49. Chapter I.
Chapter I.
Spiritual gifts, their names and meaning. The second part of the dispensation of the Spirit, in order to perfect the new creation or for the edification of the church, consists in his communication of spiritual gifts to its members, as their places and stations in it require.625
By his work of saving grace (which we have given a large account of in other discourses), he makes all the elect living stones.1 Peter 2:5 And by his communication of spiritual gifts,1 Corinthians 12:1 he fashions and builds those stones into a temple for the living God to dwell in.2 Corinthians 6:16 By faith and love, he spiritually unites them into one mystical body under the Lord Christ, as a head of influence. And by gifts and spiritual abilities, he unites them into an organic body under the Lord Christ, as a head of rule.Ephesians 1:22 Their nature is made one and the same by grace; but their use is various by gifts.626 Every member is a part of the body of Christ, of the essence of it, by the same quickening, animating Spirit of grace. But in the body, one is an eye, another a hand, another a foot, by virtue of particular gifts: for "to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ," Ephesians 4:7.
These gifts are not saving, sanctifying graces. Neither were those extraordinary and miraculous gifts which made the most glorious and astonishing appearance in the world, and which were most eminently useful in the foundation of the church and the propagation of the gospel. There is something of the divine nature in the least grace, that is not found in the most glorious gift, which is only a gift. It will therefore be part of our work to show what the essential difference between these gifts and sanctifying graces consists in. And it must also be inquired into, what their nature and use is. For although they are not grace, the church cannot subsist in the world without them; nor can believers be useful to one another and to the rest of mankind, as they ought to be, to the glory of Christ. These gifts are the "powers of the world to come" — those effectual operations of the power of Christ by which his kingdom was erected and is preserved. And hereby the church-state under the New Testament is differenced from that under the Old. There is, indeed, a great difference between their ordinances and ours — theirs being suited to the dark apprehensions which they had of spiritual things; ours accommodated to the clearer light of the gospel, more plainly and expressly representing heavenly things to us, Heb 10.1.627 But our ordinances, [obeyed] with their spirit, would be carnal also. The principal difference lies in the administration of the Spirit for the due performance of gospel worship by virtue of these gifts, bestowed on men for that very end. Hence, the whole of evangelical worship is called the "ministration of the Spirit;" and from this it is said to be "glorious," 2 Corinthians 3:8. And where these gifts are neglected, I do not see the advantage of the outward worship and ordinances of the gospel above those of the law. For although their institutions are accommodated to that administration of grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ, they must lose their whole glory, force, and efficacy, if they are not dispensed and their duties performed by virtue of these spiritual gifts. And, therefore, no sort of men by whom these gifts are neglected, can content themselves with the pure and unmixed gospel institutions in these things.628 Rather, they would rest principally in the outward part of divine service, in things of their own invention. For just as gospel gifts are useless without attending to gospel institutions, so gospel institutions are found to be fruitless and unsatisfactory without attaining and exercising gospel gifts. This being so, these gifts we intend are not saving graces in themselves; yet they are not to be despised. For they are, as we will show, the "powers of the world to come," by means of which the kingdom of Christ is preserved, carried on, and propagated in the world. And although they are not grace, they are the great means by which all grace is ingenerated and exercised. And although the spiritual life of the church does not consist in them, the order and edification of the church wholly depend on them. And therefore, they are frequently mentioned in the Scripture as the great privilege of the New Testament. Directions are multiplied in the writings of the apostles about their nature and proper use. And we are commanded to earnestly desire and labor after them, especially those which are most useful and subservient to edification, 1 Corinthians 12:31. The power of godliness consists in internal saving grace. The neglect of this grace has been the bane of Christian profession as to obedience, resulting in that form of profession which encompasses all manner of lusts. So too, the neglect of these gifts has been the ruin of that same profession as to worship and order; such neglect has resulted in foolish superstition. The great and signal promise of the communication of these gifts is recorded in Psalms 68:18 : "You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive: you have received gifts for men." For these words are applied by the apostle to that communication of spiritual gifts from Christ by which the church was founded and edified, Ephesians 4:8. And because it is foretold in the psalm, that Christ would receive gifts — that is, to give them to men, as that expression is expounded by the apostle — so he did this by receiving the Spirit, which is the proper cause and immediate author of them all. Peter declares this in Acts 2:33 : "Therefore, being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this, which you now see and hear." He was speaking of the miraculous gifts conferred on the apostles at the day of Pentecost. For these gifts are from Christ, not as God absolutely, but as mediator; in this capacity he received all from the Father in a way of free donation. Therefore, he thus received the Spirit as the author of all spiritual gifts. All the "powers of the world to come" consisted in them, and the whole work of the building and propagation of the church depended on them. Therefore, after all the instructions they received from Christ while he conversed with them in the days of his flesh, and also after his resurrection, the apostles were commanded not to go about the great work for which they were commissioned, until they had received power by the Holy Ghost coming upon them in the communication of those gifts, Acts 1:4; Acts 1:8. They neither might nor could do anything in their particular work, as to laying the foundation of the Christian church, until they had actually received those extraordinary gifts which gave them power to do so. So too — in any place, degree, or orifice629 — if those who undertake to carry on the edification of the church, do not receive those more ordinary gifts which are continued to that end, they have neither the right to undertake that work, nor the power to perform it in a due manner. The things which we are to inquire into concerning these gifts are — I. Their name; II. Their nature in general, and how they agree with and differ from saving graces; III. Their distinction; IV. Their particular nature; and V. Their use in the church of God. The general name of those spiritual endowments which we intend is domata,630 Ephesians 4:8 — thus the apostle renders mattanah631 from Psalms 68:18, as dona, gifts; that is, they are free and undeserved effects of divine bounty. In the minds of those men on whom they are bestowed, they are spiritual powers and endowments with respect to a certain end; but as to their original and principal cause, they are free and undeserved gifts.
Hence the Holy Spirit, as the author of them, and with respect to them, is called, "The gift of God," John 4.10.632 And the effect itself is also termed, "The gift of the Holy Ghost," Acts 10.45;633 — "The gift of God," Acts 8:20; "The gift of the grace of God," Ephesians 3:7; "The gift of Christ," Ephesians 4:7; "The heavenly gift," Hebrews 6:4; — all expressing the freedom of their communication on the part of the Father, Son, and Spirit. In like manner, and on the same account, they are called charismata 634 — that is, "gracious largesses," gifts proceeding from mere bounty. And therefore saving graces are also expressed by the same name in general, because they also are freely and undeservedly communicated to us, Romans 11:29. But those gifts are frequently and almost constantly expressed as charismata: Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 7:7; 1 Corinthians 12:4; 1 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 12:30; 2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Peter 4:10.
What is principally intended in this term, is absolute freedom in their bestower. Hence the one who thought this free gift of God might be "purchased with money," has left his name as a curse unto all posterity.635 The apostate ages of the church erected a pageantry of this crime, in applying the name of that sin to the purchase of benefices and dignities,636 while the gift of God was equally despised on all hands. And in all ages, indeed, countenance was given to apostasy and defection from the power and truth of the gospel. The names of spiritual things were still retained, but they were applied to outward forms and ceremonies. Thereby they were substituted imperceptibly in their place, to the ruin of the gospel in the minds of men. But just as none of these gifts were to be bought, neither are they to be absolutely attained by the natural abilities and industry of anyone. By doing this, an image of them is attempted to be set up by some, but it is deformed and useless. They will do those things in the church by their own abilities, which can never be acceptably discharged except by virtue of those free gifts which they despise. We must speak of this more afterward. Now, the full meaning of these words in our sense is particular to the New Testament. For although they are used by other authors to mean a gift or free grant, they never denote the endowments or abilities of the minds of men who receive them, which is their principal sense in the Scripture. With respect to their special nature, they are called pneumatika,637 sometimes absolutely: 1 Corinthians 12:1, "But concerning spirituals," — that is, spiritual gifts.638 And again in 1 Corinthians 14:1, "desire spirituals," — that is, gifts;639 for so it is explained in 1 Corinthians 12:31, "Covet earnestly the best gifts." 640 Whenever they are called pneumatika, therefore, the word charismata should be supplied there, denoting their general nature. And where they are called charismata only, pneumatika is to be understood, as expressing their special difference from all others. They are neither natural nor moral, but spiritual endowments. For their author, nature, and object, are respected in this — their author is the Holy Spirit; their nature is spiritual; and the objects about which they are exercised are spiritual things.
Again; with respect to the manner of their communication, they are called "distributions," or partitions "of the Holy Ghost," Heb 2.4.641 The Holy Ghost is not the subject of these, as though he were parted or divided, as the Socinians dream of in this verse; rather, he is the author of them — they are the distributions which he makes. And thus they are called divisions, partitions, or distributions, because they are of diverse sorts and kinds, as the edification of the church required. And all of them were not at any time given out to any one person (at least not exclusively), such that others would not be made partakers of the same sort. From the same inexhaustible treasure of bounty, grace, and power, these gifts are variously distributed to men. And this variety, as the apostle proves, gives both ornament and advantage to the church: "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?" etc., 1 Corinthians 12:14-25. It is this merismos,642 this various distribution of gifts, that makes the church an organic body. And in this composure, with the particular uses of the members of the body, consist the harmony, beauty, and safety of the whole. If there were no more than one gift, or only gifts of one sort, the whole body would be but one member — just as where there is none, there is no animated body, but only a dead carcass. And this varied distribution, because it is an act of the Holy Spirit, produces " diversities of gifts," 1Cor 12.4.643 The gifts thus distributed in the church are diverse as to their sorts and kinds, one of one kind, another of another kind. An account of this is particularly given by the apostle in verses 8-10, in a distinct enumeration of the sorts or kinds of them.644 The edification of the church is the general end of them all; but diverse, distinct, different gifts are required for this. These gifts being bestowed, they are variously expressed with regard to the nature and manner of these operations which we are enabled for, by virtue of the gifts. So are they termed "ministrations," 1Cor 12.5 645 — that is, powers and abilities by which some are enabled to administer spiritual things to the benefit, advantage, and edification of others; and verse 6, "effectual workings"646 or operations, efficaciously producing the effects which they are applied to; and lastly, they are comprised by the apostle in that expression, "The manifestation of the Spirit," verse 7.647 In and by these gifts, the Holy Spirit evidences and manifests his power. For the effects produced by them, and the gifts in their own nature (especially some of them), evince that the Holy Spirit is in them, that they are given and worked by him, and that they are the ways by which he acts his own power and grace.
These things are spoken in the Scripture as to the name of these spiritual gifts. And it is evident that if we part with our interest and concern in them, we must part with no small portion of the New Testament. For the mention of them, and directions about their use and abuse, so frequently occur, that if we are not concerned in them, we are not concerned in the gospel.