His disinterested behaviour placed him at
once beyond the reach of this imputation; and his intense love to Christ
prepared him to make the sacrifice, which the course he thus adopted,
required. And what a proof of the humility of Paul that he cheerfully
laboured for his daily bread at the trade of a tent-maker! The Rabbi who
was once admired for his genius and his learning by the most
distinguished of his countrymen--who had once sat among the members of
the great Sanhedrim--and who might have legitimately aspired to be the
son-in-law of the High Priest of Israel [111:1]--was now content to toil
"night and day" at a menial occupation sitting among the workmen of
Aquila and Priscilla! How like to Him, who, though He was rich, yet, for
our sakes, became poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich!

Paul was well aware of the importance of Corinth as a centre of
missionary influence. Strangers from the East passed through it on their
way to Rome, and travellers from the Western metropolis stopped here on
their way to Asia Minor, Palestine, or Syria, so that it was one of the
greatest thoroughfares in the Empire; and, as a commercial mart, it was
second to very few cities in the world. The apostle therefore saw that
if a Church could be firmly planted in this busy capital, it could
scatter the seeds of truth to all the ends of the earth. We may thus
understand why he remained in Corinth so much longer than in any other
place he had yet visited since his departure from Antioch. "He continued
there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them."
[111:2] He was, too, encouraged by a special communication from Heaven
to prosecute his labours with zeal and diligence. "The Lord spake to
Paul in the night by a vision--Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not
thy peace--for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt
thee, for I have much people in this city." [112:1] Though the ministry
of the apostle was now attended with such remarkable success, his
converts did not all continue to walk worthy of their profession. But if
in the Church of this flourishing mercantile metropolis there were
greater disorders than in perhaps any other of the early Christian
communities, [112:2] the explanation is obvious. Even in a degenerate
age Corinth was notorious for its profligacy; and it would have been
indeed marvellous if excesses had not been occasionally committed by
some of the members of a religious society compo