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LECTURE XXVI.

MAY 9, 1851.

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1 CORINTHIANS xiv. 2-40. "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. - He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?- And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitful. - What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. — I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:- Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that

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believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? 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: - And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. - And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. - But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order."

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WE were occupied last Sunday in endeavoring to ascertain merely what the gifts of prophecy and tongues

were.

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Prophecy we found to be in its essence the faculty of comforting, exhorting, &c., by spiritual truths addressed to the understanding. The prophet had the gift of insight, and also the power of explaining the meaning of truth. Collecting the information scattered through the chapter respecting " Tongues," we found that while under their influence men spoke incoherently and unintelligibly, -ver. 2; in a soliloquy edifying self, — ver. 4; they are compared with the sound of inarticulate musical instruments, ver. 7; to barbarian tongues, ver. 11; to ravings of insanity, ver. 23; as capable of interpretation by persons spiritually gifted, in spite of their incohereney and inarticulateness, ver. 13.

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Putting all this together, we concluded that new in tense feelings from the Holy Spirit were uttered incoherently, not in some foreign language, but in each man's own language, in broken sentences, which were unintelligible to all, except to those who, by sympathy and a corresponding spiritual state, were able to interpret, and say whether they expressed unutterable joy or blessing, or giving thanks, or devotion.

In like manner we saw that the sound of the Alpine horn, the awkward attempts of a child, when affected by a moving anecdote, to conceal his feelings, boyish joy intoxicated with happiness, though they may appear to be meaningless, yet have deep significance for those who are in sympathy with them. Or again, thanks uttered by any one overpowered by feeling-how incoherent yet how much better than wordy, fluent sententiousness! Abraham's laugh, for example — it was a strange tongue in which to express happiness : who could fairly interpret that, and say it was intense joy? It was not irreverence or unbelief in David dancing before the Ark. What was it but the human utterance of Divine joy? Consider, again, Elisha's silent sorrow. "Knowest thou," said the sons of the prophets, unable to interpret the apparent apathy of his silence," that the Lord will take away the light of Israel?" Observe how a sympathetic spirit was needed silence had been better in them. “ Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace." His silence had a language of its own; it was a tongue of grief, which needed interpretation from the heart.

We will now consider the nature of spiritual gifts, and also some directions for their use.

The New Testament speaks much of spiritual gifts. Thus St. Paul says, in his Epistle to the Romans, “I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established." Let us distinctly understand what a "spiritual gift" is. It means the faculty in each man in which the Holy Spirit reveals Himself. Every man has some such, in which his chief force lies: this is a gift. Well, this, either

then exhibited for the first time in a visible, perceptible effect, or some old power sanctified and elevated, was called a spiritual gift. For it did not matter that it was a natural gift or power; provided only that the spiritual life in the man raised it and ennobled it, it then became a spiritual gift.

There are certain epochs in the world's history which may be called creative epochs, when intense feelings elevate all the powers preternaturally. Such, for example, was the close of the last century, when the revolutionary spirit of the age manifested itself in the creation of almost preternatural abundance of military talent.

The first age of Christianity was emphatically such an epoch. The Holy Spirit was poured out largely, and under Its influence mind and body were transfigured whatever It touched, It vivified: as when a person was healed, and "his ankle-bones received strength. Thus we learn that the Holy Ghost may mingle with man in three ways with his body, and then you have what is called a miracle; with his spirit, and then you have that exalted feeling which finds vent in what is called "Tongues ; " or with his intellect, and then you have prophecy. In the case of tongues, men felt, and could not logically express feeling, as "groanings which cannot be uttered," or especial illumination of the uneducated.

In the case of prophecy, cultivated minds were themselves able to develop in consecutive words, by the understanding to the understanding, what the Spirit meant. But the essential in all this was the Divine element of Life. The gift was not independent of life : just as when a flood of rain falls on dry and thirsty ground, and the result is greenness and vigor in the plants-greenness and vigor not being gifts, but simply the outward manifestation of invisible life so the new life penetrated the whole man, and gave force to every faculty.

Consider what this gift of prophecy must have done in developing the Christian 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: but in the "Tongues" the clear understanding vanished into ecstasy: the utterer, unless he controlled them, was carried away by his feelings.

For this was not an address, nor an exhortation, nor exactly a prayer: utterly indifferent to the presence of others, the man was occupied only with God and his own soul. Consider St. Paul's ecstasy when he was caught up into the third heaven; yet even this he deprecates as comparatively worthless. That state, if not under control, would have produced "tongues.' Hence "tongues" is the plural, for there were different kinds of utterance by different feelings, innumerable phases of feeling, innumerable modes of utterance.

In the twenty-ninth verse, St. Paul gives a direction concerning prophecy, from which 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: - had this simple rule been attended to, how much fanaticism would have been prevented! We must remember that inspiration is one thing, infallibility is another. God the Holy Ghost, as a Sanctifying Spirit, dwells in human beings with partial sin; is it inconceivable that God, the Inspiring Spirit, should dwell with partial error? 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. From the thirty-second verse, we learn the responsibility attaching to every possessor of gifts; it is a duty to rule that is, to control - his gift. For inspiration might be abused: this is the great lessen of the passage; 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. The prophets were not mere trumpets, forced to utter rightly what God said. The first direction respecting "tongues pression of feeling in public. It is plain that what the

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