Index of Sowers Seed Files
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THE GIFTS
Some Commentary Information on "Gifts."
"By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. Those of the latter ages of the church, when prophecy had ceased, might yet be fitly called the children of the prophets...." Matthew Henry Commentary on Acts 3.
"From its longer continuance and duration: Charity never faileth. It is a permanent and perpetual grace, lasting as eternity; whereas the extraordinary gifts on which the Corinthians valued themselves were of short continuance. They were only to edify the church on earth, and that but for a time, not during its whole continuance in this world." Matthew Henry Commentary on I Cor. 13.
"We are not now to expect any such extraordinary gifts s they had then. The canon of the New Testament being long since completed and ratified, we depend upon that as the most sure word of prophecy. But there are graces of the Spirit given to all believers which are as earnests to them, 2 Cor. 1:22; v.5; Eph. 1:13-14. Now it concerns all who profess the Christian faith seriously to enquire whether we have received the Holy Ghost or not. The Holy Ghost is promised to all believers, to all petitioners (Luke 11:13); but many are deceived in this matter, thinking they have received the Holy Ghost when really they have not. As there are pretenders to the gifts of the Holy Ghost, so there are pretenders to His graces and comforts; we should therefore strictly examine ourselves, Have we received the Holy Ghost since we believed? The tree will be known by its fruits. Do we bring forth the fruits of the Spirit? Are we led by the Spirit? Do we walk in the Spirit? Are we under the government of the Spirit?" Matthew Henry Commentary on Acts 19.
"Hence prophecy at this day in the Christian Church is hardly anything else than the right understanding of the Scripture, and the peculiar faculty of explaining it, inasmuch as all the ancient prophecies and all the oracles of God have been completed in Christ and in His gospel. For in this sense it is taken by Paul when he says, 'I wish that you spoke in tongues, but rather that ye prophesy,' (I Cor. 14:5); 'In part we know and in part we prophesy,' (I Cor. 13:9). And it does not appear that Paul intended here to mention those miraculous graces by which Christ at first rendered illustrious His gospel; but, on the contrary, we find that he refers only to ordinary gifts, such as were to continue perpetually in the Church." Romans 12:6. Calvin's Commentary on Romans.
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Index of Sowers Seed FilesThese articles are free from BelieversCafe.com. Download these articles from BelieversCafe.com, and read offline or redistribute freely!