as he will do the pledge of pardon and of strength sure and perfect, let him draw near next Sunday to the holy communion; and in showing forth the death of Christ, let him receive them both to his soul's salvation.

RUGBY CHAPEL,

May 31st, 1835.

SERMON XXVIII.

GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.

1 CORINTHIANS, xii. 14.

The body is not one member, but many.

THE chapter from which these words are taken, the lesson for this evening's service, is one of those passages in St. Paul's epistles, the wisdom and profit of which are most inexhaustible, and yet have been most neglected. Nor is this to be wondered at, when we know how little able men are to go beyond the letter for any good and wise purposes, however fondly they may depart from it in the way of fancy and superstition. Now this chapter speaks of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as they were enjoyed in the early church; and as these gifts have long since ceased, it may seem to those who follow the letter of a rule without entering into its spirit, that the directions given

with regard to these gifts have ceased to be of importance also. Whereas it is manifest that a moral rule applies to the reason of a case, and not to the particular form which it may happen to wear in any one age or country. And thus, as St. Paul's rule here is a moral one, and teaches us how we should act and feel with respect to God's gifts, it matters not that the particular gifts to which it is actually applied in the Epistle to the Corinthians, are no longer in existence, if we know that other gifts of God are in existence; which, like those spoken of by the apostle, may either be used or abused, may either excite in us good feelings or the contrary.

Now, first of all, the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given according to His will. "He divideth to every man severally as He will." This is one point. And again, these gifts were not the greatest perfection of a man's nature; he might have the very highest of them, and yet perish everlastingly. "Covet earnestly the best gifts; and yet show I unto you a more excellent way; for though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." This is another point. Thirdly, these gifts were given to enable him who had them to do good to others.

"The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." This is a third point. Now then, if there are any gifts of God now enjoyed by us, in which all these three points are to be found: gifts given according to God's free pleasure; gifts which we may have in the highest measure and yet perish but at the same time, gifts which may enable us to do good to others, and therefore are highly valuable and earnestly to be coveted, then St. Paul's rules, with regard to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, are applicable to us now.

It is most evident that there are such gifts; and that we all are, more or less, partakers of them. Nay, so close an analogy exists between what we call the course of nature, that is, the course of God's ordinary providence, and the dispensation of grace, that is, the course of His special providence, that it might be possible to go through the several gifts mentioned by the apostle, and to find for each of them some strictly corresponding gift in God's dealings with us now. Yet, lest we should be driven into any thing like extravagance, by so insisting on this parallel as to fancy a resemblance beyond reality, it will be better simply to notice what are, beyond questions, God's gifts to us now; as freely given, as capable of being made useful, as capable also of being separated from that holiness which alone shall see God, as were the gifts of the church of Corinth. Consider for a moment;

let each of us think within himself whether he has not some power, some talent, some taste, some advantage of one sort or another, in which he feels that his main strength lies; something particularly capable of improvement, and which beyond other points in him, would reward the care spent on its cultivation. Perhaps some may doubt this, from being accustomed to confine the notion of God's gifts to something which they consider very high and important: they would never dream of carrying it down to little things. Yet what is the Apostle's comparison: "those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary; God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked." I may safely use these words, as confirming what our reason will show us, if we apply to it; that God is the author and giver of the least of our gifts, faculties, tastes, talents, and advantages, no less than of what we call the highest.

Bearing this in mind, and extending as widely as possible the notion, that all that we have comes from God, these three great points form St. Paul's rule for us to follow: that every gift is a means of good; that no gift extends to our highest spiritual good; that we should value every gift, however humble, and not despise our neighbour because his gift is not the same as ours. These are the great