirituality and inward light, and looked down with contempt on those who professed to follow the opinion of any human teacher. Perhaps they ignored apostolic teaching altogether, and proclaimed the doctrine of direct communion with God without the aid of ministry or ordinances.

2. The guilt of these partisans did not lie in holding views differing from each other; the guilt of schism is when each party, instead of expressing fully its own truth, denies that others are in the truth at all. Nothing eats out the heart and life of religion more than party spirit. Christianity is love; party spirit is the death of love. Christianity is union amidst variety of views; party spirit is disunion. In these days of party spirit, be it urged solemnly on our hearts that we "love one another." Accuracy of view is worth little in comparison with warmth of heart. It is easy to love such as agree with us. Let us learn to love those who differ from us.

(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

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KJV: I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

WEB: I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;