1 Corinthians 14:24-25 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believes not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:… for their use: — 1. A. "spiritual gift" is the faculty in each in which the Holy Spirit reveals Himself. Every man has some such, in which his chief force lies. 2. There are certain creative epochs when intense feelings elevate all the powers preternaturally. Such, e.g., was the close of the last century, when the revolutionary spirit created a preternatural abundance of military talent. Such, too, was the first age of Christianity. The Holy Spirit was poured out largely, and whatever it touched it vivified. The Holy Ghost may mingle with man in three ways — with his body, and then you have a miracle; with his spirit, and then you have that exalted feeling which finds vent in "tongues"; or with his intellect, and then you have prophecy. I. IN THE CASE OF PROPHECY, cultivated minds were themselves able by the understanding to convey to the understanding what the Spirit meant. 1. But the essential in all this was the Divine element of life. Just as when rain falls on dry ground, the resultant greenness and vigour are simply the outward manifestation of invisible life — so the new life penetrated the whole man, and gave force to every faculty. 2. Consider what this gift must have done in developing the Church! Men came into Christian assemblies for once, and were astonished by the flood of luminous and irresistible truth which passed from the prophetic lips: it became an instrument of conversion. 3. In ver. 29 we learn that private inspiration was always to be judged by the general inspiration — i.e., it was not to be taken for granted because spoken. Inspiration is one thing, infallibility is another. God the Holy Ghost, as a sanctifying Spirit, dwells in human beings with partial sin. Did He not do so, He could not dwell with man at all. Therefore, St. Paul says that the spirits of the prophets are to be subject to the prophets. Neglect of this has been a fruitful cause of fanaticism. The afflatus was not irresistible; a man was not to be borne away by his gift, but to be master of it, and responsible for it. II. RESPECTING TONGUES, note the following directions. 1. Repression of feeling in public. This state of ecstacy was so pleasurable, and the admiration awarded to it so easy to be procured, that numbers, instead of steady well-doing, spent life in "showing off." The American camp meetings, etc., show how uncontrolled religious feeling may overpower reason — mere animal feeling mingling with the movements of Divine life. There is great danger in this, and just in proportion as feelings are strong do they require discipline. When religious life degenerates into mere indulgence of feeling, life wastes away, and the man or woman becomes weak, instead of strong. What a lesson! These Divine high feelings in Corinth — to what had they degenerated! A stranger coming in would pronounce the speakers mad! 2. "Forbid not to speak with tongues." A common man would have said, "All this is wild fanaticism; away with it!" St. Paul said, "It is not all fanaticism: part is true, part is error." The true is God's Spirit. Learn, then, to sympathise with deep feeling. There are cold, intellectual men, who frown on every manifestation of feeling; whereas only the Spirit can interpret the Spirit. 3. To prefer gifts which are useful to others, rather than those which draw admiration to ourselves. And yet there are few who would not rather be the gifted singer, at whose strains breathless multitudes melt into tears, than some nurse of a hospital, soothing pain, or a Dorcas making garments for the poor. It is better to be useful than brilliant. 4. The real union of the human race lies in oneness of heart. This gift was not a gift of foreign languages; a Greek might be speaking in the Spirit, and another Greek might not understand him; but a Roman or a Mesopotamian might, and this by a gift of sympathy. The world is craving for unity; it may be centuries before it comes; still it is something to be on the right track. Christianity casts aside all human plans and speculations as utterly insufficient. It does not look to political economy, to ecclesiastical drill, nor to the absorption of all languages into one; but it looks to the eternal Spirit of God, which proceeds from the eternal Son. One heart, and then many languages will be no barrier. One spirit, and man will understand man. Conclusion: There are gifts which draw admiration to a man's self, others which solace and soothe him personally, and a third class which benefit others. The world and the Bible are at issue on the comparative worth of these. A gifted singer soon makes a fortune, and men give their guineas ungrudgingly for a morning's enjoyment. An humble teacher in a school, or a missionary, can often but only just live. Only remember that, in the sight of the Everlasting Eye, the one is creating sounds which perish with the hour that gave them birth, the other is building for the eternal world an immortal human spirit. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: |
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