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Christianity had made rapid advances amongst the people of Corinth. Numbers and success had produced the alas! too commonly attendant evils. Party spirit had developed itself. St. Paul writes, seeking to correct all this. He bids them think of the source of the gospel they had received, of the power by which it was propagated, of the life by which it was sustained. They would find all this, not in the wisdom or the eloquence of their teachers, not in the completeness of their Church organisation; but in the presence, the grace, the love of God. God gives the increase.

I. WE NATURALLY AND RIGHTLY LOOK FOR INCREASE. We want fruit, as the product of our toil. We all work with a distinct aim (1 Corinthians 9:7). The fact of increase is at once one of the greatest inducements to labour, and one of the greatest rewards of it. Who would continue to work if the work proved altogether barren and resultless? We should look for increase also in higher things. There is the Church with its work. We should desire to see it grow under our fostering care. We should look for growing numbers and increasing usefulness. We should look for increase also in the personal soul. What is our Christianity? Not a creed only, not a theology only, not a piece of social organisation only, but a life. Growth is a characteristic of life. The apostles could say to many of the Christians of their age: "Your faith groweth," "Your love groweth." Can it be said of us?

II. IF WE WANT THE INCREASE, WE MUST TAKE THE PROPER MEANS. This is true, not only of the great matters of which the apostle is speaking, but also of the commonest things of daily life. It is one of the great lessons of the harvest. So is it in business. Sedulous care is one of the secrets of success. So is it in education. There is no royal road to learning for any man. In every domain of life God blesses human forethought, and toil, and faith. God had given the increase in the Church at Corinth. But how earnest had been the labour of which this growth was the reward. St. Paul had planted with all his zeal. Apollos, with his renowned eloquence, had laboured too. These were the antecedent conditions on the human side to which that growth was to be ascribed.

III. Paul may plant, Apollos may water, BUT GOD GIVETH THE INCREASE. This is so, even in the commonest things of daily life. Take the ordinary annual produce of the earth. The ultimate causes of productiveness are altogether beyond our power to reach. So is it in business life. Two men start together; the conditions which promise success, such as neighbourhood, the conduct and industry of the men, and so on, seem precisely equal. Yet while one man prospers in largest measure, the other goes his way to poverty. But this only states the fact without explaining it. The question at the root of the matter is: What is it that determines a man's action at the critical moment in his history? What gives the insight and the courage which enable him to grasp the happy chance? What sends him bounding on the flood to fortune? May not this be God, the ruler of all, who "doeth according to His will," who setteth up one and putteth down another? Toil is ours, but increase is in the hands of God. "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." God does give the increase in all the many regions of human life. God blesses all honest humble toil. He crowns the ploughing and the sowing with the golden harvest. Study is rewarded with growth both in our stores of knowledge and also in our mental power to grasp the truth. So also all real spiritual work is largely blessed by God. God is ever near. God labours with us. May we ever bear it in mind in all our work. God crowns our work with His all-sufficient blessing. It is true in all ways. In the personal soul our religious acts in public works and in sacraments, as well as in private devotion, are planting and watering; but faithfully used a richer Divine life will possess us, for God will give the increase, and there will be a sure growth in righteousness.

(Ralph Williams.)

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KJV: For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

WEB: For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," aren't you fleshly?