What are the Gifts of the Spirit in 1st Corinthians 12?

Spiritual Gifts (4)

1^st Corinthians 12

¹ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. ²Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. ³Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. ⁴Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. ⁶And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

Introduction:

We have spent the last three weeks discussing the gifts of the Spirit, including also those called the gift of God, and the gifts of Christ. Today let’s consider the gifts listed in 1^st Corinthians 12.

Categories of Gifts:

Notice that Paul listed three “categories” in verses 4-6:

Gifts, all by the same Spirit
Administrations, all by the same Lord, and
Operations, all by the same God.

We may not understand these ideas, but we can at least recognize that the categories exist. We saw the four administrative “gifts” given by Christ, in Ephesians 4:7-11. All four are human servants of the Church: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Pastor/Teachers. These may be the ones Paul calls “administrations,” in verse 5.

Purpose of the Gifts

But the same principle applies to all the gifts: They are for the benefit of all. (See verse 7.)

⁷But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Other translations say, “…for the common welfare.” The idea is that God has given every single believer one or more gifts by which the whole body of Christ is to profit in some way. In this chapter, we find that “there is one Body of Christ,” and every single believer is a part of that one Body, and every single member has a function. We are all designed to function. God has not called us to “just attend church.” Rather, we are all called to personally serve the Lord Jesus.

We already learned elsewhere (Romans 8:9, John 14:16, 1^st Corinthians 6:19, etc.) that every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so the question now, is: “Because I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit, what should I expect in terms of function?” Paul lists some “gifts of the Spirit.”

⁸For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; ⁹To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; ¹⁰To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: ¹¹But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Word of wisdom
Word of knowledge
Faith
Healing
Miracles
Prophecy
Discerning of Spirits
Tongues
Interpretation

Notice that the Holy Spirit distributes all the gifts as “He” wills. We do not get to “choose.”

Sign Gifts

It is strange that usually when people start stating their gifts, they want to claim one of the sign gifts. But of all those who have told me they “have the gift of ____,” it has never proved to have identifiable results in their lives. I have not seen miracles brought about by some other believer “having the gift of miracles.” The same goes for the other “sign gifts.”

Do I believe that those gifts still exist? Yes, I do! The “perfect” in 1^st Corinthians 13:10, which Paul says is yet to come, is in reference to the completion of the Body of Christ. After the completion of the church, we will no longer need the miraculous gifts, or the sign gifts. We will see Him face to face! But for now, evidently the gifts still exist.

Where or when should I expect to see the sign gifts? Probably only when someone first carries the Gospel into a given geographic area,. Or, perhaps when there are unbelieving Jews present. Jesus commented that the Jews always were asking for a sign, and Paul confirmed, “…the Jews require a sign….” (1^st Corinthians 1:22)

Can the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in one of the above ways, without giving the believer any gift in that area? Surely He can! He is God! In light of that, it does not bother me to know that most believers can look back over their lives and remember one or more times when God miraculously intervened, and either saved their life, met a physical need, or simply gave them the words they needed to answer an unbeliever’s challenge.

All In One Body, and All Under God’s Authority (v. 12-31)

Physical Body as an Object Lesson

¹²For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. ¹³For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? ¹⁸But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. ¹⁹And if they were all one member, where were the body?

Individual examples

²⁰But now are they many members, yet but one body. ²¹And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. ²²Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: ²³And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. ²⁴For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.

The Reality of the Body of Christ

²⁵That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. ²⁶And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. ²⁸And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? ³⁰Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? ³¹But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Examples in the Body

Paul lists a number of gifts, as examples, with the intent of demonstrating that all are for the Body’s general health and function. They are not for the glory of the individual believer. God does not give us gifts for our own enjoyment: They are for the blessing and health of the whole Body of Christ. I will not give a “scholarly discourse” on the meaning and function of every gift, here, but I would like to use this same figure of a “body” in a slightly more graphic way:

Let’s consider a single human cell, taken from the living body of an athlete, an inventor, a ruler, a teacher, a fashion model, or any other person. But let’s say that it is a cell from the body of someone extraordinary in some way: the reason for their prowess is immaterial. The point is that this single cell, examined under a powerful microscope, displays none of the characteristics of “greatness” that we saw in the tissue donor. It will simply look like a tiny, ugly, essentially shapeless, and seemingly useless blob of tissue. That is a simple fact.

Every Part is a Picture of The Whole

But, it is also a fact, that, regardless of the location within the body from which you took the sample, whether it was from the brain, the nasal mucous membrane, the stomach lining, or whatever, every single cell from that same human body has, in its nucleus, the entire genetic code for the whole body. Ponder on that idea, for a moment, and consider how it might apply to the relationship between an individual believer and the whole Body of Christ:

God may have designed that particular cell (from a human body) for a single task: producing a specific endocrine, perhaps, or to help form the protective layers of the skin. But all the cells, collectively comprised the whole body, and, along with the collective experience of the whole body, they produce the person.

In our physical bodies there are parts we use all the time and other parts we completely forget about until we need them. None of them “feel left out!” They all do their jobs as planned. We nourish all the parts through the same stomach, heart and lungs. The brain connects withall the parts. Some responses require thought: others are automatic and involuntary. But they all work together for the benefit of the whole body.

God’s Object Lesson

God chose to use the physical human body as an “object lesson” as to how the Body of Christ is to function. We worry a lot about defining and identifying gifts. In the human body, most people do not know the “technical names” for each of their teeth… and no one planned or organized their own teeth: The teeth developed in God’s timing and by His assignment. Whether we know the proper terminology for them or not has no bearing on their function. We have them because God gave them, and we (mostly) use them for the benefit of the whole body, as we eat.

What about the Body of Christ? Each individual believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit: In fact, according to John 14:15-23, we can see that we are each indwelt by the entire Trinity, in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Individually, then, we each possess the key (or code) to what makes the entire Body of Christ what it is…we have Christ!

God makes the Church (collectively) to be the Bride of Christ, though it is incomplete, as yet. Collectively, the Spirit is building us into the Temple of God, though, for now, we are scattered across time and space.

Personal Knowledge and Satisfaction

I do not have to know how all the gifts work together: A living human cell, which, with others like it, comprises a hair follicle, for example, knows nothing about the workings of the neuron to which it is connected. But those neurons ultimately connect it to the brain! And, if a tiny weight, so much as a fruit-fly, lands on the hair that hair follicle has produced, the brain will immediately sense it, and make a decision as to whether the touch is a threat, an irritant, or something which may safely be ignored.

Lack of Satisfaction does not mean Lack of Blessing

The prophet Jeremiah had an incredibly unsatisfying ministry: He knew (though he embraced it very reluctantly) that he had been selected as a prophet; a “mouthpiece for God.” God had called him to communicate to the unbelieving, backsliding house of Judah, as well as other nations.

But, as far as we know, only two people believed his messages during his ministry. Did that mean he was ineffective, or even a “failure,” perhaps? No: it means that humanity, as a whole, habitually rejects the word of God. But, the false prophets of his time were quite popular, by comparison. (Give that some thought! Is it also true today? On the radio, say, or on the internet?)

And, even in Ezekiel’s case, though he was always faithful to bring only what God said, it turned out that the people were coming for the entertainment value, not because they were receptive to the Word of God. (Ezekiel 33:30-32)

Your gifting may not be particularly obvious, and it may not result in human praise. We are only called to do what God calls us to do: We are to be a blessing to one another, in ways that will profit the body of Christ, which will help or bless those in our circle of associates, and which, above all else, will honor God.

Choosing to Function

Sometimes it is very satisfying, to function: sometimes less so. Some gifts are fairly obvious, some are less so. Commit yourself to honoring God, and serving Him with your life, and He will reveal how he intends for you to function at your best. That does not mean you will only do that one thing: Paul was an Apostle, and a teacher, and a prophet; but he was also a tentmaker. When God required it of him, he served in that capacity. Was he honored by people, as a tentmaker? Perhaps he was… at least enough that he earned the money for himself and his entourage to proceed with their journey. But, was he honored as an apostle?

Sometimes he was, yes!…But, at other times he was savagely attacked: he was beaten, stoned, whipped, and imprisoned. Nearly everywhere he went, he was verbally abused, and, eventually, he was executed! Was he being faithful to God? Absolutely! Was he always happy and comfortable in the process? Nope! I don’t think so!

In Romans 12, and in 1^st Corinthians 13, Paul told how all the gifts are to be used: The core principle is to be the Agapé Love. And, in 1^st Corinthians 14, he said orderliness was to rule the use of the gifts—if the Holy Spirit is in charge, there will be neither disunity nor disorder.)

That is what we hope to see, here in our little assembly. We want the Holy Spirit to be in charge.

Lord Jesus, please help us to follow You closely, and to be submissive to Your hand, so that we begin to see how we are being used by Your Grace and Wisdom to bless others.

October 29, 2017

The Obedience of Faith

Hebrews 11:17-40

Introduction:

Last time we talked about the Behavior of Faith…what Faith does as a response to Revealed Truth. In fact, we stated that “Faith is an Obedient Response to a Revealed Truth.” This would include everything from “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” (from Acts 16:31) to “Make thee an ark of gopher wood…” (from Genesis 6:14), and even “Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac…and offer him there for a burnt offering….” (Genesis 22:2). Those were all responses of faith, some requiring a physical response, some not. Paul mentions this idea over in Romans, 1:5, saying that the Gospel had gone into all the world “for the obedience of faith”, or (KJV), “obedience to the faith.”

Hebrews eleven gives us the most examples, all in one place, of the whole Bible, to see what the obedience of faith might look like…and the results in people’s lives. Some were thrilling to read about…some were sad and frightening, when you go back and read the original accounts in the scripture. I do not find the story of Stephen getting beaten to death with rocks, by a mob of angry religious men, to be thrilling. I find it a fearful thing, and depressing, because my old nature says “bad things shouldn’t happen to good people.” (Job and his friends thought that, too, remember.)

The point is this: faith does NOT always bring about a happy, or comfortable life. Faith can be fatal, even, and has been fatal for millions down through the ages. But that is not what we are usually taught to expect. So, let’s look, now, and see the real result of faith, in Hebrews Eleven.

The Obedience of Faith

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

¹⁸Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

¹⁹Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

Did Abraham obey because it was fun, or exciting, or rewarding, or pleasant? He was being asked to kill his innocent son! He was being asked to offer his “only begotten son”…just as God did for the human race.

Again we can see that “Faith is an obedient response to a revealed truth.” Abraham already had the promise that Isaac, and none other, was to be his heir, but now God called him to sacrifice his son. What is amazing to me is that Abraham did not even argue, as he had done earlier, interceding for Lot, but just got up early and began splitting wood for the sacrificial fire!

We can hardly see it in Genesis, except in seed form, but Abraham looked beyond the apparent paradox, and saw the resurrection! In the Genesis account (Genesis 22:5) we see that Abraham left the servants with the donkey and told them, “I and the lad will go…and come again to you.” That is the statement of faith…and it is all we have to look at until Hebrews 11:19, where we see that Abraham literally believed that he was going to sacrifice Isaac, and that God was going to restore him to life! He looked beyond the paradox and saw the resurrection!

When we read Isaiah 53:10, we see a paradox, as well. It describes the death of the protagonist (the Messiah), and then says “…he shall see his progeny” after he has made his soul an offering for sin. (!!) But we see the paradox from the vantage point of the New Testament, and easily understand that the resurrection comes between those two events. Could you have seen it without the New Testament revelation? I think I would have simply seen a contradiction. The resurrection was known in the Old Testament, for sure, but I am not sure I would have put the two together. Abraham had far less information upon which to build, but, somehow, he made the connection by faith, knowing that

God had made an unchangeable promise, and that
He would have to compensate in some way, to still keep that promise.

That is the result of faith! He believed God more than he believed his eyes. More than he believed his experience. More than he believed the “laws of physics” as he understood them. And God says, in a figurative sense, in a picture of the real resurrection yet to come, Abraham indeed received his son back from the dead.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

The only information Isaac had to work with was the prophecy made during the pregnancy: “two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the elder shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23) But he saw the truth of the prophecy, reflected in the lives of his sons, and, as a prophet, he opened his mouth in faith, and God spoke through him.

²¹By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

Jacob was also a prophet, and God spoke through him. He believed God and spoke the truth, though I’m sure it was not what he would have chosen. He predicted the outcome of the lives of all his sons and those of Joseph. And not all of it was nice. But he was acting in faith.

The Actions of Faith

²²By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Joseph believed the promise of God given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he wanted to be part of the fulfillment. So, he commanded that his bones be transported to the land of the promise when and only when Israel actually returned there.

We have modern day examples of this: The famous pianist Ignacy Paderewski became the Prime minister of Poland during Poland’s struggle for independence, but later served as head of a Polish parliament-in-exile, living in London and touring in the United States to raise money for the Polish relief fund. In 1941, he ultimately fell ill and died of pneumonia in New York, but had asked that his body, though temporarily interred at Arlington, should be removed to Poland after they achieved independence from the Soviets. In 1992, this actually occurred, 51 years after his death. His body is now in Warsaw, Poland, at St. John’s Arch-cathedral. (Oddly, in 1953 his heart had been encased in a bronze sculpture in a Roman Catholic shrine for Polish-Americans, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and it remains there today. I don’t know who arranged that.)

²³By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

²⁴By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

²⁵Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

²⁶Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

²⁷By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

²⁸Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

²⁹By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

I have underscored the verbs (“was hid, refused, choosing, esteeming, forsaking,” etc.) in many of the preceding passages, only to point out that faith is not a “feeling”—it is an action. It means being persuaded enough to act. The results are not always what we hope for, in this life. But sometimes they are: the following verses tell of a whole bunch of miraculous victories, healings, and raisings from the dead, etc.

The Results of Faith

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

³¹By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

³²And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

There is an odd little point to notice here: If you are familiar with the life story of each of the people actually named, here, you will remember that most of them were fairly deeply flawed individuals, these were not pious saints who walked around with halos over their heads. They had some pretty severe dysfunctions in their lives. Samuel seems the best of the list, and even he had his failings. David was an adulterer and murderer; Samson was a violent, self-serving narcissistic womanizer. Gideon and Barak were fairly timid, fearful men whom God raised up to a point of valor (to one degree or another) so that great victories were won. And, sadly, Gideon accidentally started an idolatrous mini-cult after his great victories.

³³Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

³⁴Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

This all reads like the flyleaf of some sensational best-selling book from a modern Christian bookstore…and each event, unlike the modern books, was simply historical fact, not sensationalized at all. But, in the midst of all the victories, we hear of the other side of faith:

The Cost of Faith

³⁵Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

³⁶And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Again, I am emphasizing the terrible cost of faith in some believers’ lives. (“Tortured, trials, mockings, scourgings, bonds, imprisonments, stonings,” etc. And what does God say about those people?

Does He mumble something about their faith not having been strong enough? Because that is exactly what the “health-and-wealth” Prosperity Gospel people say, when things don’t go well. They say, “Your faith wasn’t strong enough! If you really believe God for (whatever it is) then you’ll receive it.” I headed into that trap briefly myself, when I was a new believer. I read the place in John 16:24 where it says “hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full”, and I thought I had found the key to getting whatever I wanted in prayer! God disabused me of that notion that very day, as the things I prayed for “in Jesus name” did NOT happen…not even close! It was a very frustrating day; believe me!

But later I chanced upon the passages in 1^st John 3:22, and 1^st John 5:14, 15. There, the same Apostle John informed me that there was more to the promise than met the eye. The one verse (3:22) said that I had to already be walking with God, in obedience to His will, and the other two (5:14, 15) specified that the things we ask have to be within the will of God. (Ohhhh! So, there was a condition to that particular promise!) I even had a teacher in Bible school who taught this “believe and receive” idea, though I am confident that he later realized he was mistaken.

But, again, what did God say about these who did not experience health, prosperity, or victory? What does God say about these people, whom the World will call pathetic losers, and dupes and fools? Read the next two verses:

³⁸(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

God says these were the best of the best! He says the World was not worthy of them! That they were the real winners, not the losers! Who? The ones who got rich by faith? The ones who saw great triumphs? No! He refers to the ones who were destitute, afflicted, and tormented! The ones who lost everything for God, and, from the world’s perspective, seemed to have died as “pathetic losers.” He says they died, not having received the promise, and that they obtained a good report by faith.” That is their “report card” from God! God says they were the winners: the best of the best! Give that some thought, please! They made choices by faith!

The Choices of Faith

⁴⁰God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Completion of the Church, proper.)

This promise definitely includes us. And how do we apply it? The writer applied it for us: he says that God has provided for US some better thing…we are in the same position as those “pathetic losers”, condemned by the world for believing God. We are to join them in their faith and obedience, knowing that, ultimately, it may cost us, just as it did them. We attain maturity and completion in Christ along with them, and by means of many of the same tribulations, afflictions and trials. And, ultimately, the Church will be completed, including both those heroic saints of the early church and us, who are latecomers, whether heroic or otherwise.

What choices are involved? Faith is a choice, no matter how it is applied. Every one of you lives by faith, already…I work for two weeks without reward, believing that I will receive a paycheck in due time (and I do receive it.) I sat down in the pew, here in church this morning, without first checking to see whether it would hold me. I make a call on my cell-phone, believing that the correct person will receive my call, when the fact of the matter is that neither one of us understands the phones we are using: we use the phones by faith. We believe the phones will work, so we use them. They do not work because of our faith, but because they are designed well. God’s grace and power are a reality whether or not I believe. But they are applied to my life through faith. And I have to choose to believe, based upon whatever evidence He has given.

Faith is always a choice to believe; a choice to trust, a decision to take someone’s word as true. The real question is, in every case, where are you placing your faith? Will you believe a politician who has a history of lying? A financial corporation who has a history of failing to protect your money or your personal information? A preacher who can barely manage his own life, let alone tell you how to manage yours? Or the eternal God, who created you, who has sustained all life for all time, and who deliberately took your sins on his own shoulders at the Cross, so as to die in your place? We choose to trust Christ!

Initially, we choose to believe in Jesus’s blood at the Cross: so God takes away our guilt and gives us eternal life. Then, every day, we either choose to believe God enough to obey Him, or we decide that someone else, perhaps our own deceitful heart, is more trustworthy.

The choice is yours!

Lord Jesus, help us to enter into the obedience of Faith. Rebuild our lives in your own image! We want to be like you! Make us the men and women of God you have called us to be.