THE
By ROBERT GOVETT
No portion of the New Testament can safely be
neglected by the Christian; yet parts are practically laid aside, and
considered as of little use to us, in consequence of changed circumstances.
From a reason of this kind, the chapters now to be examined have
received but little attention from believers. Yet they are eminently worthy of study,
and much light will be found to flow from them to those who read them under the
teaching of the Blessed Spirit of God. Without further preparatory remark, I
would lead the reader to their direct consideration…
SECTION 1. – 1 Cor. 12: 1-3.
TESTS OF INSPIRATION.
“Now concerning the
inspired, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.”
Ignorance in some things is good for us; in others
it works mischief. Ignorance of the
evil ways of the world is good.
“In vice be ye children; but in
understanding be men.”
There are certain things in the Book of God, of
which the Spirit tells us that we ought not to be ignorant; but in the
knowledge of which Christians in general are lamentably deficient. There are four subjects of permanent
interest, on which the Holy Ghost desires the people of God to be informed.
1. The partial and temporary blindness of
2. The relation of the Old Testament history to
believers under the New Testament: 1 Cor. 10: 1.
3. The spiritual or inspired, and the relation of
the gifts of the ancient
4. The disposal of the dead and living saints at
Christ’s return, and the comfort to be administered to those that mourn
over the departed in Jesus: 1 Thess. 4: 13.
Now many turn away with carelessness, if not
aversion, from at least three out of the four. “These
things are not essential to salvation.”
Very true: but do you wish to know nothing but the A
B C of Christianity? Are you
content to be ignorant of that which your Heavenly Father wishes you to
know? If so, this tract will not
please you. But if you desire to
consider the mysterious subject of which the Spirit of God here treats, let me
beg you to lift up your heart for a blessing on your reading.
What, then, we may ask, was the reason why Paul was
led to handle this high, and to us obscure, subject? What are the advantages to
be derived from the knowledge of it now?
These will appear to your own thoughts, when the subject has been
mastered. But a point or two may be
suggested.
1. The doctrine of the Spirit’s gifts is one
of the most striking (because newest, and least hacknied,) topics of Christian
evidence. The Gospel claims to be a
dispensation of miracle. Its first
teachers profess to have wrought miracles.
This is a very critical test of its truth.
But, more prodigal still of proof, the New Testament
assumes that the Holy Ghost imparted miraculous powers to each and every member
of the Christian Church. Now, if it
were possible to suppose, that there might be mistake about the miracles of
Paul, there could be no mistake on the question, whether all his converts, in
consequence of faith in Christ, received the impartation of some new and
supernatural power, enabling them, without effort or previous learning, to
speak at once languages never heard or spoken before; to heal the sick, or to
foretell correctly the future.
In this epistle, it is assumed of all the
Corinthians, and, as a general epistle (for it is directed
to “all that in every place call upon the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours”) it is taken for
granted of all Christians, that they were in possession of certain supernatural
powers. Accordingly, it lays down
laws for the regulation of these gifts in their assemblies; owing, (as we
indirectly learn,) to the irregularities in their exercise, which called for
such correction. Now, if the
Corinthians had not received any such gifts, what madness to address such an
epistle to them! A shout of
indignation and of scorn would have assailed such a letter, and poured lasting
contempt upon the writer, as a blundering impostor, if no such gifts had been
imparted to them. But it was
received by the Church at
2. But there is a second very important result arising from this study. Satan is wise to counteract and hinder
the work of God; and his best mode of doing so, is by imitating it. Now the present passage shows, that there is an inspiration from the evil
spirit as well as from the Holy Spirit; an inspiration which Satan will employ
on behalf of his false doctrines in destroying Christianity. How necessary, therefore, that the
Church should be put on her guard as to his machinations, that she be not led
to give ear to the whispers of an enemy, mistaking them for the counsels of a
friend!
But to the more immediate object – exposition
- I now address myself. An
observation or two must be made on the
new rendering adopted in the first verse, “Now
concerning the inspired.” The translators have omitted the
article, and inserted the word “gifts”
to make sense. In this, I
apprehend, they were wrong.*
* The present is the only ambiguous case of the use of [the Greek word …] in the New Testament. It is wed sometimes of things sometimes of persons.
Of its occurrence in the
sense here proposed, take the following proofs. “The
spiritual (inspired
man) judgeth all things, but himself is judged of none:” 1 Cor. 2: 15.
“If any
man think himself to he a prophet or spiritual, (inspired,) let
him acknowledge:” 14: 37. This is also the sense of a similar expression in the Old
Testament; “The prophet is a fool; the spiritual man is
mad:” Hos. 9: 7, Here both the
Hebrew and the Greek lend light and
weight to the criticism above presented.
2. The presence of the article proves, that the word
is taken for all the instances of
the class in question. But the
tests given will not apply to every
case of spiritual gift, some of which were gifts of action as healing; but only to gifts of inspired word.
3. The test
proposed is for the purpose of establishing the difference between true and
false prophets. But could false
prophecy be, by an apostle, called a gift?
4. The matter is concrete, not abstract ; the
ignorance of the first verse is met by the information of the third. The point
made known by Paul is the division of certain speakers into those speaking by the Spirit of God, and those not so
speaking; but still inspired. Does
not this of itself shew “the spiritua” to be personally taken? The section does not touch on
gifts in the abstract.
5. In order that the sentiment may be true, we must
repeat the subject of which the apostle is treating in the latter part of verse 3.
“And none [of the spiritual] can say that
Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” Or we must rehearse the subject of its
former clause; “None [speaking by a
spirit] can say,” etc., which comes to the
same point.
6. Every prophet was a spiritual or inspired man: but
every inspired man was not a prophet: 14: 37.
In this sense none are “spiritual” now,
and the passage 1 Cor. 2: 15, is not true of
us. Are not our judgments capable of
being called in question, aye, and of being proved erroneous too, by our
brethren? and theirs in turn by us?
The question before the
Apostle is - the difference of inspiration; and as the test to be administered
is a personal
one, the context must treat of inspired persons. The present point relates not to gifts
(which are things) but to spirits, which are persons; and to the consequent trustworthiness (or the reverse)
of the speakers. If, then, the current of interpretation in
this section be true, the translation as above given is correct. That the immediate context is of
persons, a glance will show.
“Ye were Gentiles,” “No one speaking by the spirit.” “No
one can say.” To this must be added the confirmation
afforded by 1 John 4: 1, which will
afterwards be considered.
Or shall we say that by “the spiritual” we are to understand “the heavenly-minded, or spiritually-minded?”
From this supposition several absurdities flow. (1) The tests given are no tests of
spiritual-mindedness. Is every one
who does not curse Jesus, but acknowledges him to be Lord,
spiritually-minded? This includes
all nominal Christians. (2.) By the
same rule it will follow, that those possessed of demons were
spiritually-minded. For the Holy
Spirit ranges them under the class of the spiritual. (3.) It will follow also, that all the
Corinthians were so: though the apostle has denied that they were
spiritually-minded, and declared them carnal:1 Cor.
3: 1. (4.) All the
Corinthians would thus be spiritual, though the apostle, in his appeal at the
close, (14: 37,) supposes that but a portion
of them were.
2.
“Ye know when* ye were
Gentiles, led away to** dumb*** idols, as you used to be led.”****
[*Not
the circumatance of their having been heathen so much as their condition while
heathen, is brought under notice.
** The word “these” is not in the Greek.
***
In the title given to idols generally, we see the force of the speaking image..
Rev. 13.
**** The force of the
imperfect.]
That is, of one thing you are well aware, that you,
as heathens, were borne blindfold to idolatry by every influence that false
spirits could bring to bear on you.
You believed everything supernatural to be divine. Of your ignorance these crafty spirits
took full advantage. Your weakness
they mocked; leading you captive at their will. Every diviner possessed by evil spirits
was regarded as carrying a message from God. There is, as you are aware, a real
inspiration, whose message and whose influence lead directly to idolatry. You know that the oracles of your
pretended gods, uttered by priests or priestesses of a phrenzied inspiration,
drew you to the temples, and were uttered from places wherein dumb idols stood
enshrined, receiving the homage of multitudes. But our God, whom you worship now, is
the Living God, who not only speaks himself, and gave you the gift of natural
speech, but himself gives you to speak supernaturally.
Hence we gather, that every supernatural work or
inspiration adduced in favor of idolatry, is, if it be real, from Satan. Suppose, then, we meet with such a case
as the following:-
“While he (St. Alphonsus Liguori) was preaching on the patronage of the blessed Virgin, and
exciting his hearers to recur with confidence to her in all their wants, he
suddenly exclaimed, ‘Oh, you are too cold in praying to our blessed Lady!
I will pray to her for you.’
He knelt down in the attitude of prayer, with his eyes raised to heaven,
and was seen by all present lifted more than a foot from the ground, and turned
towards a statue of the blessed Virgin, near the pulpit. The countenance of our Lady (the statue)
darted forth beams of light, which shone upon the face of the ecstatic
Alphonsus. This spectacle lasted
about five or six minutes, during which the people cried out ‘Mercy,
mercy, a miracle! a miracle!’ and every one burst into a flood of
tears. But the saint rising up,
exclaimed in a loud voice, ‘Be glad, for the blessed Virgin has granted
your prayer.’”
Now even if this were as real a miracle as it was a
detestable fraud, it would not prove that idolatry is right, or that the
miracle came from God. There are
certain first principles, against which, if inspiration or miracle be oflered,
it is decidedly of Satan.
You were borne to idolatry “as you were led.” Each nation has its distinct idols, and
separate system of false worship, and you, without scruple and without
examination, adopted the form of worship of the nation in which you happened to
be born. Whatever the priest told
you of marvellous legend, you received; whatever he bade you offer as sacrifice
to please the god, you gave. You
were at the mercy of every evil influence, even as the herd is managed by its
driver. But this violent,
unresisted, and sinful energy, must no longer rule you. Ignorance, unable to
distinguish the inspiration of evil spirits, from that of God the Holy Ghost,
was dangerous. I will, therefore,
enable you to discern the diflerence.
That there is such a thing as inspiration of evil
spirits, heathen authors alone might show.
The person so inspired, and his heathen audience, seem to be presented
together here. The false
prophet’s faculties were borne along by an irresistible influence, so
that he uttered what he could not control.
And his hearers, as well as himself, were carried away by a like
influence; conceiving that the words uttered manifested to them the will of the
Dtity. But the deadly nature of
such inspiration is here pointed out.
It led them captive to idolatry, and thereby declared from whom it
proceeded. Thus also the true
prophet was himself rapt by the
holy power of the Spirit of God, and led others along with him to give glory to
the invisible God and his Son Jesus.
It is also intimated that these scenes of inspiration took place in the
temples of the false gods, in the presence of the idols which they
worshipped. The scene of the
inspiration of the priestess of Apollo was his temple.
The blindness of the heathen, their zeal for their
false gods, and their misery in being the dupes of evil men and wicked spirits,
are thus briefly but forcibly touched.
3.
“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no one
speaking by the Spirit of God saith that Jesus is accursed; and none can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
Paul had assumed in the former verse, that they had
seen the inspiration of evil spirits, and its powerful and infatuating
results. There were many diviners,
doubtless, at
Similar and confirmatory are the accounts of Williams, the South Sea Missionary,
except that he seems to take it for granted, as well as the above author, that
all such cases of inspiration were pretence.
“The people were
assembled at a marae [idol-temple]
offering great quantities of food to the gods. Many priests pretending to be inspired, were shouting and vociferating with
all the wildness of heathen frenzy.” Missionary Enterprises, p.
174. “Their attention was distracted by a singular noise, which proved to be
the yelling of a person pretending to be inspired, and who, like the heathens of old,
endeavoured to support his pretensions by distorting his features, and speaking in an
unnatural tone.”. p. 180.
Take the picture of an inspired priestess, as drawn
by Virgil.
“We had come to the
temple’s threshold, when the maiden cries – ‘It is time to
demand your fortunes. The God!
behold the God!’ As thus she
spake, in front of the doors, suddenly her countenance changed, her colour came
and went, her hair became dishevelled, her breast panted, her wild heart
swelled with frenzy, she seemed to grow in stature, and her voice sounded
unearthly. Such is her state when
inspired by the advent of the God.” AEneid vi, 45-51.
The utterances of the inspired, in Mr. Irving’s delusion are thus
described by Baxter. “They
were often in an extraordinary power of voice, accompanied by a most unnatural
expression of countenance.” – Baxter’s Irvingism, p. 19. “Those
who have heard the powerful and commanding utterance need no description; but they who have not, may conceive
what an unnatural and unaccustomed tone of voice, an intense and riveting power
of expression - with the declaration of atting rebuke to all who were
present, and applicable to my own state of mind in particular, would effet upon
me.” – Baxter’s Narrative, p. 5.
How, then, were they to know (when any rose in their
assemblies, presenting all the outward and sensible marks of inspiration)
whether the spirit by which he was speaking was the Holy Ghost, or an evil
spirit? Man could not tell. The Holy Spirit then gives us certain
moral marks, whereby the difference might be known - certain tests capable of
being at once applied.
Did any of the inspired voluntarily declare that
Jesus was accursed? The spirit so
speaking displayed itself at once to be a spirit of Satan. The Holy Spirit bears testimony to Jesus
as blessed, and the author of blessedness: the contrary assertion then came
from the Adversary.
But what if a man inspired foretold the future,
making honourable mention of Jesus?
What if the lying spirit accommodated itself to the believer’s
feeling of reverence and love for the Savior - how was he to be detected
then? For that evil spirits did
bear honorable testimony to Jesus, is clear from the Gospels. “I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace and come out of
him. And when the unclean spirit
had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.,” Mark 1: 24‑26.*
[*
An advance may be observel on the tests given in Deuteronomy. There, the leading to idolatry, and the
falsification of the prophecy of the diviner, are given as the marks of false
inspiration.]
This was a ease of peculiar difficulty; to meet
which the apostle was commissioned to give the present rule. Of the spirit, so speaking in the inspired
man, the question was to be asked, “Is Jesus Lord?”
Now to this the spirit would not be permitted (if it were an evil spirit) to answer,
yes! Nay,and it seems probable,
that it would of itself refuse and
resist such a confession, as destructive to Satan’s plans of mischief
against man. Were a Jesuit to come
concealed under a disguise, among Protestants, who suspected him, and wished to
discover whether he were not one of that order - while there might be many
questions to which he would be permitted to give a false answer, yet there
might be some tests proposed to which neither his own feelings, nor the
permission of his superiors, would allow him to give a denial. For instance, if he were required in
proof of his sincerity, to curse the Pope, or to pronounce Ignatius Loyola (the
founder of his order) a heretic, fanatic, or accursed.
Thus the “ignorance”
of verse 1 is met and removed by the “intelligence” imparted in verse 3; and the reason for it is given in the
intermediate verse. Not every
inspired person was to be believed, for there were, as they knew, diviners
inspired by the spirits of darkness.
Such was the “damsel possessed with a
spirit of divination (of Python, margin - that is, of Apollo) which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, and
cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto
us the way of salvation:” Acts 16: 16,
17. And this was really a
case of inspiration, for Paul perceived the evil demon within her, and
dispossessed the damsel. “Paul. being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I
command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And he came out of her the same hour.” With the departure of the spirit
departed the inspiration or divination, and the masters of the slave saw that
their former gains through her fortune-telling were at an end. It is vain, then, to assume that all
cases of inspiration among the heathen were pretence.
But there is a passage in
the 1st. epistle of John, which throws much further light on the
subject, and adds the fullest corroboration to this view. “Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many
fake prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the fiesh is of God.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh, is not of God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof
ye have heard that it is coming, and now already it is in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have
overcome them; because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the
world. They are of the world:
therefore speak they of the world; and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that is of God heareth
us: he that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby hnow we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error:”
1 John 4: 1-6.
In this case, as in the former, the question is
concerning the inspired: and the saints
of God are warned that not every inspired person is to be credited, for some
not only may be, but actually were then inspired by the spirit of the False
Christ, of whose terrible coming, with intent to deceive and destroy the Church
of Christ, believers had already received warning. Two parties also are distinguishable in
the matter - the spirits that inspired, and the man in whom the spirits
dwelt. He who was possessed by the
spirit, became a “prophet;” and as
these were false spirits, he became a “false prophet.”
The
The neglecting to make this inquiry of the spirits
inspiring the prophets, led to the delusions that arose in Mr. Irving’s congregation - to the delusion connected with Joanna Southeote, and with the French
prophets or Camisards, as they were called.
As a remarkable modern confirmation of the test
presented, I subjoin a passage from The
Morning Watch, confirmed by Baxter’s
Narrative.
“Last autumn, a clergyman and his wife were in London with
one of their children, a little boy, when they received intelligence that the
twin sister of this boy, under eight years old, had received a gift of the Holy
Spirit, which had been evidenced by prophesying in a manner that evidently proved
the child to be speaking by a power superior to her own. The parents returned home, and on their
arrival heard the child speak in the spirit at their accustomed family prayers. Two days afterwards, the little boy also
prophesied by a supernatural power.
The burden of what they said, was to preach a very pure and holy Gospel,
calling upon all who heard them to be ready for the coming of the Lord, giving
awful denunciations against sin, mixed with precious promises, and declaring
the blood of Jesus sufficient for the cleansing of all sin; that God was love,
and waiting to receive whoever would come to him by Jesus’ blood. By this means the parents were led off
their guard, and never doubted that the children were speaking by the Holy
Spirit: and were greatly delighted, as all pious parents would be. The children were evidently possessed;
they spoke as no children, and above all, as these are accustomed to speak.
They described their sensations in such a manner as to show that some
extraneous power must be influencing them.
The boy, who was always sleepy before his bed-time, asked one night, who
had kept his mouth open while speaking, for he felt that some one had? and was
much surprised when he was assured that no one had touched him. At other times, he said, the spirit
pushed him in the side; and if he did not attend to that, he felt a pinching
pain, until he was compelled to attend!
His sister appeared always to be seized with a fit of speaking, and would
shrink into her chair, and cover her face, and then give utterance. The little boy likewise spoke with
unknown sounds, and sang. The
spirit called upon them repealedly to watch and pray against Satan, who was in
the midst of them, and desired them to fight him bravely. The spirit having got the parents
completely to trust him, began to entice them to do many things, which if not
absolutely wrong, were at least foolish; until at length the father, and also
his curate, were induced to suspect the spirit, in consequence of something
which had been said directly contrary to Scripture.* They then
remembered that they had ‘believed the spirit’ without
‘trying the spirit,’ as they were enjoined to do by Scripture, and
accordingly determined to do this forthwith. While conversing on this matter, the spirit
cried out in the child, ‘Ye may try the spirits in men, but ye must not
try them in babes and sucklings.’
This alarmed them greatly.
The father on the Dext morning prayed over the word that the Lord would
enable him to try the spirit which spake in his child. The spirit said in a loud voice, ‘Ye shall not try the spirit.’ The father said, ‘I will try the
spirit by the word of the living God.’ The spirit said, ‘If ye try the spirit, ye shall be chastised.’ The
father then read 1 John 4: 2-3, adding, it was God’s blessed word, and he would not
be forbid. Being much overcome,
however, by his natural feelings, his friend, the curate, took the Bible, and
reading the same passage, and laying his hand on the boy’s head, said to
the spirit, ‘Thou spirit which possessest the child, wilt thou not
confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?’ The spirit answered loudly, ‘I
WILL NOT.’ The child looked
pale, and was quite cold, and said he felt something in his inside, like a cold
hand fluttering, and then it left him.
After a short time, the boy cried out that it was coming again. The curate said, ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ They
all prayed together, and the spirit never more returned.”‑Morning Watch, No. 13, p. 154.
[* “Forbidding to marry:” 1
Tim. 4.]
For want of the same knowledge, credence was given
to a spirit that possessed Mary Jobson,
a girl between twelve and thirteen years of age, living at
[**
Faithful record of the miraculous case of Mary Jobson.
To take one testimony. Evidence of Margaret Watson, p. 23.
“Upon the 27th
day of April I visited the patient, and soon after my arrival I heard a voice
speak as follows:–
“I am He that sent
Joseph into
A farther ground of difference, (even to contrast)
is found in the reception experienced by each from the world, and the
tendencies of the spirit of each.
The false prophet had the spirit of the world, and spoke of worldly
things, such as the natural man could discern. Hence the world listened to Him, and
received him as a superior being.
But the true prophet spoke of things that were foolishness to the
natural (animal) man; and was rewarded with scorn. “The
Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him.”
Another test is given in the second epistle. “Many
deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is coming* in the flesh.
This is the deceiver and the Antichrist:” 2 John 7.
According to this test Swedenborg was a deceiver.
[*
Compare Matthew 24: 30.]
The conclusion of the verse under exposition has
been much misunderstood, and proves how necessary it is to take every passage in connexion with its context. “None can
say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” If this be taken as applying to every
unconverted man, it is not
true. Many can say and do say
‘Lord Jesus,’ (Matt. 7: 22,) whose hearts are not afected by the
Holy Ghost.
“The meaning is,
(says one) not, that no one has physical ability to
say that Jesus is Lord,
unless aided by the Holy Ghost, since all men can say this, but that no one will be disposed heartily to say it.” But first, Paul does not qualify the saying as being hearty or not. And, secondly, if he had it had been no
test at all, for how is the heartiness (which is a secret thing) to be discovered?
No: we must abide by the letter of the passage,
which yields a consistent and excellent sense. It relates only to the inspired, of
whom, as we showed above, Paul is professedly treating. Their simple word, not their knowledge of Jesus, nor belief in him, nor
answering life, is the question here.
Be it further observed, that the apostle requires
the confession that Jesus is Lord. The false spirits of that day, and of
the days yet to come, might confess that Christ is Lord, because they
held that Jesus was a mere man,
on whom a mighty spirit – “the Christ,”
- descended at baptism, distinguishing thus Jesus and the Christ, as two different persons.
They were to confess therefore that Jesus is Lord, which supposed the acknowledgment that the
Son of God became incarnate, or took flesh of Mary, and that Jesus and the
Christ are the same person.
Do any think that this is an old heresy which can
never revive again? Let them read
then some sentences published in our own land in 1844. “Christ
paid the debt by giving the mortal life of Jesus.” “Christ laid down the life of Jesus; Christ then leaving
him, laying on him the
transgression of man.”
Here is the old gnostic heresy against which Paul and John wrote.
But this very difficulty throws but the greater
light on the exposition given. Remember of whom the apostle is speaking, and the difficulty
vanishes. He is treating of the
case of the inspired, and he
affirms that none of these can say Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Thus all is consistent with the former
part of the verse, and with the rest of the context.
2. Some again have misapplied the trial of the
spirits which John recommends, as though it were a trial of the tempers of men, whether they were fit to be
received to Christian communion or not.
Others have regarded them as a command to weigh false doctrines, and to prove their falsity by
Scripture. But a moment’s
glance at the passage, would shew that these are erroneous interpretations, and
misapplications of the passage. The
trial recommended has no place but where there are “false
prophets.” And the test applied is a personal
one, which can have no reference to doctrines. How can any inquire of
transubstantiation, whether Jesus Christ is come in the flesh? It is a trial of spirits primarily - of men only in the second
place.
Nor does it refer to a habit of acknowledging Jesus, but to a single act. It refers to the visible state of
excitement which attended on inspiration, and to which these tests at once
applied. The descriptions then
given by profane writers of the diviners’ phrenzy, relate to a real
thing, and were produced by the entrance of evil spirits.into the human frame.
It was a momentary trial - a question asked and answered; and according to the
answer, judgment given.
3. Neither again would the test proposed apply to an
impostor
pretending to inspiration. Yet some have asserted this. “If any one should blaspheme the name
of Jesus, whatever might be his pretensions, whether professing to be under the
influence of the Holy Spirit among the Jews, or to be inspired among the
Gentiles, it was full proof that he was an impostor.” Nay, on the contrary,
the apostle assumes that heathen inspiration was a real thing, overpowering the diviner, and leading captive his heathen
audience, and on this ground he gives a caution, and a test that bespeaks the
reality of the influence. Why could not an impostor say that Jesus
is Lord, as well as pretend to inspiration?
Nor would there be any thing
to trouble the mind of the Corinthians in an impostor’s saying ‘Jesus is cursed,’ if there were no such thing
as inspiration among the heathen.
How different in that case would have been the thread of the
argument! It would have run in some
such strain as this – ‘You know that all
inspiration among the worshippers of idols is mere pretence. Therefore let such pretenders to
inspiration roar and bellow as they will, you will know they are only
deceivers, and their words not worth a thought.’
Observe also the additional strength given to the
interpretation of “the spiritual”
(in ver. 1) as signifying inspired. Here are two cases of “spiritual men” given, and the equivalent term
is, “a man speaking by [a] spirit,” which is what we mean when we say a man
is inspired. When it is added, as
on the present occasion, “speaking by, the Spirit
of God,” we have the true inspiration. In the second case we must insert the
same idea. “No one [speaking by a spirit] can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost.”