Romans 12:6-8 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy… 1. "Prophet" means one who is the interpreter of another's thought. In the Hebrew word there is involved the idea of a fountain bubbling up as from between rocks, subjected to pressure from without. The prophet often declared future events; but we must not limit his function to the prediction. He brought messages to men pertaining to the present practical duty of life. 2. "According to the proportion of faith." The sense is made clearer by inserting "the" or "our faith," i.e., the objective system of truth, the gospel. It is a vast, vital, co-ordinated system, built up a unity, like the root, the stem, and branch, or the wall, the tower, and spire of a building. The balance of every part with every other part is hinted at. What is it that God's Word brings? I. GREAT DOCTRINES. 1. The eternal personality of God — a thought the pagan mind did not grasp. And science is dwarfed when it hides this pivotal thought. 2. His providential goodness and redeeming grace. His hand is in history. The history of the race is the history of redemption. It was God who led Paul to Damascus, to Rome, Savonarola to Florence, and Luther to Worms, His creative power, His providence and grace, like the mysterious trinity of Being to which they are related, fill us with adoring wonder. The Bible lifts the race, exalting its intellectual as well as its moral capacity. II. THE LAW OF GOD WHICH IS AS GREAT AS THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. It is high above the codes of uninspired teachers. Love to God and man are the essential elements. Every element of life is reached and ruled by it. As one sunshine floods the breadth of the sea and the face of the smallest flower, so the law touches alike the mightiest and the meanest. It enters into the whole man. Courtesy in manner is philanthropy in a trait, and heroism of character is shown in the patience of love. In a word, the law is matched to the doctrine in its supernal character and reach. III. A SAVIOUR AS GREAT AS EITHER. He was announced by angels; a star led worshippers to His cradle; at His baptism a voice proclaimed Him the well-beloved of the Father. He laid claims on man's service — blasphemous were He not God. He put Himself between parent and child, wife and husband; or, rather, above them all, in supreme authority. By His pierced hands, Christ, the crucified and risen Redeemer, has been guiding the course of empires, and is bringing in millennial eras. Really, though often unconsciously, has the world in its advancing civilisation reflected the glory of this majestic Prince of Life. He shall yet see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. On His head will rest "many crowns." IV. A UNIVERSAL SPIRITUAL KINGDOM IS COINCIDENT IN MAJESTY AND MIGHT WITH THE FOREGOING ELEMENTS. The idea of such a kingdom is unique and grand. To the Greeks other nations were but barbarians. Rome made other peoples her captives, without extinguishing their enmity or assimilating their life. But Christ founded His throne in the love of His redeemed people. All genius shall be developed, and all wealth shall be consecrated under the supremacy of Christ. Christianity shall be the glory of the nations. V. GREAT WARNINGS. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Here is, then, the "proportion of faith," the harmony of truth, the "analogy" which knits all together in a definite unity. These are the substructural truths of revelation, which are to be studied and proclaimed, each in its time, place, and proportion. Conclusion: 1. As we infer the genius of the architect from the grandeur of the building, the genius of the poet from his verse, or that of the statesman and jurist from what emanates from each, so we infer the sublime greatness of God from this revelation of truth. Can any one say that the Scriptures are the product of the Jewish mind? As well might we say that the Atlantic came from the upsetting of a child's breakfast-cup! 2. Attacking one point of this revelation is an attack on the whole. If one part be in error the value of the whole is vitiated, the entire edifice tumbles to pieces. All these facts of our common faith stand or fall together, as heart and brain are united. If one be paralysed, the whole suffers. If one stone be plucked from the arch, they all tumble in one heap; but in their entirety they reflect the Divine unity and eternity. 3. We rise into sympathy with God as we come into fuller comprehension of His truth. How unwise it is for one to try to banish God's Word from his thoughts! Here is the romance of the world. The imagination, as well as the conscience of the race, is exalted by the truth of God. It ennobles the whole man. It enriches the life that is, as well as the life that is to come. (R. S. Storrs, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; |
    |