text. "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ.” The same imagery is elsewhere employed in the sacred records. Thus the Lord declares by the prophet Isaiah, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation." (xxviii. 16.) And Christ, applying the same metaphor to himself, says that the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner." (Mat. xxi. 42.)

The builders are Apostles, Evangelists, and all Ministers. This is also expressly stated. St. Paul, speaking of himself and gospel ministers in general, says, “We are labourers together with God. Then, addressing Christians in general, he says, "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon." (1 Cor. iii. 9, 10.) These remarks standing in immediate con. nexion with the passage before us, and introducing it, leave no question that apostles and ministers in general are the builders. It is not left to conjecture, but it is plainly affirmed.

66

same

The materials composing the edifice are professing Christians. Some, indeed, have thought that doctrines constitute the materials of the building; but the incorrectness of this view is manifest from these two facts. First, doctrines are not set forth in Scripture as the work of man; they are not of human origin or device, but of God; and secondly, in Holy Scripture, doctrines are not compared to a building, but the members of the visible Church are frequently thus represented. In the context Paul, addressing the Corinthians personally, says, "Ye are God's building." Addressing the Ephesians, the same apostle applies to them personally the metaphor. Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Ephesians ii. 19-22. The Apostle Peter also applies the same imagery to persons and not to doctrines. Addressing the members of the Church of God scattered through divers regions, he calls them the stones which build up the spiritual house of God." "Ye also as lively stones are built up, a spiritual house." (1 Peter ii. 5.) The same expressive imagery was used in the Old Testament. In Isaiah, God foretelling the enlargement, purity and prosperity of his Church, says, "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established." From these examples, it is evident that the apostle, in comparing the visible Church to a building, was employing a metaphor which was usual with the sacred writers. Such a figure was probably derived from the temple of Solomon, which was a type of the Church of God, and the Shechinah an emblem of the presence and glory of God in the midst of his people. The individuals, therefore, whom ministers gather out of the world and incorporate with the visible Church, constitute the materials of the building. They" are God's building." They are “the temple of God."

The diversity there is in the quality of the materials of the building represents the diversity of character in those who compose the visible Church of God. Some of these materials are valuable and ornamental: " gold, silver, and precious stones," which represent sterling Christians, genuine believers, useful and holy members. They shine" in the beauty of holiness" -the comeliness which God puts upon his people; they are living stones

M

"polished after the similitude of a palace," and their character adorns and beautifies the temple of God, imparting to it a heavenly and divine lustre. These are God's "jewels," his peculiar people, and are precious in his sight. Yet as gold is more valuable than silver, and as some jewels are more precious than either, so there are different degrees of excellence among real Christians. Some are more eminently holy and useful than others, and reflect greater honour on the Church of God.

But some of the materials used in this metaphor are perishable and worthless in a building-"wood, hay and stubble;" and these denote hypocrites, formalists and worthless professors. Such characters impart no real value to the Church, nor contribute to its solidity and usefulness. On the contrary, they deface its beauty, impair its strength, and endanger its stability. They are as the chaff among the wheat, as rotten branches of the vine, and as thorns and briars which infest the garden of the Lord, and their end is to be burned.

66

Every part of the fabric is to undergo a fiery ordeal. This shall take place at a certain period in futurity called "The day"-namely, the day of judgment. It is sometimes called "The day of the Lord," "The last day,' "The day of his coming," "The judgment of the great day," "The day of God" and here, by way of emphasis, it is "The day.' The instrument employed in this searching trial is represented as a fire." There will be on the day of judgment an awful conflagration; the Scriptures repeatedly declare that the world shall be destroyed by fire. For "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth, also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." (2 Peter iii. 10.) It was, as we have already seen, the opinion of several of the Fathers that this fire of the general conflagration is meant by the language of St. Paul in the passage under consideration. But we do not think that any material fire is referred to as the grand instrument of trial on the day of judgment. As the other parts of the passage are metaphorical, consistency requires us to consider this also as metaphorical. Indeed, the phraseology of the passage itself implies that the word "fire" is used metaphorically; for in speaking of the narrow escape of that minister whose work is destroyed, the apostle says, "Yet he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire"-not literally by fire, but so as by fire-language which excludes a literal meaning, and denotes comparison and metaphor. Let us, then, drop the figure for a moment, and ask, What is it that shall on the day of judgment be the grand test of men's character? What shall, in fact, constitute the ordeal to which all men shall be subject on that solemn day? The answer of Scripture is, 'The word of God." This is the rule of our life now, and this is the standard by which all men must be judged at the last day. We ask again, is the word of God in other parts of Scripture set forth by the image of fire? does the phraseology of the sacred writers sustain this interpretation of the figure? Let the Scripture again answer for itself. "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah xxiii. 29.) "Wherefore thus, saith the Lord God of Hosts, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." (Jeremiah v. 14.) The fire, then, that will try every soul of man on the day of judgment will be the fire of God's holy, searching, and inflexible word. By this they will be justified, and by this will they be condemned.

66

In this trial there will be a true manifestation of character, and all will receive their eternal destiny according to its issues. Some materials will stand the fiery ordeal; gold, silver and precious stones will "abide" the searching test; other materials are but fuel for the flame-wood, hay and stubble will be "burned." The application of this is obvious to every one. The truly righteous, the sincere and holy, will be found approved of God and numbered among his jewels. Judged by the faithful word, their cha

66

racters will stand forth in all their sterling excellence, purity and usefulness. In the presence of an assembled world, the Judge will acknowledge them for his, vindicate their motives, roll away for ever the reproach which an ungrateful and malignant world had cast upon them, bring forth their judgment as the light, and their righteousness as the noon-day, place them at his right hand, and welcome them to the eternal joys and glories of his heavenly kingdom. Come, ye blessed of my Father, enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." On the other hand, the hypocrite, the formalist, and the unsound professor, will be detected, exposed, and punished in that day. For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts." The fire of God's holy word trieth the hearts of men, as gold and silver are tried in the furnace. It is as severely penetrating and searching into character as fire is to any substance exposed to its action; so that on that day nothing but sterling piety will stand the test of the sacred book opened before him that sitteth on the great white throne. In this world the form may be assumed for the power; talents, and station and influence may win good opinions from men, and a painted exterior deceive the very elect; but in the day of judgment the searching scrutiny will expose every deceiver, and show him forth in his naked deformity and hypocrisy.

As fire not only tries and searches any substance exposed to its action, but inflicts the most dreadful pain upon sensitive beings, so the word of God by its holy requirements and principles not only convicts the sinner, and reveals his deformity, but condemns his character and denounces against him the most awful threatenings of wrath and indignation. This fire shall not, indeed, consume or destroy his being, as material fire destroys wood, hay and stubble, but it shall act upon his conscience as an inexorable tormentor, inflicting inconceivable agony and pain, world without end.

In this trial ministers of the gospel will be subject to the same searching and impartial scrutiny as other men, and be rewarded according to their works. "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." The building up of the Church is more especially the work of gospel ministers, and the final character of their work will greatly affect their own reward. The minister whose faithfulness and diligent labours have instrumentally built up the Church with sterling characters-holy, devoted and useful members—shall in the day of judgment receive an especial reward. Besides the reward assigned to him as a real Christian, he shall receive the reward promised to the faithful steward. "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy." The faithful minister's joy will be enhanced in beholding the souls saved through his instrumentality finally approved of God and rewarded with eternal life, and his own reward of honour and bliss will be increased on their account. For " they that be wise (or teachers) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and ever." One star differeth from another star in glory, but the faithful and successful minister who in the day of judgment shall be surrounded with many souls saved through his tears, and prayers, and labours, shall shine like a star of the first magnitude and splendour.

On the other hand, the minister who, though on the whole a good man, yet has been so far deficient in faithfulness and zeal that he has allowed the Church under his care to be composed of unsound materials-formalists and worldly-minded professors, whose end is to be burned-" he shall suffer loss."

He shall have the mortification and dishonour of seeing his work disapproved and rejected at the last day, and the souls of men once under his care perish in his presence. Awful event! and so far as it results from any want of diligence or fidelity on his part, he will suffer loss-a loss of that honour and happiness which are to be awarded to the more faithful and successful minister of Jesus Christ.

“But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." That is to say, if he have, on the whole, been a good man. If he have built upon the true foundation, and continued in a state of grace, he shall be saved. He shall be saved as an ordinary Christian, though not rewarded as a minister. The case is one which may be supposed, and is, we fear, a type of such as actually exist in our own day-the case of those who, on the whole, are good men, but so deficient in the vigilant oversight of the Church that many unworthy members are allowed to enter its sacred precincts, marring its beauty, tarnishing its purity, and impairing its efficiency. Though such ministers may be saved, even amidst the awful wreck and destruction of their work, yet it shall be " so as by fire." Some interpret this to mean with extreme difficulty, just as if a man should escape from the flames of his dwelling, though his family perish in the blaze. That this is true in fact, there can be no doubt; for the minister whose work is burned as worthless must be in the utmost danger of being burned himself; yet this, we think, is not the meaning of the clause before us. We are of opinion that the apostle means simply that he shall be saved just in the same way as others; that is to say, that, though a minister, he shall not be saved on account of his official station and privileges. No favour shall be shown him because of his position in the Church, but, like all the rest, he must be tried by the fire; and if he stand the searching ordeal of God's word he shall be saved, but not otherwise.

Thus the entire passage affords no sanction to the papal notion of purgatory. On the contrary, it contradicts and disproves that doctrine at every step. In the clear but awful light which it sheds on man's character and destiny, we see that no Papal masses can rescue a soul from suffering, no benefactions to the Church can purchase a place in heaven, no prayers offered after death can change its destiny or character. Everyone, ministers as well as people-all are to be tried at the last day by the fire of God's truth, and their eternal doom to be fixed according to their character here. The corrupt and the unholy must perish, and the Christian alone, the truly regenerate alone, can be saved.

While this passage refutes the doctrine of purgatory, it utters a solemn admonition to all ministers and all Churches. It speaks as in the awful thunders of the last day to the careless and slumbering formalist, and summons all to self-examination, vigilance and prayer. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; be faithful unto death; and whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest." Ministers! stewards of the Grace of God! hear the faithful and admonitory appeal of your Lord: "Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But, and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of him; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Mat. xxiv. 45-51.) Therefore "Take heed of yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come

upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke xxi. 34-36.)

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES, ANECDOTES, &c.

THE LORD'S SUPPER.-ITS INSTITUTION, NATURE, DESIGN, AND MANNER OF OBSERVANCE.