Holy spirit manifestation

HOLY SPIRIT MANIFESTATION
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Corinthians12:7 7Now to each one the manifestation
of the Spirit is given for the common good.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Universal Gift
Alexander Maclaren
1 Corinthians 12:7
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with.
The manifestationof the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.' -- 1
COR. xii.7.
The greatfact which to-day[1] commemorates is too often regardedas if it
were a transient gift, limited to those on whom it was first bestowed. We
sometimes hear it said that the greatneed of the Christian world is a second
Pentecost, a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God and the like. Such a way of
thinking and speaking misconceivesthe nature and significance of the first
Pentecost, whichhad a transient element in it, but in essencewas permanent.
The rushing mighty wind and the cloventongues of fire, and the strange
speechin many languages, were allequally transient. The rushing wind swept

on, and the house was no more filled with it. The tongues flickeredinto
invisibility and disappearedfrom the heads. The hubbub of many languages
was quickly silent. But that which these things but symbolised is permanent;
and we are not to think of Pentecostas if it were a sudden gush from a great
reservoir, and the sluice was let down againafter it, but as if it were the
entrance into a dry bed, of a rushing stream, whose first outgush was attended
with noise, but which thereafterflows continuous and unbroken. If churches
or individuals are scantof that gift, it is not because it has not been bestowed,
but because it has not been accepted.
My text tells us two things: it unconditionally and broadly asserts thatevery
Christian possessesthis great gift -- the manifestation is given to every man;
and then it asserts thatthe gift of eachis meant to be utilised for the goodof
all. 'The manifestation is given to every man to profit withal.'
I. Let me, then, say a word or two, to begin with, about the universality of this
gift.
Now, that is implied in our Lord's own language, as commentedupon by the
Evangelist. ForJesus Christ declaredthat this was the standing law of His
kingdom, to be universally applied to all its members, that 'He that believeth
on Him, out of him shall flow rivers of living water'; and the Evangelist's
comment goes on to say, 'This spake He of the Spirit which they that believe
on Him should receive.'There is the condition and the qualification.
Wherever there is faith, there the Spirit of God is bestowed, and bestowedin
the measure in which faith is exercised. So, then, in full accordancewith such
fundamental principles in reference to the gift of the Spirit of God, comes the
language ofmy text, and of many another text to which I cannot do more than
refer. But let me just quote one or two of them, in order that I may make
more emphatic what I believe a greatmany Christian people do not realise as
they ought -- viz. that the gift of God's Holy Spirit is not a thing to be desired,

as if it were not possessedor confined to selectindividuals, or manifested by
exceptionaland lofty attainments, but is the universal heritage of the whole
Christian Church. 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost?'
'We have all been made to drink into one Spirit,' says Paul again, in the
immediate context. 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
His,' says he, unconditionally. And in many other places the same principle is
laid down, a principle which I believe the Christian Church to-day needs to
have recalledto its consciousness, that it may be quickened to realise it in its
experience far more than is the case atpresent.
Let me remind you, too, that that universality of the gifts of the Divine Spirit
is implied in the very conceptionof what Christ's work, in its deepestand
most precious aspects to us, is. For we are not to limit, as a great many so-
calledearnestevangelicalteachersand believers do -- we are not to limit His
work to that which is effectedwhen a man first becomes a Christian -- viz.
pardon and acceptance withGod. God forbid that I should ever seemto
underrate that great initial gift on which everything else must be built. But I
am not underrating it when I say, 'Let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith,' and the 'proportion of faith' has been violated, and the
perspective and completenessofChristian truth, and of Christ's gifts, have
been, alas!to a very large extent distorted because Christianpeople, trained
in what we callthe evangelicalschool, have laid far too little emphasis on the
fact that the essentialgift of Christ to His people is not pardon, nor
acceptance, norjustification, but life; and that forgiveness, andaltered
relationship to God, and assurance of acceptance withHim, are all
preliminaries. They are, if I may recur to a figure that I have already
employed, the preparing of the channel, and the taking away of the obstacles
that block its mouth, in order to the inrush of the flood of the river of the
waterof life.
This life that Christ gives is the result of the gift of the Spirit. So 'If any man
have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.' The life is the gift considered

from our side, and the Spirit is the gift consideredfrom the divine side. 'Every
man that hath the Son hath life'; because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
has made him free from the law of sin and death. So you see if that is true --
and I for my part am sure that it is -- then all that vulgar way of looking at the
influences of the Holy Spirit upon men, as if they were confined to certain
exceptionalpeople, or certain abnormal and extraordinary and elevatedacts,
is sweptaway. It is not the spasmodic, the exceptional, the rare, not the lofty
or transcendentally Christlike acts or characters that are alone the
manifestation of the Spirit.
Nor is this gift a thing that a man can discoveras distinct from his own
consciousness. The point where the river of the waterof life comes into the
channel of our spirits lies away far up, near the sources, and long before the
stream comes into sight in our own consciousness,the blended waters have
been inseparably mingled, and flow on peacefullytogether. 'The Spirit
beareth witness with our spirits'; and you are not to expect that you can hear
two voices speaking,but it is one voice and one only.
Now, that universality of this divine gift underlies the very constitution of the
Christian Church. 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty,' said Paul.
It is because eachChristian man has accessto the one Source of illumination
and of truth and righteousness andholiness, that no Christian man is to
become subject to the dominion of a brother. And it is because onthe servants
and on the handmaidens has been poured out, in these days, God's Spirit and
they prophesy, that all domination of classesorindividuals, and all stiffening
of the free life of God's Church by man-made creeds, are contrary to the very
basis of its existence, andan attack on the dignity of eachindividual member
of the Church. 'Ye have an unction from the Holy One' is said to all Christian
people -- and 'ye need not that any man teachyou,' still less that any man, or
body of men, or document framed by men, should be set up as normal and
authoritative over Christ's free people.

Still further, and only one word -- Let me remind you of what I have already
said, and what is only too sadly true, that this grand universality of the
Spirit's gift to all Christian people does not fill, in the mind of the ordinary
Christian man, the place that it ought, and it does not fill it, therefore, in his
experience. I say no more upon that point.
II. And now let me saya word, secondly, about the many-sidedness of this
universal gift.
One of the reasons whyChristian people as a whole do not realise the
universality as they ought is, as I have alreadysuggestedin a somewhat
different connection, because theylimit their notions far too much of what the
gift of God's Spirit is to do to men. We must take a wider view of what that
Spirit is meant to effectthan we ordinarily take, before we understand how
real and how visible its universal manifestations are. Take a leaf out of the
Old Testament. The man who made the brass-work forthe Tabernacle was
'full of the Spirit of God.' The poets who sung the Psalms, in more than one
place, declare of themselves that they, too, were but the harps upon which the
divine finger played. Samsonwas capable of his rude feats of physical
strength, because 'the Spirit of God was upon him.' Art, song, counsel,
statesmanlike adaptationof means to ends, and discernment of proper courses
for a nation, such as were exemplified in Josephand in Daniel, are, in the Old
Testament, ascribedto the Spirit of God, and even the rude physical strength
of the simple-natured and sensuous athlete is tracedup to the same source.
But again, we see another sphere of the Spirit's working in the manifestations
of it in the experience of the primitive Church. These are, as we all know,
accompaniedwith miracles, speaking with tongues and working wonders. The
signs of that Spirit in those days were visible and audible. As I said, when the
river first came into its bed, it came like the tide in Morecambe Bay, breast-
high, with a roar and a rush. But it was quiet after that. In the context we

have a whole series of manifestations of this Divine Spirit, some of them
miraculous and some being natural faculties heightened, but all concerned
with the Church as a society, and being for the benefit of the community.
But there is another class. If you turn to the Epistle to the Galatians, you will
find a wonderful list there of what the Apostle calls 'the fruit of the Spirit,'
beginning with 'love, joy, peace.'These are all moral and religious, bearing
upon personalexperience and the completeness ofthe individual character.
Now, let us include all these aspects in our conceptionof the fruit of the
Spirit's working on men -- the secular, if we may use that word, as exhibited
in the Old Testament;the miraculous, as seenin the first days of the Church;
the ecclesiastical, if we may so designate the endowments mentioned in the
context, and the purely personal, moral, and religious emotions and acts. The
plain fact is that everything in a Christian's life, excepthis sin, is the
manifestation of that Divine Spirit, from whom all goodthoughts, counsels,
and works do proceed. He is the 'Spirit of adoption,' and wheneverin my
heart there rises warm and blessedthe aspiration'Abba! Father!' it is not my
voice only, but the voice of that Divine Spirit. He is the Spirit of intercession;
and wheneverin my soul there move yearning desires after infinite good,
child-like longings to be knit more closelyto Him, that, too, is the voice of
God's Spirit; and our prayers are then 'sweet, indeed, when He the Spirit
gives by which we pray.' In like manner, all the variety of Christian emotions
and experiences is to be traced to the conjoint operationof that Divine Spirit
as the source, and my own spirit as influenced by, and the organof, the Spirit
of God. If I may take a very rough illustration, there is a story in the Old
Testamentabout a king, to whom were given a bow and arrow, with the
command to shoot. The prophet's hand was laid on the king's weak hand, and
the weak hand was strengthenedby the touch of the other; and with one
common pull they drew back the string and the arrow sped. The king drew
the bow, but it was the prophet's hand grasping his wrist that gave him

strength to do it. And that is how the Spirit of God will work with us if we
will.
III. Finally, considerthe purpose of all the diverse manifestations of the one
universal gift.
'To profit withal' -- for his own goodwho possessesit, and for the goodof all
the restof his brethren.
Now, that involves two plain things. There have been people in the Christian
Church who have said, 'We have all the Spirit, and therefore we do not need
one another.'There may be isolation, and self-sufficiency, and a host of other
evils coming in, if we only graspthe thought, 'The manifestationof the Spirit
is given to every man,' but they are all correctedif we go on and say, 'to profit
withal.' For every one of us has something, and no one of us has everything;
so, on the one hand, we want eachother, and, on the other hand, we are
responsible for the use of what we have.
You getthe life, not in order that you may plume yourself on its possession,
nor in order that you may ostentatiouslydisplay it, still less in order that you
may shut it up and do nothing with it; but you get the life in order that it may
spread through you to others.
'The leastflowerwith a brimming cup may stand,
And share its dew-drop with another near.'

We eachhave the life that God's grace may fructify through us to all. Poweris
duty; endowment is obligation; capacityprescribes work. 'The manifestation
of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.'
You can regulate the flow. You have the sluice; you can shut it or open it. I
have said that the condition, and the only condition, of possessing the fulness
of God's Spirit is faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the more you trust the more
you have, and the less your faith the less the gift. You can get much or little,
according to the greatness orthe smallness, the fixity or the transiency, of
your desires. If you hold the empty cup with a tremulous hand, the precious
liquid will not be poured into it -- for some of it will be spilt -- in the same
fulness as it would be if you held it steadily. It is the old story -- the
miraculous flow of the oil stopped when the widow had no more pots and
vessels to bring. The reasonwhy some of us have so little of that Divine Spirit
is because we have not held out our vessels to be filled. You can diminish the
flow by ignoring it, and that is what a host of so-calledChristian people do
nowadays. You can diminish it by neglecting to use the little that you have for
the purpose for which it was given you. Does anybody profit by your spiritual
life? Do you profit much by it yourselves? Has it ever been of the leastgoodto
anybody else in the world? 'The manifestation of the Spirit is given to' you, if
you are a Christian man or woman, more or less. And if you shut it up, and do
never an atom of goodwith it, either to yourselves or to anybody else, of
course it will slip away;and, sometime or other, to your astonishment, you
will find that the vessels are empty, and that the Spirit of the Lord has
departed from you. 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed
unto the day of redemption.'
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Diversity And Sameness
1 Corinthians 12:4-6

R. Tuck
Although conversionis identical in every case, yetafterwards there are
spiritual gifts which vary according to individual capacityand character, but
they all come from the one Spirit. There are varieties of ministration in which
those spiritual gifts are employed, and the same Lord is served by these
various ministries. Nature shows us the diversified forms and expressions of
the common life. Science admits the diversity, and seeksto recognize the one
greatprinciple, the life, that lies within them all. The diversity lies in the
expressionin our human spheres. The samenesslies in the source, for all
things are of God.
I. DIVERSITYIN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. There are:
1. Diversities in endowments, or "gifts." Meyer's division of the early
Christian gifts is suggestive.
(1) Gifts which have reference to intellectual power: divided into
(a) the word of wisdom;
(b) the word of knowledge.
(2) Gifts which depend upon specialenergyof faith: divided into
(a) the faith itself;
(b) operating in deeds, healings, miracles;
(c) operating in words, as in prophetic utterances;
(d) operating in distinguishing true and false spirits.
(3) Gifts which relate to tongues: divided into
(a) speaking with tongues;
(b) interpreting tongues.
2. Diversities in the service required, or in "ministrations" (margin,
ministeries), that is, forms in which service may be rendered to Christ and his
members by his disciples.

3. Diversities in the modes of fulfilling the service, orin the ways in which
individual characterand ability may find expressionin carrying out various
Christian duties. If many Christian men are engagedin the same form of
service, eachone will impress his individuality upon his method of doing it. No
two workmenwork exactly alike. In Christ's Church there is full, free room
for all kinds of diversity and variety. No man's personalpeculiarities need be
crushed; all may be of use; only eachman must see to it that the expressionof
his individuality, and the use of his gift, do not become in any way a hindrance
or an offence to his fellow workers. Diversityis fully compatible with harmony
and unity.
II. SAMENESS IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. There is one source of all
Christian gifts; one president over the using of all Christian gifts; and one end
to be servedby the employment of all Christian gifts. "The unity of the source
is strongly insisted upon, to put an end to the mutual jealousyof the
Corinthians. And it is remarkable that eachpersonin the blessedTrinity is
introduced to emphasize the argument, and in contrary order (as Estius
remarks), in order to lead us step by step to the one Source of all. First, the
Spirit, who bestows the 'gifts' on the believer. Next, the Lord, to whom men
render service in his Church. Lastly, God the Father, from whom all
proceeds, whose are allthe works which are done to him and in his name."
The following, points may be illustrated - There is sameness
(1) in the distributer of gifts;
(2) in the purpose contemplated by the distribution;
(3) in the grace ready for those who are using the gifts;
(4) and in the dependence of every one who has a gift upon the aid and leading
of the Divine Spirit.
Impress that the whole attention of the Christian should be occupiedwith the
one motive and the one source of inspiration. All other motives and
inspirations can but fulfil - can but be modes of operationfor the one great
motive and inspiration, which is that the Spirit of God dwelleth in us sealing
us as Christ's, teaching us all truth, and leading us in all duty. - R.T.

Biblical Illustrator
The manifestationof the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11
The manifestationof the Spirit
J. Hunt Cooke.
As there are diversities of gifts, so are there diversities of measures in which
these gifts are bestowed. Three degreesofthe powerof the Spirit are
mentioned in Scripture.
I. FOR SOME SPECIALOCCASION. This is but transitory and occasional.
It was granted to men in ancient times, as when Balaamprophesied and
Samsondisplayed his strength. The phrase generallyused for this is, "The
Spirit of the Lord came upon him." the subject of this influence was not
necessarilya man of holy life He was but used as an instrument, and for the
hour brought into acquiescence withthe Divine will.
II. FOR SALVATION. This is the continuous possessionof the Spirit as a new
life. It is describedin such terms as "led by the Spirit," "walking afterthe
Spirit," "to be spiritually minded," which "is life." The entrance into this
state is regeneration — the inclination of the will to God. This is "eternallife."
III. FOR EXALTED SERVICE. This is the new life in its fulness, the
flowering and fruiting of the plants of Divine grace. It is called being "filled
with the Spirit." It is the development of Christian life, at times attained by a
sudden influx of the Divine power, and termed the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
(J. Hunt Cooke.)
Grace given to individuals for the generalgood

A. Watson, M.A.
By the word "manifestation" is intended the same thing as is set forth in the
phrases, "gift," "administration" and in this context, doubtless, the allusion is
to miracles. By the phrase, "profit withal," is to be understood, for the
advantage of others, i.e., as the context proves, of the Church in the first
instance, and then, through the Church, of the world at large. The transition
from the miraculous gifts of early times to the graces inwhich the Spirit is
now more commonly manifested, is easyand. appropriate; the manifestation
of the Spirit is given to every one of you to profit withal. What, then, are the
manifestations of the Spirit which are peculiar to no one age of the Church?
There is a manifestationof the Spirit in the miracle of a changedheart,
evidenced by a holy life, and by this manifestation of the Spirit, God now
speaks to men, and calls upon those thus gifted to profit the brethren. Is a
man meek, gentle, longsuffering, temperate, and kind? He is so to use these
graces as to profit others. Is a man blessedwith joy and peace? He is, through
the instrumentality of these gifts, to profit others. Has a man a strong faith?
He is to exercise it to the generalbenefit. Has a man clever and vigorous hope,
well grounded on Christ; he is to exercise himself to the generaladvantage. Is
one full of charity? Such a one needs not to be told he is to be solicitous for his
fellows. Let us see in what manner this may be done, and let us take the
severalparticulars in the order just enumerated. Is any meek, gentle,
longsuffering, temperate, and kind? Let him remember that his example is
much needed in an age ofretaliation, impatience, and extremes!I will pass on
now to considerthe case ofhim who is blessedwith joy and peace. And let
those who thus are warrantedin relying on the favour of God, and who derive
an awful joy, and not fear alone, from the contemplationof His holiness, let
such love to recollecthow they may profit the Church by speaking oftheir
own consolationto the mourning penitent. Have you the gift of faith? It is that
yon may profit others. First, by its instrumentality in keeping your spiritual
life vigorous, whereby you may be an example in all things. One holy example
is better than a thousand sermons. The former may convince, the latter must.
But there is another way in which we are called upon to exercise our faith to
the advantage ofall. Faith alone can give our prayers audience in the presence
chamber of Divinity. The effectualfervent prayer of a righteous man availeth

much; but prayer is not, cannot be effectualunless it be the prayer of faith.
Pray for the conversionof sinners, and the goodestate ofthe Church through
the guidance of her greatand glorified Head, Christ Jesus. So those whose
hope is strong will do well to let their conviction that they are walking humbly
with their God incite them to build others up in the same reverent confidence;
while those whose love comes up to the gospel's standardwill be fain to benefit
others; nay, in benefiting others it is that this manifestation of the Spirit is
made. He who believes, and he who hopes, may forgetthat the Body is not one
member, but; many; and so they may come to forget that the manifestation of
the Spirit is given to them to profit others; but he who loves cannotforget this;
hence "love is the fulfilling of the law." Hence, charity is the chiefestgrace,
the most valuable for time, no less than the only one needed in eternity! He
who loves is using the gift of grace forthe generalgood;he is a living member
of the Body of Christ.
(A. Watson, M.A.)
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal
Bishop Sanderson.
In the first verse of this chapter St. Paul proposethto himself an argument,
which he prosecuteththe whole chapter through, and, after a profitable
digressioninto the praise of charity in the next chapter, resumeth againat the
fourteenth chapter, spending also that whole chaptertherein; and it is
concerning spiritual gifts, "Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would
not have you ignorant," etc. These graciousgifts of the Holy Spirit of God,
bestowedon them for the edification of the Church, the Corinthians, by
making them the fuel either of their pride in despising those that were inferior
to themselves, or of their envy in malicing those that excelledtherein, abused
to the maintenance of schism, and faction, and emulation in the Church. For
the remedying of which evils the apostle entereth upon the argument,
discoursing fully of the variety of these spiritual gifts, and who is the author of
them, and for what end they were given, and in what manner they should be
employed, omitting nothing that was needful to be spokenanent this subject.

In this part of the chapter, entreating both before and after this verse of the
wondrous great, yet sweetand useful variety of these spiritual gifts, he
showeththat howsoevermanifold they are, either for kind or degree, so as
they may differ in the material and formal, yet they do all agree both in the
same efficient and the same final cause. In the same efficient cause, which is
God the Lord by His Spirit (ver. 6), "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord;
and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh
all in all" And in the same final cause, which is the advancement of God's
glory, in the propagationof His gospeland the edificationof His Church, in
this verse, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal." By occasionofwhich words we may inquire into the nature,
conveyance, anduse of these gifts. First, their nature in themselves and in
their original; what they are, and whence. They are the works of God's Spirit
in us, "the manifestation of the Spirit." Secondly, their conveyance unto us —
how we come to have them, and to have property in them; it is by gift: "It is
given to every man." Thirdly, their use and end; why they were given us, and
what we are to do with them. They must be employed to the goodof our
brethren and of the Church; it is given to every man "to profit withal." Of
these briefly, and in their order, and with specialreference everto us that are
of the clergy. By "manifestationof the Spirit," here our apostle understandeth
none other thing than he doth by the adjective word πνευματικὰ in the first,
and by the substantive word χαρίσματα in the last verse of the chapter Both
which, put together, do signify those spiritual gifts and graces wherebyGod
enableth men, and especiallyChurchmen, to the duties of their particular
callings for the generalgood. Such as are those particulars, which are named
in the next following verses, the word of wisdom, the word knowledge, faith,
the gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers
kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues. All which, and all other of like
nature and use, because theyare wrought by that one and selfsame Spirit,
which divideth to every one severallyas He will, are therefore called
πνευματικὰ, "spiritualgifts"; and here φανέρωσις τοῦ πνεύματος, "the
manifestation of the Spirit." The word "Spirit," though in Scripture it have
many other significations, yet in this place I conceive it to be understood
directly of the Holy Ghost, the Third Personin the ever-blessedTrinity. For

first, in ver. 3, that which is calledthe Spirit of Godin the former part, is in
the latter part calledthe Holy Ghost. "I give you to understand that no man,
speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed;and that no man cansay
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Again that variety of gifts,
which in ver. 4 is said to proceedfrom the same Spirit, is said likewise in ver.
5 to proceedfrom the same Lord, and in ver. 6 to proceedfrom the same God,
and therefore such a Spirit is meant, as is also Lord and God, and that is only
the Holy Ghost. And again, in those words in ver. 11:"All these worketh that
one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severallyas He will." The
apostle ascribethto this Spirit the collationand distribution of such gifts
according to the free power of His own will and pleasure, which free power
belongethto none but God alone, "Who hath setthe members every one in the
body, as it hath pleasedHim." Which yet ought not to be so understood of the
Personof the Spirit; as if the Fatherand the Son had no part or fellowship in
this business. Forall the actions and operations of the Divine Persons (those
only exceptedwhich are of intrinsical and mutual relation) are the joint and
undivided works ofthe whole three Persons, according to the common known
maxim, constantly and uniformly receivedin the Catholic Church, Opera
Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa. And as to this particular concerning gifts the
Scriptures are clear. Wherein, as they are ascribedto God the Holy Ghost in
this chapter, so they are elsewhere ascribedunto Godthe Father, "Every good
gift and every perfectgiving is from above, from the Fatherof Lights" (James
1.), and elsewhere to God the Son, "Unto every one of us is given grace,
according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Ephesians 4.). Yea, and it may
be that for this very reasonin the three verses next before my text, these three
words are used: "Spirit" in ver. 4, "Lord" in ver. 5, and "God" in ver. 6, to
give us intimation that these spiritual gifts proceedequally and undividedly
from the whole three Persons:from God the Father, and from His SonJesus
Christ our Lord, and from the eternal Spirit of them both, the Holy Ghost, as
from one entire, indivisible, and co-essentialAgent. But for that we are gross
of understanding, and unable to conceive the distinct Trinity of Persons in the
unity of the Godhead, otherwise than by apprehending some distinction of
their operations and offices to usward, it hath pleasedthe wisdom of God in
the holy Scriptures, which being written for our sakes were to be fitted to our
capacities,so far to condescendto our weakness anddulness as to attribute

some of those greatand common works to one person, and some to another,
after a more specialmanner than unto the rest; although indeed and in truth
none of the Three Persons had more or less to do than other in any of those
greatand common works. This manner of speaking Divines used to call
appropriation. By which appropriation, as poweris ascribedto the Father,
and wisdom to the Son, so is goodness to the Holy Ghost. And therefore, as the
work of creation, wherein is speciallyseenthe mighty power of God, is
appropriated to the Father; and the work of redemption, wherein is specially
seenthe wisdom of God, to the Son; and so the works ofsanctificationand the
infusion of habitual graces, wherebythe goodthings of God are
communicated unto us, is appropriated unto the Holy Ghost. And for this
cause the gifts thus communicated unto us from God are called πνευματικὰ,
"spiritual gifts," and φανέρωσις τοῦ πνευματος, "the manifestation of the
Spirit." We see now, why Spirit? but then, why manifestation? The word, as
most other verbals of that form, may be understood either in the active or
passive signification. And it is not material, whether of the two ways we take it
in this place, both being true, and neither improper. For these spiritual gifts
are the manifestation of the Spirit actively, because by these the Spirit
manifesteth the will of Godunto the Church, these being the instruments and
means of conveying the knowledge ofsalvationunto the people of God. And
they are the manifestation of the Spirit passivelytoo, because where any of
these gifts, especiallyin any eminent sort, appearedin any person, it was a
manifest evidence that the Spirit of God wrought in him. As we read it (Acts
10.), that they of the circumcision were astonished"whenthey saw that on the
Gentiles also was poured out the gifts of the Holy Ghost," if it be demanded,
But how did that appear? it followeth in the next verse, "Forthey heard them
speak with tongues," etc. The spiritual gift, then, is a manifestation of the
Spirit, as every other sensible effectis a manifestation of its proper cause.We
are now yet further to know that the gifts and graces wroughtin us by the
Holy Spirit of God are of two sorts. The Scriptures sometimes distinguish
them by the different terms of χάρις and χαρίσμα;although those words are
sometimes againused indifferently and promiscuously, either for other. They
are commonly known in the schools anddifferenced by the names of Gratice
gratum facientes and Grutiae gratis datae. Which terms, though they be not
very proper (for the one of them may be affirmed of the other, whereas the

members of every gooddistinction ought to be opposite), yet because they
have been long received(and change of terms, though haply for the better,
hath by experience been found for the most part unhappy in the event, in
multiplying unnecessarybook-quarrels)wemay retain them profitably, and
without prejudice. Those former, which they call Gratum facientes, are the
graces ofsanctification, wherebythe personthat hath them is enabled to do
acceptable service to Godin the duties of His generalcalling;these latter,
which they call Gratis dates, are the graces ofedification, whereby the person
that hath them is enabled to do profitable service to the Church of God in the
duties of His particular calling. Those are given Nobis, et Nobis, both to us
and for us, that is chiefly for our own good;these Nobis, sed Nostris, to us
indeed, but for others; that is, chiefly for the goodof our brethren. Those are
given us ad salutem, for the saving of our souls;these ad lucrurm for the
winning of other men's souls. Those proceedfrom the speciallove of God to
the person, and may therefore be called personal, or special;these proceed
from the generallove of God to His Church, or yet more generalto human
societies, andmay therefore rather be called ecclesiasticalorgeneralgifts or
graces.Of the first sort are faith, hope, charity, repentance, patience,
humility, and all those other holy graces, "fruits of the Spirit," which
accompanysalvation. Wrought by the blessedand powerful operationof the
Holy Spirit of God, after a most effectualbut unconceivable manner,
regenerating, and renewing, and seasoning, andsanctifying the hearts of His
chosen. But yet these are not the gifts so much spokenof in this chapter; and
namely in my text, every branch whereofexcludeth them. Of those graces of
sanctification, first, we may have indeed probable inducements to persuade us
that they are, or are not, in this or that man. But hypocrisy may make such a
semblance that we may think we see spirit in a man in whom yet there is
nothing but flesh, and infirmities may castsucha fog that we can discern
nothing but flesh in a man in whom yet there is spirit. But the gifts here
spokenof do incur into the senses andgive us evident and infallible assurance
of the Spirit that wrought them; here is φανέρωσις, a "manifestationof the
Spirit." Again, secondly, those graces ofsanctificationare not communicated
by distribution — Alius sic, alius vero sic. Faith to one, charity to another,
repentance to another; but where they are given they are given all at once and
together, as it were strung upon one thread and linked into one chain. But the

gifts here spokenof are distributed, as it were, by dole, and divided severally
as it pleasedGod, sharedout into severalportions, and given to every man
some, to none all; for "to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to
another" the word of knowledge,"etc. Thirdly, those graces ofsanctification,
though they may and ought to be exercisedto the benefit of others, who by the
"shining of our light" and the "sightof our goodworks" may be provoked to
glorify Godby walking in the same paths; yet that is but utilitas emergens,
and not finis proprius; a gooduse made of them upon the bye, but not the
main proper and direct end of them, for which they were chiefly given. But
the gifts here spokenof were given directly for this end, and so intended by
the giver to be employed for the benefit of others and for the edifying of the
Church; they were given "to profit withal." It then remaineth to understand
this text and chapter of that other and later kind of spiritual gifts, those graces
of edification, or gratiae gratis datae, whereby men are enabled in their
severalcallings, according to the quality and measure of the graces theyhave
received, to be profitable members of the public body, either in Church or
Commonwealth. Under which appellation (the very first natural powers and
faculties of the soul only excepted, which, flowing a principiis speciei, are in all
men the same and like), I comprehend all other secondaryendowments and
abilities whatsoeverofthe reasonable soul, whichare capable of the degrees of
more and less, and of better and worse;togetherwith all subsidiary helps any
way conducing to the exercise ofany of them. Whether they be, first,
supernatural graces, givenby immediate and extraordinary infusion from
God; such as were the gifts of tongues and of miracles, and of healings, and of
prophecy properly so called, and many other like, which were frequent in the
infancy of the Church, and when this Epistle was written, according as the
necessityofthose primitive times consideredGod saw it expedient for His
Church. Or whether they be, secondly, such as philosophers call natural
dispositions, such as are promptness of wit, quickness of conceit, fastnessof
memory, clearnessofunderstanding, soundness of judgment, readiness of
speech, and other like, which flow immediately a principiis individui, from the
individual condition, constitution, and temper, lure of particular persons. Or
whether they be, thirdly, such as philosophers call intellectualhabits, which is,
when those natural dispositions are so improved and perfected by education,
art, industry, observation, or experience, that men become thereby skilful

linguists, subtle disputers, copious orators, profound Divines, powerful
preachers, expert lawyers, physicians, historians, statesmen, commanders,
artisans, or excellentin any science, profession, orfaculty whatsoever. To
which we may add, in the fourth place, all outward subservient helps
whatsoever, whichmay any wayfurther or facilitate the exercise ofany of the
former graces, dispositions, orhabits, such as are health, strength, beauty,
and all those other bona corporis, as also bona fortunae, honour, wealth,
nobility, reputation, and the rest. All of these, even these among them which
seemmost of all to have their foundation in nature, or perfectionfrom art,
may in some sort be called πνευματικὰ, "spiritualgifts"; inasmuch as the
Spirit of Godis the first and principal workerof them. Nature, art, industry,
and all other subsidiary furtherances, being but secondagents under Him,
Him and as means ordained. And now we have found out the just latitude of
the spiritual gifts spokenof in this chapter, and of the manifestationof the
Spirit in my text. From whence not to pass without some observable
inferences for our edification, we may here first behold, and admire, and
magnify the singular love, and care, and providence of God for and overHis
Church. Those active gifts, and graces, and abilities which are to be found in
the members of the mystical body of Christ, are a strong manifestation that
there is a powerful Spirit of God within, that knitteth the whole body together,
and workethall in all. and all in every part of the body. Secondly, though we
have just cause to lay it to heart, when men of eminent gifts and place in the
Church are taken from us, yet we should sustain ourselves with this comfort,
that it is the same God that still hath care over His Church. And therefore we
may, not doubt but this Spirit, as He hath hitherto done from the beginning,
so will still manifest Himself from time to time, unto the end of the world; in
raising up instruments for the service of His Church, and furnishing them
with gifts. Thirdly, where the Spirit of God hath manifesteditself to any man
by the distribution of gifts, it is but reasonthat man should manifest the Spirit
that is in him, by exercising those gifts in some lawful calling.
II. Considerwe next, and in the secondplace, THE CONVEYANCE OF
THESE GIFTS OVER UNTO US; HOW WE COME TO HAVE A
PROPERTYIN THEM, AND BY WHAT RIGHT WE CAN CALL THEM
OURS. The conveyance is by deed of gifts; the manifestation of the Spirit "is

given to every man." Understand it not to be so much intended here that
every particular man hath the manifestation of the Spirit, as that every man
that hath the manifestation of the Spirit hath it given him and given him
withal to this end, that he may do goodwith it. The variety both of the gifts
meet for severaloffices, andof the offices whereinto imply those gifts, is
wonderful; and no less wonderful the distribution of both gifts and offices. But
all that variety is derived from one and the same fountain, the Holy Spirit of
God; all those distributions pass unto us by one and the same way, of most
free and liberal donation. Possiblythou wilt allege thy excellentnatural parts
— these were not given, but thou broughtestthem into the world with thee; or
thou wilt vouch what thou hast attained to by art and industry — and these
were not given thee, but thou hast won them, and therefore welldeservestto
wearthem. Deceive notthyself. But the truth is, the difference that is in men
in regard of these gifts and abilities arisethneither from the powerof nature
nor from the merit of labour, otherwise than as God is pleasedto use these as
secondcausesunder Him. Whatsoeverspiritual abilities we have, we have
them of gift and by grace. The manifestationof the Spirit is given to every
man. A point of very fruitful considerationfor men of all sorts, whether they
be of greateror of meaner gifts. And first, all of us generallymay hence take
two profitable directions; the one, if we have any useful gifts, whom to thank
for them; the other, if we want any needful gifts, where to seek forthem. I
must now turn more particularly to you to whom God hath vouchsafedthe
manifestation of His Spirit in a largerproportion than unto many of your
brethren, giving unto you, as unto His firstborn, double portion of His Spirit,
as Elisha had of Elijah's, or perhaps dealing with you yet more liberally, as
Josephdid with Benjamin, whose mess, though he were the youngest, he
appointed to be five times as much as any of his brethren. It is needful that
you, of all others, should be put in remembrance, that those eminent
manifestations of the Spirit you have, were given you. First, it will be a good
help to take down that pride which is so apt to engenderin the soul through
abundance of knowledge, andto let out some of the corruption. It is a very
hard thing to know much, and not to know it too much. Secondly, every wise
and conscionableman should advisedly weighhis own gifts, and make them
his rule to work by, not thinking he doth enough if he do what law compelleth
him to do, or if he do as much as other neighbours do. But thirdly, though

your graces must be so to yourselves, yet beware you do not make them rules
to others. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man; let no man be
so severe to his brother as to look he should manifest more of the Spirit than
he hath received. Now, as for you to whom God hath dealt these spiritual gifts
with a more sparing hand, the freedom of God's distribution may be a fruitful
meditation for you also. First, thou hast no reason, whosoeverthou art, to
grudge at the scantness ofthy gifts, or to repine at the Giver. How little soever
God hath given thee, it is more than He owed thee. He hath done thee no
wrong, may He not do as He will with His own? Secondly, since the
manifestation of the Spirit is a matter of free gift, thou hast no cause to envy
thy brother whose portion is greater. Thirdly, if thy gifts be mean, thou hast
this comfort withal, that thy accounts will be so much the easier. Merchants
that have the greatestdealings are not everthe safestmen. And how happy a
thing had it been for many men in the world if they had had less of other
men's goods in their hands. The less thou hastreceived, the less thou hast to
answerfor. Lastly, remember what the preacher saith in Ecclesiastes10:10:
"If the iron be blunt, then he must put to the more strength." Many men that
are wellleft by their friends and full of money, because they think they shall
never see the bottom of it, take no care by any employment to increase it, but
spend without either fearor wit; whereas, on the contrary, industrious men
that have but little to begin withal, yet by their care and providence, and
painstaking, getup wonderfully. It is almostincredible what industry, and
diligence, and exercise, andholy emulation are able to effect, for the bettering
and increasing of our spiritual gifts; so, though thy beginnings be but small,
thy latter end shall wonderfully increase. Bythis means thou shalt not only
profit thyself in the increase ofthy gifts unto thyself, thou shalt also profit
others by communicating of thy gifts unto them. Which is the proper end for
which they were bestowed, and of which we are next to speak. The
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To profit
whom? it may be himself. It is true, "If thou art wise, thou shalt be wise for
thyself," saidSolomon; and Solomonknew what belongedto wisdom as well
as another. He that is not goodto himself, it is but a chance that he is good to
anybody else. He that hath a gift, then, he should do well to look to his own, as
well as to the profit of others, and as unto doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16), so as well
and first to take heed unto himself, that so doing he may save himself as well

as those that hear him. This, then, is to be done; but this is not all that is to be
done. In wisdom we cannot do less;but in charity we are bound to do more
than thus with our gifts. You see, then, what a strong obligation lieth upon
every man that hath receivedthe Spirit to call his gifts into the common
treasury of the Church, to employ his goodparts and spiritual graces so as
they may some way or other be profitable to his brethren. It was not only for
the beautifying of His Church that God gave some apostles, and some
prophets, and some evangelists, andsome pastors and teachers;but also, and
especially, for more necessaryand profitable uses; for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
(Ephesians 4:11, 12). The stomach eateth, not to fill itself, but to nourish the
body; the eye seeth, not to please itself, but to espy for the body; the foot
moveth, not to exercise itself, but to carry the body; the hand worketh, not to
help itself, but to maintain the body. Now this necessityofemploying spiritual
gifts to the goodand profit of others, ariseth first from the will and the intent
of the Giver. My text showethplainly what that intent was. The manifestation
of the Spirit was therefore given to every man, that he might profit withal.
Certainly, as nature doth not, so much less doth the God of nature make
anything to no purpose, or barely for show, but for use; and the use, for which
all these things were made and given, is edification. He that hath an estate
made over to him in trust and for uses, hath in equity therein no estate at all,
if he turn the commodities of the thing some other way, and not to those
specialuses for which he was so estatedin it. It is a just thing with the Father
of Lights, when He hath lighted any man a candle by bestowing spiritual gifts
upon him, and lent him a candlestick, too, whereonto set it, by providing him
a stay in the Church, if that man shall then hide his candle under a bushel and
envy the light and comfort of it to them that are in the house, either to remove
his candlestick orto put out his candle in obscurity. As the intent of the Giver,
so, secondly, the nature and quality of the gift callethupon us for
employment. It is not with these spiritual gifts, as with most other things,
which, when they are imparted, are impaired, and lessenedby
communicating. Here is no place for that allegationof the virgins, "Lest there
be not enough for you and for us." These gracesare ofthe number of those
things that communicate themselves by multiplication, as the sealmaketh
impression in the wax, and as fire conveyethheat into iron, and as one candle

findeth a thousand, all without loss of figure, heat, or light. Had everany man
less knowledge,orwit, or learning, by teaching of others? Had he not rather
more? Thirdly, our own insufficiency to all offices, andthe need we have of
other men's gifts, must enforce us to lend them the help and comfort of ours.
Surely, then, those men, first of all, run a course strangelyexorbitant, who,
instead of employing them to the profit, bend those gifts they have received,
whether spiritual or temporal, to the ruin and destruction of their brethren.
Abusing their power to oppression, their wealth to luxury, their strength to
drunkenness, their wit to scoffing, atheism, profaneness, their learning to the
maintenance of heresy, idolatry, schism, novelty. Be persuaded, in the second
place, all you whom God hath made stewards overHis household, and blessed
your basketand your store, to "bring forth of your treasures things both new
and old;" manifest the spirit God hath given you, so as may be most for the
profit of your brethren. Thirdly, since the end of all gifts is to profit, aim most
at those gifts that will profit most, and endeavourso to frame those you have
in the exercise ofthem, as they may be likeliestto bring profit to those that
shall partake of them. "Covetearnestlythe bestgifts." You cannot do more
goodunto the Church of God, you cannot more profit the people of God by
your gifts, than by pressing effectually these two greatpoints, faith, and good
works. These are goodand profitable unto men. I might here add other
inferences from this point, as namely, since the manifestationof the Spirit is
given to every one of us, chiefly for this end, that we may profit the people
with it, that therefore, fourthly, in our preaching we should rather seek to
profit our hearers, though perhaps with sharp and unwelcome reproofs, than
to please them by flattering them in evil; and that, fifthly, we should more
desire to bring profit unto them than to gainapplause unto ourselves.
(Bishop Sanderson.)
The gifts of the Holy Spirit
L. O. Thompson.
These are —

I. PROFITABLE. Some are more showy, others are more useful.
1. Forthe conversionof sinners.
2. Forthe edification of saints.
II. DIVERSE.
1. The word of wisdom.
2. The word of knowledge.
3. Faith, such as became the confessorsand martyrs (Hebrews 11.).
4. Gifts of healing (Acts 3:4).
5. Working of miracles.
6. Prophecy(1 Corinthians 14:24, 25).
7. Discerning of spirits (Acts 5:3, 4, 9).
8. Divers kinds of tongues (Acts 2:4).
9. The interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 14:27).
III. BESTOWEDUPON EACH AND ALL BY THE SAME SPIRIT (ver. 11).
Let there be no rivalry in the Churches.
IV. SHOULD UNIFY THE CHURCH INTO ONE BODY(vers. 12, 13).
V. SHOULD BE COVETED EARNESTLY(ver. 31). To him that hath shall
be given, and he shall have more abundantly.
(L. O. Thompson.)
Diversity of operations, but one Spirit
Homiletic Monthly.
Note the specific methods of the Spirit's operation —

I. IN THE CHURCH.
1. As a breath, wind. See Ezekiel's visionof the valley, Christ breathing on His
disciples, and the rushing, mighty wind of Pentecost. Symbol of life,
quickening inspiration.
2. Refreshment. Waterthe type. "If any man thirst," " I will pour water," etc.
Fertilising, cleansing of the outward.
3. Inward purifying. Fire the symbol. "He shall baptize with . . . fire." "I am
come to send fire on earth." Also of vital warmth, zeal, fervour.
4. Consecration. Anointing. Oil the type. Settling apart, enduing with power.
II. WITH THE WORLD.
1. A reprover (John 16:8-11).
2. Strives with men (Genesis 6:3; Acts 7:51).
3. Enlightens by revealing Christ.
4. Regeneratesby awakening faith in Christ.
(Homiletic Monthly.)
The distribution of gifts in the Church is
J. Lyth, D.D.
I. LIBERAL. To every man.
II. WISE. Designedfor the profit of —
1. The individual.
2. The whole Church.
III. SUITABLE.
1. Wisdom and knowledge contribute to enlargementof view.

2. Faith to edification and increase.
3. Gifts of healing, etc., to the confirmation of the truth.
IV. SOVEREIGN. Bythe Spirit — as He will — hence all glory belongs to
God.
(J. Lyth, D.D.)
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Adam Clarke Commentary
The manifestationof the Spirit - Φανερωσις του Πνευματος . This is variably
understood by the fathers; some of them rendering φανερωσις by
illumination, others demonstration, and others operation. The apostle's
meaning seems to be this: Whatever gifts God has bestowed, orin what
various ways soeverthe Spirit of Godmay have manifested himself, it is all for
the common benefit of the Church. God has given no gift to any man for his
own private advantage, orexclusive profit. He has it for the benefit of others
as well as for his own salvation.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/1-
corinthians-12.html. 1832.

return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
But the manifestation of the Spirit - The word “manifestation” ( φανέρωτις
fanerōtis)means properly that which makes manifest, conspicuous, orplain;
that which illustrates, or makes any thing seenor known. Thus, conduct
manifests the state of the heart; and the actions are a manifestation, or
“showing forth” of the realfeelings. The idea here is, that there is given to
those referred to, such gifts. endowments, or graces as shall“manifest” the
work and nature of the Spirit‘s operations on the mind; such endowments as
the Spirit makes himself known by to people. All that he produces in the mind
is a manifestation of his characterand work, in the same way as the works of
God in the visible creationare a manifestationof his perfections.
Is given to every man - To every man whose case is here under consideration.
The idea is not at all that the manifestation of the Spirit is given to all people
indiscriminately, to pagans, and infidels, and scoffers as wellas to Christians.
The apostle is discoursing only of those who are Christians, and his
declarationshould be confined to them alone. Whatever may be true of other
people, this statementshould be confined wholly to Christians, and means
simply that the Spirit of Godgives to eachChristian such graces and
endowments as he pleases;that he distributes his gifts to all, not equally, but
in a manner which he shall choose;and that the designof this is, that all
Christians should use his endowments for the common good. This passage,
therefore, is very improperly adduced to prove that the gifts and gracesofthe
Holy Spirit are conferredalike on all people, and that pagans, and
blasphemers, and sinners in generalare under his enlightening influences. It
has no reference to any such doctrine, but should be interpreted as referring
solelyto Christians, and the various endowments which are conferred on
them.
To profit withal - ( πρὸς τὸ συμθέρονpros tosumtheron). Unto profit; that is,
for utility, or use; or to be an advantage to the church; for the common good
of all. This does not mean that eachone must cultivate and improve his graces
and gifts, howevertrue that may be, but that they are to be used for the

common goodof the church; they are bestowed“for utility,” or “profit;” they
are conferredin such measures and in such a manner as are best adapted to
be useful, and to do good. They are bestowednot on all equally, but in such a
manner as shall best subserve the interests of piety and the church, and as
shall tend harmoniously to carry on the greatinterests of religion, and further
the welfare of the whole Christian body. The doctrine of this verse is,
therefore:
(1)That the Holy Spirit bestows suchendowments on all Christians as he
pleases;and,
(2)That the design is, in the bestmanner to promote the common welfare - the
peace and edification of the whole church.
It follows from this:
(1)That no Christian should be unduly elated, as if he were more worthy than
others, since his endowments are the simple gift of God;
(2)That no Christian should be depressedand disheartened, as if he occupied
an inferior or unimportant station, since his place has also beenassignedhim
by God;
(3)That all should be contented, and satisfiedwith their allotments in the
church, and should strive only to make the best use of their talents and
endowments;and,
(4)That all should employ their time and talents for the common utility; for
the furtherance of the common welfare, and the advancement of the kingdom
of Christ on earth.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 12:7". "Barnes'Notes onthe
New Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/1-
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
But to eachone is given the manifestationof the Spirit to profit withal.
To profit withal ... "This means that they were for the common good;the
spiritual gifts were to benefit others"[12]Charismatic gifts were being utilized
by the Corinthians for self-promotion, especiallythe more spectacularand
showygifts like tongue-speakings. This, ofcourse, was totally wrong and
contrary to God's purpose.
ENDNOTE:
[12] Donald S. Metz, op. cit., p. 427.
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/1-corinthians-12.html.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
But the manifestation of the Spirit,.... Not that which the Spirit manifests, as
the grace and love of God, an interestin Christ, the doctrines of the Gospel,
and the things of another world; for he is a spirit of revelation, more or less, in

the knowledge ofthese things; but that which manifests that a man has the
Spirit of God; or rather the gifts of the Spirit, as the fruits and gracesofthe
Spirit, the leastmeasure of which, as being able to saythat Jesus is Lord,
shows that a man has the Spirit of God; or rather the gifts of the Spirit,
ordinary or extraordinary, which are such as manifestly declare their author:
is given to every man; not that the specialgrace ofthe Spirit is given to every
individual man in the world, nor to every member of a visible church, for
some are sensual, not having the Spirit; but as the same graces ofthe Spirit
are given to every regenerate man, for all receive the same spirit of faith, so
the gifts of the Spirit, more or less, eitherordinary or extraordinary, are given
to all such persons;
to profit withal; not to make gain of, as Simon Magus intended, could he have
been possessedof them; nor to encourage pride or envy, or to form and
foment divisions and parties; but for profit and advantage, and that not
merely private, or a man's own, but public, the goodof the whole community
or church, to which the leastgrace orgift, rightly used, may contribute.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "The New John Gill
Exposition of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/1-corinthians-12.html.
1999.

Geneva Study Bible
But the manifestation of the Spirit is f given to every man to g profit withal.
(f) The Holy Spirit opens and shows himself freely in the giving of these gifts.
(g) To the use and benefit of the church.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 12:7". "The 1599 Geneva
Study Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/1-
corinthians-12.html. 1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But — Though all the gifts flow from the one God, Lord, and Spirit, the
“manifestation” by which the Spirit acts (as He is hidden in Himself), varies in
eachindividual.
to every man — to eachof the members of the Church severally.
to profit withal — with a view to the profit of the whole body.
Copyright Statement

These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on 1
Corinthians 12:7". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/1-corinthians-
12.html. 1871-8.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Manifestation(πανερωσις — phanerōsis). Late word, in papyri, in N.T. only
here and 2 Corinthians 4:2, from πανεροω — phaneroō to make manifest
(πανερος — phaneros). Eachinstance of the whole (1 Corinthians 12:6) is
repeatedly given (διδοται — didotai present passive indicative of διδωμι —
didōmi).
To profit withal (προς το συμπερον — pros to sumpheron). See 1 Corinthians
6:12; 1 Corinthians 10:23, 1 Corinthians 10:33 for Paul‘s guiding principle in
such matters.
Copyright Statement
The Robertson's WordPictures of the New Testament. Copyright �
Broadman Press 1932,33,Renewal1960. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman Press (Southern BaptistSunday SchoolBoard)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "Robertson'sWord
Pictures of the New Testament".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/1-corinthians-12.html.
Broadman Press 1932,33.Renewal1960.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
The manifestation— The gift whereby the Spirit manifests itself.
Is given to each— For the profit of the whole body.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "JohnWesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/1-corinthians-12.html.
1765.
Abbott's Illustrated New Testament
To profit withal; for his benefit, and for that of his brethren.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Abbott, John S. C. & Abbott, Jacob. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 12:7".
"Abbott's Illustrated New Testament".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ain/1-corinthians-12.html.
1878.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
7.But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man He now points out
the purpose for which God has appointed his gifts, for he does not confer them
upon us in vain, nor does he intend that they shall serve the purpose of
ostentation. Hence we must inquire as to the purpose for which they are
conferred. As to this Paul answers — (with a view to utility) — πρὸς τὸ
συμφερον; that is, that the Church may receive advantage thereby. The
manifestation of the Spirit may be takenin a passive as wellas in an active
sense — in a passive sense, because whereverthere is prophecy, or knowledge,
or any other gift, the Spirit of God does there manifest himself — in an active
sense, becausethe Spirit of God, when he enriches us with any gift, unlocks his
treasures, forthe purpose of manifesting to us those things that would
otherwise have been concealedand shut up. The secondinterpretation suits
better. The view takenby Chrysostom is rather harsh and forced — that this
term is used, (736)because unbelievers do not recognize God, exceptby visible
miracles.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "Calvin's Commentary
on the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/1-

Vv. 7. "But the manifestationof the Spirit is given to eachman for the
common advantage."
Eachreceives anaptitude from the Spirit, but not for himself; what each
possesses is intended for the goodof all.
The genitive τοῦ πνεύματος, of the Spirit, cannot be, as Meyer and others will
have it, an objective complement, as if it were the Spirit who was manifested
by the gift. From the fact that in 2 Corinthians 4:2 the word ἡ φανέρωσις has
an objective complement (of the truth), it does not follow that it should be the
same here; the two notions of truth and Spirit are very different. Paul does
not mean that what belongs to the Spirit is revealedby the exercise ofgifts,
but that He manifests Himself by communicating them. And as the Spirit is
one (1 Corinthians 12:4), it follows that all the gifts, howeverdifferent, must
tend to a common end, the goodof the whole, and not to the selfish satisfaction
of the individual on whom they are bestowed. With the dative ἑκάστῳ, to
each, which is placed first, there is connectedgrammaticallyand logicallythe
whole following enumeration of the gifts, or, as has been said, the presents
which the bridegroom makes to the bride.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Godet, Frédéric Louis. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "Frédéric
Louis Godet - Commentary on SelectedBooks".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsc/1-corinthians-12.html.
James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
THE RIGHT USE OF GOD’S GIFTS

‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.’
1 Corinthians 12:7
Do you not see how the lessonwhich St. Paul was teaching applies to all our
Christian life among one another? Whateverany of us has, or is, he only has,
or is, just what God has chosenhim to have or to be.
I. We often wonder at the inequalities we see in life.—It often seems strange to
people that some should be so very poor, and others so very rich—some so
very clever, and others so very stupid—that some persons should have the
advantages ofa first-rate education, and others no education at all—that some
should have strong health and be able to be so active, while others are weak
and delicate and can do so little.
II. Then, again, we often wonder at what we think the imperfect way in which
advantages are given to men.—We see a man gifted with greattalents, but
wanting in the health to use them, as we should say, to the best advantage. Or
one man is persevering but dull, when if he had but half the abilities of
another person who cannot persevere, he might do greatthings, as we say. Or
as to money, we see a very benevolent, generous personwithout the means to
carry out his benevolence;or a person of shining talents left in what we think
obscurity.
III. What is all this meant to teach us than that what we call our own
distinction, or our own success, is not the objectfor which God gives us our
abilities, or our money, or our health, or any of our powers. Whateverwe are,
or have, is God’s doing and God’s arranging, and we are to use our capacities
for His service and the goodof our neighbours, and not for our own selfish
advantage. If God had meant a man’s talents to be used solelyfor his own
advancement, it would have been just as easyfor God to have taken care that
every clever man should have the best of educations, and the strongesthealth,
and the most perfect freedom from interruptions. If God had meant all these
things for our distinction it would have been quite as easyfor Him to have
arrangedthem so. But we see just the reverse.
IV. And from this we learn two things mainly:—

(a) How to look at ourselves and our own lot and our own abilities.
(b) How to look at other people in their lot and station.
As to ourselves, we learnnever to value ourselves for any talent God has given
us; and we learn never to murmur because there is (as we say) something
wanting in our lot which, if we had it, would enable us to succeedso much
better than we do.
As to other people, we learn never to despise any one else, or to think
ourselves better than they are because we have some advantages whichthey
have not. Quick, clever people are very apt to be impatient with slow people.
Rich people are apt to despise poor people. People of strong health are apt to
look down on the sicklyor the delicate.
All this is wrong. Godhas divided to eachhis gift. No one is without some gift.
It is our business to see that whateverour gift is we use it ‘to profit withal’ in
the sphere in which God has placed us.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Nisbet, James. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 12:7". Church Pulpit
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cpc/1-
John Trapp Complete Commentary

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
Ver. 7. To profit withal] We are neither born nor born again for ourselves. If
we be not fit to serve the body, neither are we fit to be of the body; he is not a
saint that seekethnot communion of saints. Pudeatillos, qui ita in studiis se
abdiderunt, ut ad vitam communem nullum fructum ferre possint, saith
Cicero. Theymay well be ashamed that employ not their talents for a public
good. {a} The Greek word το συμφερον importeth such a kind of profit, as
redounds to community. It seemethto be a metaphor from bees, that bring all
the honey they can getto the common hive.
{a} Paulum sepultae distat inertiae celata virtus. Hor.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/1-
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
1 Corinthians 12:7. But— or Now.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 12:7". Thomas Coke
Commentary on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/1-corinthians-12.html.
1801-1803.
Expository Notes with PracticalObservations onthe New Testament
Observe here, how the apostle enumerates and reckons up the severalsorts
and kinds of spiritual gifts, which were at that time plentifully poured forth
upon the ministers and members of the church of Christ, which begat
astonishment and admiration; and of these extraordinary gifts our apostle
reckons up nine sorts or kinds, which were found in the primitive church in
his days, as they here follow:
1. One had the word of wisdom; that is, the revelationof the gospel, whichis
calledthe manifold wisdom of God: this was the gift of the apostles, to whom
extraordinary measures ofdivine wisdom were first given, to revealthe
mysteries of the gospelto the pagan world.
2. Another had the word of knowledge;that is, a specialability to interpret
the mystical sensesand veiled meanings of the scripture, and also to foretell
remote and future things. Thus St. Paul told the centurion before the
shipwreck, that not a man in the ship should be lost, Acts 27 : and Agabus
foretold the famine, and St. Paul's imprisonment, Acts 11.
3. To another faith; by which some understand supernatural courage and
confidence, with which God did endow them, when he called them to
extraordinary sufferings or services;accordinglywe read, in the Acts of the
Apostles, with what invincible courage and resolution poor men appeared
before the Jewishand heathen tribunals, and with what astonishing presence,
both of body and mind, they bore the name of Jesus before the kings and

people of the earth. Others by faith here understand miraculous faith, that is,
a supernatural confidence, and firm assurance, wroughtby the Holy Spirit in
the minds of some, in the apostle's time, by which they were certain that they
could do such a miracle before they do such and such a miracle before they
undertook to do it; and the greatestapostle durst never undertake to do a
miracle, but when he was assuredby the Spirit that he could do it: and indeed
it was requisite for Almighty God, by some secretpreceding impression of
mind, to let the teachers ofthe gospelknow when he would assistthem in
working miracles, lestthey should attempt to work when they could not, and
so discredit Christ's doctrine, their own authority, and dishonour the name of
God: and therefore it is observable, that the gift of faith here is set
immediately before the gift of healing and working miracles, because it
consistedin an antecedentimpulse to both.
4. The next miraculous gift is the gift of healing; that is, a power of curing all
diseasesboth of body and mind, without the help of physic, through the name
alone of Jesus Christ.
5. The gift of miracles; under which is comprehended the power of silencing
and casting out devils, inflicting disease and death on the bodies of
incorrigible sinners, as on Elymas and Ananias: also the more wonderful
powerin raising the dead.
6. The gift of prophecy; that is,
(1.) The prediction or foreknowledgeofthings to come. Thus Agabus foretold
by the Spirit a famine, Acts 12 and this gift was sometimes exercisedby
foretelling who would be fit persons to do God service in the church; thus,
According to the foregoing prophecies concerning thee, neglectnot the gift
that was given thee by prophecy. 1 Timothy 1:18; 1 Timothy 1:14
(2.) Others by prophecy understand preaching and expounding the scriptures
by divine inspiration, praising God by inspired hymns and psalms, and also
praying unto him in public assemblies by inspired prayers; for in the apostle's
time there was a miraculous gift of preaching, praying, and singing, in which
the Spirit did in an extraordinary manner assistsome persons;which with
other extraordinary gifts is long since ceased.

7. The gift of discerning spirits; that is, either,
First, a powerof quick and sure discerning, whether men pretending to the
Spirit spake from God, or not; or a supernatural sagacityto discern between
the impulses of satanicalspirits, and divinely- inspired persons.
Secondly, a spirit of discerning whether such or such persons be bestqualified
for such an office in the church, and accordinglychoosing them out for that
work. Thus Acts 13:2-3 the Holy Spirit in the prophet said, Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have calledthem.
Or, lastly, by this power of discerning spirits, the apostles couldtell very much
of the inward purposes of men's hearts and thoughts; so Peter discernedthe
heart of Ananias, and the thoughts of Simon Magus.
8. The gift of tongues, that is, an ability to speak divers kinds of languages,
unlearned and untaught. To which was added,
9. The gift of interpreting those languages:for these two gifts did not always
go together: some could speak divers languages,that could not interpret
them; others could interpret them that could not speak them; for, say some,
the gift of strange tongues was usually accompaniedwith such strange
raptures, that the person affectedcould not use his understanding in an
ordinary way, so as to interpret and explain his own inspriations, in the
audience to which he spoke;which he spoke;which was the reasonwhy the
Spirit did usually revealto others, who stood by, and understood not the
inspired languages, the matter which was spoken.
Thus are the extraordinary and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit
enumerated by the apostle, which were bestowedupon the primitive church,
whose infant state required all this extraordinary assistance;but as the
church grew up, Almighty God, like a wise nurse, weanedher by degrees from
these miraculous gifts, till at last arriving at her full stature, he left her, as
parents leave their children when grown to be men, to subsist without these
extraordinary helps and supplies.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Burkitt, William. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". ExpositoryNotes
with PracticalObservations onthe New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wbc/1-corinthians-12.html.
1700-1703.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
7.] To eachindividual, however(the emphasis on ἑκάστῳ, as shewing the
characterof what is to follow, viz. individual distinction of gifts.
δέ again contrastedwith the ὁ αὐτός of the last verse; though the workings of
One God, One Lord, One Spirit, they are bestowedvariously on eachman), is
given the manifestationof the Spirit (not, as Meyer, al., the means of
manifesting the Spirit which dwells in him (gen. obj.): but, as De W., the
manifestation by which the Spirit acts (gen. subj.); it is a generalterm
including χαρίσματα, διακονίαι,and ἐνεργήματα)with a view to profit (with
the profit of the whole body as the aim: see reff.).
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". Greek Testament
Critical ExegeticalCommentary.

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/1-corinthians-12.html.
1863-1878.
Heinrich Meyer's Critical and ExegeticalCommentaryon the New Testament
1 Corinthians 12:7. δέ] leading on to the like destination of all the gifts. The
emphasis lies on πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον. This is the aim, which is the same in the
case ofevery one who receives a gift. To eachone is the manifestationof the
Spirit (his making known the Holy Spirit to others by charismatic acts)given
with a view to benefit (in order to be of use, see 1 Corinthians 14:12). The
genitive is to be takenin this objective sense (with Billroth, Schulz, Geistesg.p.
164, and Hofmann), because there exists no reasonhere for departing from
the similar meaning of φανέρ. τῆς ἄληθ. in 2 Corinthians 4:2; and we have no
other instance of the use of the word except in the Fathers. Calvin, Rückert,
de Wette, and most expositors understand it subjectively: the self-revelationof
the Spirit. Even on the first interpretation there is not too much concessionto
independent human activity (in opposition to de Wette), as is plain from the
very idea of the δίδοται.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Meyer, Heinrich. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". Heinrich Meyer's
Critical and ExegeticalCommentary on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hmc/1-corinthians-12.html.
1832.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament

1 Corinthians 12:7. φανέρωσις, manifestation) various, by which the Spirit
manifests Himself, as He is hidden in Himself,— πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον, with a
view to that which is profitable) This is treated of at 1 Corinthians 12:12-13.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bengel, JohannAlbrecht. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". Johann
Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/1-corinthians-12.html.
1897.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
He here calleth gifts, the manifestation of the Spirit, partly to let them know,
that these powers flowedfrom the Holy Spirit apparently, they having no such
powers while they were heathens, and carriedafter dumb idols, as they were
led; and partly to let all know, that these gifts and powers were evident proofs
both of Christ’s ascension, andof the promise of the Fatherand of Christ in
sending the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:4 16:7,8 Eph 4:8. These gifts he tells them were
given to every man; where every signifieth eachone; for the same gifts or
powers were not given to all, but to those to whom they were given, they were
given not to puff them up, or to give them matter to boast of, but to do good
withal to the church of Christ. No man hath any poweror gift given him of
God, either for his own hurt, or the hurt of others, but only for his own good,
and the goodof others.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 12:7". Matthew Poole's
English Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/1-corinthians-12.html.
1685.
Alexander MacLaren's Expositions ofHoly Scripture
1 Corinthians
THE UNIVERSAL GIFT
1 Corinthians 12:7.
The greatfact which to-day 1 commemorates is too often regarded as if it
were a transient gift, limited to those on whom it was first bestowed. We
sometimes hear it said that the greatneed of the Christian world is a second
Pentecost, a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God and the like. Such a way of
thinking and speaking misconceivesthe nature and significance of the first
Pentecost, whichhad a transient element in it, but in essencewas permanent.
The rushing mighty wind and the cloventongues of fire, and the strange
speechin many languages, were allequally transient. The rushing wind swept
on, and the house was no more filled with it. The tongues flickeredinto
invisibility and disappearedfrom the heads. The hubbub of many languages
was quickly silent. But that which these things but symbolised is permanent;
and we are not to think of Pentecostas if it were a sudden gush from a great
reservoir, and the sluice was let down againafter it, but as if it were the
entrance into a dry bed, of a rushing stream, whose first outgush was attended
with noise, but which thereafterflows continuous and unbroken. If churches

or individuals are scantof that gift, it is not because it has not been bestowed,
but because it has not been accepted.
My text tells us two things: it unconditionally and broadly asserts thatevery
Christian possessesthis great gift-the manifestation is given to every man; and
then it asserts thatthe gift of eachis meant to be utilised for the goodof all.
‘The manifestation is given to every man to profit withal.’
I. Let me, then, say a word or two, to begin with, about the universality of this
gift.
Now, that is implied in our Lord’s own language, as commentedupon by the
Evangelist. ForJesus Christ declaredthat this was the standing law of His
kingdom, to be universally applied to all its members, that ‘He that believeth
on Him, out of him shall flow rivers of living water’; and the Evangelist’s
comment goes on to say, ‘This spake He of the Spirit which they that believe
on Him should receive.’There is the condition and the qualification.
Wherever there is faith, there the Spirit of God is bestowed, and bestowedin
the measure in which faith is exercised. So, then, in full accordancewith such
fundamental principles in reference to the gift of the Spirit of God, comes the
language ofmy text, and of many another text to which I cannot do more than
refer. But let me just quote one or two of them, in order that I may make
more emphatic what I believe a greatmany Christian people do not realise as
they ought-viz. that the gift of God’s Holy Spirit is not a thing to be desired, as
if it were not possessedor confined to selectindividuals, or manifested by
exceptionaland lofty attainments, but is the universal heritage of the whole
Christian Church. ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost?’
‘We have all been made to drink into one Spirit,’ says Paul again, in the
immediate context. ‘If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
His,’ says he, unconditionally. And in many other places the same principle is
laid down, a principle which I believe the Christian Church to-day needs to
have recalledto its consciousness, that it may be quickened to realise it in its
experience far more than is the case atpresent.
Let me remind you, too, that that universality of the gifts of the Divine Spirit
is implied in the very conceptionof what Christ’s work, in its deepestand

most precious aspects to us, is. For we are not to limit, as a great many so-
calledearnestevangelicalteachersand believers do-we are not to limit His
work to that which is effectedwhen a man first becomes a Christian-viz.
pardon and acceptance withGod. God forbid that I should ever seemto
underrate that great initial gift on which everything else must be built. But I
am not underrating it when I say, ‘Let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith,’ and the ‘proportion of faith’ has been violated, and the
perspective and completenessofChristian truth, and of Christ’s gifts, have
been, alas!to a very large extent distorted because Christianpeople, trained
in what we callthe evangelicalschool, have laid far too little emphasis on the
fact that the essentialgift of Christ to His people is not pardon, nor
acceptance, norjustification, but life; and that forgiveness, andaltered
relationship to God, and assurance ofacceptance withHim, are all
preliminaries. They are, if I may recur to a figure that I have already
employed, the preparing of the channel, and the taking away of the obstacles
that block its mouth, in order to the inrush of the flood of the river of the
waterof life.
This life that Christ gives is the result of the gift of the Spirit. So ‘If any man
have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.’ The life is the gift considered
from our side, and the Spirit is the gift consideredfrom the divine side. ‘Every
man that hath the Son hath life’; because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
has made him free from the law of sin and death. So you see if that is true-and
I for my part am sure that it is-then all that vulgar way of looking at the
influences of the Holy Spirit upon men, as if they were confined to certain
exceptionalpeople, or certain abnormal and extraordinary and elevatedacts,
is sweptaway. It is not the spasmodic, the exceptional, the rare, not the lofty
or transcendentally Christlike acts or characters that are alone the
manifestation of the Spirit.
Nor is this gift a thing that a man can discoveras distinct from his own
consciousness. The point where the river of the waterof life comes into the
channel of our spirits lies awayfar up, near the sources, and long before the
stream comes into sight in our own consciousness,the blended waters have
been inseparably mingled, and flow on peacefullytogether. ‘The Spirit

beareth witness with our spirits’; and you are not to expect that you can hear
two voices speaking,but it is one voice and one only.
Now, that universality of this divine gift underlies the very constitution of the
Christian Church. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty,’ said Paul.
It is because eachChristian man has accessto the one Source of illumination
and of truth and righteousness andholiness, that no Christian man is to
become subject to the dominion of a brother. And it is because onthe servants
and on the handmaidens has been poured out, in these days, God’s Spirit and
they prophesy, that all domination of classesorindividuals, and all stiffening
of the free life of God’s Church by man-made creeds, are contrary to the very
basis of its existence, andan attack on the dignity of eachindividual member
of the Church. ‘Ye have an unction from the Holy One’ is said to all Christian
people-and ‘ye need not that any man teachyou,’ still less that any man, or
body of men, or document framed by men, should be set up as normal and
authoritative over Christ’s free people.
Still further, and only one word-Let me remind you of what I have already
said, and what is only too sadly true, that this grand universality of the
Spirit’s gift to all Christian people does not fill, in the mind of the ordinary
Christian man, the place that it ought, and it does not fill it, therefore, in his
experience. I say no more upon that point.
II. And now let me saya word, secondly, about the many-sidedness of this
universal gift.
One of the reasons whyChristian people as a whole do not realise the
universality as they ought is, as I have alreadysuggestedin a somewhat
different connection, because theylimit their notions far too much of what the
gift of God’s Spirit is to do to men. We must take a wider view of what that
Spirit is meant to effectthan we ordinarily take, before we understand how
real and how visible its universal manifestations are. Take a leaf out of the
Old Testament. The man who made the brass-work forthe Tabernacle was
‘full of the Spirit of God.’ The poets who sung the Psalms, in more than one
place, declare of themselves that they, too, were but the harps upon which the
divine finger played. Samsonwas capable of his rude feats of physical

strength, because ‘the Spirit of God was upon him.’ Art, song, counsel,
statesmanlike adaptationof means to ends, and discernment of proper courses
for a nation, such as were exemplified in Josephand in Daniel, are, in the Old
Testament, ascribedto the Spirit of God, and even the rude physical strength
of the simple-natured and sensuous athlete is tracedup to the same source.
But again, we see another sphere of the Spirit’s working in the manifestations
of it in the experience of the primitive Church. These are, as we all know,
accompaniedwith miracles, speaking with tongues and working wonders. The
signs of that Spirit in those days were visible and audible. As I said, when the
river first came into its bed, it came like the tide in Morecambe Bay, breast-
high, with a roar and a rush. But it was quiet after that. In the context we
have a whole series of manifestations of this Divine Spirit, some of them
miraculous and some being natural faculties heightened, but all concerned
with the Church as a society, and being for the benefit of the community.
But there is another class. If you turn to the Epistle to the Galatians, you will
find a wonderful list there of what the Apostle calls ‘the fruit of the Spirit,’
beginning with ‘love, joy, peace.’These are all moral and religious, bearing
upon personalexperience and the completeness ofthe individual character.
Now, let us include all these aspects in our conceptionof the fruit of the
Spirit’s working on men-the secular, if we may use that word, as exhibited in
the Old Testament;the miraculous, as seenin the first days of the Church; the
ecclesiastical, if we may so designate the endowments mentioned in the
context, and the purely personal, moral, and religious emotions and acts. The
plain fact is that everything in a Christian’s life, excepthis sin, is the
manifestation of that Divine Spirit, from whom all goodthoughts, counsels,
and works do proceed. He is the ‘Spirit of adoption,’ and whenever in my
heart there rises warm and blessedthe aspiration‘Abba! Father!’ it is not my
voice only, but the voice of that Divine Spirit. He is the Spirit of intercession;
and wheneverin my soul there move yearning desires after infinite good,
child-like longings to be knit more closelyto Him, that, too, is the voice of
God’s Spirit; and our prayers are then ‘sweet, indeed, when He the Spirit
gives by which we pray.’ In like manner, all the variety of Christian emotions
and experiences is to be traced to the conjoint operationof that Divine Spirit

as the source, and my own spirit as influenced by, and the organof, the Spirit
of God. If I may take a very rough illustration, there is a story in the Old
Testamentabout a king, to whom were given a bow and arrow, with the
command to shoot. The prophet’s hand was laid on the king’s weak hand, and
the weak hand was strengthenedby the touch of the other; and with one
common pull they drew back the string and the arrow sped. The king drew
the bow, but it was the prophet’s hand grasping his wrist that gave him
strength to do it. And that is how the Spirit of God will work with us if we
will.
III. Finally, considerthe purpose of all the diverse manifestations of the one
universal gift.
‘To profit withal’-for his own goodwho possesses it, and for the goodof all the
rest of his brethren.
Now, that involves two plain things. There have been people in the Christian
Church who have said, ‘We have all the Spirit, and therefore we do not need
one another.’There may be isolation, and self-sufficiency, and a host of other
evils coming in, if we only graspthe thought, ‘The manifestationof the Spirit
is given to every man,’ but they are all correctedif we go on and say, ‘to profit
withal.’ For every one of us has something, and no one of us has everything;
so, on the one hand, we want eachother, and, on the other hand, we are
responsible for the use of what we have.
You getthe life, not in order that you may plume yourself on its possession,
nor in order that you may ostentatiouslydisplay it, still less in order that you
may shut it up and do nothing with it; but you get the life in order that it may
spread through you to others.
‘The leastflowerwith a brimming cup may stand,
And share its dew-drop with another near.’
We eachhave the life that God’s grace may fructify through us to all. Poweris
duty; endowment is obligation; capacityprescribes work. ‘The manifestation
of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.’

You can regulate the flow. You have the sluice; you can shut it or open it. I
have said that the condition, and the only condition, of possessing the fulness
of God’s Spirit is faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the more you trust the more
you have, and the less your faith the less the gift. You can get much or little,
according to the greatness orthe smallness, the fixity or the transiency, of
your desires. If you hold the empty cup with a tremulous hand, the precious
liquid will not be poured into it-for some of it will be spilt-in the same fulness
as it would be if you held it steadily. It is the old story-the miraculous flow of
the oil stopped when the widow had no more pots and vessels to bring. The
reasonwhy some of us have so little of that Divine Spirit is because we have
not held out our vessels to be filled. You candiminish the flow by ignoring it,
and that is what a host of so-calledChristian people do nowadays. You can
diminish it by neglecting to use the little that you have for the purpose for
which it was given you. Does anybody profit by your spiritual life? Do you
profit much by it yourselves? Has it ever been of the leastgoodto anybody
else in the world? ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to’ you, if you are a
Christian man or woman, more or less. And if you shut it up, and do never an
atom of goodwith it, either to yourselves or to anybody else, of course it will
slip away;and, sometime or other, to your astonishment, you will find that the
vessels are empty, and that the Spirit of the Lord has departed from you.
‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealedunto the day of
redemption.’
1 Whitsunday.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
MacLaren, Alexander. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". Alexander
MacLaren's Expositions ofHoly Scripture.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mac/1-corinthians-12.html.

Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
The manifestationof the Spirit; in the gifts which he bestowed.
To profit withal; for the benefit of men. All Christian gifts and gracescome
from the Holy Spirit. He bestows different measures of grace and means of
influence upon different individuals, but always for the wisestreasons.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Edwards, Justin. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:7". "Family Bible New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/fam/1-
corinthians-12.html. American TractSociety. 1851.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
7. φανέρωσις. Properly, the act of manifesting. But here it means the
manifestation itself.
πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον. God’s object is ever the well-being of man. If man is to
become one spirit with God (ch. 1 Corinthians 6:17), his object must be the
same. See notes on ch. 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians
8:9-13, 1 Corinthians 10:23. The Editors read συμφέρονhere, σύμφορονin ch.
1 Corinthians 7:35, 1 Corinthians 10:33.
Copyright Statement

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