How petty it all seemed. And yet how truly modern! We take a mistake if we idealize there early Christians too much. It is true that Paul called them saints and Fefers to them ax "them that are sanctified." But that showed his own Christian charity and his belief in what the Gospel would ultimately do for them. They certainly had their full share of human frailty. They were people of different temperaments. One leader appealed to some of them, another name Now when Paul hears of this, he writes to tell them that there Profound mistake in it all. It ix sign of the slave spirit) They laid themselves open to." human tyranny. Paul could do what 10 Tiked "with some of them, Apollos With thers, Peter with others 'They had mistaken the true relation Letween teachers and tatisht, bee tween nater and people. He' tells them to reverse the order, to turn the" tablex. Look' at the whole rentter" in another way, ho "say These teachers are not to be your tyrants. You must not surrender your souls to therm. They must not te allowed to enslave your minds. They ere your sercante, not Your masters. They are yours, "All things are yours—whether Paul. oF Apollos or Cephas." See what a difference that makes. Aman can nly have one: master. "Nomar can serve two masters." So then St Paul, Apollos and Peter are to be masters, then the only way is to have three parties with a label for each, But while a man can only have one master, there is no arbitrary limit to' the number of servants he may have. Your tenchers are -among your possessions. You need not choose between different each can make a them. Have them all, Each has a
separate contribution; but they are all intended for you, The Greatness of Paul There was Paul, Probably none of them had the faintest conception of his greatness. His true place in the Christian Church is second only to that of his Master. With the Passing of the centuries his great ness grows upon men. There has not risen a greater than he, His intellectual genius, his powerful personality, his utter devotion compel the utmost admiration, And all the wealth of that "rear personality was all theirs, Paul places himeelf at their disposal, He is their servant for Jesus' sake, And Apollos. Though many of them did not recognize it, Apollos was a much smaller man than Paul In depth of thought, in magnitude of mind there was no comparison. Apollos would never have been heard of but for Paul. Still Apollos had his own contribution to make. He had hix own gifts.and graces—principally the gift of popular ex-Pression. It was folly to choose between Paul and Apollos. There was no earthly need for any ore to face the question: Paul or Apollos. What the Corinthian Christians should have done was to posses them both, for they both belonged to them. Both the profound thought of the one and the popular exprosrfon of the other wore at their dirposal, "All "things are. your whether Paul or Apollon.
The Spell of Peter The same was true of Peter, after whom the third party was named. He had probably never visited them and probably never would. He had his own sphere and his own task. But if in the course of their travels they came under his spell, let them rejoice in that in: [fluence and profit from it to the fullest extent. There would have been great advantages in regard Peter us amongst their possessions; for it was all to the good to know that the Corinthian Church was not jete isolated community without allies. It was a member of an overgrowing brotherhood, an ever increasing fellowship, Dotted here and there wore similar communities owning allegiance to the same Lord <all members of the one body. That is where Peter came in. He was the earliest leader—a man of magnetic personality and of wonderful devotion. "Claim. him. He is yours. In doing s0, do not ne foolish enough to lose the profound teaching of Paul o the mov ing eloquence of Apollos. There no need, or excuse, for invidious distinctions between these devoted leaders. Possess them all. It is, Aclightful to hear Christians in one district speak in terms of ownership of some outstanding Christian lender whom they have never seen. Why not? He belongs to them. His own highest honour is to serve the Churches. And #0, said Paul, do not hesitate to get all the inspiration you can from Peter. He, in common with Paul and Apollos, is you Minister and. Church Now these reflections should help us to understand aright the relation of ministers to Churches. The Church does not exist for the minister; the minister exists for the Church. " We sometimes hear ministers speak of "my Church" and there is indeed that side to it. But such expression must not misread us into supposing that he owns the Church. No, the reverse isthe case; the Church owns him. All things are for your sakes.
Now does not thie way of looking: at the matter, thie way. of regarding all Christian leaders as among
wealth. If we Wear the label any one of them, then we limit ow our possessions, vastly increase selves to that one, and lose all the others, That means terrible ime poverishment, Moreover, we almost certainly tie ourselves to the limita tions and littlenesses, the Zoiblesy and the faults of our accepted leader. If he is our master that is inevitable. I suppose if any cynic were to go carefully through the list of the really great men in the Christian Church "he could easily find" some serious limitations But that need not is per sonality.
'We will receive all that we can assimilate of his message, Viewed in that way, how great are the possessions of' the Christian Church. And they have been vaste ly increased since Paul wrote these words, In writing to the Ephesians, he says that the ascended Christ gave gifts to men—apostles, pro phets, teachers, healers, pastors, They' are all ours, We' need not choose, Wo may possess them all =the twelve apostles, the early Christian fathers, the schoolman, the reformers, the evangelists, th mystics, the poets and preachers Do not' worry about the denomination to which they belonged for that will raise side issues. Take them for what they have to cone tribute. Receive all there is int their message that will help you, Do not become a slave to any of them. Their foibles need not worry you, their littlenesses_ need not bind you, They are servant, not masters. Their glory is that they have helped you. Let any one with sufficient historical knowledge and the gift of imagination make 8 picture gallery of the great sou of the Christian Church of the centuries, He may claim them all as his own; though here is wealth beyond anyone's capacity to roe ceive. Or let him gather a library of all that has stood' the test of in their writings. Here are riches altogether beyond his power to absorb; but they are all his. He need be the servant of none, but the possessor of all. All. things are yours: whether Pati, or Apollos, oF Cophas, or any of their successors.
The: Name of Chrint But I wonder whether you ha noticed an apparent discrepancy in' Paul's dealing with the situation, In the Church at Corinth there were four parties: that of Paul, of Apollos, of Cephas, of Christ, The Apostle has only dealt with the first three. "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Copha What of who said "We are of Christ How doos Paul deal with them? He maintains that here a serious mistake has been made. The name of Christ can never be claimed by any faction. "In Christ livided?"
ked in surprise and indigna Can the name "Christ" stand alongside such names as Paul, Apollos or Cephas? There are some people who seek to do away with all distinctions by adding: one other, just as there are some who call themselves undenominationalists. by creating yet another denomination. No, insists Paul, the name of Christ stands in a different category ale together. Tt cannot be put alonso side any other. His is the name which is above every name, Here the great differentiation, garding Paul, Apollos, Cophas, ho says, they are among' your posse sions: the belong to you." Regard-Christ he says, "Ife is your possessor, you belong to. Him." Here your freedom and self-determination cense. While your minds need not be under bondage to any man, they must be brought into solute captivity to Christ. One is your Master, oven Christ. is Lord and King and Conqueror, Ibs rights are regal. His claim i for a crown. "Ye are Christ's SUNDAY, being the anniversary of Lincoln's Birthday, the American community and the American Schoo! celebrated it in the usual manner.
The story just had been told of 4 policeman in a certain American city who found a dend horse in Kosciusko Street and was told by is superior to write a report, whereupon he went out again, dragged the horse into Clark Street—and wrote his report. Tt was after this that one turned to one of the Hongkong papers. and read about Shanghai comtemtorary", They should try "newspaper" next time,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.