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The Epistle. 1 Cor. xii. 1. (c) CONCERNING spiritual gifts (d), brethren, I would not have you 2. ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles (e), carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were 3. led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man (f) speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed (g); and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4. Now there are diversities (h) of 5. gifts, but the same Spirit. And

there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6. And there are diversities of ope

rations; but it is the same God 7. which worketh all in all. But the manifestation (i) of the Spirit

V. 1.

V. 2.

V. 3.

v.3.

(c) The object of this part of St. Paul's epistle, was to remind the Corinthian converts that the extraordinary powers then conferred were far beyond any thing they had before witnessed, to satisfy them that no powers had God's co-operation but those which tended to advance Christianity, to apprize them that those powers came from God, and that they were all given to advance the true religion.

(d)" Spiritual gifts," i. e. the extraordinary powers conferred upon the first preachers and converts, such as healing, speaking languages, &c.

(e)" Were Gentiles," &c. When neither you, nor any of your teachers, &c. had any thing of the kind, so that you may be satisfied these are new, appropriated to the religion of Christ, not acquired by man, but given by God.

(ƒ) "No man," &c. This is the test of each man's powers: if his object is purely to advance Christ's religion, they proceed from God, and God is with him: but if this is not his object, still more, if he disregards or speaks reproachfully of Christ, his powers, whatever they may be, are not of God.

(g) "Calleth Jesus accursed," that is, in any respect disparages him, does not speak by the Spirit of God, nor has any influence from it; but he who " says

is given to every man to profit withal (k). For to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit; to another working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing (1) to every man severally as he will.

The Gospel. Luke xix. 41. AND when he was come near,

"Jesus is the Lord," boldly professes that faith, and acts solely with a view to advance it, the powers he exercises may safely be considered as given by the Holy Spirit.

(b) "Diversities," &c. i. e. how much soever the powers in different persons may vary, yet they all proceed from the same high original, viz. God.

(i) "The manifestation of the Spirit," v. i. e. these extraordinary powers.

(k) "To profit withal." Not to be v displayed for ostentation, not to aggran dize the persons on whom they are con ferred, but to advance that which is God's cause, the religion of Christ. In the pa rable of the talents, Matt. xxv. 14. and Luke xix. 12. our Saviour inculcates it as a duty upon every one, to employ in such a way as may be satisfactory to God whatever is entrusted to his care: and would it not be well for every man to consider how far, in the use he makes of his abilities, his wealth, &c. he satisfies this duty?

() "Dividing," &c. Some persons. occasionally valued themselves upon the spiritual powers conferred on themselves or their immediate teachers, when they were of a superior nature; and this condua St. Paul censures, by reminding them that all the gifts are conferred, and that

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v. 42.

9.42.

.43.

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too at the mere will of the Holy Spirit. See ante 54. note on Rom. xii. 3, 4.

(m) "If," &c. A mode of expressing an earnest wish. "O that thou "hadst." When Moses made his anxious prayer to God to forgive the Israelites for their sin in making the golden calf, his expression was, "Yet now, if thou "wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot 66 me, I pray Exod. xxxii. 31.

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on Matt. xxi. 13. thee, out of thy book."

(n) "Thy day," i. e. the time of thy trial or visitation. In Ps. cxxxvii. 7. the time when Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians is called "the day of Jerusa "lem." See ante 29. note on Luke xxi. 25.

(o)" Compass," &c. This was literally fulfilled Titus surrounded the city with a wall 39 furlongs in length, and strengthened it with 13 forts, so that no persons could escape from the city, nor could any provision be carried in. The Christians had had the opportunity of escaping before, and had done so. See ante 70. note on Matt. xxiv. 31.

(p)"One stone," &c. This, though a figurative expression, was literally fulfilled, Matt. xxiv. 2. The Jewish writer, Josephus, has given a full account of the destruction of Jerusalem, according to which every thing foretold by our Saviour in Matthew xxiv. - Mark xiii. and Luke xix. and xxi, was fully verified, and each of these gospels was promulgated many years before the event. The exact completion of our Saviour's predictions was a strong proof of the truth of his religion, calculated to confirm the faith of those who had embraced it, and to bring over those who were examining its pretensions; and as these

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(q) "Taught," &c. ante 27. note .47. This fulfilled the prophecies in Hagg. ii. 7.9 and Mal. iii. 1. The word of the Lord came to Haggai, to encourage the people to go on with building the second temple, which, as is there stated, was as nothing in comparison of the first, and tells them "the desire of all nations" (i. e. the Messiah) shall come, and I will fill this "house with glory, saith the Lord of "Hosts: the glory of this latter house "shall be greater than the former, saith "the Lord of Hosts." This temple was utterly destroyed within forty years after our Saviour's crucifixion; it was in all points of grandeur, magnificence, &c. greatly inferior to the former, and it was in this respect only that it surpassed the other, that our Saviour was present in it, taught in it, &c. The prophecy in Mal. iii. 1. is, "The Lord, "whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to "his temple, even the Messenger of the "covenant, whom ye delight in." The expressions applied in the ancient prophecies to the Messiah deserve observation, because they import that some deliverer was anxiously looked for. Haggai here calls him "the desire of all "nations;" Malachi "the Lord whom ye seek," "the Messenger of the Co"venant, whom ye delight in."

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Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

O GOD, who declarest thy Almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. 1 Cor. xv. I. BRETHREN, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, 2. and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in 3. vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scrip4. tures (r); and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scrip5. tures (s) and that he was seen of Cephas (), then of the twelve: 6. after that, he was seen of above

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fallen asleep. After that, he was 7 seen of James; then of all the Apostles. And last of all he was 8 seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the 9 least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God 1 I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I (u), but the grace of God which was with me. There- 1 fore whether it were I or they,

so we preach, and so ye believed.

The Gospel. Luke xviii. 9. (x)

JESUS ESUS spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men I "went up into the temple to

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pray; the one a Pharisee, and "the other a publican. The 1 "Pharisee stood and prayed thus "with himself: God, I thank "thee that I am not as other "men are (y), extortioners, un

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just, adulterers, or even as this "publican: I fast twice in the 12 "week, I give tithes of all that "I possess. "And the pub"lican, standing afar off, would

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other appearance to St. Peter in Galilee, at the sea of Tiberias, is detailed in John xxi. 1 to 25.

(u)" Not I," &c. throwing the merit, from himself, upon God's gracious interposition.

(x) See ante 129. note on Acts x. 43. and ante 171. note on Luke vi. 37. (y) "As other men are." This was v referring to a false standard. The true test is, not whether we are better than others, but whether we are as good as God has required us to be; whether we have acted up to God's commands: if we

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have fallen short, we have sinned, and have need of forgiveness, and it is no excuse to us that others have sinned more. .6. (x)" The letter," i. e. of rules, like many in the law of Moses, having no tendency to purify the heart, restrain the passions, &c.; a literal compliance with which would have the merit of obedience, but nothing more. "Statutes," according to Ezek. xx. 25. "that were not good," (i. e. had no substantial goodness in them)," and judgments whereby

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they should not live," (i. e. which could give no title to eternal life.)

.6. (a) "The spirit," i. e. a spiritual religion, a religion which influences the heart, the thoughts, &c. and has a tendency to purify man, 66 even as God is

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pure."

v. 6. (b) "The letter killeth," i. e. rules, which, like many of the Mosaic, have nothing spiritual in them, lead rather to death than life, to punishment rather than

The Epistle 2 Cor. iii. 4. SUCH trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that 5. we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing, as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able mi- 6. nisters of the new testament; not of the letter (z), but of the Spirit (a), for the letter killeth (b), but the Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of (c) death, 7. written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face (d) of Moses for the glory of his countenance; (which glory was to be done away;) how shall not the ministration of 8. the Spirit be rather glorious? For 9. if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

The Gospel. Mark vii. 31. JESUS departing from the coasts

reward, because they require uniformly and invariably a strict and literal performance; and, from man's frailty, there is no instance in which such a performance has occurred.

(b) "Killeth," i. e. leadeth to death. v.6. (e) "The ministration of death," i.e. v.7. the Mosaic law; called in verse 9. "the "ministration of condemnation," in op. position to the religion of Christ; called in verse 8. "the ministration of the "Spirit ;" and in verse 9. " the mini"stration of righteousness."

This .7.

(d)" Behold the face," &c. alludes to what occurred when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two stone tables of testimony in his hand, after he had been there forty days and forty nights receiving the law from God:

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Behold, the skin of his face shone ; " and Aaron and the children of Israel were afraid to come nigh him and he "put a vail on his face, till he had done

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of Tyre and Sidon, came unto the sea of Galilee (e), through the midst of the coasts of Deca32. polis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand 33. upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be 35. opened." And straightway his ears were opened, and the string

34.

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of his tongue was loosed, and he 36. spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; and were beyond measure astonished, saying, "He hath done all things

v.31.

"speaking with them." Exod. xxxiv. 29 to 35.

(e) The sea of Galilee." It has already been remarked, that it was chiefly in Galilee that our Saviour lived, taught, and displayed his powers. See ante 175. note on Luke v. i. and ante 88. note on John vi. i. This miracle corresponds in character with the rest of our Saviour's. See ante 144. note on John xiv. 11. ante 78. note on Luke xviii. 43. and ante 89. note on John vi. 5.

(f) One great object of St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Galatians, was to satisfy the converts that they were not bound to com. ply with the Mosaical ordinances: and his argument in this portion of Scripture is, that the promise was long before the law; that the promise was general, to include all mankind, and the law therefore, which was intended to apply to the Israelites only, could not narrow the promise, so as to confine it to the Israelites; that the law could not give what might be expected under the promises; and that it was only intended to operate till Christ should come, to prepare their hearts for his re

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