The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-06-11


L. Patterson, D. D., of Charlotte N w.
in the opera house on Sunday morning
on the occasion of the ffty-sixth an
nual commencement of NeWoerry COZ
lege:
The Ministry of Gifts.
Peter 4:1O: GAS every man aatn
received the gift, even so minister tne
same one to another, as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God"
In the New Testament nine different
words in Greek are translated by our
English word, gift" Every one OF
those words has some shade OF mean
ing in the original tongue; but out
Of them all there emerge just about
three distinct signifcations.
Sometimes the word has reference
to a present" given, as in the case OF
the Wise men bringing their gifts OF
gold. frankincense, and myrrh to the
child Jesus. Sometimes the sense Is
that of an offering or sacrifice. III
thou bring thy gift to the altar. etc
leave there thy gift before the altar
and go thy way" etc.
But here, as elsewhere, the sense is
that of an endowment" from God to
man. AS st. Paul says: Having then
gifts differing according to the grace
that is given to us"
The theologians have way OF dl-
yiding these gifts or endowments into
two classes-natural and spiritual
gifts. Natural gifts are such as are
possessed by all. men in common;
those powers of body and mind shared
alike by the believer and the unbellev-
er. and more or less shared alike oy
man and the creature world around
him.
Spiritual gifts, we are told, are
those which flow from the presence
and work of the Holy Spirit in man
Faith, Hope and Love, the great
Trinity; and that varied allotment OF
extraordinary powers described in the
twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians.
This distinction may be all right for
the purpose in view, but 1t needs to
he handled with care. When I remem-
ber that Bezaleel and Aholiab were
"flled with the Spirit of God" "to de-
wise cunning works in gold and in sill
yer and in brass, and in cutting OF
stones to set them, and in carving Of
timber, to work all manner of work
manship'' for the building of the Tab
ernacle in the wilderness, an not
inclined to lay much stress upon the
distinction. The distinction may
stand, if we do not forget that every
endowment in man-of body, mind and
spirits from God, and that no man
is exempt from the obligation to use
his gifts as a Steward of God.
Our text contains four thoughts that
must press themselves home to our
hearts today.
1. Every man has received some gift
from God.
2. Our gifts are not our own, we are
the stewards of Gods treasury.
8. The gift every man is responsible
for is the gift that he has received.
4. The field for the ministry of gifts
is one another.
The everyday language of our text
is this: Whatever the gift that each
has received, use it in the service of
others, as good stewards of the varied
bounty of God.'
whatever the gift!" Not one
creature in Gods universe has been
forgotten in the distribution. Not a
man can say, God gave me nothing,
and can expect nothing from me-"
You may be low, you may be high;
you may be rich, you may be poor,
as the world counts lowness and high
ness or riches and poverty; you may
be learned or unlearned-but you have
a gift from God as sure as you are a
creature of Cod "Whatever the gift
be it body strong or weak, mind
trained or unframed, a spirit a1ame
with faith, hope and love or yet un-
quickened by the Spirit of God-yet
God gave you something from this
manifold grace.
o the varied bounty of God, the
many-colored treasure-house of the
Almighty! How infinite is his store!
pobo1d Him distributing Eis Gifts in