expl~in th? words of all" (Conybeare and :8owson). How !mportant the interpreter was 1s obvious, for he says, "lf there be no rnterpreter," let him who sJ>eaks in toncrue~ "keep silence in the Church." Will this destroy his devotional spirit? Nay· he 7nay still commune silently with himself and with God.- Prophets may also" spe~k two or three," but edification holds them likewise under rule. "Let the others judge." Inspired teachers were amenable to the Church in the persons of those who possessed the crift of discernment as a specialty from the Holy Ghost. Furthermore, edification demaids, that if the Spirit suddenly and powerfully act on "another that sitteth by," let the latter be heard. "One by one;" this is the method of edification, " that all may learn, and all may be comforted." For this was a matter under each prophet's personal control. In him the "spirit" and the "understanding" were harmonious. Consciousness kept its serene poise. There could be no reach of thought beyond the jurisdiction of the will, no passion for undue excitement, no verging towards hysterical emotion. And as heart and lungs maintain their beautiful relativity, and thus secure the maximum of health and vigour to the body, so "spirit" and "understanding" act in the prophet with no jar or jostle, but in perfect accord. For the "spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets."-L. Vers. 33-40.-Concluding views. If edification was to be the rule of conduct in everything, it is plain that the prophets must govern themselves. No matter how sincere and truthful their zeal, or how honest and excellent their purpose, feelings, arnl even the best feelings, must be held under firm restraint. They had this power, and it was from God; for he is "not the author of confusion, bnt of peace, as in all Churc\w, of the saints." St. Paul directs further that "women keep silence in the Churches." If the Corinthians objected to this injunction, what right had they so to do? Usage in the Christian community as a whole was to be observed; local peculiarities offensive to the spirit and tastes or the body of Christ were not to be indulged. How could they claim exemption from a rule recognized everywhere? ,v ere they the original Church? or did their position warrant any exclusive customs at variance with established custom? 'l'o enforce this view and tbe argument in the chapter, he asserts in the strongest manner that he spoke from Divine inspiration. "No more direct assertion of inspiration can be uttered tha.n this" (Alford). If any one deny this inspiration, no controversy must be had with him. "Let him be ignorant," and, perchance, be may be self-con"l'icted of his error. Then the idea which has been so prominent in his mind is introduced again in the words, "covet to prophesy." Had he not made good its claim to 11 pre-eminent excellence? By the concurrent "Amen" of approval and sympathy, by bis own special delight in this gift, by the manliness connected with its exercise, by the eflect ou spectators, by the capacity of sell~government which accompanied its activity and the culture given to volition and feeling, he exhorts his brethren to ,lesirc fervently this means of usefulness. ·what a momentum has the ar~ument acqnired before it comes to a close I Vapours rise from large tracts of territory, float in the air, run together, condense in clouds, and then descend in fruitful blessing to the fields. Far inland a stream begins its flow, gathers rivnlets and creeks into its channel, and, before it reaches the ocean, has drained half a continent. St. Paul omits nothing essential to the greatness of his argument. From the Hebrew Scriptnrcs, from musical instruments, from the "many kinds of voices in the world," from the laws of the human mind in respect to the difference between "spirit" and "understanding," he has drawn materials to enlarge and vivify the presentation of his doctrine. In other connections (Rom. xii.; Eph. iv.) we find him urging substantially the same view, pressing on the conscience and heart of the Church the individuality of gifts, and, at the same time, showing their worthlessness unless blended in unity. The most truly gifted, the most nobly enuowcd man, is portrayed in this chapter with singular distinctness, and this man is the prophet. Yet, he adds, "forbid not to speak with tongues;" let them be regulated, not discarde,l --a lesson widely applicable in the management of Church affairs. A genuine ortho- doxy is always tolerant, charitable, and heartily disposed to make much allo,rnnce for idiosyncrasies in others. Many persons are co~tcnt wi~h _lov~ in _their hearts. I~1tel_lect is left to itself. But the really orthodox man 1s a Clmslian m !11s method of thinking, and in many a tbing not to his liking, ay, repellent to his tastes arnl scnsiuilities, he makes a special point to remember the " forbid not." 'l'l1e last constituent of a mau to 470 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO 'l'HE CORINTHIAl'.S. [c11, xiv. 1-40.
feel the thoroughly subduing grace of God is the intellect. Often when· the animal nature has been conquered, often ~vhen: the coarser struggles of life are ~ll over, this besetment of dogmatic and tryanmcal mtellect remains as the final entrenchment of evil. Orthodoxy is an admirable thing. It is beantifnl and even ulorious to feel the oneness of our beliefs with the greatest and best thinkers of the Ch~rch; but if truth of thought be exaggerated at the expense of truth of feelino- and truth in external relations, it is truth despoiled of its supreme charm, and ther~fore the wisdom of the "forbid not." One who knows that he shall live for ever must needs feel, if he is a cultivated man, that a long pas~ is not simply_ at ~is back, but is a part of himself, and that the parentage of much of the w1$est and best m his soul lies in ancient years. Sympathy with the past is a foremost element in a charitable intellect. And he has e.lso a keen fellow-feeling "·ith forms of belief current in his own times. The sense of immortality widens his embrace of the present, and the "forbid not" is a welcomed dissuasive when he is tempted to the most disagreeable and pernicious form of vanity, viz. self-insist- ence. Only one thing remains for the apostle to say on the topic that has elicited so much wisdom and fervour from his soul : " Let all things be done decently and in order." And, doubtless, it commended him to the true-minded among the Corinthians as it has done ever since, that he should be so considerat.e of behaviour. '!.'here is an art of Christian beliaviour, and St. Paul would have us make a conscience of it and not leave it to mere taste and sentiment. It is not a distant and impracticable ideal. It is not the possibility of a few. But it is simply a cultivated sense of decency and order, and as such within the reach of all-L.