Come Behind In No Gift.

CHAPTER IX.

GIFTS IN THE PRESENT CENTURY (((NOTE - this was written in 1877))))

“Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1:6, 7.

…

The object of the gifts, according to Eph. 4, is to carry out the work of the ministry, to edify or build up the church, and to perfect the saints in a complete union of faith and spirit. Now it must be borne in mind that the last generation of the church will be subject to special trials and

123

dangers. The Saviour, speaking of the last days, said, “Because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” Evil servants will say, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” They will eat and drink with the drunken, and smite their fellow servants who give “meat in due season.” Formality in religion and destitution of the power of godliness will be almost all-prevailing. Satan will also work with great malignity and power. In such a time, if ever, will the church stand in need of the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Again, the last generation of the church of Christ must pass through the time of trouble; must stand complete in righteousness when Jesus ceases his priestly work in Heaven, as he prepares to come to this earth to take vengeance on the ungodly; they must have a special work wrought in them and for them, to take them to be translated without tasting death; for their translation must, of course, take place after Jesus ceases his work of mediation. A single sin committed after the priestly work of Christ closes would sink any one to hopeless perdition. And it is not after, but before he comes that he says: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.” See Rev. 22:11, 12. This awful truth is not appreciated, because men refuse to examine the doctrine of the second advent, and therefore they do not understand the nature of the perils which are impending.

In 1 Thess. 4, the apostle gives the true ground of consolation to those who sorrow for their friends who are asleep. He says, The Lord himself shall descend; the dead in Christ shall arise, and the living saints shall be caught up

124

with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Having thus introduced the subject of the coming of the Lord, he proceeds in chapter 5 to state circumstances which precede and attend his coming. Many will cry, “Peace and safety” when sudden destruction is impending, and “they shall not escape.” Their hope is delusive—they know not the hour of their visitation. As it was to the people in the days of Noah and of Lot, so it will be to them. As a thief in the night shall their destruction come upon them. “But,” says Paul to the brethren, “ye are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:4. They are watching for the return of their Lord. They have received the words of warning spoken by the prophets, and by those whom God in his providence has raised up to “sound an alarm” when “the day of the Lord is near.” See Joel 2:1. To the brethren of the time herein set forth, the apostle says:—

“Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5:19-21.

And to further show its application, as to time, he adds:—

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” verse 23.

It is beyond question that they whose bodies are preserved unto the coming of the Lord are they who do not sleep or die, but are changed and caught up or translated, to meet the Lord in the air. Thus every part of this scripture shows

125

that it is specially for, and pertaining to, those who are “alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.”

Prophesyings here denotes the exercise of the gift of prophecy. The admonition not to despise the exercise or manifestation of this gift is sufficient proof that the gift will be manifested at the time of which he is speaking; viz., when the day of the Lord is near; when the careless and worldly cry, “Peace and safety,” or, as translated into the language of these days, they sing the song of delusion, “There’s a good time coming.”

But some, under a profession of a knowledge of the Greek, have denied the correctness of the rendering of 1 Thess. 5:20, in the common version. They say it should read prophecies, not prophesyings. It is not difficult to show that they err in this.

There are two methods of determining the truth in regard to the meaning of words. First, by referring to the lexicons which define them. Secondly, by their use. And in this case we have both the lexicons and usage in favor of the common version.

Greenfield, in his lexicon of the Greek of the New Testament, says of the original word:—

“Prophesying, the exercise of the gift of prophecy, in this sense, 1 Thess. 5:20.”

He gives this as the meaning of the word, and refers to this text as an instance of its use in this sense. And Parkhurst’s lexicon says:—

“The gift of prophecy, i.e., either of declaring or of predicting truths by divine inspiration, whether in the Old Testament, 2 Pet. 1:21, or in the New, Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10; 13:2, 8.

126

“Prophesying, i.e., the exercise of the gift of prophecy. 1 Thess. 5:20.” And Robinson’s lexicon says:—

“3. Meton., a prophesying, the exercise of the prophetic office.”

Liddell and Scott say:—

“The office or gift of prophecy.”

And thus, by the lexicons, this definition is fully established. And the use in the New Testament is in harmony with this definition. Thus in Rom. 12:6,”Whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.” This refers to the possession and exercise of the gift of prophecy. And in 1 Cor. 12:10, the same word is used in the enumeration of the gifts.

In 1 Cor. 13: 2, it is rendered “the gift of prophecy,” and every reader can see that this is the meaning of the text. And again, in verse 8, “Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail.” This cannot refer to the prophecies of the Scriptures, for it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for them to fail; but as the whole context shows, it refers to the gifts of prophecy. Says the apostle, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” That is, When we see as we are seen, and know as we are known, the exercise of the prophetic office, by which things are but partially seen and known, will no longer be required.

In 1 Cor. 14: 6, 22, this word is rendered prophesying, as it is in 1 Thess. 5:20, and in these texts it cannot be rendered otherwise.

127

And thus the usage fully sustains the lexicons in fixing the signification of this word.

The Cottage Bible says:—

“This may primarily refer to miraculous gifts.”

The commentary of Lange says:—

“The word stands without the article in the plural, denoting the individual cases.….

This gift despise not.”

And Œcumenius is also quoted as saying, on this text:—

“Hinder not the gifts of the Spirit by turning away from them that have them, and not suffering them to speak.”

Dean Alford, on 1 Thess. 5: 20, says:—

“On prophesyings see 1 Cor. 12:10, note. They were liable to be despised in comparison with the more evidently miraculous gift of tongues.”

Bloomfield, in his notes on the Greek text, says:—

“As the foregoing admonition was, not to quench the Spirit in themselves, so this, I apprehend, is, not to quench it by disallowing and discouraging the exhibition of it in others. The sense of propheteia is, I conceive, the very same as in the three chapters on the Spiritual gifts at 1 Cor. 12-14.”

Olshausen’s Commentary says:—

“This expression [verse 20] must rather have inspired the Christians in Thessalonica with the sorrowful conviction that all gifts might easily

128

give occasion for abuses, and led them, to avoid these, to slight the gifts themselves.”

Different versions might be quoted in harmony with all these testimonies, but we do not think it necessary. We should rather apologize for giving proof at such length, did we not consider the evidence of this text of very great importance at this time. And we think the rendering of the common version is fully vindicated against all objections which may be raised.

Each age has its own peculiar form of unbelief. In the early ages of Christianity all Christians looked with anxiety to the second coming of Christ as the time of their deliverance and their reward. To deny that event was to deny their hope. Jesus had told his disciples not to let their hearts be troubled about his going away, for he would come again and take them unto himself; he said they should be rewarded at the resurrection of the just, which will take place when he comes; and he said he would bring his reward with him when he should come. With them the prayer was a united, fervent one, “Come, Lord Jesus.” To them the prophecy pointed out a fearful declension when it said that scoffers shall arise, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? But now we see this prophecy fulfilled. So greatly has the professed church of Christ departed from the primitive faith that they who say, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” are almost universally commended for their prudence and good judgment; while the faithful servants who give meat in due season, who sound the alarm as the prophets say shall be done, are regarded as fanatics and alarmists, if

129

not despised as impostors. A “second-advent believer” is, in the estimation of a popular and worldly church, as contemptible as was “a Nazarene” in the days of our Saviour.

And a change fully as great as this has taken place in the church in respect to the gifts of the Spirit. In the early church, while all the gifts were accepted as objects of faith, and received according to that faith, there was a tendency to respect only the larger or more prominent gifts, such as apostleship, healing, and prophecy. Those less prominent were lightly esteemed, and by some considered almost worthless. This led to the apostle’s argument in 1 Cor. 12, wherein he asserts that God often bestows more abundant honor upon that which is lightly esteemed of men. The dependence of the gifts upon one another is shown in this expression, Ye are members one of another; that is, united to Christ in one body by being united to one another. The hand or the eye, apparently the most useful of all members, cannot say to another or less prominent member, “I have no need of thee.” The hand is useful to the head only as it is connected to the head by other members. Every organ must be in its proper place, or the body is imperfect, and the action of all is obstructed.

We are now prepared to realize the change which has taken place in the church concerning faith in the gifts. While in the early church the more obscure gifts were lightly esteemed, and only the more prominent ones were valued, in the last days the reverse is exactly the truth. Now the less prominent gifts are accepted, at least professedly, while the gift of prophecy is

130

regarded with suspicion and even with aversion. And what seems most strange of all, many who teach that we are in the last days; who profess to believe that the coming of the Lord is near; who have had all the Scripture evidences of the truth relative to the second advent plainly set forth to them; and who even profess to believe that a special work of sanctification is necessary to meet the Saviour at his appearing, show the most determined opposition and even hatred to the gift of prophecy. This is sad proof of the strength of self-deception, and shows how deeply man may be blinded when he quenches the Spirit of God, and leans to his own understanding. Surely the injunction is timely for these last days, “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.”

The word rendered despise, in this text, is defined, to despise, neglect, or slight. Hence, there is an admonition in this text for all classes. Many who would shrink with horror from the idea of despising or rejecting prophesyings, would yet neglect them so as to utterly fail of meeting the requirements of this scripture. As it is possible, yes, a very common thing, to accept Christ in profession and yet dishonor him in the life, so it is possible to accept prophesyings as from the Lord and yet neglect their teachings to the dishonor of God and to our own ruin.

To be continued…

THE SPIRIT OF GOD:– ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.  1877