CHAPTER XXXVI.

GOD IN CHRIST, IN THE NAME JEHOVAH.

"The grace of the JEHOVAH SAVIOUR MESSIAH, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”—2 Cor. xiii. 14.

AM not at all going into the matter of these epistles it is so various, that to go through it all would be to depart entirely from my purpose in this work. We must remember it was a great transition period in which St. Paul wrote: the law gave way to "the righteousness of God," the ceremonial and typical law to the fulfilment of them by Christ; the Jewish Church was made void by the institution of the Christian Church; the temple service was succeeded by the preaching of the everlasting Gospel; circumcision changed for baptism; form and ritual for spiritual worship; the Passover for the Lord's Supper; the great day of atonement for the doctrine," the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin." So that there was an enor mous work of teaching, preaching, reasoning, and of explaining to be done, to divest the Jewish mind of what it had been holden in for ages; to convince and to convert; to transpose the whole Jewish economy

into the living reality-the kingdom of God. I say, I am not going into all this detail of St. Paul's work, but shall simply note the foundation, the firm basis on which he himself stood to fight the battle of truth, to wade through the conflict, and to lead on to deliverance and victory. What an enigma was the rejection of the Jew, and the calling of the Gentile world. Who but a converted Jew could explain that mystery ? Who but a witness of the risen Lord and Saviour could explain the hope of the true Israel concerning the resurrection of the dead? Who could proclaim the new era of the Spirit but he who had been dead in sin, and "born out of due time ?" But I repeat I am not going into all this detail, but simply to sketch an outline of doctrine and precept, to show the Godhead in Christ as St. Paul saw it, and taught it.

This first Epistle to the Corinthians was written from Ephesus, in the year 56. St. Paul had resided at Corinth eighteen months, and formed a Church there, principally of converts from heathenism, and hence the character of the epistle. It is from the last chapter (1 Cor. xvi. 5-8, 19) that we learn the epistle was written from Ephesus, although some compiler of the Scriptures has added at the end of the epistle that it was written from Philippi: the mistake may have arisen from the second epistle having been written from that city.

The apostle opens all his epistles with the same commendation of his office; not in any way from pride or arrogance, for in this very epistle he said: "I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church

of God" (1 Cor. xv. 9); nor would I say it was from a strong assurance of his Divine calling, but from the perfect knowledge he had of it. He had received his commission from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and there was no mistake about it. And by the way he often coupled the names of others with his own, it is quite clear he considered their commissions as Divinely authenticated as his own.

"Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother." That is, Sosthenes was also called to be a true disciple of Christ (Acts xviii. 17). If this chapter be read here it will help to throw light upon the state of the Church at Corinth.

"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our JEHOVAH, both theirs and ours." This is a striking expression of the apostle's, because at Corinth there were converted Jews from Rome, driven there by Claudius, and converted heathens; but now JEHOVAH is the covenant God of both, of all alike.

"Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the JEHOVAH Jesus Christ.

"I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ." How full and ample! The grace was infinite, but it stood in Christ. This was the Gospel that had been committed to him to preach; it flowed forth in every salutation, address, and exhortation; truly as living waters did it flow.

In the seventh verse he said: "Waiting for the coming of our JEHOVAH Jesus Christ:

"Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our JEHOVAH Jesus Christ.

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our JEHOVAH."

What else could the apostle mean, than that the JEHOVAH of the ancient theocracy was then in Christ, the God of all? It is true that the trinity of the name is clear throughout revelation, but the unity of it is not less clearly revealed. The Godhead stands forth in the Three Divine Persons.

In that great name the apostle exhorted the Corinthians to unity, and added: "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." I know preaching is often a mystery to those who preach, but the explanation of it is that it is a Divine ordinance, and He who ordained it gives the unction, power, and grace, and applies them.

"The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks Gentiles" seek after wisdom :" referring to the ancient philosophy. "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

"But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than

men.

"For ye see your calling, brethren "--by your own

selves" how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

"And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence.

"But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption :

That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the JEHOVAH."

I have thus extracted this, because it is a perfect abandonment of the apostle to stern, unseen realities: things temporal dwindled in his sight, in his heart, and the spiritual world filled the void. He had put on the JEHOVAH Jesus Christ, His righteousness, and His Spirit, and hence the contrast of the two worlds as they stand before us. How little does the outer world know of the inner realm of light.

And so in the second chapter the apostle went on to explain the distinction between "the spirit of man that is in him" and the economy of "the Spirit of God." And I would here repeat, in order to understand his writings, what I have so often said, that the true answer to metaphysicians, What is the distinction between soul and Spirit ? is, That Spirit-whether good or evil-qualifies the soul. The Spirit of God furnishes it with knowledge, which is light, life, power;