1 Corinthians: Miraculous Spiritual Gifts: 1 Cor 12-14
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INTRODUCTION
We come to chapter 12 in our study of 1 Corinthians. In chapters 12-14, we deal with the next topic that Paul received questions about or reports about from the brethren in the letter that they wrote to him (7:1). In this section, he talks about the gifts that they received from the Holy Spirit.
After seeing the division that was being caused in the partaking of the Lord’s Supper, which traditionally at that time was the first thing they did when they assembled before their main worship assembly, it probably would not surprise you to learn that there were problems and divisions within the church in Corinth because of these spiritual gifts when they came together.
1. WHAT WERE THE GIFTS?
These were gifts of revelation and of power. They were manifestations of the Spirit’s work. These unmistakably showed the Spirit’s presence and power when used. These specific gifts will be the focus of our lesson today. We see these gifts listed in
“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.
These gifts are supernatural in nature. They gave the recipients abilities that they did not previously have.
· One who could not heal or perform a miracle before was able to heal any kind of disease or sickness.
· One who could not speak in a foreign language could now do it without going through the process of learning it.
· One who could not discern between true and false teaching could now do so perfectly by the Spirit
· One who did not have great faith would be given faith miraculously without study of the word.
Those who had not received direct revelation from God now could through the supernatural gifts of prophecy, knowledge, and wisdom.
With all of these gifts, one did not learn to perform the gift. The gifts were noticeable evidences of the Spirit’s influence and power. I have heard of many instances today where people are taught how to speak in tongues or to perform other of these gifts. I do not believe this is what we see in scripture. People did not learn to speak in foreign languages. They just spoke them by the Spirit.
Also, these gifts were completely under the control of those who had them. There are some today who think that if you have a spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit takes over your body and makes you perform the gift. But scripture shows that the person had complete control over the gift. We see this in . In this text, Paul is giving instruction for how the gifts were to be used in the assemblies.
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; 28 but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
The Spirits of prophets are subjects to the prophets… Also, multiple times within this section of , Paul tells those who have gifts to “be silent” while others took their turn using their gifts. This assumes they had the ability to not use the gifts – to stay silent. The picture that many charismatic churches today give us is that if someone has a gift, the Spirit just takes complete control of them and they have no choice but to yell out, no matter what is going on in a worship service. You see the opposite in scripture. What we see in the charismatic movement is not what we see in scripture. This is just one example of that…
Nonetheless, they had the ability to control when the gifts were used….
2. THE PURPOSE OF THE GIFTS
There seem to be two main purposes of these miraculous gifts given by the Holy Spirit:
“So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”
“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
These passages tell us plainly what the purpose of these gifts were. They confirmed the spoken revelation of God. These gifts being given were God’s testimony that those who were giving revelation spoke on His behalf. As men went out into the world to preach the Gospel, it was these gifts, especially the working of miracles and healing which showed those listening that they must obey what was being said.
The second reason why these gifts were given was for the encouragement of the body of Christ in the absence of the writings of the Apostles and prophets.
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”.
But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
These gifts were designed to build up the church. They were to be used in the assemblies of God’s people to encourage and help them in their faith.
But unfortunately, these gifts were not being used the way they were designed. They were not being used to build up the church. They were being misused by some of the brethren…
3. THE MISUSE OF THE GIFTS IN CORINTH
Just because one had a gift, did not mean that they would be mature in the faith. The Corinthians are a prime example of this. The brethren in Corinth, as far as we know, had all of the gifts present within the church (they came short in no gift - ), but in spite of this, the church was a mess spiritually. We have already looked at so many issues within the church. Paul had told them of their arrogance and how they were being carnal in all of the divisions that existed in the group.
Having these spiritual gifts did not necessitate that they were mature, and they more than likely did not even necessitate that a Christian was right with the Lord. They existed in men who were filled with pride. Women had these gifts and were still trying to take an authoritative role during worship contrary to the instructions of the Apostles. Paul says in their mindset regarding the gifts in :
"Brothers, do not be children in your thinking… in your thinking be mature." ()
Instead of using the gifts for their intended purpose of building up their brethren, serving one another, and being unified, the opposite was taking place. There was division within the church over these gifts. It seems some who had one type of gift were looking down on those who had another type of gift.
For instance, in 14:20, we see that some parts of the body were looking down on other parts, saying, “I don’t have need of you.”
Also, in 12:16, it also seems that some were saying that they were not a part of the body because they didn”t have "as good" of a gift.
It seems like the gift of tongues was one of the gifts that was being exalted among the brethren in Corinth. Paul compares tongues/languages to prophesying in these chapters because it may be the case that these were the two main divisions among the brethren. The tongue-speakers were looking at their gift as the greater gift and more than likely looking down on those who prophesied. But Paul shows them why prophesying is the far superior gift because of it’s ability to build up the church and to convict the lost.
ONENESS STRESSED
These issues are the reason why Paul stresses the idea of “oneness” in chapter 12:
Vs4-7
· Varieties of gifts, but SAME Spirit
· Varieties of ministries, but the SAME Lord
· Varieties of effects, but the SAME God
· V7 – Each was given a manifestation of the Spirit for the COMMON GOOD (Unity)
· V11 – the same Spirit works these things
· V13 – by (with) one Spirit we were all baptized into ONE body
· V20 – many members, but ONE body
· V27 – You are Christ’s BODY
So Paul tells them to seek the gifts that can be beneficial to the group and build the group up instead of just themselves. Think with unity in mind, even in how you seek and use the spiritual gifts.
Another issue among the brethren in Corinth regarding the use of the gifts was that the worship service had become a time of confusion and disorder. We see this in chapter 14.
Some seemed to be using the gift of tongues without an interpreter, which meant what was being said could not be understood by all who were present. If it would not lead to the building up of the brethren, Paul tells them in v28 not to use the gift of tongues. If there was no interpreter present, don’t use the gift. Stay silent. Speaking in other languages without an interpreter is not helpful and it is confusing.
Paul also in this section of vs 26-40 gives them instructions regarding how many men with each gift could use their gifts during their assemblies and tells them to take turns so that all can be heard and so the brethren can be encouraged using their gifts. Two or three at the most could use each type of gift, and they had to take turns.
This may show that they were trying to speak over one another to make sure they used their spiritual gift, especially if they thought their gift was one of the greater gifts. But Paul corrects their thinking, not just about these gifts, but also their attitudes.
One BIG thing they were missing, other than the unity they needed to have, was love. In 13:1-8, Paul shows them that if they had the greatest gifts or did the most amazing things, if they did not have love in what they did, it profits nothing. Paul shows them what love is and what love is not so they could learn to show love towards one another. In their use of the gifts, they were being unloving. They were being impatient, rude, and showing jealousy. They were showing pride and arrogance. They were provoking one another and rejoicing even when sin was committed… These are not what love does… They needed to learn to love one another – to exalt love even above the gifts they had. If they pursued love as they should, they could please God in pursuing the best gifts that could benefit their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Paul shows them that their emphasis on these gifts as the better thing - making them more important than love, showed how carnal they were. They were focusing so much on that which was temporary - on that which would pass away as we see in verses 8-13. If they were going to view something as "better," it needed to be love. Love is something they will experience and enjoy for eternity. It needs to be what they emphasize in their lives, and they need love to be what influences them in the use of the gifts.
APPLICATIONS
First, let’s talk for a moment about “church pecking orders”… The Corinthians were placing their value within the body based on what kind of gift/ability they had… We can often do the same. We can think that certain people are more important and more valuable to a local church... or even among brethren in general…
For instance, it is often the case that the roles of evangelist, elder, or deacon can be looked up to as the highest on the pecking order… These are the ones that make the church thrive… These are the ones that make a local church survive… There are very strong churches that don’t have any of these offices filled… and there are churches that have evangelists, elders, and deacons and are dead…
These roles can be a great blessing to the body if filled by men who are working hard in their role of service, but we need to see that a church only thrives when each person sees its value and purpose in the body and does its duty... You can have the best preacher (that’s not the case here at least), and you can have the best elders and deacons, but if every part of the body is not doing it’s share, any church, any body is going to thrive! How well will your physical body function if not even 10% of the body parts are working or functioning properly? It won’t function well at all or maybe won’t even survive.
The body cannot work without lungs or a heart… It cannot survive without many of the internal systems working together in unison… This is the point Paul is trying to make to us here. Every member of the body is valuable. And the majority of the time, those who are not the ones who are up front are THE reason that the body is functioning properly. You can look good on the outside, but if your heart stops, you are dead… We can spend so much time exalting those who are seen and focusing so much on what is done in public worship that we can at times make brethren feel like they are not as valuable if they don’t have a role during worship. The greatest amount of service done by a local body of Christians is done OUTSIDE of the assemblies. Sometimes we can spend so much time focusing on what happens when we are in the confines of this building that we can paralyze our effectiveness as a church the other 99% of the week!
Second, We can also allow whatever the Lord has blessed us with to lead us to pride… Whether it be a role of service within the body or if it be more money or resources, or if it be superior knowledge or intellect than others, or whatever it may be, we can often allow these blessings to think we are somebody more valuable to the body than others… If we have a role during the public worship, we may think we are a better Christian than those who don’t… If God’s blessings are leading you or me to be moved with pride, you can be the best preacher or the most generous person or the smartest, but your soul is still going to be lost… Get rid of pride. And get your motivations right in regards to serving in worship, giving, and so forth… Make it about glorifying the Lord and building others up by our serving them…
Use what the Lord has graciously blessed you with to show love to others… Use the temporary things of this life to be a blessing to others…
And our last point is probably the most humbling one… Just because you can get up and do something during worship, or preach a sermon, or teach a good Bible class, or even lead a church does not mean that you are mature or even right with God…