55.  He glories in his infirmities and distresses.  He takes pleasure in the dying of Jesus,150    2 Cor. iv. 10; xii. 9, 10. as if it were a kind of ornament.  He is lofty in carnal things,151    Rom. v. 3; Phil. iii. 4. he rejoices in things spiritual; he is not rude in knowledge,152    2 Cor. xi. 6. and claims to see in a mirror, darkly.153    1 Cor. xiii. 12.  He is bold in spirit, and buffets his body,154    Ib. ix. 27. throwing it as an antagonist.  What is the lesson and instruction he would thus impress upon us?  Not to be proud of earthly things, or puffed up by knowledge, or excite the flesh against the spirit.  He fights for all, prays for all, is jealous for all, is kindled on behalf of all, whether without law, or under the law; a preacher of the Gentiles,155    2 Tim. i. 11. a patron of the Jews.  He even was exceedingly bold on behalf of his brethren according to the flesh,156    Rom. ix. 3. if I may myself be bold enough to say so, in his loving prayer that they might in his stead be brought to Christ.  What magnanimity! what fervor of spirit!  He imitates Christ, who became a curse for us,157    Gal. iii. 13. who took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses;158    S. Matt. viii. 17. or, to use more measured terms, he is ready, next to Christ, to suffer anything, even as one of the ungodly, for them, if only they be saved.

ΝΕʹ. Ἐγκαυχᾶται ταῖς ἀσθενείαις καὶ ταῖς θλίψεσιν: ὡς ἄλλῳ τινὶ κόσμῳ, τῇ Ἰησοῦ νεκρώσει ἐγκαλλωπίζεται: ὑψηλός ἐστι τὰ σαρκικὰ, καὶ τοῖς πνευματικοῖς ἀγάλλεται: οὐκ ἰδιώτης τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ βλέπειν φησὶ δι' ἐσόπτρου καὶ ἐν αἰνίγματι. Θαῤῥεῖ τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ ὑποπιάζει τὸ σῶμα καθαιρῶν ὡς ἀντίπαλον: τί διδάσκων ἡμᾶς ἐν τούτοις, καὶ τί παιδεύων; μὴ φρονεῖν τοῖς κάτω, μὴ φυσιοῦσθαι τῇ γνώσει, μὴ τὴν σάρκα ἐπεγείρειν τῷ πνεύματι. Πάντων ὑπερμαχεῖ, πάντων ὑπερεύχεται, ζηλοῖ πάντας, ἀνάπτεται ὑπὲρ πάντων, τῶν ἔξω νόμου, τῶν ὑπὸ νόμον: κήρυξ ἐθνῶν, Ἰουδαίων προστάτης. Ἐτόλμησέ τι καὶ μεῖζον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν κατὰ σάρκα, ἵνα τολμήσω τι καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτω λέγων: ἀντεισαχθῆναι τούτους ἑαυτοῦ Χριστῷ διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην εὔχεται. Ὢ τῆς μεγαλονοίας! ὢ τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος ζέσεως! Μιμεῖται Χριστὸν, τὸν γενόμενον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάραν, τὸν τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἀναλαβόντα, καὶ τὰς νόσους βαστάσαντα: ἢ, τό γε μετριώτερον εἰπεῖν, παθεῖν τι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, καὶ ὡς ἀσεβὴς, δέχεται, πρῶτος ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ, μόνον εἰ οὗτοι σώζοιντο.