30If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, 33and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.

King James Bible
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

Douay-Rheims Bible
They are Hebrews: so am I. They are Israelites: so am I. They are the seed of Abraham: so am I.

Darby Bible Translation
Are they Hebrews? I also. Are they Israelites? I also. Are they seed of Abraham? I also.

English Revised Version
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

Webster's Bible Translation
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the offspring of Abraham? so am I.

Weymouth New Testament
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

World English Bible
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.

Young's Literal Translation
Hebrews are they? I also! Israelites are they? I also! seed of Abraham are they? I also!

Cross References

Acts 6:1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

Romans 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,

Romans 11:1 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.

Philippians 3:5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 22-33

Here the apostle gives a large account of his own qualifications, labours, and sufferings (not out of pride or vain-glory, but to the honour of God, who had enabled him to do and suffer so much for the cause of Christ), and wherein he excelled the false apostles, who would lessen his character and usefulness among the Corinthians. Observe,

I. He mentions the privileges of his birth (v. 22), which were equal to any they could pretend to. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews; of a family among the Jews that never intermarried with the Gentiles. He was also an Israelite, and could boast of his being descended from the beloved Jacob as well as they, and was also of the seed of Abraham, and not of the proselytes. It should seem from this that the false apostles were of the Jewish race, who gave disturbance to the Gentile converts.

II. He makes mention also of his apostleship, that he was more than an ordinary minister of Christ, v. 23. God had counted him faithful, and had put him into the ministry. He had been a useful minister of Christ unto them; they had found full proofs of his ministry: Are they ministers of Christ? I am more so.

III. He chiefly insists upon this, that he had been an extraordinary sufferer for Christ; and this was what he gloried in, or rather he gloried in the grace of God that had enabled him to be more abundant in labours, and to endure very great sufferings, such as stripes above measure, frequent imprisonments, and often the dangers of death, v. 23. Note, When the apostle would prove himself an extraordinary minister, he proves that he had been an extraordinary sufferer. Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and for that reason was hated of the Jews. They did all they could against him; and among the Gentiles also he met with hard usage. Bonds and imprisonments were familiar to him; never was the most notorious malefactor more frequently in the hands of public justice than Paul was for righteousness' sake. The jail and the whipping-post, and all other hard usages of those who are accounted the worst of men, were what he was accustomed to. As to the Jews, whenever he fell into their hands, they never spared him. Five times he fell under their lash, and received forty stripes save one, v. 24. Forty stripes was the utmost their law allowed (Deu. 25:3), but it was usual with them, that they might not exceed, to abate one at least of that number. And to have the abatement of one only was all the favour that ever Paul received from them. The Gentiles were not tied up to that moderation, and among them he was thrice beaten with rods, of which we may suppose once was at Philippi, Acts 16:22. Once he was stoned in a popular tumult, and was taken up for dead, Acts 14:19. He says that thrice he suffered shipwreck; and we may believe him, though the sacred history gives a relation but of one. A night and a day he had been in the deep (v. 25), in some deep dungeon or other, shut up as a prisoner. Thus he was all his days a constant confessor; perhaps scarcely a year of his life, after his conversion, passed without suffering some hardship or other for his religion; yet this was not all, for, wherever he went, he went in perils; he was exposed to perils of all sorts. If he journeyed by land, or voyaged by sea, he was in perils of robbers, or enemies of some sort; the Jews, his own countrymen, sought to kill him, or do him a mischief; the heathen, to whom he was sent, were not more kind to him, for among them he was in peril. If he was in the city, or in the wilderness, still he was in peril. He was in peril not only among avowed enemies, but among those also who called themselves brethren, but were false brethren, v. 26. Besides all this, he had great weariness and painfulness in his ministerial labours, and these are things that will come into account shortly, and people will be reckoned with for all the care and pains of their ministers concerning them. Paul was a stranger to wealth and plenty, power and pleasure, preferment and ease; he was in watchings often, and exposed to hunger and thirst; in fastings often, it may be out of necessity; and endured cold and nakedness, v. 27. Thus was he, who was one of the greatest blessings of the age, used as if he had been the burden of the earth, and the plague of his generation. And yet this is not all; for, as an apostle, the care of all the churches lay on him, v. 28. He mentions this last, as if this lay the heaviest upon him, and as if he could better bear all the persecutions of his enemies than the scandals that were to be found in the churches he had the oversight of. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? v. 29. There was not a weak Christian with whom he did not sympathize, nor any one scandalized, but he was affected therewith. See what little reason we have to be in love with the pomp and plenty of this world, when this blessed apostle, one of the best of men that ever lived, excepting Jesus Christ, felt so much hardship in it. Nor was he ashamed of all this, but, on the contrary, it was what he accounted his honour; and therefore, much against the grain as it was with him to glory, yet, says he, if I must needs glory, if my adversaries will oblige me to it in my own necessary vindication, I will glory in these my infirmities, v. 30. Note, Sufferings for righteousness' sake will, the most of any thing, redound to our honour.

In the last two verses, he mentions one particular part of his sufferings out of its place, as if he had forgotten it before, or because the deliverance God wrought for him was most remarkable; namely, the danger he was in at Damascus, soon after he was converted, and not settled in Christianity, at least in the ministry and apostleship. This is recorded, Acts 9:24, 25. This was his first great danger and difficulty, and the rest of his life was a piece with this. And it is observable that, lest it should be thought he spoke more than was true, the apostle confirms this narrative with a solemn oath, or appeal to the omniscience of God, v. 31. It is a great comfort to a good man that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is an omniscient God, knows the truth of all he says, and knows all he does and all he suffers for his sake.

Calvin's Commentary

22. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

22. Hebraei sunt? Ego quoque. Israelitae sunt? Ego quoque: semen Abrahae sunt? Ego quoque.

23. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool,) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

23. Ministri Christi sunt? Desipiens loquor, plus ego; in laboribus abundantius, in plagis supra modum, in carceribus copiosius, in mortibus saepe.

24. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

24. A Iudaeis quinquies quadraginta plagas accepi una minus.

25. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

25. Ter virgis caesus sum, semel lapidatus sum, ter naufragium feci, noctes et dies egi in profundo.

26. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

26. In itineribus saepe, periculis fluminum, periculis latronum, periculis ex genere, periculis ex Gentibus, periculis in urbe, periculis in deserto, periculis in mari, periculis in falsis fratribus:

27. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

27. In labore et molestia, in vigiliis saepe, in fame et siti, in ieiuniis saepe, in frigore et nuditate:

28. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

28. Praeter ea quae extrinsecus accidunt, quotidiana mea moles, [851] sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum.

29. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

29. Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor? Quis offenditur, et ego non uror?

22. He now, by enumerating particular instances, lets them see more distinctly, that he would not by any means be found inferior, if matters came to a contest. And in the first place, he makes mention of the glory of his descent, of which his rivals chiefly vaunted. "If," says he, "they boast of illustrious descent, I shall be on a level with them, for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham." This is a silly and empty boast, and yet Paul makes use of three terms to express it; nay more, he specifies, as it were, three different marks of excellence. By this repetition, in my opinion, he indirectly reproves their folly, inasmuch as they placed the sum-total [852] of their excellence in a thing that was so trivial, [853] and this boasting was incessantly in their mouth, so as to be absolutely disgusting, as vain men are accustomed to pour forth empty bravadoes as to a mere nothing.

As to the term Hebrews, it appears from Genesis 11:15, that it denotes descent, and is derived from Heber; and farther, it is probable, that Abraham himself is so called in Genesis 14:13, in no other sense than this -- that he was descended from that ancestor. [854] Not altogether without some appearance of truth is the conjecture of those, who explain the term to mean those dwelling beyond the river. [855] We do not read, it is true, that any one was called so before Abraham, who had passed over the river, when he quitted his native country, and afterwards the appellation came to be a customary one among his posterity, as appears from the history of Joseph. The termination, however, shows that it is expressive of descent, and the passage, that I have quoted, abundantly confirms it. [856]

23. Are they ministers of Christ? Now when he is treating of matters truly praiseworthy, he is no longer satisfied with being on an equality with them, but exalts himself above them. For their carnal glories he has previously been scattering like smoke by a breath of wind, [857] by placing in opposition to them those which he had of a similar kind; but as they had nothing of solid worth, he on good grounds separates himself from their society, when he has occasion to glory in good earnest. For to be a servant of Christ is a thing that is much more honorable and illustrious, than to be the first-born among all the first-born of Abraham's posterity. Again, however, with the view of providing against calumnies, he premises that he speaks as a fool "Imagine this," says he, "to be foolish boasting: it is, nevertheless, true."

In labors. By these things he proves that he is a more eminent servant of Christ, and then truly we have a proof that may be relied upon, when deeds instead of words are brought forward. He uses the term labors here in the plural number, and afterwards labor What difference there is between the former and the latter I do not see, unless perhaps it be, that he speaks here in a more general way, including those things that he afterwards enumerates in detail. In the same way we may also understand the term deaths to mean any kind of perils that in a manner threatened present death, instances of which he afterwards specifies. "I have given proof of myself in deaths often, in labors oftener still." He had made use of the term deaths in the same sense in the first chapter. (2 Corinthians 1:10.)

24. From the Jews. It is certain that the Jews had at that time been deprived of jurisdiction, but as this was a kind of moderate punishment (as they termed it) it is probable that it was allowed them. Now the law of God was to this effect, that those who did not deserve capital punishment should be beaten in the presence of a judge, (Deuteronomy 25:2, 3,) provided not more than forty stripes were inflicted, lest the body should be disfigured or mutilated by cruelty. Now it is probable, that in process of time it became customary to stop at the thirty-ninth lash, [858] lest perhaps they should on any occasion, from undue warmth, exceed the number prescribed by God. Many such precautions, [859] prescribed by the Rabbins, [860] are to be found among the Jews, which make some restriction upon the permission that the Lord had given. Hence, perhaps, in process of time, (as things generally deteriorate,) they came to think, that all criminals should be beaten with stripes to that number, though the Lord did not prescribe, how far severity should go, but where it was to stop; unless perhaps you prefer to receive what is stated by others, that they exercised greater cruelty upon Paul. This is not at all improbable, for if they had been accustomed ordinarily to practice this severity upon all, he might have said that he was beaten according to custom. Hence the statement of the number is expressive of extreme severity.

25. Thrice was I beaten with rods Hence it appears, that the Apostle suffered many things, of which no mention is made by Luke; for he makes mention of only one stoning, [861] one scourging, and one shipwreck. We have not, however, a complete narrative, nor is there mention made in it of every particular that occurred, but only of the principal things.

By perils from the nation he means those that befell him from his own nation, in consequence of the hatred, that was kindled against him among all the Jews. On the other hand, he had the Gentiles as his adversaries; and in the third place snares were laid for him by false brethren. Thus it happened, that

for Christ's name's sake he was hated by all.
(Matthew 10:22.)

By fastings I understand those that are voluntary, as he has spoken previously of hunger and want. Such were the tokens by which he showed himself, and on good grounds, to be an eminent servant of Christ. For how may we better distinguish Christ's servants than by proofs so numerous, so various, and so important? On the other hand, while those effeminate boasters [862] had done nothing for Christ, and had suffered nothing for him, they, nevertheless, impudently vaunted.

It is asked, however, whether any one can be a servant of Christ, that has not been tried with so many evils, perils, and vexations? I answer, that all these things are not indispensably requisite on the part of all; [863] but where these things are seen, there is, undoubtedly, a greater and more illustrious testimony afforded. That man, therefore, who will be signalized by so many marks of distinction, will not despise those that are less illustrious, and less thoroughly tried, nor will he on that account be elated with pride; but still, whenever there is occasion for it, he will be prepared, after Paul's example, to exult with a holy triumph, in opposition to pretenders [864] and worthless persons, provided he has an eye to Christ, not to himself -- for nothing but pride or ambition could corrupt and tarnish all these praises. For the main thing is -- that we serve Christ with a pure conscience. All other things are, as it were, additional.

28. Besides those things that are without "Besides those things," says he, "which come upon me from all sides, and are as it were extraordinary, what estimate must be formed of that ordinary burden that constantly presses upon me -- the care that I have of all the Churches." The care of all the Churches he appropriately calls his ordinary burden. For I have taken the liberty of rendering episustasin in this way, as it sometimes means -- whatever presses upon us. [865]

Whoever is concerned in good earnest as to the Church of God, stirs up himself and bears a heavy burden, which presses upon his shoulders. What a picture we have here of a complete minister, embracing in his anxieties and aims not one Church merely, or ten, or thirty, but all of them together, so that he instructs some, confirms others, exhorts others, gives counsel to some, and applies a remedy to the diseases of others! Now from Paul's words we may infer, that no one can have a heartfelt concern for the Churches, without being harassed with many difficulties; for the government of the Church is no pleasant occupation, in which we may exercise ourselves agreeably and with delight of heart, [866] but a hard and severe warfare, as has been previously mentioned, (2 Corinthians 10:4,) -- Satan from time to time giving us as much trouble as he can, and leaving no stone unturned to annoy us.

29. Who is weak. How many there are that allow all offenses to pass by unheeded -- who either despise the infirmities of brethren, or trample them under foot! This, however, arises from their having no concern for the Church. For concern, undoubtedly, produces sumpatheian (sympathy,) [867] which leads the Minister of Christ to participate in the feelings of all, [868] and put himself in the place of all, that he may suit himself to all.

Footnotes:

[851] "La pesanteur ordinaire des affaires que i'ay; ou, il y a ce qui m'assiege de tour en tour;" -- "The ordinary burden of affairs which I have; or, there is that which besieges me from day to day."

[852] "Proram et puppim;" -- "The prow and stern."

[853] ^"Vne chose si vaine, et de si petite consequence;" -- "A thing so empty, and of so small importance."

[854] ^"Qu'il estoit descendu d'Heber de pere en fils;" -- "That he was descended from Heber, from father to son."

[855] ^"Vray est que la coniecture de ceux qui disent qu'ils sont ainsi appelez comme habitants outre la riuiere, n'est pas du tout sans eouleur;" -- "It is true, that the conjecture of those who say that they are so called, as dwelling beyond the river, is not without some appearance of truth."

[856] ^"The word Hebrew signified properly one who was from beyond, (kry from kr to pass, to pass over,) hence applied to Abraham, because he had come from a foreign land; and the word denoted properly a foreigner -- a man from the land or country beyond (kr) the Euphrates. The name Israelite denoted properly one descended from Israel or Jacob, and the difference between them was, that the name Israelite, being a patronymic derived from one of the founders of their nation, was in use among themselves; the name Hebrew was applied by the Canaanite to them, as having come from beyond the river, and was the current name among foreign tribes and nations." -- Barnes. -- Ed.

[857] ^"Car quant a leurs gloires charnelles, qui n'estoyent que choses vaines, iusques yci il les a fait esuanoir comme en soufflant dessus." -- "For as to theft carnal glories, which were but vain things, he has hitherto made them vanish by, as it were, blowing upon them."

[858] The custom of excepting one stripe from the forty is made mention of by Josephus: plegas mias leipouses tessarakonta, "forty stripes save one." (Joseph. Antiq. lib. 4. cap. 8. sect. 21.) It is noticed by Wolfius, that the Jews in modern times make use of the same number of stripes -- thirty-nine -- in punishing offenders, there being evidence of this from what is stated by Uriel Acosta, who, in his Life, subjoined by Limborch to his Conversation with a learned Jew, declares that he had in punishment of his departure from the Jews, received stripes up to that number. -- Ed.

[859] ^"Plusieurs semblables pouruoyances et remedes inuentez par los Rabbins:" -- "Many similar provisions and remedies, invented by the Rabbins."

[860] "The Mishna gives this as a rule, (MISH. Maccoth. fol. 22:10,) How often shall he, the culprit, be smitten? Ans. 'lkyn chsr 'chd, forty stripes, wanting one, i.e., with the number which is nighest to forty.' They also thought it right to stop under forty, lest the person who counted should make a mistake, and the criminal get more than forty stripes, which would be injustice, as the law required only forty." -- Dr. A. Clarke. "As the whip was formed of three cords, and every stroke was allowed to count for three stripes, the number of strokes never exceeded thirteen, which made thirty-nine stripes." -- Bloomfield. -- Ed.

[861] "Once was I stoned." Paley remarks in his "Horae Paulinae," that this clause, "when confronted with the history," (contained in the Acts of the Apostles,) "furnishes the nearest approach to a contradiction, without a contradiction being actually incurred, of any that he remembers to have met with." While the narrative contained in the Acts of the Apostles gives an account of only one instance in which Paul was actually stoned, (Acts 14:19,) there was, previously to that, "an assault" made upon Paul and Barnabas at Iconium, "both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews, with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, but they were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe." (Acts 14:5, 6.) "Now had the assault,'" says Paley, "been completed; had the history related that a stone was thrown, as it relates that preparations were made both by Jews and Gentiles to stone Paul and his companions; or even had the account of this transaction stopped, without going on to inform us that Paul and his companions were aware of their danger and fled, a contradiction between the history and the Apostle would have ensued. Truth is necessarily consistent; but it is scarcely possible that independent accounts, not having truth to guide them, should thus advance to the very brink of contradiction without falling into it." -- Ed.

[862] "Thrasones." -- See Calvin on the Corinthians, [63]vol. 1, p. 98, n. 1.

[863] "Il n'est pas necessairement requis que tous vniversellement endurent toutes telles fascheries;" -- "It is not indispensably requisite that all universally endure all such vexations."

[864] "Des mercenaires;". -- "Hirelings."

[865] The word (episustasis) is translated or rather paraphrased by Beza as follows: "Agmen illud in me consurgens;" -- "That troop which rises up together against me." He adds by way of explanation: "Certum est enim episustasin dici multitudinem quae adversus aliquem coierit, idque non semel, sed repetitis vicibus. Quia igitur multiplices erant curae, quarum tanquam agmine magis ac magis veluti obruebatur, Apostolus usus est translatitie hoc vocabulo, admodum significanter;" -- "For it is certain that episustasin denotes a multitude that has come together against any one, and that not once merely, but in repeated instances. As, therefore, there were manifold cares, by which rushing upon him like a troop, more and more, he was in a manner overwhelmed, the Apostle, by way of metaphor, made use of this term very significantly." Raphelius considers the term to be synonymous with an expression made use of by Cicero: "concursus occupationum;" -- "a crowding together of engagements." -- (Cic. Fam. 7:33.) -- Ed.

[866] "Car le gouernement de l'Eglise n'est pas vne occupation ioyeuse pour nous exercer tout doucement, et par manicrc de passe-temps et exercice gracieux pour recreer nos esprits;" -- "For the government of the Church is not a pleasant occupation for exercising ourselves quite agreeably, and by way of pass-time, and an agreeable exercise for refreshing our minds."

[867] See Calvin's Harmony, [64]vol. 2, p. 232.

[868] ^"Prend en soy les afflictions de tous;" -- "Take upon himself the afflictions of all."

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This we have Undertaken in Our Present Discourse...
2. This we have undertaken in our present discourse: may Christ help us, the Son of a virgin, and the Spouse of virgins, born after the flesh of a virgin womb, and wedded after the Spirit in virgin marriage. Whereas, therefore, the whole Church itself is a virgin espoused unto one Husband Christ, [2028] as the Apostle saith, of how great honor are its members worthy, who guard this even in the flesh itself, which the whole Church guards in the faith? which imitates the mother of her husband, and …
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Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

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Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

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St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

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Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

For not Even Herein Ought Such as are Married to Compare Themselves with The...
10. For not even herein ought such as are married to compare themselves with the deserts of the continent, in that of them virgins are born: for this is not a good of marriage, but of nature: which was so ordered of God, as that of every sexual intercourse whatever of the two sexes of human kind, whether in due order and honest, or base and unlawful, there is born no female save a virgin, yet is none born a sacred virgin: so it is brought to pass that a virgin is born even of fornication, but a sacred …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

But when He Might Use to Work, that Is...
15. But when he might use to work, that is, in what spaces of time, that he might not be hindered from preaching the Gospel, who can make out? Though, truly, that he wrought at hours of both day and night himself hath not left untold. [2518] Yet these men truly, who as though very full of business and occupation inquire about the time of working, what do they? Have they from Jerusalem round about even to Illyricum filled the lands with the Gospel? [2519] or whatever of barbarian nations hath remained …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Moreover, if Discourse must be Bestowed Upon Any...
21. Moreover, if discourse must be bestowed upon any, and this so take up the speaker that he have not time to work with his hands, are all in the monastery able to hold discourse unto brethren which come unto them from another kind of life, whether it be to expound the divine lessons, or concerning any questions which may be put, to reason in an wholesome manner? Then since not all have the ability, why upon this pretext do all want to have nothing else to do? Although even if all were able, they …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Which Thing Whoso Thinks Cannot have Been done by the Apostles...
6. Which thing whoso thinks cannot have been done by the Apostles, that with them women of holy conversation should go about wheresoever they preached the Gospel, that of their substance they might minister to their necessities, let him hear the Gospel, and learn how in this they did after the example of the Lord Himself. Our Lord, namely, according to the wont of His pity, sympathizing with the weak, albeit Angels might minister unto Him, had both a bag in which should be put the money which was …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

And that which Follows Concerning Birds of the Air and Lilies of the Field...
35. And that which follows concerning birds of the air and lilies of the field, He saith to this end, that no man may think that God careth not for the needs of His servants; when His most wise Providence reacheth unto these in creating and governing those. For it must not be deemed that it is not He that feeds and clothes them also which work with their hands. But lest they turn aside the Christian service of warfare unto their purpose of getting these things, the Lord in this premonisheth His servants …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

That the Ruler Should be a Near Neighbour to Every one in Compassion, and Exalted Above all in Contemplation.
The ruler should be a near neighbour to every one in sympathy, and exalted above all in contemplation, so that through the bowels of loving-kindness he may transfer the infirmities of others to himself, and by loftiness of speculation transcend even himself in his aspiration after the invisible; lest either in seeking high things he despise the weak things of his neighbours, or in suiting himself to the weak things of his neighbours he relinquish his aspiration after high things. For hence it is …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Laboring under Difficulties
While Paul was careful to set before his converts the plain teaching of Scripture regarding the proper support of the work of God, and while he claimed for himself as a minister of the gospel the "power to forbear working" (1 Corinthians 9:6) at secular employment as a means of self-support, yet at various times during his ministry in the great centers of civilization he wrought at a handicraft for his own maintenance. Among the Jews physical toil was not thought strange or degrading. Through Moses …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles

"The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Blessed Hope and Its Power
PHILIPPIANS iii. 17-21 The problem of the body--Cautions and tears--"That blessed hope"--The duty of warning--The moral power of the hope--The hope full of immortality--My mother's life--"He is able"--The promise of his coming The Apostle draws to the close of his appeal for a true and watchful fidelity to the Gospel. He has done with his warning against Judaistic legalism. He has expounded, in the form of a personal confession and testimony, the true Christian position, the acceptance of the …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

What the Ruler's Discrimination Should be Between Correction and Connivance, Between Fervour and Gentleness.
It should be known too that the vices of subjects ought sometimes to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they are connived at; that things, even though openly known, ought sometimes to be seasonably tolerated, but sometimes, though hidden, be closely investigated; that they ought sometimes to be gently reproved, but sometimes vehemently censured. For, indeed, some things, as we have said, ought to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they are connived at, so that, when the …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

An Essay on the Mosaic Account of the Creation and Fall of Man
THERE are not a few difficulties in the account, which Moses has given of the creation of the world, and of the formation, and temptation, and fall of our first parents. Some by the six days of the creation have understood as many years. Whilst others have thought the creation of the world instantaneous: and that the number of days mentioned by Moses is only intended to assist our conception, who are best able to think of things in order of succession. No one part of this account is fuller of difficulties, …
Nathaniel Lardner—An Essay on the Mosaic Account of the Creation and Fall of Man

St. Malachy Becomes Bishop of Connor; He Builds the Monastery of iveragh.
16. (10). At that time an episcopal see was vacant,[321] and had long been vacant, because Malachy would not assent: for they had elected him to it.[322] But they persisted, and at length he yielded when their entreaties were enforced by the command of his teacher,[323] together with that of the metropolitan.[324] It was when he was just entering the thirtieth year of his age,[325] that he was consecrated bishop and brought to Connor; for that was the name of the city through ignorance of Irish ecclesiastical …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

A Warning Rejected
In preaching the doctrine of the second advent, William Miller and his associates had labored with the sole purpose of arousing men to a preparation for the judgment. They had sought to awaken professors of religion to the true hope of the church and to their need of a deeper Christian experience, and they labored also to awaken the unconverted to the duty of immediate repentance and conversion to God. "They made no attempt to convert men to a sect or party in religion. Hence they labored among all …
Ellen Gould White—The Great Controversy

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is, …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life