I. IN PRAYER AND PRAISE THEIR IS AN ELEMENT OF EMOTION AND COMMUNION. Human nature is so constituted that it is capable of great excitement, and Oriental nature, as is well known, is peculiarly sensitive to impressions and susceptible of enthusiasms and hallucinations. Now, religion, which consists in the relation and intercourse of the soul with the unseen, has peculiar power to raise some natures to a high pitch of excitement. The gesticulations, the self inflicted tortures of devotees, the religious campaigns and wars of the East, are illustrations. Even at Corinth, a Grecian city, though largely frequented by Orientals, manifestations of enthusiasm were common in the Christian society. Paul himself was sometimes transported, in a trance, into unfamiliar and celestial regions of experience. He has not a word to say against those religious exercises which took place in "the spirit," i.e. which consisted in highly wrought feeling, in a consciousness of the presence of God, and which manifested themselves in the utterance of musical sounds reducible to no law or system, and of words unfamiliar sometimes to both speaker and hearers, but evidently an outpouring of fervent though vague and unformed prayers.
II. IN PRAYER AND PRAISE THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF THOUGHT, REASON, AND LANGUAGE. No doubt it often happens that this element preponderates. Where psalmody and common prayer are prepared beforehand, where there is a form of devotion, it is obvious that the understanding is engaged. Words are necessary in order to clear and articulate thought. It may be urged that there are higher moods of the spirit which cannot be interpreted by articulate speech. And this must be admitted. Yet the ordinary moods of the spirit have chiefly to be considered; and of these we may say, they are capable of being formulated in the conceptions of the understanding, in the phraseology of speech. And thus will devotion be most widely diffused and most profitably promoted, and Church worship be rendered most generally intelligent and fervent, and so most acceptable to God.—T.
1 Corinthians 14:20
Babes, not in mind, but in malice.
There is in the style of St. Paul's admonitions a happy mingling of suavity and severity. A proverb reminds us that a hand of steel may be covered by a glove of velvet. The apostle will have no compromise with the errors, follies, and injurious judgments of the Corinthians; yet he speaks to them in language of gentleness and persuasion, addresses them as "brethren," and entreats them to act with wisdom and considerateness.
I. CHILDISHNESS OF JUDGMENT AND OF CONDUCT IS BLAMABLE. There is all the difference in the world between childlike conduct, i.e. conduct partaking of the true, proper, ideal character of the child, and childlish conduct, i.e. conduct on the part of men which resembles the follies and frivolities of the infantile age. When the Corinthians preferred dazzling gifts to Christian graces, they were like children to whom a painted sweetmeat is dearer than a substantival treasure. And such a disposition is still exhibited by those to whom a splendid ritual, imposing learning, social eminence, are more admirable than a Christ-like spirit, a gentle, unobtrusive, self denying habit.
II. CHILDLIKE FREEDOM FROM MALICE AND ALL VICE IS COMMENDABLE. Our Lord himself lays it; down as one—indeed, as the chief—condition of entrance into his kingdom, that his disciples should become as little children. He taught this his favourite doctrine both by word and by symbols. This has ever been a stumbling block in the way of the vain, the proud, the self seeking, and it has been brought as a reproach against the religion of the Lord Jesus. Yet the morally cultivated have seen, in the condition laid down by him who was "meek and lowly in heart," a condition worthy of God and beneficial to humanity. Alas! in human society how much is there to corrupt the primitive simplicity of childhood! Sacred and precious is the spiritual power which restores the bloom of spring, the brightness of morning, the dew of youth.
III. MANLINESS OF UNDERSTANDING IS WORTHY OF HUMAN EFFORT AND ASPIRATION. If it is the glory of childhood to act upon pure, fresh, unsophisticated impulse, it is the glory of manhood to deliberate, to weigh motives and inducements and authorities, and to decide reasonably and justly. Well had it been for the Christian Church had it always been guided by the counsels of the thoughtful and the wise. There is abundant room for a manly understanding to show itself in the reasonings of the theologian, the policy of the bishop, the appeals of the preacher, the counsels of the pastor. And there is a far wider scope for the exercise of sanctified manliness of intelligence in the varied departments of human society, civil as well as ecclesiastical. It is the glory of Christianity that whilst it stoops to the child, it rises to the man, and aids him to realize the intellectual and spiritual prerogatives of manhood.—T.
1 Corinthians 14:24, 1 Corinthians 14:25
The conviction of the unbeliever.
In estimating the gifts of intelligent prophecy on the one hand, and the gifts of tongues on the other, the apostle tests their respective value by their practical utility. It could not be denied that one great end of the existence of the Christian Church was, as it still is, the instruction of the ignorant and the reformation of the sinful. It is clear that at Corinth, and at other places where Christian communities existed in the first age, there was already a constant intercourse between the Church and the world. Attracted by curiosity, or driven by spiritual wants and hopes, the unbelieving heathen and Jews would sometimes attend the Christian assemblies. This being so, Paul asks, What must be the effect upon such persons, first of such an exhibition of supernatural powers such as the Corinthians delighted in, and secondly of the proclamation of the truths and promises of the gospel? His own answer is that, whilst the speaking with tongues may amaze, it will probably be set down as ranting; whilst the utterance of God's Word will sometimes issue in the enlightenment, conviction, and salvation of the sinner. Surely a sufficient and decisive test!
I. THE MEANS OF THE UNBELIEVER'S CONVERSION. This is represented as prophecy, i.e. the uttering forth by man, as God's messenger, of God's mind and will. And in the case supposed by the apostle, evidently the declaration concerns the sinful state and the spiritual needs of man, the merciful purposes of God, the provision of pardon, renewal, and eternal life, through the Saviour Jesus Christ. Prophecy, so understood, has never ceased in the Church of the Lord Jesus. His ministers prophesy when they give witness to him, when they publish the gospel and its gracious invitations.
II. THE PROCESS OF THE UNBELIEVER'S CONVERSION. The question arises—How does the Christian prophecy affect the mind and heart of the ignorant and unbelieving hearer? According to the representation of the apostle, the word evinces its own divinity by making the sinner known to himself. And there can be no more generally convincing and conclusive evidence of the authority of religion than is afforded by the fact. that the preaching of the gospel reveals man to himself in his true state and position. The truths of the gospel are the utterances of him who formed the human heart. The candle of the Lord searches even the dark places of man's nature, and that which is hidden is brought forth to light. The conscience stricken sinner realizes his guilt and danger, and his need of a Divine Deliverer. He is convinced, examined, judged, by the several messages which penetrate his nature. The secrets of his heart, his iniquities, his sorrow and penitence, his aspirations for a better life, are all made manifest.
III. THE RESULTS AND SIGNS OF THE UNBELIEVER'S CONVERSION.
1. His enmity to God and to God's truth is utterly vanquished. He falls down, contrite and submissive, like him Who cried, "God, be merciful to me a sinner."
2. His enmity is exchanged for reverence and worship. Before, he may have adored the false gods whom he has been trained to revere; now and henceforth there is for him but one God, the Saviour of all men.
3. He acknowledges the Divine presence in the Church. Had he listened only to "tongues," he would have deemed the speakers to have raved. But listening to words of grace and truth, the convert acknowledges that in meeting e he has met with God, and their assembly has become to him, as it has God's people he has met with God, and their assembly has become to him, as it has become to multitudes, "the house of God, and the gate of heaven. - T.
1 Corinthians 14:33
A God, not of confusion, but of peace.
True religion teaches us to refer all questions to the highest tribunal, and to ask, not merely—What is agreeable and expedient? but—What is the will of God? At Corinth many disorders had arisen; men spake with tongues and without interpreters, two or three prophesied at the same time, women appeared unveiled and spoke in the assemblies. Now, there were many reasons why such things should not be. But in this verse St. Paul adduces the highest of all reasons. Christians are the servants of God, and God is the God, not of confusion, but of peace; his people, therefore, should banish from their assemblies all that conflicts with the nature and the ways of their supreme Lord.
I. THAT GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION, BUT OF PEACE, IS APPARENT FROM HIS WORK AS A CREATOR. The more nature is studied the more does it become apparent that it is the workmanship of an Intelligence proceeding according to order. "Order is Heaven's first law." Indeed, men of science affirm the universal presence of law through the whole realm of nature. By law they mean uniformity; and to those who believe in a Lawgiver the regularity with which the processes of nature are conducted is an evidence of the working of mind, and mind acting in accordance with the highest reason.
II. AND FROM HIS METHOD IN REVELATION. He who studies the Scriptures as a whole is struck with this—that they unfold a plan, unfold it gradually and regularly, according to a scheme of which the profound wisdom is apparent, although not fully apparent to a creature mind. The truth was revealed first to a family, then to a nation, then to a race. "The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The Bible is a marvellously organic whole; in its diversity is discernible a unity and harmony which only a Divine mind could impart.
III. AND FROM THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. The whole motive of the economy of grace was to avert the confusion which had invaded, and threatened to overwhelm, this sinful humanity. To hush the moral discord, to introduce peace on earth,—such was the lofty purpose contemplated and fulfilled in the incarnation and the sacrifice of the Son of God.
IV. AND FROM THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY. It is observable that social and political life are in the New Testament frequently attributed to God, the Author and Giver of all good. Jesus himself bade his disciples "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.' And Paul taught that "the powers that be are ordained of God," enjoining loyalty and submission as a Christian duty.
V. AND FROM THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. Is it credible that the God in all whose ways order is so apparent, who, in the several spheres accessible to our observation, proceeds upon methods of regularity, and harmonizes all forces to fulfil his commands, should reverse his procedure in that realm which is the highest and noblest of all? Is Divine order to be confined to the physical and political spheres, and banished from the Church? It cannot be, and it is not so. Christ appointed and authorized apostles; apostles constituted Churches, ordained officers of various kinds and grades, and gave instructions for the conduct of worship, of business, of charity. If then, there be confusion, in any professedly Christian community, that confusion is traceable, not to Divine wisdom, but to human folly. In proportion as the Spirit of Christ lives and works in any society, in that proportion will subordination, cooperation, peace, and unity prosper and prevail.—T.
1 Corinthians 14:38
Abandonment to ignorance.
Paul was a man who humbled himself but magnified his office. For himself, he was less than the least of all saints; but officially and in apostolic influence and authority, he was not behind the chiefest of the apostles. Of course there were in the primitive Churches men who acknowledged neither his authority nor the authority of any other than themselves. And when the apostle gave utterance to his judgment, it was with the knowledge that his judgment would not pass unchallenged. There is something of indignation and something of sarcasm in his reference to those who resisted his opinions and decisions. And there is wisdom as well as an admirable display of just impatience in his language: "If any man is ignorant, let him be ignorant."
I. OPINIONATEDNESS AND IGNORANCE OFTEN GO TOGETHER. A little experience convinces us that those who cling the most tenaciously to their own opinions, their own habits, are not always men of the soundest judgment. To resist evidence and authority is no sign of soundness of mind and power of intellect. Some are obstinate because they are blind to all testimony and evidence but that which is acceptable to their own prejudices.
II. THERE ARE THOSE WHOM NO EVIDENCE CAN CONVINCE AND NO AUTHORITY OVERAWE. If all men were candid and dispassionate, and habituated to follow the clear white light of reason, human life and human society would be very different from what they actually are. Our Lord Jesus was forbearing and patient with those who opposed themselves to him; but even he confessed that there were those who loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Young and sanguine ministers of religion often begin their work with an inward persuasion that they have only to place the truth fairly and fully before men, in order to their conviction and conversion. But experience teaches them that it is not so; that there is a moral obduracy which is proof against all efforts.
III. IT MAY BE WISE TO ABANDON TO THEIR LOVED IGNORANCE THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE ENLIGHTENED. An affectionate and benevolent mind will be very slow to adopt such a course. And it cannot be adopted without the hope and prayer that, when ordinary and human methods have failed, it may please God to employ some methods unknown to finite wisdom, to secure the wished for result. Even the Creator himself seems to act upon the principle here exemplified, at all events for a season and a purpose: "Ephraim is joined unto idols: let him alone."
IV. THERE IS BETTER EMPLOYMENT FOR THE TIME OF CHRISTIAN LABOURERS THAN THE ENDEAVOURS TO ENLIGHTEN THE INVINCIBLY IGNORANT. There are the young, the ardent inquirers for truth, the candid and open minded, the earnest and prayerful, all anxious for more light, for lessons of truth, counsels of wisdom, encouragement, and admonition. In such directions there is abundant scope for effort, with the confidence that labour will not be in vain. Why spend years in tilling the rock or sowing the iceberg, when virgin soil awaits the plough and promises to reward the toil of the spiritual husbandman?
V. THERE IS A PROBATION AND A JUDGMENT APPOINTED BY GOD, TO WHICH SUCH CHARACTERS MUST NEEDS BE LEFT. It must be remembered by the Christian labourer that he is not one of the governors of the world. This reflection will not harden his heart against the unbelieving; he will leave such in the hands of One who is far more wise and far more merciful than the wisest and the most merciful of men.—T.
HOMILIES BY E. HURNDALL
1 Corinthians 14:1-19
Usefulness.
I. THE DESIRE FOR SPIRITUAL GIFTS IS LEGITIMATE AND PRAISEWORTHY.
1. We must not rest content even with the possession of love. We must seek qualification for making that love effective. Inactive love is both suspicious and useless. If we have a true love for men, we shall seek to be helpful to them, especially in their spiritual life, and to this end we shall seek all possible means for conveying to them the knowledge of the love of God and. the truth as it is in Jesus. Spiritual endowments will aid us in this. The miraculous gifts in tile early Church were bestowed with this object in view; and so are modern gifts.
2. Spiritual gifts are to be most earnestly sought. Whilst pointing out abuses to which gifts in the early Church were liable, Paul nevertheless commends these gifts as worthy of the keenest desire, for if rightly used they were productive of the most valuable results. So now, in every way, we should seek qualifications for the service of Christ in the world. Some of these must be natural to us, but not a few may be acquired; and by diligence the small gift may be made great. Prayer, study, earnestness, are channels through which spiritual endowment and spiritual power ever tend to flow. Not to desire spiritual endowment is to show that we are unspiritual and lazy. A master desire of our soul should be to be equipped for service. God can do this thing for us. He can sharpen the bluntest instrument, and give strength to the weakest.
II. WHAT GIFTS WE SHOULD MOST EARNESTLY DESIRE. Not
To win applause or to excite wonder is but the poorest of poor ends to attain. We should long to effect something for others. To lay out ourselves for ourselves is not to serve our fellows or our Master at all. That which startles most may be least valuable; that which calls forth most remark may be most barren. The apostle had to rebuke the childish Corinthians who were captivated by the strange gift of speaking in foreign languages—a gift most precious when foreigners speaking these languages were addressed, but valueless when they were absent. Yet the Corinthians, forgetting that the gift was bestowed for its special usefulness, exercised the gift and gloried in it when its usefulness was impossible! Here were selfishness and pride conjoined to supernatural endowment! What penetrating power has evil! It seems to touch everything, even the holiest, most God like things, that man touches! Here is the touchstone which tries our work—Is it truly useful?
III. MARKS OF USEFUL GIFTS.
1. Plainness. We want to make men understand Divine truths; we should then assuredly use "great plainness of speech." Our speech should be "easy to be understood" (1 Corinthians 14:9). What a mass of preaching and praying has been lost because it was too ornate, or high flown, or expressed in incomprehensible language! The ability to speak so that no one can understand us is a gift which should be earnestly desired by fools only. Some men are so profound that they are quite unfathomable, even to themselves. They dig the well so deep that they drown themselves in it. Possibly some avoid plainness intentionally, because they want no one to perceive the poverty of the portion which they are dealing out. They place nothing in many wrappers, with the fond expectation that it may pass for something amongst the ignorant. But such trickery is unworthy of the servants of the Most High, and would be called knavery if it were practised by a pedlar. The Romish Church is greatly censurable for continuing the use of Latin in her services, which is a "tongue unknown" of the people.
2. Clearness. No mean endowment is required so as to speak with lucidity upon scriptural topics. We need to think clearly ourselves. Hearers often do not understand because preachers do not. We may expect to be useful according to the measure in which we make clear to others Divine truths; and we must never forget how peculiarly prone men are to misapprehend these. A clear statement is like a piece of music played correctly; an involved and obscure one is like music in which the notes are all jumbled together without reference to order or time. Both may have exactly the same notes, but what a contrast!
3. Force. Like the sound of the trumpet when well blown (1 Corinthians 14:8). Life and vigour are needed in our utterances. We mast not weaken the message which we deliver. If we would lead men heavenwards there must be power in our appeals. Our aim should be, not to tickle men, but to incite them. Force may be quiet; often is. But there is much quietness in which them is no force, Noise is not force, but earnestness and passion are generally its accompaniments.
4. Certainty. The trumpet blast which directs must not waver. A halting, uncertain testimony is generally worse than useless. Some are so "gifted" that they are certain of nothing. One should not desire such gifts. Notwithstanding all boast about them, they carry much more folly than wisdom, and the devil's hand is more manifest in them than God's. We have truth—which is not an uncertain thing; one of the most precious and most useful gifts is a certain grasp upon that which is of the very essence of certainty.—H.
1 Corinthians 14:15
How we should sing and pray.
I. AN IMPORTANT MATTER, SINCE SINGING AND PRAYER CONSTITUTE THE CHIEF PARTS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.
II. THE "EXTERNALS" OF SINGING AND PRAYER ARE NOT OF THE FIRST IMPORTANCE.
1. Music.
2. Eloquence.
3. Form.
III. THE RIGHT METHOD.
1. With the spirit. Intellectual worship alone is very imperfect. It is cold, formal, not stimulative. Our emotional nature should take part. We should make melody in the heart, and should be deeply stirred in heart as we approach the Deity. To this end we must pray and sing "with the Holy Spirit;" the Holy Ghost must fall upon our spirits, and we shall then become acceptable worshippers who "worship the Father in spirit and in truth."
2. With the understanding As the intellectual alone is not sufficient, neither is the emotional. The whole man should engage in the sets; even the body taking its subordinate part. Man, being an intelligent creature, should worship intelligently; should realize
(1) to whom he speaks,
IV. A TOO COMMON METHOD.
1. Without realization of the worshipped.
2. With inattention to the sentiments expressed.
3. With souls unmoved.—H.
1 Corinthians 14:20
Mind and Christianity.
I. RELIGION IS NOT MERE SENTIMENT.
II. RELIGION DEMANDS THE EXERCISE OF MENTAL POWERS.
III. THE MORE DEVELOPED THE MIND BECOMES UNDER GRACIOUS INFLUENCES, THE MORE USEFUL, HAPPY, AND HONOURED WILL THE POSSESSOR BECOME.
1. Better fitted to labour for God's glory.
2. For the advancement of mankind.
3. Will become himself more firmly established in the truth.
IV. CULTIVATE THE MIND.
1. Store it.
2. Exercise it vigorously. Generally minds are wrecked by too little effort, not by too much.
3. Discipline it carefully.
4. Keep it ever under salutary influences. Lest you become wise in your own conceit. Pride has great facility for entering by the door of knowledge.—H.
1 Corinthians 14:23-25
Conversion prepared for.
I. CONVERSION EFFECTED BY MEANS.
1. The door of the sanctuary should be an open one (1 Corinthians 14:23). Restrictions and hindrances to attendance should be swept away. Non churchgoers are often such through the action of churchgoers.
2. Means should constantly be employed in the sanctuary. The gospel should be preached. The presence of "unbelievers" should constantly be borne in mind, and of those altogether "unlearned" in the truth. Casual hearers should not be forgotten; the bow drawn at a venture has often done signal execution.
II. PROBABLE MEANS OF CONVERSION.
1. Order and propriety in the sanctuary. The building itself should not be regarded as altogether unimportant. There are some church buildings in which it is very difficult to be converted! Wherever practicable, a suitable structure should be secured; not bare and ugly, to repel, nor unduly ornate, to distract. And the services should be well ordered and decorous, else some coming in may suppose that we are "mad." But dullness and coldness are not decorous. Vigour and enthusiasm are in the highest degree proper. If we want to move others we must be moved ourselves. There can be great freedom in the service without overstepping bounds. Modern Christian services tend to be too stilted, formal, frigid, unemotional.
2. Church worship. Song and prayer have won not a few from the kingdom of Satan. But the song service is sometimes a hindrance to edification; the music attempted is such as no angel could learn, and, for the matter of that, such as no angel would ever want to! Song, which should quicken, may freeze; and a freezing soul is very difficult to convert. Sanctuary song should be united song. In heaven the host sings, not a selected choir. Prayer should be earnest, real, intelligible. There are such things as mock prayers—prayers without any praying in them. Prayers of words and time; nothing in them except letters and minutes. Often too many of these.
3. The preaching of the gospel. This, the pre-eminent means, should be:
III. TESTS OF THE SUITABILITY OF MEANS.
1. What do the unbelieving and ignorant think of the means employed? Some will indeed scoff, but what will the common sense and sincere ones think? What ought they to think?
2. What results follow? What are the effects of our services and work? We say no man can be responsible for results. This, in one sense, is a great truth, and in another a great lie. Do men under our ministrations fall down in contrition and humility, worship God, and declare that God is amongst us of a truth? If they do not, there is something amiss; and if we look for that something in ourselves and in our modes of work, we shall probably look in the right place. We must not ruin the usefulness of means by regarding them as anything more than means. To rest in them alone is suicidal. We need the power of the Holy Ghost, For this we should yearn, agonize, pray, as we humbly obey the command "not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together," and to "preach the gospel."—H.
1 Corinthians 14:26-33, 1 Corinthians 14:40
Decency and order in the Church.
I. REFLECT UPON WHAT THE CHURCH IS.
1. It is the "Church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15). In its worship it worships the Eternal. It is the depository of his truth. It is the "temple of God" (1 Corinthians 3:16).
2. It is the Church of Christ. "My Church" (Matthew 16:18). It
3. The abiding place of the Holy Ghost. (1 Corinthians 3:16.)
4. The great instrumentality for the conversion of the ungodly.
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYTHING CONNECTED WITH THE CHURCH BEING AS FREE FROM FAULT AS POSSIBLE. Impropriety and disorder in the Church
III. WHAT VAST RESPONSIBILITY RESTS UPON THOSE WHO VIOLATE THE APOSTOLIC COMMAND. (1 Corinthians 14:40.) God is a God of peace, but in this way he is made to appear a God of confusion and disorder (1 Corinthians 14:33).—H.
1 Corinthians 14:34, 1 Corinthians 14:35
Women in the Church.
I. WOMEN HAVE A PLACE IN THE CHURCH. Christianity exalts woman. It found her degraded; it ennobles her. In Christ there is neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28).
II. WOMEN HAVE MANY MINISTRIES CONNECTED WITH THE CHURCH. If excluded from some positions, how many are still open to woman! In not a few of these she is unrivalled by the other sex. If woman may not do some work, man cannot do other. Christianity has opened to woman a most wide sphere of usefulness. It is quite an open question whether the Church has received more help from men or women; not a few would say from women. The Church owes a vast debt to the holy women who have been enrolled amongst her adherents.
III. WOMEN ARE DEBARRED BY THE APOSTLE FROM SPEAKING IN CHURCH ASSEMBLIES, On the ground of propriety. Does not accord with woman's true position. This position indicated in the Law (Genesis 3:16), and laid down in the eleventh chapter of this Epistle. It had been foretold, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28), and in Acts 21:9 we read of four daughters of Philip who prophesied; but in neither case is anything said of prophesying in public and mixed assemblies. The apostle does not prohibit women from prophesying, but only from prophesying in public. This, according to his view, would conflict with modesty and with woman's rightful position, and would lead to many evils. It is an evasion to discriminate between women speaking in Church meetings and women addressing general congregations. The apostle's objection was to the public character of the act, and when he is speaking of "meetings of the Church" in this very chapter, he is referring to gatherings to which unbelievers had access (Acts 21:24).
IV. WOMEN'S INSTRUCTION ENCOURAGED. To supplement instruction of the sanctuary, women may ask questions at home of their husbands. It may be said—What are those to do who have no husbands? Emphasis seems to rest upon "their own" (Revised Version) rather than upon "husbands." It would be acting in the spirit of the apostle's injunction for the unmarried to ask their relatives or personal friends. There seems no possible reason why an unmarried woman should be allowed to speak in public mixed assemblies whilst a married woman is debarred, but rather the reverse.
1. We have here incidentally indicated a special and most important sphere of woman—the home. A beautiful temple for the exercise of woman's ministry. Oratorical females are frequently poor housewives.
2. A suggestion that husbands should be well furnished with religious knowledge. The head of the house should not be an empty head. If he glories in a superior position, he should realize its responsibilities. But many people like their office more than its duties.
3. Evidence that women are not in the religious sphere to be mere automata. They are not to be the dupes of priests. They are to think, ask questions, understand. They are not to be kept in ignorance. Intelligent service is expected from them. Highest culture is as open to them as to men. There is nothing unwomanly in being well informed.—H.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
1 Corinthians 14:3
Christian prophesying.
In our day a "prophet" is one who predicts future events, but in the older times the word included much more than that. Old Testament prophets were religious teachers who revealed the will of God, and expounded the Word of God. Moses was a prophet, but his chief work was religious teaching. John the Baptist was a prophet, but he appeared as a preacher of repentance and of righteousness. New Testament prophets were the teachers or preachers of the Word—men to whom God had given special insight into his Divine truth, and a happy faculty of imparting that truth to others. The verse now before us describes the proper results that are to be reached by the prophecy, or ministry, of the Word. The gift of prophesying, or preaching, is the most useful and most practical of all the gifts. Other gifts direct attention to the man who possesses them; this gift makes a man a blessing to others, for he may speak to "edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
I. THE PROPER SPHERE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROPHET. Theoretically our pastors are separated unto the ministry of the Word; practically the office is very sadly confused, and our pastors are brought into the most hindering and injurious contact with common worldly things and inferior Church duties. The Pauline idea is, that God has bestowed a variety of gifts upon his Church, and the true conception of his Church is only realized when each man uses faithfully his own gift without interfering with the gifts of others. The work of the Christian pastor is precisely this—by teaching and preaching to cultivate the spiritual life of believers. They should nourish so high and so vigorous a life and activity in the members of the Church as that each one might become, in his place, a light of God, a power for God; each one, in his own way, a holy force bringing in other souls to Christ. It does not matter what other work a pastor may do well, whether it be visiting or governing or writing, he is not faithful to his call and to his office unless by preaching he can speak to men "unto edification, and exhortation, and comfort." It would be a time of holiest revival for the Church of Christ, if her ministers might say, "For all other forms of work, look you out men from amongst you, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, but we will give ourselves to the Word of the Lord and to prayer." If ministers could be more truly separated to their own proper work, they would bring, out of the deserts of holy stillness and quiet, the most heart stirring views of truth and the noblest spiritual influences. Moses came forth in power from the lonely wilderness. Elijah burst out as a sudden flash of Divine fire from the privacies and hidings of the desert. Our Lord himself had a scene of lonely stillness and struggle on the threshold of his ministry, and his story tells of nights on the desolate mountain brow, or in the shady garden outside the city. The Christian prophet can only come forth aright into his sphere, if he dwells in the "secret place of the Most High, and abides under the shadow of the Almighty."
II. THE PROPER INFLUENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROPHET WITHIN HIS SPHERE. His sphere is the Church. He is to be a spiritual power upon its members. That is work enough for any man. To do it aright he must know all the forms and influences of human sorrow; he must understand, and find the antidote for, all the subtleties, devices, and diseases of temptation and of evil; he must win the power to sympathize in every joy that gladdens, and in every sorrow that clouds, the Christian heart. He must be able keenly, critically, to estimate the spirit of the age, "the signs of the times," the tone of social, moral, and religions life, so as to judge aright of the atmosphere in which Christian life has to be lived. He must have a wide acquaintance with the history of Christian thought, and with the books exerting present influence upon the Christian mind. He must be deeply read in the mystery and meaning of God's great Book, so that, "like a scribe instructed to the kingdom, he may bring forth out of his treasury things new and old." Surely all this is a full life-work for any man. Observe the specific terms by which St. Paul describes the Christian prophet's influence.
1. Edification—a term bearing immediate relation to Christian growth. There is to be growth, under pastoral influence, in knowledge, in character, in the great grace of self denial, in control over the bad passions and inclinations of a corrupt nature, and growth in practical devotedness to all works of charity. Upbuilding on all these sides must be continued, if the plan of the Divine Architect is to be seen gaining completion in the temple of our life.