The Full Mention Principle
a. That principle by which God declares His full mind upon any subject vital to our spiritual life. Somewhere in the Word, God gathers together the scattered fragments that have to do with a, particular truth, and puts them into one exhaustive statement. That is His full mind concerning that truth-
b. Passages that show the full mind of God.
- Resurrection—I Cor. IS—resurrection of the Saviour and of the believer.
- The tongue—James 3. A marvel, mystery, malice; destructive, devilish, demonized organ.
- Restoration of Israel—Romans 11—The Bible is full of reference to this, but Romans 11 summarizes.
- Trials and triumphs of faith—Hebrews 11.
- God’s discipline of His children—Heb. 12:1-11.
- The Church—Ephesians 1-3.
- Principles of the Kingdom of Heaven—chapters 5-7 of Matthew. The Code of the Kingdom and the Laws that will be in effect when the Kingdom of Heaven is established on earth, are presented there.
- The vicarious sacrifice—Isa. 53.
- Righteousness by faith—Rom. 3:10-21.
- Godly repentance—II Cor. 7.
- Law—Exodus 20.
- The full panoply (suit of armour)—Eph. 6:10-17.
- The nature or natures of Jesus Christ—Heb. 1 and 2.
Chapter 1—Son of God, better than the angels.
Chapter 2—Son of man, lower than the angels. - The final judgment—Rev. 20. This is the Great White Throne Judgment, and is mentioned only once in scripture.
- Last things—of this day in which we live—Matt. 24.
- Spiritual gifts—Chapter 12-14 of I Cor.
a. Illustrations of this law. These summaries may not always be complete chapters, but may be found in a verse. 1 Cor. 1:30—summarizes all of Christ’s work in a sentence and gives us knowledge of God, knowledge of ourselves, and knowledge of Christ. - Love— Cor. 13. I Cor. 12, 13, 14 should always be studied together.
All through the Bible are references to the love of God for man, but in I Cor. 13 we find everything that God has to say about love. Charity is the word used, but the meaning has been changed since the time when the Bible was translated. Moody once said, “This chapter ought to be read in church once a week.” But we have to do more than just read the chapter; we have to live it. There is a beautiful tradition of the last days of the Apostle John: As Jesus looked into the faces of His disciples for the last time. He said, “Little children, love one another.” They said, “You have told us that before.” He said the second time, “Little children, remember what I have told you from the beginning, love one another.” They said, “We have heard that before. Give us a new commandment.” But He said a third time, “A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another.” All the commandments are bound together in that statement, that we love not ourselves, but others.
(a) This thirteenth chapter is right, in the heart of a discussion of spiritual gifts bestowed by God on the people of the church in Corinth. Chapter 12 has to do with the gifts, but chapter 13 goes on to give us something better than spiritual gifts. Chapter 12 discusses the gifts which are a manifestation of the power of God; in chapter 13 we see that love which is the manifestation of the nature of God. - It is much more important for us to manifest the nature of God than to have some spiritual gift to manifest the power of God. “God is love.”
of all the churches in the New Testament, the church that had the greatest number of gifts was the church at Corinth, and in the beginning of this hymn of love, Paul refers to the highest gift in that miracle-gifted church.
((a)) Verse 1—”Tongues of men and of angels.” Though he spoke in a language as pure as heaven itself, words without love would be only words. Jesus Christ spoke in words that were so simple that even the poor and ignorant could understand Him, but, “Never man spake as this man.” His heart was full of love. His heart was the heart of God. That is why His simplest words became sublime.
( (b) ) Verse 2—Prophecy. The supreme gift of this church.
The gift of speaking God’s will and God’s Word, and of sharing God’s super-knowledge.