II. The second remedy in this factious state was to depreciate the part played by man in the great work of progress, and to exhibit the part of God. "Who, then, is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed?” "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." In all periods of great social activity, when society becomes conscious of itself, and morbidly observant of its own progress, there is a tendency to exalt the instruments, persons, and means by which it progresses. Hence, in turn, kings, statesmen, parliaments: and then education, science, machinery, and the press, have had their hero-worship. Here, at Corinth, was a new phase, "minister-worship.' No marvel, in an age when the 'mere political progress of the Race was felt to be inferior to the spiritual salvation of the Individual, and to the purification of the Society, that ministers, the particular organs by which this was carried on, should assume in men's eyes peculiar importance, and the special gifts of every such minister, Paul or Apollos, be extravagantly honored. No marvel either, that round the more prominent of these, partizans should gather. St. Paul's remedy was simply to point out God's part, "Ye are God's husbandry," we are only laborers different only from wheels and pivots, in that they do their work unconsciously, we consciously. We execute a plan which we only slightly understand - nay, not at all, till it is completed, like workmen in a tubular bridge, or men employed in Gobelin tapestry, who cannot see the pattern of their work until the whole is executed. Shall the hodman boast? Conceive the laborer saying of some glorious architecture, Behold my work! or some poet, king, or priest, in view of some progress of the race, See what I have done! Who is Paul, but a servant of Higher plans than he knows? And thus we come to find that we are but parts in a mighty system, the breadth of which we can not measure. And this is the true inspired remedy for all party spirit, "He that planteth, and he that watereth, are one." Each in his way is indispensable. To see the part played by each individual in God's world, which he alone can play, to do our own share in the acting, and to feel that each is an integral, essential portion of the whole, not interfering with the rest; to know that each church, each sect, each man, is co-operating best in the work when he expresses his own individuality (as Paul and Cephas, and John and Barnabas did), in truths of word and action which others perhaps cannot grasp, that is the only emancipation from partizanship. Again, observe, St. Paul held this sectarianism, or partizanship, to amount virtually to a denial of their Christianity. For as Christians it was their privilege to have direct access to the Father through Christ; they were made independent of all men but the one Mediator Christ Jesus. Whereas this boast of dependence upon men, instead of direct communion with God, was to glory in a forfeiture of their privileges, and to return to the Judaism, or Heathenism, from which they had been freed. He says, "While one saith I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal and walk as men?" So that all sectarianism is slavery and narrowness, for it makes us the followers of such and such a leader. Whereas, says St. Paul, instead of your being that leader's, that leader is yours; your minister, whom you are to use. For "All things are yours; "the whole universe is subservient to your moral being and progress. Be free then, and use them do not be used by them. : Remark, therefore, how the truest spiritual freedom and elevation of soul spring out of Christian humility. All this liberty and noble superiority to Life and Death, all this independence of Men, of Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, as their masters, arises from this, that "ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's;" that ye, as well as they, are servants only of Christ, who came not to do His own will, but the Will of Him who sent Him. LECTURE VII. NOVEMBER 9, 1851. - 1 CORINTHIANS, iii. 11-23. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. -If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? - If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.- And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." As the last time we treated of the first ten verses of this chapter, to-day we shall go on to the end, merely recapitulating, beforehand, the leading subjects we were then led to enlarge upon; which first were, - Paul's treatment of the Corinthian Church when it was in a state of schism, broken up into parties, one party following Apollos, attracted by his eloquence; another Paul, attracted by his doctrine of Christian liberty; another Peter, whom they looked on as the champion of the Judaistic tendency, while another called themselves by the name of Christ. And the schism which thus prevailed was no light matter, for it was not only a proof of carnal views, but it amounted also to a denial. of Christianity. For men emancipated by Christ, and given direct access to God, to return again to allegiance to men, and dependence on them, was voluntarily to forfeit all Christian privileges. It is very interesting to observe the difference in St. Paul's treatment of the Corinthian Church from his treatment of other Churches. He says to them, "I have fed you with milk, for hitherto ye were not able to bear meat, neither yet are ye able." There is a remarkable difference between this Epistle to the Corinthians and that to the Ephesians. It is not in the former that we find the Apostle speaking of the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge; nor there do we find him speaking of the beauty and necessity of self-sacrifice. These were subjects too high for them as yet, but instead we find him dealing almost entirely with the hard, stern duties and commandments of every-day life. St. Paul's twofold method of dealing with the Corinthian Church in their state of faction was, 1. Through an economic reserve of Truth. By which we understood, that first principles only were distributed to feeble minds, to men who were incapable of the Higher Life; that they were fed with these, in the same way as children, incapable of receiving meat, are nourished with milk. 2. The depreciation of the Human, through the reduction of ministers to their true position; by pointing out that they were only laborers, servants in God's world, only a part of the curious clockwork of this world of His. Thus each would be a part of one great Whole, each would be called upon to work, as essential to this, but not to exhibit his own idea; each would best preserve his own individuality, when most acting as a fellow-worker with God. Now observe! Here was a true notion of Christian unity as opposed to schism. "He that planteth, and he that watereth, are one. And this is the idea I have St. Paul did so often given you-unity in variety. not say you are wrong, you ought to be all of one way of thinking. No; he said rather, there is one truth, the ritualistic truth, in St. Peter's and St. James's mind; there is another, the truth of Christian Liberty, which I teach you; there is another, the truth of grace and beauty in Apollos, and all together build up a Church. And he made use of two metaphors, drawn from agriculture and architecture. How foolish it would be to dispute about the respective merits of planting and watering! Could there be a harvest without either? How foolish to talk of the superiority of capital over labor, or labor over capital! Could anything be done without both? And again, who would dream in architecture of a discussion about the comparative importance of the foundation and the superstructure! Are not both necessary to each other's perfection? And so to dispute whether the Gospel according to St. Paul or St. James, is the right Gospel, to call the latter "Straminca Epistola," is to neglect the majestic entireness, and the unity of the truth of God. And observe, St. Paul did not say, as many now would say, you must attain unity by giving up your own views, and each one holding the same. He did not say, Mine are right, and the followers of Apollos and Peter must follow me; but he said that, whatever became of their particular views, they were to rejoice in this not that they were Christians of a particular kind, but that they had a common Christianity. There was and could be but One Foundation, and he who worked, whether as builder or architect, on this, was one with all the rest. The chapter concludes with I. An address to ministers. II. To congregations. I. To ministers. "Let every man take heed, how he buildeth thereupon; for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." First, then, ministers are to preach as the foundationChrist. Now, let us protest against all party uses of this expression. The preaching of Christ means simply, the preaching of Christ. Recollect what Paul's own Chris |