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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T C O R I N T H I A N S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter the apostle,
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I. Reproves them for going to law with one another about small matters,
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and bringing the cause before heathen judges,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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II. He takes occasion hence to warn them against many gross sins, to
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which they had been formerly addicted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:9-11">ver. 9-11</A>.
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III. And, having cautioned them against the abuse of their liberty, he
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vehemently dehorts them from fornication, by various arguments,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:12-20">ver. 12 to the end</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Co6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Causes of Litigation Censured.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law
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before the unjust, and not before the saints?
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2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if
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the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the
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smallest matters?
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3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things
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that pertain to this life?
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4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life,
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set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
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5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man
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among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his
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brethren?
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6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the
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unbelievers.
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7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye
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go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why
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do ye not rather <I>suffer yourselves to</I> be defrauded?
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8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that <I>your</I> brethren.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here the apostle reproves them for going to law with one another before
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heathen judges for little matters; and therein blames all <I>vexatious
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law-suits.</I> In the previous chapter he had directed them to punish
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heinous sins among themselves by church-censures. Here he directs them
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to determine controversies with one another by church-counsel and
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advice, concerning which observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The fault he blames them for: it was going to law. Not but that
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<I>the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.</I> But,
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1. <I>Brother went to law with brother</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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one member of the church with another. The near relation could not
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preserve peace and good understanding. The bonds of fraternal love were
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broken through. <I>And a brother offended,</I> as Solomon says, <I>is
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harder to be won than a strong city;</I> their contentions are like the
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bars of a castle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+18:19">Prov. xviii. 19</A>.
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Note, Christians should not contend with one another, for they are
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brethren. This, duly attended to, would prevent law-suits, and put an
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end to quarrels and litigations.
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2. They brought the matter before the heathen magistrates: <I>they went
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to law before the unjust, not before the saints</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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brought the controversy before unbelievers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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and did not compose it among themselves, Christians and saints, at
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least in profession. This tended much to the reproach of Christianity.
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It published at once their folly and unpeaceableness; whereas they
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pretended to be the children of wisdom, and the followers of the Lamb,
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the meek and lowly Jesus, the <I>prince of peace.</I> And therefore,
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says the apostle, "<I>Dare any of you,</I> having a controversy with
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another, go to law, implead him, bring the matter to a hearing before
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the unjust?" Note, Christians should not dare to do any thing that
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tends to the reproach of their Christian name and profession.
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3. Here is at least an intimation that they went to law for trivial
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matters, things of little value; for the apostle blames them that they
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did not suffer wrong rather than go to law
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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which must be understood of matters not very important. In matters of
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great damage to ourselves or families, we may use lawful means to right
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ourselves. We are not bound to sit down and suffer the injury tamely,
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without stirring for our own relief; but, in matters of small
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consequence, it is better to put up with the wrong. Christians should
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be of a forgiving temper. And it is more for their ease and honour to
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suffer small injuries and inconveniences than seem to be
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contentious.</P>
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<P>
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II. He lays before them the aggravations of their fault: <I>Do you not
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know that the saints shall judge the world</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>shall judge angels?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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And are they unworthy <I>to judge the smallest matters, the things of
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this life?</I> It was a dishonour to their Christian character, a
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forgetting of their real dignity, as saints, for them to carry little
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matters, about the things of life, before heathen magistrates. When
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they were to judge the world, nay, to judge, it is unaccountable that
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they could not determine little controversies among one another. By
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judging the world and angels, some think, is to be understood, their
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being assessors to Christ in the great judgment-day; it being said of
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our Saviour's disciples that they should at that day <I>sit on twelve
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thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:28">Matt. xix. 28</A>.
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And elsewhere we read of our <I>Lord's coming with ten thousand of his
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saints to execute judgment on all,</I> &c.,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:14,15">Jude 14, 15</A>.
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<I>He will come to judgment with all his saints,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+3:13">1 Thess. iii. 13</A>.
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They themselves are indeed to be judged (see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:31=41">Matt. xxv. 31-41</A>),
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but they may first be acquitted, and then advanced to the bench, to
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approve and applaud the righteous judgment of Christ both on men and
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angels. In no other sense can they be judges. They are not partners in
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their Lord's commission, but they have the honour to sit by, and see
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his proceeding against the wicked world, and approve it. Others
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understand this judging of the world to be meant when the empire should
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become Christian. But it does not appear that the Corinthians had
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knowledge of the empire's becoming Christian; and, if they had, in what
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sense could Christian emperors be said to judge angels? Others
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understand it of their condemning the world by their faith and
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practice, and casting out evil angels by miraculous power, which was
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not confined to the first ages, nor to the apostles. The first sense
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seems to be most natural; and at the same time it gives the utmost
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force to the argument. "Shall Christians have the honour to sit with
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the sovereign Judge at the last day, whilst he passes judgment on
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sinful men and evil angels, and are they not worthy to judge of the
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trifles about which you contend before heathen magistrates? Cannot they
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make up your mutual differences? Why must you bring them before heathen
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judges? When you are to judge them, as it fit to appeal to their
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judicature? Must you, about <I>the affairs of this life, set those to
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judge who are of no esteem in the church?</I>" (so some read, and
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perhaps most properly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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<I>heathen</I> magistrates, <B><I>exouthenemenous,</I></B> the
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<I>things that are not,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:28"><I>ch.</I> i. 28</A>.
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"Must those be called in to judge in your controversies of whom you
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ought to entertain so low an opinion? Is this not shameful?"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Some who read it as our translators make it an ironical speech: "If you
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have such controversies depending, set those to judge who are of least
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esteem among yourselves. The meanest of your own members are able
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surely to determine these disputes. Refer the matters in variance to
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any, rather than go to law about them before heathen judges. They are
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trifles not worth contending about, and may easily be decided, if you
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have first conquered your own spirits, and brought them into a truly
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Christian temper. <I>Bear and forbear,</I> and the men of meanest skill
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among you may end your quarrels. <I>I speak it to your shame,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Note, It is a shame that little quarrels should grow to such a head
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among Christians, that they cannot be determined by arbitration of the
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brethren.</P>
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<P>
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III. He puts them on a method to remedy this fault. And this
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twofold:--
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1. By referring it to some to make it up: "<I>Is it so that there is no
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wise man among you, no one able to judge between his brethren?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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You who value yourselves so much upon your wisdom and knowledge, who
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are so puffed up upon your extraordinary gifts and endowments, is there
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none among you fit for this office, none that has wisdom enough to
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judge in these differences? Must brethren quarrel, and the heathen
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magistrate judge, in a church so famous as yours for knowledge and
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wisdom? It is a reproach to you that quarrels should run so high, and
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none of your wise men interpose to prevent them." Note, Christians
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should never engage in law-suits till all other remedies have been
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tried in vain. Prudent Christians should prevent, if possible, their
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disputes, and not courts of judicature decide them, especially in
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matters of no great importance.
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2. By suffering wrong rather than taking this method to right
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themselves: <I>It is utterly a fault among you to go to law in this
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matter:</I> it is always a fault of one side to go to law, except in a
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case where the title is indeed dubious, and there is a friendly
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agreement of both parties to refer it to the judgment of those learned
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in the law to decide it. And this is referring it, rather than
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contending about it, which is the thing the apostle here seems chiefly
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to condemn: <I>Should you not rather take wrong, rather suffer
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yourselves to be defrauded?</I> Note, A Christian should rather put up
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with a little injury than tease himself, and provoke others, by a
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litigious contest. The peace of his own mind, and the calm of his
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neighbourhood, are more worth than victory in such a contest, or
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reclaiming his own right, especially when the quarrel must be decided
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by those who are enemies to religion. But the apostle tells them they
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were so far from bearing injuries <I>that they actually did wrong, and
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defrauded, and that their brethren.</I> Note, It is utterly a fault to
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wrong and defraud any; but it is an aggravation of this fault to
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defraud our Christian brethren. The ties of mutual love ought to be
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stronger between them than between others. And <I>love worketh no ill
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to his neighbour,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:10">Rom. xiii. 10</A>.
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Those who love the brotherhood can never, under the influence of this
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principle, hurt or injure them.</P>
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<A NAME="1Co6_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Solemn Warnings.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
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kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
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idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
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themselves with mankind,
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10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
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extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
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11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
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sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
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and by the Spirit of our God.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here he takes occasion to warn them against many heinous evils, to
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which they had been formerly addicted.</P>
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<P>
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I. He puts it to them as a plain truth, of which they could not be
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ignorant, that such sinners should not inherit the kingdom of God. The
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meanest among them must know thus much, that <I>the unrighteous shall
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not inherit the kingdom of God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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shall not be owned as true members of his church on earth, nor admitted
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as glorious members of the church in heaven. All unrighteousness is
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sin; and all reigning sin, nay, every actual sin committed
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deliberately, and not repented of, shuts out of the kingdom of heaven.
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He specifies several sorts of sins: against the first and second
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commandments, as <I>idolaters;</I> against the seventh, as
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<I>adulterers, fornicators, effeminate,</I> and <I>Sodomites;</I>
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against the eighth, as <I>thieves</I> and <I>extortioners,</I> that by
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force or fraud wrong their neighbours; against the ninth, as
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<I>revilers;</I> and against the tenth, as <I>covetous and
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drunkards,</I> as those who are in a fair way to break all the rest.
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Those who knew any thing of religion must know that heaven could never
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be intended for these. The scum of the earth are no ways fit to fill
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the heavenly mansions. Those who do the devil's work can never receive
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God's wages, at least no other than <I>death, the just wages of
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sin,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+6:23">Rom. vi. 23</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. Yet he warns them against deceiving themselves: <I>Be not
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deceived.</I> Those who cannot but know the fore-mentioned truth are
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but too apt not to attend to it. Men are very much inclined to flatter
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themselves that <I>God is such a one as themselves,</I> and that they
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may live in sin and yet die in Christ, may lead the life of the devil's
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children and yet go to heaven with the children of God. But this is all
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a gross cheat. Note, It is very much the concern of mankind that they
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do not cheat themselves in the matters of their souls. We cannot hope
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to sow to the flesh and yet reap everlasting life.</P>
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<P>
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III. He puts them in mind what a change the gospel and grace of God had
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made in them: <I>Such were some of you</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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such notorious sinners as he had been reckoning up. The Greek word is
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<B><I>tauta</I></B>--<I>such things</I> were some of you, very monsters
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rather than men. Note, Some that are eminently good after their
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conversion have been as remarkably wicked before. <I>Quantum mutatus ab
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illo!--How glorious a change does grace make!</I> It changes the vilest
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of men into saints and the children of God. Such were some of you, but
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you are not what you were. <I>You are washed, you are sanctified, you
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are justified in the name of Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.</I>
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|
Note, The wickedness of men before conversion is no bar to their
|
|
regeneration and reconciliation to God. The blood of Christ, and <I>the
|
|
washing of regeneration,</I> can purge away all guilt and defilement.
|
|
Here is a rhetorical change of the natural order: <I>You are
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|
sanctified, you are justified.</I> Sanctification is mentioned before
|
|
justification: and yet the name of Christ, by which we are justified,
|
|
is placed before the Spirit of God, by whom we are sanctified. Our
|
|
justification is owing to the merit of Christ; our sanctification to
|
|
the operation of the Spirit: but both go together. Note, None are
|
|
cleansed from the guilt of sin, and reconciled to God through Christ,
|
|
but those who are also sanctified by his Spirit. All who are made
|
|
righteous in the sight of God are made holy by the grace of God.</P>
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<A NAME="1Co6_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co6_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Against Fornication.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not
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expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be
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brought under the power of any.
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13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall
|
|
destroy both it and them. Now the body <I>is</I> not for fornication,
|
|
but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
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14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up
|
|
us by his own power.
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15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
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shall I then take the members of Christ, and make <I>them</I> the
|
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members of a harlot? God forbid.
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16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is
|
|
one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
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17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
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18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the
|
|
body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own
|
|
body.
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|
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
|
|
Ghost <I>which is</I> in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
|
|
your own?
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|
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in
|
|
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:12,13">twelfth verse
|
|
and former part of the thirteenth</A>
|
|
|
|
seem to relate to that early dispute among Christians about the
|
|
distinction of meats, and yet to be prefatory to the caution that
|
|
follows against fornication. The connection seems plain enough if we
|
|
attend to the famous determination of the apostles,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+15:19-29">Acts xv.</A>,
|
|
|
|
where the prohibition of certain foods was joined with that of
|
|
fornication. Now some among the Corinthians seem to have imagined that
|
|
they were as much at liberty in the point of fornication as of meats,
|
|
especially because it was not a sin condemned by the laws of their
|
|
country. They were ready to say, even in the case of fornication,
|
|
<I>All things are lawful for me.</I> This pernicious conceit Paul here
|
|
sets himself to oppose: he tells them that many things lawful in
|
|
themselves were not expedient at certain times, and under particular
|
|
circumstances; and Christians should not barely consider what is in
|
|
itself lawful to be done, but what is fit for them to do, considering
|
|
their profession, character, relations, and hopes: they should be very
|
|
careful that by carrying this maxim too far they be not brought into
|
|
bondage, either to a crafty deceiver or a carnal inclination. <I>All
|
|
things are lawful for me,</I> says he, <I>but I will not be brought
|
|
under the power of any,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
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|
Even in lawful things, he would not be subject to the impositions of a
|
|
usurped authority: so far was he from apprehending that in the things
|
|
of God it was lawful for any power on earth to impose its own
|
|
sentiments. Note, There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free,
|
|
in which we must stand fast. But surely he would never carry this
|
|
liberty so far as to put himself into the power of any bodily appetite.
|
|
Though all meats were supposed lawful, he would not become a glutton
|
|
nor a drunkard. And much less would he abuse the maxim of lawful
|
|
liberty to countenance the sin of fornication, which, though it might
|
|
be allowed by the Corinthian laws, was a trespass upon the law of
|
|
nature, and utterly unbecoming a Christian. He would not abuse this
|
|
maxim about eating and drinking to encourage any intemperance, nor
|
|
indulge a carnal appetite: "<I>Though meats are for the belly and the
|
|
belly for meats</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
though the belly was made to receive food, and food was originally
|
|
ordained to fill the belly, yet if it be not convenient for me, and
|
|
much more if it be inconvenient, and likely to enslave me, if I am in
|
|
danger of being subjected to my belly and appetite, I will abstain.
|
|
<I>But God shall destroy both it and them,</I> at least as to their
|
|
mutual relation. There is a time coming when the human body will need
|
|
no further recruits of food." Some of the ancients suppose that this is
|
|
to be understood of abolishing the belly as well as the food; and that
|
|
though the same body will be raised at the great day, yet not with all
|
|
the same members, some being utterly unnecessary in a future state, as
|
|
the belly for instance, when the man is never to hunger, nor thirst,
|
|
nor eat, nor drink more. But, whether this be true or no, there is a
|
|
time coming when the need and use of food shall be abolished. Note, The
|
|
expectation we have of being without bodily appetites in a future life
|
|
is a very good argument against being under their power in the present
|
|
life. This seems to me the sense of the apostle's argument; and that
|
|
this passage is plainly to be connected with his caution against
|
|
fornication, though some make it a part of the former argument against
|
|
litigious law-suits, especially before heathen magistrates and the
|
|
enemies of true religion. These suppose that the apostle argues that
|
|
though it may be lawful to claim our rights yet it is not always
|
|
expedient, and it is utterly unfit for Christians to put themselves
|
|
into the power of infidel judges, lawyers, and solicitors, on these
|
|
accounts. But this connection seems not so natural. The transition to
|
|
his arguments against fornication, as I have laid it, seems very
|
|
natural: <I>But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and
|
|
the Lord for the body,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Meats and the belly are for one another; not so fornication and the
|
|
body.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord. This is the first
|
|
argument he uses against this sin, for which the heathen inhabitants of
|
|
Corinth were infamous, and the converts to Christianity retained too
|
|
favourable an opinion of it. It is making things to cross their
|
|
intention and use. The <I>body is not for fornication;</I> it was never
|
|
formed for any such purpose, <I>but for the Lord,</I> for the service
|
|
and honour of God. It is to be an instrument <I>of righteousness to
|
|
holiness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+6:19">Rom. vi. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore is never to be made an instrument of uncleanness. It is
|
|
to be a member of Christ, and therefore must not be made the member of
|
|
a harlot,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
And <I>the Lord is for the body,</I> that is, as some think, Christ is
|
|
to be Lord of the body, to have property in it and dominion over it,
|
|
having assumed a body and been made to partake of our nature, that he
|
|
might be head of his church, and head over all things,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:5,18">Heb. ii. 5, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, We must take care that we do not use what belongs to Christ as if
|
|
it were our own, and much less to his dishonour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Some understand this last passage, <I>The Lord is for the body,</I>
|
|
thus: He is for its resurrection and glorification, according to what
|
|
follows,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>,
|
|
|
|
which is a second argument against this sin, the honour intended to be
|
|
put on our bodies: <I>God hath both raised up our Lord, and will raise
|
|
us up by his power</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
by the power of him who <I>shall change our vile body, and make it like
|
|
to his glorious body by that power whereby he is able to subdue all
|
|
things to himself,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:21">Phil. iii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is an honour done to the body that Jesus Christ was raised from the
|
|
dead: and it will be an honour to our bodies that they will be raised.
|
|
Let us not abuse those bodies by sin, and make them vile, which, if
|
|
they be kept pure, shall, notwithstanding their present vileness, be
|
|
made like to <I>Christ's glorious body.</I> Note, The hopes of a
|
|
resurrection to glory should restrain Christians from dishonouring
|
|
their bodies by fleshly lusts.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. A third argument is the honour already put on them: <I>Know you
|
|
not that your bodies are the members of Christ?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
If the soul be united to Christ by faith, the whole man is become a
|
|
member of his mystical body. The body is in union with Christ as well
|
|
as the soul. How honourable is this to the Christian! His very flesh
|
|
is a part of the mystical body of Christ. Note, It is good to know in
|
|
what honourable relations we stand, that we may endeavour to become
|
|
them. <I>But now,</I> says the apostle, <I>shall I take the members of
|
|
Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.</I> Or,
|
|
<I>take away</I> the members of Christ? Would not this be a gross
|
|
abuse, and the most notorious injury? Would it not be dishonouring
|
|
Christ, and dishonouring ourselves to the very last degree? What, make
|
|
a Christ's members the members of a harlot, prostitute them to so vile
|
|
a purpose! The thought is to be abhorred. God forbid. <I>Know you not
|
|
that he who is joined to a harlot is one body</I> with hers? <I>For
|
|
two,</I> says he, <I>shall be one flesh. But he who is joined to the
|
|
Lord is one spirit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nothing can stand in greater opposition to the honourable relations and
|
|
alliances of a Christian man than this sin. He is joined to the Lord in
|
|
union with Christ, and made partaker by faith of his Spirit. One spirit
|
|
lives and breathes and moves in the head and members. Christ and his
|
|
faithful disciples are one,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:21,22">John xvii. 21, 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>But he that is joined to a harlot is one body, for two shall be one
|
|
flesh,</I> by carnal conjunction, which was ordained of God only to be
|
|
in a married state. Now shall one in so close a union with Christ as to
|
|
be one spirit with him yet be so united to a harlot as to become one
|
|
flesh with her? Were not this a vile attempt to make a union between
|
|
Christ and harlots? And can a greater indignity he offered to him or
|
|
ourselves? Can any thing be more inconsistent with our profession or
|
|
relation? Note, The sin of fornication is a great injury in a Christian
|
|
to his head and lord, and a great reproach and blot on his profession.
|
|
It is no wonder therefore that the apostle should say, "<I>Flee
|
|
fornication</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
avoid it, keep out of the reach of temptations to it, of provoking
|
|
objects. Direct the eyes and mind to other things and thoughts."
|
|
<I>Alia vitia pugnando, sola libido fugiendo vincitur--Other vices may
|
|
be conquered in fight, this only by flight;</I> so speak many of the
|
|
fathers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. A fourth argument is that it is a sin against our own bodies.
|
|
<I>Every sin that a man does is without the body; he that committeth
|
|
fornication sinneth against his own body</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
every sin, that is, every other sin, every external act of sin besides,
|
|
is without the body. It is not so much an abuse of the body as of
|
|
somewhat else, as of wine by the drunkard, food by the glutton, &c. Nor
|
|
does it give the power of the body to another person. Nor does it so
|
|
much tend to the reproach of the body and render it vile. This sin is
|
|
in a peculiar manner styled uncleanness, pollution, because no sin has
|
|
so much external turpitude in it, especially in a Christian. He sins
|
|
against his own body; he defiles it, he degrades it, making it one with
|
|
the body of that vile creature with whom he sins. He casts vile
|
|
reproach on what he Redeemer has dignifies to the last degree by taking
|
|
it into union with himself. Note, We should not make our present vile
|
|
bodies more vile by sinning against them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The fifth argument against this sin is that the bodies of Christians
|
|
are <I>the temples of the Holy Ghost which is in them, and which they
|
|
have of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that is joined to Christ is one spirit. He is yielded up to him, is
|
|
consecrated thereby, and set apart for his use, and is hereupon
|
|
possessed, and occupied, and inhabited, by his Holy Spirit. This is the
|
|
proper notion of a temple--a place where God dwells, and sacred to his
|
|
use, by his own claim and his creature's surrender. Such temples real
|
|
Christians are of the Holy Ghost. Must he not therefore be God? But the
|
|
inference is plain that hence we are not our own. We are yielded up to
|
|
God, and possessed by and for God; nay, and this is virtue of a
|
|
purchase made of us: <I>You are bought with a price.</I> In short, our
|
|
bodies were made for God, they were purchased for him. If we are
|
|
Christians indeed they are yielded to him, and he inhabits and occupies
|
|
them by his Spirit: so that our bodies are not our own, but his. And
|
|
shall we desecrate his temple, defile it, prostitute it, and offer it
|
|
up to the use and service of a harlot? Horrid sacrilege! This is
|
|
robbing God in the worst sense. Note, The temple of the Holy Ghost must
|
|
be kept holy. Our bodies must be kept as his whose they are, and fit
|
|
for his use and residence.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. The apostle argues from the obligation we are under <I>to glorify
|
|
God both with our body and spirit, which are his,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
He made both, he bought both, and therefore both belong to him and
|
|
should be used and employed for him, and therefore should not be
|
|
defiled, alienated from him, and prostituted by us. No, they must be
|
|
kept as vessels fitted for our Master's use. We must look upon our
|
|
whole selves as holy to the Lord, and must use our bodies as property
|
|
which belongs to him and is sacred to his use and service. We are to
|
|
honour <I>him with our bodies and spirits, which are his;</I> and
|
|
therefore, surely, must abstain from fornication; and not only from the
|
|
outward act, but from the <I>adultery of the heart,</I> as our Lord
|
|
calls it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:28">Matt. v. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Body and spirit are to be kept clean, that God may be honoured by both.
|
|
But God is dishonoured when either is defiled by so beastly a sin.
|
|
Therefore flee fornication, nay, and every sin. Use your bodies for the
|
|
glory and service of their Lord and Maker. Note, We are not proprietors
|
|
of ourselves, nor have power over ourselves, and therefore should not
|
|
use ourselves according to our own pleasure, but according to his will,
|
|
and for his glory, <I>whose we are, and whom we should serve,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+27:23">Acts xxvii. 23</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
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