Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-11-03
&eadiua fur the Sabbath,
CONDUCTED BY
REV. OBERT' LATHAM.
(0rigiIlal
GALL THINGS ARE YOURS, !,

In the third chapter of Paul's first epistle
to the Church at Corinth, we find these words:
Call things are yours" A plain, common
sense Interpretation of the expression, is that
all things belong to you in the sense of pos
session. Such is certainly the idea which
every attentive reader will get from the pas
sage. In fact, no one can come to any other
conclusion than that the Apostle desired and
designed to inform the Church at Corinth
that all things belonged to them.
The salutaton contained in the first verses
of the epistle, and the benediction contained
in next to the last verse, show that the epistle
was addressed, not to mere professors OF re-
lgion, or mankind generally, but to believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The persons who
are told that "all things" belong to them, are
"all those in the city of Corinth, who call
upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ"
But the heirs of "all things" were not all in
the city of Coriuth, for the Apostle adds,
that the epistle was addressed to all "that in
every place" call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Every one that calls upon the name Of
the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter where he
may be, nor in what age of the world he may
live, is member of the Church of God. TO
him Paul says "Glory not in men, for all
things are yours"
The expression, "all things" is indefinite.
1t does not necessarily include every thing
in the universe. 1t is only from the connec.
ton that we are enabled to decide whether
it is universal in its application or not When.
in the 18th chapter and 22nd verse Of this
epistle, Paul says: "As in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive" he
does not mean that all the human family
universally will be made partakers Of a glori'
Gus and everlasting life but that all that
are made partakers of salvation receive
it through Jesus Christ. Or, in other words.
all that are made alive are made alive
through Jesus Christ, just as all "that in
every place call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ"
But all, in the passage under consideration,
can not be restricted. Its universally is
made obvious by the specification which fol-
lows All includes Paul, Apollos and &C.
phos. Here we have particular individuals
mentioned, to denote class of men. Paul,
Apollos and Cephos were ministers of the
gospel, well.known and highly esteemed by
the church at Corinth. These and the class
of men to which they belonged, were the
common property of the church at Corinth.
No doubt, as is the case yet too frequently,
some of the Corinthian church thought that
the church belonged to the ministers, and in
these ministers, for various reasons, they glo-
ried. Such Paul, informs them, was not the
case but "all things" belonged to the church,
and one of the things included is the minis
ters of the Gospel. He goes on in his emu
meration of the Church's possessions. TO it
belongs the world. This is surely very
comprehensive word. 1t includes the planet
on which we live and all that is in and on it,
All this belongs to the church, but the Apos
tie goes on to enumerate several other things
which he includes in "all things"
Not only does the gospel ministry, and the
world and all that it contains, belong to the
church, but life and death and things present
and things to come belong to the church.
There is something very remarkable in this.
We would say that the man who possessed a
large and productive plantation, rich gold
mine, a large manufacturing establishment,
and had millions of dollars safely invested,
was immensely rich. But what shall we say
Of the man who owns all things, whose ser.
wants are apostles and prophets, and whose
possessions are bounded by the circles of the
universe? The strangest thing of all, is that
death is his.
There is a sense in which death may be said
to be the common property of all men but
it is not in the sense in which it is used by
Paul, when he says it belongs to those who
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The man who is dying Of some incurable dis
ease may call that disease "his, but he would
not be likely to enumerate it among his bless
ings. He would not regard its possession as
good and sufficient reason why he should
not envy even kings. Death belongs to all
those who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ as
real blessing-a friend, the kindest and the
| best
Death is monstrosity. 1t is the 6rst.born
Of sin, the fruits of disobedience, the wages
of sin. All die because all are sinners, but
Jesus Christ conquered death, reduced the
monster to suhjection, brought good out of
evil, order out of confusion, and light out of
darkness
pg- He who boasts of the great good he has
done and how much he has accomplished, has
proud and boastful spirit unsubdued by
grace. The devil has more intimate compan-
ionship with him than the Holy Spirit. The
minister who boasts of the number of his con-
verts, presenting these as an evidence of his
preaching power, has but little good sense,
and probably less grace.
ssg- The man who complains that his fel-
low-men never give him his rights is probably