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valuable consideration for their money.

But is it

it means to bear, or endure all hardships, Comp. not so with regard to the ministers of the gospel? Notes, ch. iv. 11-13. Lest we should hinder the Is not a man's family as certainly benefited by gospel of Christ.-Paul here states the reason why the labours of a faithful clergyman and pastor, he had not urged a claim to support in preaching as by the skill of a physician or a lawyer, or by the gospel. It was not because he was not enthe service of the schoolmaster? Are not the titled to a full support, but it was that by denying affairs of the soul and of eternity as important himself of this right he could do good, and avoid to a man's family as those of time and the wel- some evil consequences which would have refare of the body? So the music-master and the sulted if he had strenuously urged it. His condancing-master are paid, and paid cheerfully and duct, therefore, in this was just one illustration liberally; and yet can there be any comparison of the principle on which he said (chap. viii. 13) between the value of their services and those of he would always act; a readiness to deny himthe minister of the gospel? (4.) It might be add- self of things lawful, if by that he could promote ed, that society is benefited in a pecuniary way the welfare of others. The reasons why his urgby the service of a faithful minister to a far ing this claim might have hindered the gospel greater extent than the amount of compensation may have been many. (1.) It might have exwhich he receives. One drunkard, reformed un- posed him and the ministry generally to the charge der his labours, may earn and save to his family of being mercenary. (2.) It would have preand to society as much as the whole salary of vented his presenting in bold relief the fact that the pastor. The promotion of order, peace, so- he was bound to preach the gospel at all events, briety, industry, education, and regularity in and that he was actuated in it by a simple conbusiness, and honesty in contracting and in pay-viction of its truth. (3.) It might have alienated ing debts, saves much more to the community at large than the cost of the support of the gospel. In regard to this, any man may make the comparison at his leisure, between those places where the ministry is established, and where temperance, industry, and sober habits prevail, and those places where there is no ministry, and where gambling, idleness, and dissipation abound. is always a matter of economy to a people, in the end, to support schoolmasters and ministers as they ought to be supported. Reap your carnal things.-Partake of those things which relate to the present life; the support of the body, i. e. food and raiment.

It

VER. 12. If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of

Christ.

12 Cor. xi. 7-9; xii. 14.

many minds who might otherwise have been led to embrace it. (4.) It would have prevented the exercise of self-denial in him, and the benefits which resulted from that self-denial, &c. (Ver. 17, 18, 23, 27.)

VER. 13. Do ye not know, that they which minister about holy things" live of the things of the temple? and they" which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

n Num. xviii. 8, &c. Deut. xviii. 1.

m Or, feed. Do ye not know, &c.-In this verse Paul illustrates the doctrine that the ministers of religion were entitled to a support from the fact that those who were appointed to offer sacrifice received a maintenance in their work. They which minister about holy things.-Probably the Levites. Their office was to render assistance to the priests, to keep guard around the tabernacle, and subsequently around the temple. It was also their duty to see that the temple was kept clean, and If others. Other teachers living with you. to prepare supplies for the sanctuary, such as There can be no doubt that the teachers in Co- oil, wine, incense, &c. They had the care of rinth urged this right, and received a support. the revenues, and after the time of David were Be partakers of this power.-Of this right to a required to sing in the temple, and to play upon support and maintenance. Are not we rather?-instruments. Num. iii. 1—36; iv. 1, 30, 35, 42; We the apostles; we who have laboured for your conversion; who have founded your church; who have been the first, and the most laborious in instructing you, and imparting to you spiritual blessings? Have not we a better claim than they? Nevertheless we have not used this power.-We have not urged this claim; we have chosen to forego this right, and to labour for our own support. The reason why they had done this he states in the subsequent part of the chapter. See 2 Cor. xi. 7--9; xii. 14. Comp. Acts xviii. 3; xx. 34, 35. But suffer all things.-Endure all privations and hardships; we subject ourselves to poverty, want, hunger, thirst, nakedness, rather than urge a claim on you, and thus leave the suspicion that we are actuated by mercenary motives.

The word used here (orkyouev, suffer,) means properly to cover, to keep off, as rain, &c., and then to contain, to sustain, tolerate, endure. Here

viii. 5-22.

1 Chron. xxiii. 3—5, 24, 27; xxiv. 20-31. Live of the things of the temple.- Marg. feed, i. e. are supported in their work by the offerings of the people, and by the provisions which were made for the temple service. See Num. xviii, 24-32. And they which wait at the altar.Probably the priests who were employed in offering sacrifice. Are partakers with the altar.-That is, a part of the animal offered in sacrifice is burned as an offering to God, and a part becomes the property of the priest for his support; and thus the altar and the priest become joint participators of the sacrifice. From these offerings the priests derived their maintenance. See Num. xviii. 8-19. Deut. xviii. 1, &c. The argument of the apostle here is this: "As the ministers of religion under the Jewish dispensation were entitled to support by the authority and the law of God, that fact settles a general principle which is

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Even so. In the same manner, and for the same reasons. Hath the Lord ordained.-Hath the Lord appointed, commanded, arranged that it should be so, (dieraže.) The word here means that he has made this a law, or has required it. The word "Lord" here doubtless refers to the Lord Jesus, who has sent forth his ministers to labour in the great harvest of the world. That they which preach the gospel.-They who are sent forth by him; who devote their lives to this work; who are called and employed by him in this service. This refers, therefore, not only to the apostles, but to all who are duly called to this work, and who are his ambassadors. Should live of the gospel.-Should be supported and maintained in this work. Paul here probably refers to the appointment of the Lord Jesus, when he sent forth his disciples to preach. (Matt. x. 10. Luke x. 8. Comp. Gal. vi. 6.) The man may be said to "live in the gospel" who is supported while he preaches it, or who derives his maintenance in that work. Here we may observe, (1.) That the command is that they shall "live" (v) of the gospel. It is not that they should grow rich, or lay up treasures, or speculate in it, or become merchants, farmers, teachers, or book-makers for a living; but it is that they should have such a maintenance as to constitute a livelihood. They should be made comfortable; not rich. They should receive so much as to keep their minds from being harassed with cares, and their families from want; not so much as to lead them to forget their dependence on God, or on the people. Probably the rule is, that they should be able to live as the mass of the people among whom they labour live; that they should be able to receive and entertain the poor, and be willing to do it; and so that the rich also may not despise them, or turn away from their dwelling. (2.) This is a command of the Lord Jesus; and if it is a command, it should be obeyed as much as any other law of the Redeemer. And if this is a command, then the minister is entitled to a support; and then also a people are not at liberty to withhold it. Further, there are as strong reasons why they should support him, as there are why they should pay a schoolmaster, a lawyer, a physician, or a day labourer. The minister usually toils as hard as others; expends as much in preparing for his work; and does as much good. And there is even a higher claim in this case. God has given an express command in this case; he has not in the others. (3.) The salary of a minister should not be regarded as a gift merely, any more than the pay of a congress-man, a physician, or a lawyer. He has a claim to it; and God has

commanded that it should be paid. It is, moreover, a matter of stipulation and of compact, by which a people agree to compensate him for his services. And yet, is there any thing in the shape of debt where there is so much looseness as in regard to this subject? Are men usually as conscientious in this as they are in paying a physician or a merchant? Are not ministers often in distress for that which has been promised them, and which they have a right to expect? And is not their usefulness, and the happiness of the people, and the honour of religion intimately connected with obeying the rule of the Lord Jesus in this respect?

VER. 15. But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die than that any man should make my glorying void.

q Acts xx. 33. 2 Thess. iii. 8.

r 2 Cor. xi. 10.

But I have used none of these things.-I have not urged and enforced this right. I have chosen to support myself by the labour of my own hands. This had been objected to him as a reason why he could not be an apostle. He here shows that that was not the reason why he had not urged this claim; but that it was because in this way he could do most to honour the gospel and save the souls of men. (Comp. Acts xx. 33. 2 Thess. iii. 8.) The sense is, "Though my right to a support is established, in common with others, both by reason, the nature of the case, the examples in the law, and the command of the Lord Jesus, yet there are reasons why I have not chosen to avail myself of this right, and why I have not urged these claims." Neither have I written these things, &c.-"I have not presented this argument now in order to induce you to provide for me. I do not intend now to ask or receive a support from you. I urge it to show that I feel 1 that I have a right to it; that my conduct is not i an argument that I am conscious I am not an apostle; and that I might urge it were there not i strong reasons which determine me not to do it. I neither ask you to send me now a support, nor, if I visit you again, do I expect you will contribute to my maintenance." For it were better for me to die, &c.-There are advantages growing out of my not urging this claim which are of more importance to me than life. Rather than forego · these advantages, it would be better for me it would be a thing which I would prefer to pine! in poverty and want; to be exposed to peril, and cold, and storms, until life should close. I esteem my "glorying," the advantages of my course, to be of more value than life itself. Than that any man should make my glorying void.--His glorying, or boasting, or joying, as it may be more properly rendered (τὸ καύχημα μου; comp. Phil. i. 26; Heb. iii. 6,) was, (1.) That he had preached the gospel without expense to any body, and had thus prevented the charge of avarice, (ver. 18;) and (2.) That he had been able to keep his body under, and pursue a course of self-denial that would result in his happiness and glory in heaven. (Ver. 23-27.) Any

64

man" would have made that "void," if he had supported Paul; had prevented the necessity of his labour, and had thus exposed him to the charge of having preached the gospel for the sake of gain.

VER. 16. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for 'necessity is laid upon | me; yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.

s Jer. i. 17; xx. 9.

For though I preach the gospel, &c.-This, with the two following verses, is a very difficult passage, and has been very variously understood by interpreters. The general scope and purpose of the passage is to show what was the ground of his glorying," or of his hope of "reward" in preaching the gospel. In ver. 15 he had intimated that he had cause of "glorying," and that that cause was one which he was determined no one should take away. In this passage (ver. 16-18) he states what that was. He says, it was not simply that he preached; for there was a necessity laid on him, and he could not help it: his call was such, the command was such, that his life would be miserable if he did not do it. But all idea of "glorying," or of "reward," must be connected with some voluntary service -something which would show the inclination, disposition, desire of the soul. And as that in his case could not be well shown where a "necessity" was laid on him, it could be shown only in his submitting voluntarily to trials; in denying himself; in being willing to forego comforts which he might lawfully enjoy; and in thus furnishing a full and complete test of his readiness to do any thing to promote the gospel. The essential idea here is, therefore, that there was such a necessity laid on him in his call to preach the gospel, that his compliance with that call could not be regarded as appropriately connected with reward; and that in his case the circumstance which showed that reward would be proper, was, his denying himself, and making the gospel without charge. This would show that his heart was in the thing; that he was not urged on by necessity; that he loved the work; and that it would be consistent for the Lord to reward him for his self-denials and toils in his service. I have nothing to glory of.-The force of this would be better seen by a more literal translation. "It is not to me glorying;" i. e. this is not the cause of my glorying, or rejoicing, (our toti μoi kavxnμa.) In ver. 15, he had said that he had a cause of glorying, or of joy, (kaúxnua.) He here says that that joy or glorying did not consist in the simple fact that he preached the gospel; for necessity was laid on him: there was some other cause and source of his joy or glorying than that simple fact. (Ver. 18.) Others preached the gospel also: in common with them, it might be a source of joy to him that he preached the gospel; but it was not the source of his peculiar joy, for he had been called into the apostleship in such a manner as to render it inevitable that he should preach the gospel. His glorying was of another kind. For necessity is laiď upon me.My preaching is in a manner inevitable, and can

not therefore be regarded as that in which I peculiarly glory. I was called into the ministry in a miraculous manner; I was addressed personally by the Lord Jesus; I was arrested when I was a persecutor; I was commanded to go and preach; I had a direct commission from Heaven. There was no room for hesitancy or debate on the subject, (Gal. i. 16,) and I gave myself at once and entirely to the work. (Acts ix. 6.) I have been urged to this by a direct call from Heaven; and to yield obedience to this call cannot be regarded as evincing such an inclination to give myself to this work as if the call had been in the usual mode, and with less decided manifestations. We are not to suppose that Paul was compelled to preach, or that he was not voluntary in his work, or that he did not prefer it to any other employment: but he speaks in a popular sense, as saying that he "could not help it ;" or that the evidence of his call was irresistible, and left no room for hesitation. He was free; but there was not the slightest room for debate on the subject. The evidence of his call was so strong that he could not but yield. Probably none now have evidences of their call to the ministry as strong as this. But there are many, very many, who feel that a kind of necessity is laid on them to preach. Their consciences urge them to it. They would be miserable in any other employment. The course of Providence has shut them up to it. Like Saul of Tarsus, they may have been persecutors, or revilers, or "injurious," or blasphemers, (1 Tim. i. 13;) or they may, like him, have commenced a career of ambition; or they may have been engaged in some scheme of money-making or of pleasure; and in an hour when they little expected it, they have been arrested by the truth of God, and their attention directed to the gospel ministry. Many a minister has, before entering the ministry, formed many other purposes of life; but the providence of God barred his way, hemmed in his goings, and constrained him to become an ambassador of the cross. Yea, woe is unto me, &c.-I should be miserable and wretched if I did not preach. My preaching, therefore, in itself considered, cannot be a subject of glorying. I am shut up to it. I am urged to it in every way. I should be wretched were I not to do it, and were I to seek any other calling. My conscience would reproach me. My judgment would condemn me. My heart would pain me. I should have no comfort in any other calling; and God would frown upon me. Learn hence, (1.) That Paul had been converted. Once he had no love for the ministry, but persecuted the Saviour. With the feeling which he then had, he would have been wretched in the ministry; with those which he now had, he would have been wretched out of it. His heart, therefore, had been wholly changed. (2.) All ministers who are duly called to the work can say the same thing. They would be wretched in any other calling. Their conscience would reproach them. They would have no interest in the plans of the world; in the schemes of wealth, and pleasure, and fame. Their heart is in this work, and in this alone. In this, though amidst circumstances of poverty, persecution, nakedness, cold, peril, sickness, they have comfort. In any other calling, though sur

rounded by affluence, friends, wealth, honours, pleasures, gaiety, fashion, they would be miserable. (3.) A man whose heart is not in the ministry, and who would be as happy in any other calling, is not fit to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Unless his heart is there, and he prefers that to any other calling, he should never think of preaching the gospel. (4.) Men who leave the ministry, and voluntarily devote themselves to some other calling when they might preach, never had the proper spirit of an ambassador of Jesus. If for the sake of ease or gain; if to avoid the cares and anxieties of the life of a pastor; if to make money, or secure money when made; if to cultivate a farm, to teach a school, to write a book, to live upon an estate, or to enjoy life, they lay aside the ministry, it is proof that they never had a call to the work. So did not Paul; and so did not Paul's Master and ours. They loved the work, and they left it not till death. Neither for ease, honour, nor wealth; neither to avoid care, toil, pain, nor poverty, did they cease in their work, until the one could say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith," (2 Tim. iv. 7) and the other, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John vii. 4.) (5.) We see the reason why men are sometimes miserable in other callings. They should have entered the ministry. God called them to it; and they became hopefully pious. But they chose the law, or the practice of medicine, or chose to be farmers, merchants, teachers, professors, or statesmen. And God withers their piety. blights their happiness, follows them with the reproaches of conscience, makes them sad, melancholy, wretched. They do no good; and they have no comfort in life. Every man should do the will of God, and then every man would be happy.

VER. 17. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

t

t Col. i. 25.

which is laid on me. A dispensation of the gospel
is committed unto me.--I am intrusted with (mezi- |
orEvpai) this dispensation, office, economy, (cise-
vouíar) of the gospel. It has been laid upon me;
I have been called to it; I must engage in this
work; and if I do it from mere compulsion, or
in such a way that my will shall not acquiesce in
it, and concur with it, I shall have no distinguished
reward. The work must be done; I must preach
the gospel; and it becomes me so to do it as to
show that my heart and will entirely concur;
that it is not a matter of compulsion, but of choice.
This he proposed to do by so denying himself,
and so foregoing comforts which he might law-
fully enjoy, and so subjecting himself to perils
and toils in preaching the gospel, as to show that
his heart was in the work, and that he truly loved
it.

VER. 18. What is my reward then? Verily that,
when I preach the gospel, I may make the
gospel of Christ without charge; that I abuse
not my power in the gospel.

What is my reward then?-What is the source of my reward? or what is there in my conduct that will show that I am entitled to reward? What is there that will demonstrate that my heart is in the work of the ministry; that I am free and voluntary, and that I am not urged by mere necessity? Though I have been called by miracle, and though necessity is laid upon me, so | that I cannot but preach the gospel, yet how shall I so do it as to make it proper for God to reward me as a voluntary agent? Paul immediately states the circumstance that showed that he was entitled to the reward, and that was, that he denied himself, and was willing to forego his lawful enjoyments, and even his rights, that he might make the gospel without charge. I may make the gospel of Christ without charge.-Without expense to those who bear it. I will support myself by my own labour, and will thus show that I am not urged to preaching by mere "Decessity," but that I love it. Observe here, (1.) That Paul did not give up a support because he For if I do this thing willingly. If I preach so was not entitled to it. (2.) He does not say that as to show that my heart is in it; that I am not it would be well or advisable for others to do it compelled. If I pursue such a course as to show (3.) It is right, and well for a man, if he chooses, | that I prefer it to all other employments. If and can do it, to make the gospel without charge, Paul took a compensation for his services, he and to support himself. (4.) All that this case could not well do this; if he did not, he showed proves is, that it would be proper only where a that his heart was in it, and that he preferred "necessity" was laid on a man, as it was on Paul; the work to all others. Even though he had when he could not otherwise show that his heart been in a manner compelled to engage in that was in the work, and that he was voluntary, and work, yet he so acted in the work as to show loved it. (5.) This passage cannot be urged by that it had his hearty preference. This was a people to prove that ministers ought not to have done by his submitting to voluntary self-denials a support. Paul says they have a right to and sacrifices in order to spread the Saviour's it. A man may forego a right if he pleases. He I have a reward.-I shall meet with the may choose not to urge it; but no one can deapprobation of my Lord, and shall obtain the re- mand of him that he should not urge it; much ward in the world to come, which is promised to less have they a right to demand that he should those who engage heartily, and laboriously, and give up his rights. (6.) It is best in general that successfully in turning sinners to God. (Prov. those who hear the gospel should contribute to xi. 30. Dan. xii. 3. Matt. xiii. 43; xxv. 21- its support. It is not only equal and right, but it 23. James v. 20.) But if against my will, is best for them. We generally set very little (йkov.)-If under a necessity, (ver. 16;) if by the value on that which costs us nothing; and the command of another, (Grotius;) if I do it by the very way to make the gospel contemptible is, to; fear of punishment, or by any strong necessity have it preached by those who are supported by

name.

the state, or by their own labour in some other department; or by men who neither by their talents, their learning, nor their industry, have any claim to a support. All ministers are not like Paul. They have neither been called as he was; nor have they his talent, his zeal, or his eloquence. Paul's example, then, should not be urged as an authority for a people to withhold from their pastor what is his due; nor, because Paul chose to forego his rights, should people now demand that a minister should devote his time, and health, and life to their welfare for nought. That I abuse not my power in the gospel. - Paul had a right to a support. This power he might urge. But to urge it in his circumstances, would be a hinderance of the gospel. And to do that would be to abuse his power, or to pervert it to purposes for which it was never designed. VER. 19. For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant "unto all, that I might gain the more.

u Rom. i. 14. Gal. v. 13

What a noble instance of self-denial and true

greatness is here! How worthy of religion! How elevated the conduct! How magnanimous, and how benevolent! No man would do this, who had not a greatness of intellect that would rise above narrow prejudices; and who had not a nobleness of heart that would seek, at personal sacrifice, the happiness of all men. It is said that not a few early Christians, in illustration of this principle of conduct, actually sold themselves into slavery, in order that they might have access to and benefit slaves, an act to which nothing would prompt a man but the religion of the cross. Comp. Note, Rom. i. 14.

VER. 20. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

Acts xvi. 3; xxi. 23-26.

And unto the Jews.-In this verse, and the two following, Paul states more at length the conduct which he had exhibited, and to which he refers in ver. 19. He had shown this conduct to all classes of men. He had preached much to his own countrymen, and had evinced these principles there. I became as a Jew.-I complied with their rites, customs, prejudices, as far as I could with a good conscienee. I did not needlessly offend them. I did not attack and oppose their views, when there was no danger that my conduct should be mistaken. For a full illustration of Paul's conduct in this respect, and the principles which influenced him, see Notes on Acts xvi. 3; xviii. 18; xxi. 21-27; xxiii. 1-6. To those that are under the law.-This I understand as another form of saying that he conformed to the rites, customs, and even prejudices of the Jews. The phrase "under the law means undoubtedly the ticularly to those Jews who lived in the land of law of Moses; and probably he here refers parJudea, as being more immediately and entirely under the law of Moses, than those who lived among the Gentiles. As under the law.-That is, I conformed to their rites and customs as far as I could do it. I did not violate them unne

For though I be free.-I am a free man. I am under obligation to none. I am not bound to give them my labours, and at the same time to toil for my own support. I have claims like others, and could urge them; and no man could demand that I should give myself to a life of servitude, and comply with their prejudices and wishes, as if I were a slave, in order to their conversion. Comp. ver. 1. Notes, chap. vi. 12. From all men, (ix návrov.)—This may either refer to all persons or to all things. The word "men" is not in the original. The connexion, however, seems to fix the signification to "persons." "I am a free man. And although I have conducted like a slave, yet it has been done voluntarily." I have made myself the servant of all.—Greek, “ I have enslaved myself (ἐμαυτὸν ἐδούλωσα) unto all." That is, (1.) I labour for them, or in their service, and to promote their welfare. (2.) I do it, as the slave does, without reward or hire. I am not paid for it, but submit to the toil, and do it without receiving pay. (3.) Like the slave who wishes to gratify his master, or who is compelled from the necessity of the case, I comply with the prejudices, habits, customs, and opinions of others, as far as I can with a good conscience. The slave is subject to the master's will. That will must be obeyed. The whims, prejudices, caprices of the master must be submitted to, even if they are mere caprice, and wholly unreasonable. So Paul says that he had voluntarily put himself into this condition, a condition making it necessary for him to suit himself to the opinions, prejudices, caprices, and feelings of all men, so far as he could do it with a good conscience, inverting them to the Christian faith. order that he might save them. We are not to understand, here, that Paul embraced any opinions which were false in order to do this, or that he submitted to any thing which is morally wrong. But he complied with their customs, and habits, and feelings, as far as it could lawfully be done. He did not needlessly offend them, or run counter to their prejudices. That I might gain the more.-That I might gain more to Christ; that I might be the means of saving more souls.

cessarily. I did not disregard them for the purpose of offending them; nor refuse to observe them, when it could be done with a good conhe was in Judea, submitted himself to the laws, science. There can be no doubt that Paul, when and lived in conformity with them. That I and affection. That I might not outrage their might gain.-That I might obtain their confidence feelings, excite their prejudices, and provoke them to anger; and that I might thus have

access to their minds, and be the means of con

VER. 21. To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

w Chap. vii. 22.

To them that are without law. To the Gentiles, who have not the law of Moses. See Note,

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