620 THE CHRISTIAN'S TREASIIRN. sovereign dominion over them, or present possession of them ;'+ Always supposing that the christian maintains his character, and acts in his station becoming the dignity of his holy and heavenly calling. Theplain meaning of the words is, that all things shall work for the good of the saints. But the apostledaises to express this in anoble manner here, and by such ass exalted figure of speech as aggrandizes the character ofthesaints, and raises their dignity : And therefore he represents them as having a property in all things, and speaks sublimely of ahem, as though they werepos- sessors of heaven and earth. Now the ground on which he builds this manner ofspeaking, may be set in a just and easy light. We can properly be said to possess nothing but what turns to our account, what is, ofsome service or advantage tons ; and therefore in the common language of life, we say, concerning a rich covetous man, " he is a poor wretch, he has nothing, be- cause he receives benefit from so small a part of his estate : And in truth, hehas no more than he enjoys or .uses." Now the true christian reaps the benefit of all things ; and God, the great God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, makes all things work together for the benefit of his people; and in this sense it is that all things are theirs. All things shall turn to their advantage, either, 1. for the support and comfort of their temporal life ; or, 2. for the begin- ning and improvement of their spirituallife ; or 3. for their pos- session and enjoyment of life eternal. But instead ofcollectingall the treasures and riches ofthe saints under these three general heads, I shall chuse rather to make a paraphrase on the whole verseof my text, and thus dis- cover the interest that a christian has in the persons and things of earth and heaven. "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours." I. The ministers of the gospel are yours. Is Paul appointed an apostle separated to the gospel by the immediate call of Christ; it isfor your sakes, O ye Corinthians, that he was chosen and called! Christ hadyou in his eye,, and upon his heart, when he stopped him in the midst of his fury and persecution ; when he overwhelmed him with glory, in the road to Damascus; and from a persecutor, made au apostle of him, and a preacher of the cross of Jesus : For he designed then to sendhim to Corinth, to call you from heathenism, and to save your souls. Is Paul a man of learning and of bright parts ? Is he en- dowed with profound knowledge of divine mysteries above his brethren ? Is hefit topreach for the conversion of the heathen
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