and members. In the church some were apostles, i. e. imme- diate messengers of Christ, rendered infallible as teachers and rulers by the gift of plenary inspiration. Secondly, prophets, i. e. men who spoke for God as the occasional organs of the Spirit. Thirdly, teachers^ i. e. uninspired men who had re- ceived the gift of teaching. Fourthly, miracles y here and in what follows abstract terms are used for concrete — miracles mean men endowed with the power of working miracles. Fifthly, gifts of healing, i. e. persons endowed with the power of heaUng diseases. Sixthly, helps, i. e. persons qualified and appointed to help the other officers of the church, probably in the care of the poor and the sick. These, according to the common understanding from Chrysostom to the present day, were deacons and deaconesses. Seventhly, governments, i. e. men who had the gift and authority to rule. As this gift and office are distinguished from those of teachers, it cannot be understood of the presbyters or bishops who were required " to be apt to teach." It seems to refer clearly to a class of officers distinct from teachers, i. e. rulers, or as they are called in the Reformed churches, " ruling elders," and in the ancient church, seniores plebis. Finally, diversities of tongues, i. e. persons having the gift of speaking in foreign languages. This is put last probably because it was so unduly valued and so ostentatiously displayed by the Corinthians.
On this enumeration it may be remarked, first, that it was not intended to be exhaustive. Gifts are mentioned in vs. 8-10, and elsewhere, which have nothing to correspond to them here. Secondly, every office necessarily supposes the corresponding gift. No man could be an apostle without the gift of infallibility ; nor a prophet without the gift of inspira- tion; nor a healer of diseases without the gift of healing. Man may appoint men to offices for which they have not the necessary gifts, but God never does, any more than he ordains the foot to see or the hand to hear. If any man, therefore, claims to be an apostle, or prophet, or worker of miracles, without the corresponding gift, he is a false pretender. In the early church, as now, there were many false apostles, i. e. those who claimed the honour and authority of the office with- out its gifts. Thirdly, the fact that any office existed m the apostolic church is no evidence that it was intended to be per- manent. In that age there was a plenitude of spiritual mani- festations and endowments demanded for the organization and propagation of the church, which is no longer required. We