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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<P><FONT SIZE=+3>First Corinthians</FONT>
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<BR>Completed by S<FONT SIZE=-1>IMON</FONT> B<FONT SIZE=-1>ROWNE</FONT>.</P>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46001.HTM">Chapter 1</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46002.HTM">Chapter 2</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46003.HTM">Chapter 3</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46004.HTM">Chapter 4</A>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46005.HTM">Chapter 5</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46006.HTM">Chapter 6</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46007.HTM">Chapter 7</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46008.HTM">Chapter 8</A>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46009.HTM">Chapter 9</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46010.HTM">Chapter 10</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46011.HTM">Chapter 11</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46012.HTM">Chapter 12</A>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46013.HTM">Chapter 13</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46014.HTM">Chapter 14</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46015.HTM">Chapter 15</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC46016.HTM">Chapter 16</A>
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<A NAME="Page505"> </A>
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<P><B>AN</B></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+2>EXPOSITION,</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+1>W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N S,</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=-1>OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+3><B>C O R I N T H I A N S.</B></FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=150>
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</P></CENTER>
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<P>
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C<FONT SIZE=-1>ORINTH</FONT> was a principal city of Greece, in that
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particular division of it which was called <I>Achaia.</I> It was
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situated on the isthmus (or neck of land) that joined Peloponnesus to
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the rest of Greece, on the southern side, and had two ports adjoining,
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one at the bottom of the Corinthian Gulf, called <I>Lechæum,</I>
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not far from the city, whence they traded to Italy and the west, the
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other at the bottom of the Sinus Saronicus, called <I>Cenchrea,</I> at
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a more remote distance, whence they traded to Asia. From this
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situation, it is no wonder that Corinth should be a place of great
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trade and wealth; and, as affluence is apt to produce luxury of all
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kinds, neither is it to be wondered at if a place so famous for wealth
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and arts should be infamous for vice. It was in a particular manner
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noted for fornication, insomuch that a <I>Corinthian woman</I> was a
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proverbial phrase for a strumpet, and <B><I>korinthiazein,
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korinthiasesthai</I></B>--<I>to play the Corinthian,</I> is to play the
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whore, or indulge whorish inclinations. Yet in this lewd city did
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Paul, by the blessing of God on his labours, plant and raise a
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Christian church, chiefly among the Gentiles, as seems very probable
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from the history of this matter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:1-18">Acts xviii. 1-18</A>,
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compared with some passages in this epistle, particularly
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:2">xii. 2</A>,
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where the apostle tells them, <I>You know that you wee Gentiles,
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carried away to those dumb idols even as you were led,</I> though it is
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not improbable that many Jewish converts might be also among them, for
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we are told that <I>Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed
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on the Lord, with all his house,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:8">Acts xviii. 8</A>.
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He continued in this city nearly two years, as is plain from
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:11,18">Acts xviii. 11 and 18</A>
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compared, and laboured with great success, being encouraged by a divine
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vision assuring him God <I>had much people in that city,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+18:9,10">Acts xviii. 9, 10</A>.
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Nor did he use to stay long in a place where his ministry met not with
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acceptance and success.</P>
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<P>
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Some time after he left them he wrote this epistle to them, to water
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what he had planted and rectify some gross disorders which during his
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absence had been introduced, partly from the interest some false
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teacher or teachers had obtained amongst them, and partly from the
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leaven of their old maxims and manners, that had not been thoroughly
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purged out by the Christian principles they had entertained. And it is
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but too visible how much their wealth had helped to corrupt their
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manners, from the several faults for which the apostle reprehends them.
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Pride, avarice, luxury, lust (the natural offspring of a carnal and
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corrupt mind), are all fed and prompted by outward affluence. And with
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all these either the body of this people or some particular persons
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among them are here charged by the apostle. Their pride discovered
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itself in their parties and factions, and the notorious disorders they
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committed in the exercise of their spiritual gifts. And this vice was
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not wholly fed by their wealth, but by the insight they had into the
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Greek learning and philosophy. Some of the ancients tell us that the
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city abounded with rhetoricians and philosophers. And these were men
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naturally vain, full of self-conceit, and apt to despise the plain
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doctrine of the gospel, because it did not feed the curiosity of an
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inquisitive and disputing temper, nor please the ear with artful
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speeches and a flow of fine words. Their avarice was manifest in their
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law-suits and litigations about <I>meum--mine,</I> and
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<I>tuum--thine,</I> before heathen judges. Their luxury appeared in more
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instances than one, in their dress, in their debauching themselves even
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at the Lord's table, when the rich, who were most faulty on this
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account, were guilty also of a very proud and criminal contempt of
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their poor brethren. Their lust broke out in a most flagrant and
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infamous instance, such as had not been named among the Gentiles, not
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spoken of without detestation--that a man should have his father's wife,
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either as his wife, or so as to commit fornication with her. This
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indeed seems to be the fault of a particular person; but the whole
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church were to blame that they had his crime in no greater abhorrence,
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that they could endure one of such very corrupt morals and of so
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flagitious a behaviour among them. But their participation in his sin
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was yet greater, if, as some of the ancients tell us, they were puffed
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up on behalf of the great learning and eloquence of this incestuous
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person. And it is plain from other passages of the epistle that they
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were not so entirely free from their former lewd inclinations as not to
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need very strict cautions and strong arguments against fornication: see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:9-20">vi. 9-20</A>.
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The pride of their learning had also carried many of them so far as to
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disbelieve or dispute against the doctrine of the resurrection. It is
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not improbable that they treated this question problematically, as they
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did many questions in philosophy, and tried their skill by arguing it
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<I>pro</I> and <I>con.</I></P>
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<P>
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It is manifest from this state of things that there was much that
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deserved reprehension, and needed correction, in this church. And the
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apostle, under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit, sets
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himself to do both with all wisdom and faithfulness, and with a due
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mixture of tenderness and authority, as became one in so elevated and
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important a station in the church. After a short introduction at the
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beginning of the epistle, he first blames them for their discord and
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factions, enters into the origin and source of them, shows them how
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much pride and vanity, and the affectation of science, and learning,
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and eloquence, flattered by false teachers, contributed to the
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scandalous schism; and prescribes humility, and submission to divine
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instruction, the teaching of God by his Spirit, both by external
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revelation and internal illumination, as a remedy for the evils that
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abounded amongst them. He shows them the vanity of their pretended
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science and eloquence on many accounts. This he does through the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:1-4:21">first four chapters</A>.
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In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:1-13">fifth</A>
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he treats of the case of the incestuous person, and orders him to be
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put out from among them. Nor is what the ancients say improbable, that
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this incestuous person was a man in great esteem, and head of one party
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at least among them. The apostle seems to tax them with being puffed up
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on his account,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:2">v. 2</A>.
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In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:1-8">sixth chapter</A>
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he blames them for their law-suits, carried on before heathen judges,
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when their disputes about property should have been amicably determined
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amongst themselves, and in the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:9-20">close of the chapter</A>
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warns them against the sin of fornication, and urges his caution with a
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variety of arguments. In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:1-40">seventh chapter</A>
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he gives advice upon a case of conscience, which some of that church
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had proposed to him in an epistle, about marriage, and shows it to be
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appointed of God as a remedy against fornication, that the ties of it
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were not dissolved, though a husband or wife continued a heathen, when
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the other became a Christian; and, in short, that Christianity made no
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change in men's civil states and relations. He gives also some
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directions here about virgins, in answer, as is probable, to the
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Corinthians' enquiries. In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+8:1-13">eighth</A>
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he directs them about meats offered to idols, and cautions them against
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abusing their Christian liberty. From this he also takes occasion, in
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the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+9:1-27">ninth chapter</A>,
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to expatiate a little on his own conduct upon this head of liberty.
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For, though he might have insisted on a maintenance from the churches
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where he ministered, he waived this demand, that <I>he might make the
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gospel of Christ without charge,</I> and did in other things comply
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with and suit himself to the tempers and circumstances of those among
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whom he laboured, for their good. In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:1-33">tenth chapter</A>
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he dissuades them, from the example of the Jews, against having
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communion with idolaters, by eating of their sacrifices, inasmuch as
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they could not be at once partakers of the Lord's table and the table
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of devils, though they were not bound to enquire concerning meat sold
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in the shambles, or set before them at a feast made by unbelievers,
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whether it were a part of the idol-sacrifices or no, but were at
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liberty to eat without asking questions. In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+11:1-34">eleventh chapter</A>
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he gives direction about their habit in public worship, blames them for
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their gross irregularities and scandalous disorders in receiving the
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Lord's supper, and solemnly warns them against the abuse of so sacred
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an institution. In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:1-31">twelfth chapter</A>
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he enters on the consideration of spiritual gifts, which were poured
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forth in great abundance on this church, upon which they were not a
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little elated. He tells them, in this chapter, that all came from the
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same original, and were all directed to the same end. They issued from
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one Spirit, and were intended for the good of the church, and must be
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abused when they were not made to minister to this purpose. Towards the
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close he informs them that they were indeed valuable gifts, but he
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could recommend to them something far more excellent, upon which he
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breaks out, in the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+13:1-13">thirteenth chapter</A>,
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into the commendation and characteristics of charity. And them, in the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:1-40">fourteenth</A>,
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he directs them how to keep up decency and order in the churches in the
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use of their spiritual gifts, in which they seem to have been
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exceedingly irregular, through pride of their gifts and a vanity of
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showing them. The
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:1-58">fifteenth chapter</A>
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is taken up in confirming and explaining the great doctrine of the
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resurrection. The
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+16:1-24">last chapter</A>
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consists of some particular advices and salutations; and thus the
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epistle closes.</P>
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