The Apostle's catalogue of these is not exhaustive, nor logically
arranged; but yet a certain loose order may be noted, which may be
profitable for us to trace. They are in number seven--the sacred
number; and are capable of being divided, as so many of the series of
sevens are, into two portions, one containing four and the other
three. The former include more public works, to each of which a man
might be specially devoted as his life work for and in the Church.
Three are more private, and may be conceived to have a wider relation
to the world. There are some difficulties of construction and
rendering in the list, which need not concern us here; and we may
substantially follow the Authorised Version.
The first group of four seems to fall into two pairs, the first of
which, 'prophecy' and 'ministry,' seem to be bracketed together by
reason of the difference between them. Prophecy is a very high form
of special inspiration, and implies a direct reception of special
revelation, but not necessarily of future events. The prophet is
usually coupled in Paul's writings with the apostle, and was
obviously amongst those to whom was given one of the highest forms of
the gifts of Christ. It is very beautiful to note that by natural
contrast the Apostle at once passes to one of the forms of
service which a vulgar estimate would regard as remotest from the
special revelation of the prophet, and is confined to lowly service.
Side by side with the exalted gift of prophecy Paul puts the lowly
gift of ministry. Very significant is the juxtaposition of these two
extremes. It teaches us that the lowliest office is as truly allotted
by Jesus as the most sacred, and that His highest gifts find an
adequate field for manifestation in him who is servant of all.
Ministry to be rightly discharged needs spiritual character. The
original seven were men 'full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,' though
all they had to do was to hand their pittances to poor widows. It may
be difficult to decide for what reason other than the emphasising of
this contrast the Apostle links together ministry and prophecy, and
so breaks a natural sequence which would have connected the second
pair of graces with the first member of the first pair. We should
have expected that here, as elsewhere, 'prophet,' 'teacher,'
'exhorter,' would have been closely connected, and there seems no
reason why they should not have been so, except that which we have
suggested, namely, the wish to bring together the highest and
the lowest forms of service.
The second pair seem to be linked together by likeness. The 'teacher'
probably had for his function, primarily, the narration of the facts
of the Gospel, and the setting forth in a form addressed chiefly to
the understanding the truths thereby revealed; whilst the 'exhorter'
rather addressed himself to the will, presenting the same truth, but
in forms more intended to influence the emotions. The word here
rendered 'exhort' is found in Paul's writings as bearing special
meanings, such as consoling, stimulating, encouraging, rebuking and
others. Of course these two forms of service would often be
associated, and each would be imperfect when alone; but it would
appear that in the early Church there were persons in whom the one or
the other of these two elements was so preponderant that their office
was thereby designated. Each received a special gift from the one
Source. The man who could only say to his brother, 'Be of good
cheer,' was as much the recipient of the Spirit as the man who could
connect and elaborate a systematic presentation of the truths of the
Gospel.
These four graces are followed by a group of three, which may be
regarded as being more private, as not pointing to permanent offices
so much as to individual acts. They are 'giving,' 'ruling,' 'showing
pity,' concerning which we need only note that the second of these
can hardly be the ecclesiastical office, and that it stands between
two which are closely related, as if it were of the same kind. The
gifts of money, or of direction, or of pity, are one in kind. The
right use of wealth comes from the gift of God's grace; so does the
right use of any sway which any of us have over any of our brethren;
and so does the glow of compassion, the exercise of the natural human
sympathy which belongs to all, and is deepened and made tenderer and
intenser by the gift of the Spirit. It would be a very different
Church, and a very different world, if Christians, who were not
conscious of possessing gifts which made them fit to be either
prophets, or teachers, or exhorters, and were scarcely endowed even
for any special form of ministry, felt that a gift from their hands,
or a wave of pity from their hearts, was a true token of the movement
of God's Spirit on their spirits. The fruit of the Spirit is to be
found in the wide fields of everyday life, and the vine bears many
clusters for the thirsty lips of wearied men who may little know what
gives them their bloom and sweetness. It would be better for both
giver and receiver if Christian beneficence were more clearly
recognised as one of the manifestations of spiritual life.