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(Text and 1 Corinthians 10:33). Here is the supreme secret of service to human souls; and the two passages must be taken together to get the beauty of the whole thought. It is an accommodation —

I. TO ALL MEN; to Jew, to Gentile; to weak, to strong —

1. By way of identification; as though himself just what they were. This means an Englishman becoming an Irishman to save an Irishman; a man of culture becoming an ignorant fool to save a fool — going down to the slums to save the inmates of the slums — becoming a slave to save slaves.

2. By way of self-denial and self-oblivion; not seeking one's own pleasure or even "profit," that others may be saved. A renunciation of self-gratification and even self-advancement and advantage for their sakes.

II. IN ALL THINGS — wherever it implies no wrong. The question is, What will remove a stumbling-block out of others' way? What will serve others? (1 Corinthians 9:19).

III. IN ORDER TO SAVE OTHERS. Everybody may not be benefited. "Duty is ours; results are God's." But what is offered to Him is not lost, although it may seem to be wasted. We never get to the true platform of service until what we do we do unto the Lord, and are not disturbed by its apparent unfruitfulness. He values it just as highly, without regard to obvious results.

(Hom. Monthly.)

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KJV: And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

WEB: To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;