6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

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led to believe in the Gospel, and that, in the exact measure in which God has given life and efficacy to each one's disposition to believe? Take an instance from common life; can the gardener pretend that he has power to make the seed which he sets in the ground grow? The same relative situation which the gardener holds to the seed, do the ministers of Christ hold to the faith of those whom they teach. And in this sense, I to whom primarily was entrusted the delivery of the joyful message of salvation by the crucifixion of Christ may be said to have planted your faith, and Apollos to have watered it; but it was God who gave it the principle of life and of increase. And as in the case of a seed, neither he who sets it in the ground, nor he who waters it, is any thing but the secondary means in making it take root and grow, God being the real source of its life and vegetation, so, neither is Paul who gives you the first rudiments of faith, nor Apollos who adds thereto further knowledge in confirmation of it, any thing but the secondary means of establishing your faith, God being the real cause of its existence, and of its increase. But the object both of him who sets a seed and of him who waters it, being, alike, to give it the means

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

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of growing, they are in reality persons of one and the same description; for the same reason, the object of all ministers being, alike, to establish the faith of those whom they teach, Paul who gives you the first means of believing, and Apollos who gives you the means of increasing in faith, are, in truth, persons of one and the same description: but, as there is a difference in the manner of performing the same work, and as among men those who labour are rewarded according to their fidelity, so each of us will hereafter receive from God a suitable reward according to the character of his 9 own work. Which it is reasonable we should do from the offices which we hold. For we are both fellow-labourers employed by God. And hence you, as to your faith, may be compared to cultivated ground belonging not to us but to God, the faith of each of you being the seeds set therein; or you may be compared to a building belonging not to us but to God, the faith of each of you being 10 the materials of which it is constructed. According to the power graciously bestowed on me by God, I have, as every wise architect would begin with doing, laid the foundation of the building; and on this foundation any other minister may

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 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.

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build. Let every minister, however, take care how he does so; that while professing to build upon it, " he do not substitute another foundation; for no one can lay any other true foundation than that which has been laid, which is that of Jesus the Christ; or in plain terms, there is no other pos sible primary tenet of the Gospel than that Jesus 12 is the Messiah. And if any minister building on this foundation, raises on it a superstructure either of gold or silver, or precious stones, or wood, or hay, or stubble; or in plain terms, if he produces in any one a profession of faith, which, according to its degree of consonancy with the above mentioned primary tenet, may be represented by these 13 substances so differing in value, the character of each minister's work will hereafter become evident; for the day in which the Lord will judge the world, will make it manifest. And this, because, though from the present inscrutability of the human heart it cannot now be fully ascertained, it can be clearly known by such a severe scrutiny as may be compared to the operation of extracting metal by the application of fire; and that scrutiny, which will be then made into it, will prove of what character

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14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

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14 each minister's work is. Pursuing the subject under this metaphor of fire applied to these substances, I add that, if after this operation, any minister's work which he has so superstructed remains, as the first three of these substances would, unconsumed by the fire; or plainly, if the profession of faith which he has produced in any one shall, after this scrutiny into it, prove to be essentially a true faith in Christ, he shall receive a suit15 able reward for his labour. If, on the other hand, any minister's work resemble the last three of these substances, which would be consumed by the fire; that is, if the profession of faith which he has produced in any one prove, by a strict scrutiny into it, not to be a true faith in Christ, he shall suffer a loss of the reward which he would otherwise have had for his labour. He himself, however, shall be saved from punishment; but in like manner, through a similar scrutiny into the sincerity of his own profession, and ministry. But in further proof of the caution to be used in building on the foundation which I have laid, I ask you, do you not know from our Lord's declaration that, collectively with all Christians, you are spiritually a Temple inhabited by God, and that accordingly the Spirit

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17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

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of God dwells mentally with you, and that on him "therefore you severally profess to depend? Now if any one desecrates the Temple of God, God will regard him as desecrated, for a temple of God is wholly consecrated to him, and such a temple you, collectively with all professing Christians, are; or, in plain terms, if any one by inculcating dependance on human wisdom instead of on the revelations of the Holy Spirit, as the proper guide for the conduct, renders the mind of any of you not wholly devoted to God, God will regard him who so inculcates, as not wholly devoted to himself, and therefore not a Christian believer; for the Christian society is wholly consecrated to him, to which 18 you professedly belong. Let not any one therefore mislead himself. If any one living among you, seems to himself to have effectual rules for the regulation of the conduct in a system founded on considerations drawn from the present state of things, let him lay aside all such dependence on his reason, in order that, by submitting to the system revealed in the Gospel, he may really have ef19 fectual rules for his conduct. For the wisdom of this world is considered by God of no real influence in producing obedience to his will, as is ex