A DISCOURSE.

"He who prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification, and to exhortation, and to comfort," 1 Cor. xiv, 3.

TAKE heed how ye hear, was an advice of the Son of GOD; and forcibly states, that serious attention to sacred Truths, is essentially requisite to those who wish to profit by them; and without this, even Christ himself may preach in vain. It was the saying of a wise and holy man, that "the word of God was never heard profitably, but in that Spirit by which it was originally dictated." Long experience has proved, that though the mighty Paul may plant, and the eloquent Apollos water, yet it is God alone who gives the increase. Every minister of God should be deeply sensible of this, that he may earnestly implore that help without which no good can be done; that wisdom without which the word of God cannot be rightly divided; and that influence on the minds of his hearers, without which there can be no fruit of his labours.

1

A philosopher among the ancient heathens observed, that "Man is an animal fond of novelty:"--the observation readily acquired the force of an incontrovertible maxim, because the facts which gave it birth were every where evident. Things new or uncommon being always found to impress the senses more forcibly than those which daily occur. Man is fond of power, and is ever affecting to perform actions beyond the limits of his own strength; but as repeated exertions painfully demonstrate to him the littleness of his own might, he strives to have recourse to foreign help, and especially grasps at super natural powers. Hence originated the desire of ac

quainting himself with the invisible world, that he might associate to himself the energies of supernatural agents, and by their assistance satisfy his criminal curiosity, and gratify his pride and ambition: and hence the pretensions to potent spells, necromantic incantations, and the whole system of magic. It was in consequence of giving unrestrained scope to this principle, that miraculous powers were more earnestly coveted in ancient, (and I may add, in modern) times, than the constant ability to do good through that influence which can come from God alone, working by that love which never faileth.

That miraculous gifts were largely distributed in the primitive church, and especially among the believers at Corinth, is sufficiently evident, and that they were preferred by some to that love which is the fulfilling of the law, is too plainly intimated in this epistle. The gift of divers tongues, or a supernatural capacity of speaking various languages which a man had not learnt, seems to have prevailed in the Christian church for a considerable time after the day of Pentecost. And several mistaking the design of the Lord in the communication of these gifts, wished to possess the miraculous power merely for its own sake, and, not on account of the good which might be done by it.-Hence, if they spake with tongues, (various languages,) it was deemed sufficient, notwithstanding those who heard were not edified, because they did not understand the language which was spoken. The apostle shows, that acting in this way did not fulfil the kind intention of the Most High; as speaking of the deep things of God in the language of an Arab, was not calculated to instruct a Greek, to whom that language was utterly unknown. And though they might appear more excellent in their own eyes, because possessing more of that knowledge, which too often puffeth up, (to which it appears that some even of the believing Greeks were too much attached,) yet the apostle assures them, that greatwas he, in the sight of God, whose talent led to gene

ral instruction, than he, who possessed the tongue of the learned, whether his knowledge were acquired by study, or came by divine inspiration :-For the grand design of the gospel ministry was, to instruct men in righteousness, to unite them to God, and comfort them in all tribulations and adversities: And this appears to me to be the meaning of the words of the text: He who prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification, and to exhortation, and to comfort. Two things the apostle presents here to our view.

I. The PROPHET: He who prophesieth.

II. HIS WORK: He speaketh unto men, to edification, exhortation, and comfort.

I. The word prophet, generally conveys the idea of a person so far acquainted with futurity, as to discern some purpose of the divine Being relative to his government of the natural or moral world; but which is not sufficiently matured by the economy of Providence, to make as yet, its public appearance among men :-and to prophesy, is usually understood to imply, the foretelling such an event, the time of its appearance and the place of its operation, with some preceding and subsequent circum

stances.

That several of those who are termed prophets in the sacred writings, did thus predict future events, is a truth which cannot be successfully contested—a truth which successive ages have had the fullest opportunity of confirming-which stands as an immense and impregnable bulwark against all the pretensions and sophisms of modern Deism, and which perhaps, the present eventful period, tends not less to confirm, than any of the preceding ones.

But that this was the original, and only meaning of the word prophet, or prophecy, is very far from being clear. The first place the word occurs is, Gen. xx, 7, where the Lord says of Abraham to Abimelech, He is a prophet, (8178 nabi hu) and will pray (hori yithpallel, will

make earnest intercession,) for thee. In the common acceptation of the word, it is certain Abraham was no prophet: but here it seems to signify a man well acquainted with the supreme Being, capable of teaching others in divine things, and especially, a man of prayer,—one who had great influence with the God he worshipped, and whose intercessions were available in the behalf of others. And in this sense the original word * nabi, is used in several places in the Old Testament.

It was through inattention to this meaning of the word, which appears to me to be the true, original, and ideal one, that all the commentators and critics that I have met with, have been so sadly puzzled with that part of the history of Saul which is related 1 Sam. x, 9–13, and xix, 20-24. In these passages, the sacred historian represents Saul, who was neither a prophet, nor the son of one, associating, with the prophets, and prophesying among them :-to which he was led, by the Spirit of the Lord which came upon him. That this can mean no more than prayer and supplication to God, accompanied pro bably with edifying hymns of praise, and thanksgiving, (for they had instruments of music, chap. x, verse 5,) needs, in my opinion, little proof. If Saul had prophesied in the common acceptation of the word, it is not likely that we should have been kept absolutely in the dark concerning the subject and design of his predictions: of which, by the way, not one syllable is spoken in the oracles of God. The simple fact seems to have been this: God, who had chosen this man to govern Israel, designed to teach him, that the Most High alone is the fountain of all power, and that by him only, kings could reign, so as properly to execute justice, and be his ministers for good unto the people: To accomplish this gracious purpose, he gave him another heart, ver. 9, a disposition totally different from what he had ever before possessed, and taught him to pray. Coming among the sons of the prophets, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, and who