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"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (II Thess. 2: 13).
Thus the three contrasts we have considered, together with the pair that occupied us in
our last article, deal with the Second Coming of the Lord and the characteristics of that
advent. They may impress their message the more if in conclusion we show their
relationship as follows:
A | I Thess. 4: 14-17. The dead (asleep) and the living. "Comfort."
B | I Thess. 5: 3. Peace and Safety in contrast with Destruction.
C | I Thess. 5: 4, 5. Darkness and Light.
B | I Thess. 5: 9. Wrath ("destruction" above) in contrast with
Salvation ("Peace and Safety" above).
A | I Thess. 5: 10. Sleepy or Watchful. "Comfort."
No.11. Examples in I Corinthians.
Foolishness 5: Wisdom.
Weakness 5: Strength.
pp. 92 - 95
There are sixteen chapters in this epistle, and there are also sixteen easily discerned
antonyms, not necessarily one in each chapter, but nevertheless fairly evenly distributed
throughout the teaching and discussion of the varied subjects. The introduction occupies
chapter 1: 1-9 which does not make any demands upon us here. The first great section,
I Cor. 1: 10 - 4: 16 contains seven clear antonyms, which we must now examine:
(1)
Foolishness 5: Wisdom (1: 25).
(2)
Weakness 5: Strength (1: 25).
(3)
Man's words 5: Words of the Holy Ghost (2: 13).
(4)
Natural 5: Spiritual (2: 14, 15).
(5)
Milk 5: Meat (3: 2).
(6)
Foundation 5: Superstructure (3: 10).
(7)
Man's judgment 5: the Lord's judgment (4: 3-5).
Upon examination, it will be found that these seven antonyms arise out of a common
theme, the divisions that had occurred at Corinth in which the names of Paul, Apollos and
Cephas had been misused and turned into unwilling leaders of party strife.
With this, the section opens:
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . . . no
divisions . . . . . there are contentions . . . . . I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of
Cephas; and I of Christ" (I Cor. 1: 10-12).