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No passage in Paul's writings more reveals to us the nobility of the man's nature than this. As we read, we feel that such a character could not fail to command the admiration and sympathy of all who were capable of appreciating it. The apostle's abilities were great; but his moral qualities towered more loftily above those of other men, even than did his intellectual powers. Such a servant of God was well fitted to be the first and the greatest preacher of Christ to the nations; for he so shared the mind of the Master, that they who saw, heard, and knew him must have been brought by such experience very near to the Saviour whose Spirit he possessed and whose gospel he preached.

I. THE JUST RIGHTS THE APOSTLE ASSERTED. Paul claimed that, like other teachers, he had a claim upon his scholars for recompense and support.

1. He supported this by striking illustrations. The soldier has his rations provided by his country on whose behalf he fights; the vine dresser eats of the produce of the vineyard; the shepherd shares in the profit of the flock which he feeds; the husbandman who ploughs, sows, and threshes does so in the expectation that he shall eat of the corn he grows.

2. He adds an argument from Scripture. Ingeniously does he apply the principle involved in the humane regulation which forbids the ox to be muzzled when it treads out the corn. A principle which holds good even with regard to cattle is surely valid when applied to men, to Christian labourers.

3. He urges the superiority of the advantages bestowed by the teacher over those which he is justified in expecting by way of acknowledgment if not of return. They who receive spiritual things may surely yield carnal things.

4. This right Paul claims for all ministers and evangelists, himself included.

II. THE NOBILITY OF SPIRIT WITH WHICH THE APOSTLE WAS WONT DELIBERATELY TO FOREGO THESE RIGHTS.

1. Observe the fact. The apostle had acted upon this principle from the beginning. An open statement like this could not have been made had it not corresponded with the actual and well known facts of the case.

2. Consider what this purpose involved, viz. hard manual labour. Like every Jew, Paul had been taught a trade; he wove the Cilician goats' hair into the fabric used for tents and sails, etc. It was a tax upon his energies whilst he was thinking, writing, and preaching, to spend part of the day in hard, rough toil.

3. Remember the exception; from the Macedonian Churches, for a special reason, Paul had consented to receive a liberal gift.

4. The motive which animated Paul deserves attention. It was not pride. There was a personal motive; whilst preaching was a necessity in his case, so that he could take no credit and make no boast for his ministry, he willingly gave up his right to maintenance, that he might have the pleasure of a voluntary sacrifice, a ground of lowly glorying. And there was an official motive; his design was to remove any hindrance out of the way of the progress of the gospel. It might be thought by some that he preached for gain, and such a supposition would render his hearers suspicious and unreceptive. That this should not be the case, he chose to forego his rights, that the obvious disinterestedness of his conduct might support and render effective the gospel which he proclaimed. - T.

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KJV: If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

WEB: If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things?