Charity and Its Fruits
but no other enjoyments or privileges whatsoever will make a man happy without this.
7. This divine temper of soul which the fruit of the ordinary sanctifying influences of the Spirit, is the end of all the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost.—The gift of prophecy, of miracles, of tongues, &c., God gave for this very end, to promote the propagation and establishment of tile gospel in the world. And the end of the gospel is, to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan to serve the living God, i. e. to make men holy. The end of all the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit is the conversion of sinners, and the building up of saints in that holiness which is the fruit of the ordinary influences of the Holy Ghost. For this, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles after Christ's ascension ; and they were enabled to speak with tongues, work miracles, &c.; and for this, very many others, in that age, were endued with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost (Eph. iv. 11 ) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists." Here the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are referred to; and the end of all is expressed in the next words, viz. " For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." And what sort of edifying of the body of Christ this is, we learn from ver. 16— " Maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in LOVE." In love, that is, in charity, the same that is spoken of in our text, for the word in the original is the same, and the same thing is meant. And so it is the same as in 1 Cor. viii. 1—" charity edifieth ."
But the end is always more excellent than the means: this is a maxim universally allowed; for means have no goodness in them any otherwise than as they are subordinate to the end. The end, therefore, must be considered as superior in excellency to the means.
8. The extraordinary gifts of the Spirit will be so far from profiting without that grace which is the fruit of the ordinary influences of the Spirit, that they will but aggravate the condemnation of those that have there.—Doubtless Judas's condemnation was exceedingly