this apply in measure to all speakers for Christ? The apostles had a special inspiration for their special work, but many in the Church at Corinth had a gift of utteranc,, (eh. i. 5). May not preachers, teachers, writers, and all who tell the story of Christ crucified, expect similar help'! III. THE NECESSITY FOR THE REVEALING SPIRIT. This appears in the contrast drawn between the natural man and the spiritual man (vers. 14-16). The natural man (,j,vxu«ls) is he who is in the fallen condition into which sin has brought mankind, and in whom the faculty of knowing Divine things (the spirit, ,rvevµ.a) is dormant. S11ch a man is not necessarily sensual or brutish, but he is earthly-all his movements beinp; governed by the lower part of bis incorporeal nature (,j,vx?J), and directed to selfish ends. '!'he .spiritual man ( ,rvevµ.a-r,Kos) is he in whom the spiritual faculty ( ,rvevµa), by which we discern the things of God, has been wakened into life and activity by the Spirit of God. This quickened spirit, dwelt in by the Holy Spirit, becomes the ruling part of his nature, to which thought, desire, purpose, passion, are in subjection (compare the threefold division of human nature in 1 Thess. v. 23, which may be illustrated by the threefold divi~ion of the tabernacle-the holy of holies, the holy place, and the outer court). Hence: 1. "The natural man (1) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him." He fails to understand them, and, not thinking that the fault is in himself, he rejects them as absurd. They cross his prejudices and overturn his cherished principles. 'l'be doctrine of the new birth seemed foolish to Nicodemus. Every unconverted hearer of the gospel confirms the truth of this statement. (2) This refection arises from spiritual i1,ab·ility. " And he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged." The natural man is destitute of the faculty by which spiritual things are discerned, as a blind man cannot judge of colour. 'l'he tints of the rainbow, the gorgeous hues of sunset, awaken no sensation in him; and for a like reason the glorious things of Gorl's grace call forth no appreciative response from the natural man. How humbling to human pride and human wisdom! How great the need for spiritual illumination I 2. The spiritual man (1) "fudgeth all things." 'l'his may be taken broadly as covering all the matters on which the spiritual mau is called to decide. He alone is in the position where all things are seen in their proper relations, for he alone gives the spiritual element its place of paramount importance. But the apostle has specially in view the things of salvation, which are perceived and appreciated only by the renewed man. His inner eye has beeu opened, and be now lives and moves in the region of spiritual things, where the natural man stumbles and falls. Many an unlettered, Spirit-taught Christian has a clearer insight into God's ways of grace than the man of mere learning. Hence every believer is called to exercise his own judgment as to Divine truth, and not to rest supinely on the judgment of another. The spiritual eye, like the natural, is given us to be used; and in the use £omes greater clearness of discernment and accuracy of judgment. But: (2) "He himself is fudged of no man." A man with eyesight can judge of the matters of a blind mo.n, but the blind man cannot judge of him. The spiritual man understands the lan~uagtl in which other men speak, but they do not understand his language. l'aul understood Greek philosophy, but the philosophers did not understand him. •• 'l'hou art mad," said Festus (Acts xxvi. 24); "'l'his babbler," said the Athenians (Acts xvii. 18); "Fool," said the Corinthians. None but a poet can criticize a poet; 11one but a painter can judge a painter; none but a believer can appreciate a believer. 'l'he spiritual man has the mind of Christ, of which the natural man is destitute; and for the latter to sit in judgment on the former would imply that he is capable of instructing the Lord.-B.
Ver. 7.-The wisdom of God in a mystery. 'l'he word "mystery" has a twofold meaning o.s used by the apostle. It means that which is concealed from men until the due time for its disdosure has come; and it also means that which in itself, by reason of its 1.,wn inherent greatness, surpasses human comprehension. Both meanings arc involveJ here. Gocl's wisdom in the gospel, though foreordained before the worlds, had -bcc,n "hidden" from the ages and generations of the past. As it would seem to be with many of the secrets of nature, there was the proper, the "appointed" time for it to ·Le brnught to light. The men of the earlier ages were as ignorant of it as our fathers even of the last generation were of many of tho marvellous things that are now amoll'; THE FIRST EPISTLE '1'0 THE COUINTHIANS. [cH. 11. 1-l!l.
t.hc fnmi\iar facts of our social life, or ns we arc of what the triumphs of scientific <liscO\·ery a hundred years hence shall be. Not that the <lisco,·ery of this Divine wisdom is like a mere step in scientific; development. It is a supernatnral revelation. And now that it has lll'en revealed, it is still a "mystery," too profound for any power of man to fathom. The ap0stle "speaks" it, handles it, deals with it, as n mystery-a mystery which e,·en he himself cannot penetrate and solve (see also Rom. xvi. 25, 26; Eph. iii. 5; Col. i. 26). Having special regard now to this inherent characteristic of the gospel, note- I. \YHEREIN THIS ELEMENT OF MYSTERY CHIEFLY LIES. It lies in matters such as these. 1. The pcnson or Christ (1 Tim. iii. 16). 2. 'l'he efficacy of his atoning sacrifice (Eph. iii. 9, 10; l Pet. i. 12). 3. The operation of his Spirit on the souls of men (John iii. S). 4. The nature of ~he uni_on betwee~ himself and his people (John vi. 53-63; Eph. v. 32). 5. The ultimate issues of his redemption (eh. xv. 61; 1 John iii. 2 • Acts iii. 21). ' II. CERTAIN CONSIDERATIONS THAT VINDICATE AND EXPLAIN IT. 1. That which is Di,ine must needs transcend the limits of human intelligence. 2. It shows Christianity to be in harmony with every other form of Divine revelation. 3. It accords with the progressive character of our present state of existence. 4. It serves to develop in us some of the noblest moral qualities. 5. It heightens our impression of the simplicity of those truths which are vital to our salvation. 6. It stimulates our lonaina0 0 for the brighter and better future (eh. xiii. 9, 12).-W.