1 Corinthians 12:5,6

There are differences of administration, but the same Lord.

The agencies of the Church

I. Are widely diversified.

1. Every branch has its own sphere.

2. Every member his own office.

(1) Differing in character, importance, scope.

(2) Yet all necessary.

II. Are under the control of the same Lord--Christ, who--

1. Appoints every man his duty.

2. Supplies him with grace.

3. Observes and rewards his conduct.

III. Are directed to one end. Hence the meanest office--

1. Is honourable.

2. Is useful.

3. Should be faithfully fulfilled. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Differences of administrations

Glycera, the flower-girl, knew so well how to diversify the combination and arrangement of her flowers, as with the same flowers to make a great variety of nosegays. So that when the painter Pausias tried to emulate her skill he failed, for he could not vary his painting so many ways as Glycera did her nosegays. Thus the Holy Ghost disposes and arranges with so much variety the instructions of devotion which He gives us by the tongues and pens of His servants that, although the doctrines are always the same, the treatises which are made out of them are very different, according to the different ways in which they are put together. (St. Francis de Sales.)

There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God.

The diversity of the Divine operations

These words suggest practical reflections as to--

I. The vast variety of classes for whom Christian work is carried on. Such work is work--

1. For all varieties of need.

(1) Bodily. The hospital; the sanitary enterprise of any form is included.

(2) Mental. All true educational work, not least of all when it aims at fixing a ladder that shall rise from the gutter to the university, is included.

(3) Moral. Every crusade for temperance and chastity is included.

(4) Spiritual. The proclamation, in its manifold fulness, of the gospel that converts, comforts, and edifies is included.

(5) National. Right endeavour in the cause of peace, of land reform, etc., is included.

2. For the needs of people of all ages--the child, the youth, the adult, the aged.

3. For the needs of people of all places. The prediction as to the usefulness of the men of the early Church (Acts 1:8) seems to hint at what we call

(1) City missions--“witnesses for Me in Jerusalem.”

(2) Home missions--“and in all Judaea.”

(3) Colonial missions--“and in Samaria.”

(4) Foreign missions--“and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

II. The vast variety of means by which Christian work is carried on. There are methods in which the individual is a potent force, and others in which the elaborate machinery fulfils a useful function. There are spheres for highest culture, and others for simplest speech, domains for the pen and for the tongue. True Christian enterprise is hydra-handed. It touches the unnumbered strings on the great harp of humanity, sometimes gently, as with the delicacy of woman’s fingers, and sometimes mightily, as with the smiting of a seraph’s hand.

III. The one motive spirit under whose influence Christian work is carried on. In all and through all who are true to Christ there is one impelling motive, i.e., love to Him. This is the great unifying force at the central heart of all Christly men. (U.R. Thomas.)

The Divine operations

I. Are richly exemplified--

1. In nature.

2. In the Church.

II. Are wonderfully varied.

III. Are singularly harmonious.

IV. Exhibit the glory of the one God--His

1. Wisdom.

2. Power.

3. Love. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

The diversity of the Spirit’s operations

The witnessing of the Spirit admits of degrees. Just as a rich man’s window may be wider than a poor man’s, and so the sun may make his house the more light, that the things within it may be better discerned, yet the poor man may really enjoy the beams of the sun, and see what is in his house; so the poorest, the weakest believer may know the Spirit hath shined into his heart, as well as others that enjoy brighter beams than he hath been acquainted with. (T. H. Leary, D.C.L.)