Paul's
Epistles - 1 Corinthians
Part
24 – Spiritual Gifts
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Paul's
letter to the church in Corinth, was addressing the things he had heard about
them, including incest, adultery, over-spiritualized behaviors, wandering away
from the Word of God, and an overall pride about them.
Paul
has corrected the Corinthian Churches view about the division; Christ is head
of the church, no one else. He also let them know that the power comes from
God, and they should be humble, not conceited and over-spiritual.
He
warned them not to go beyond what is written.
He
addressed their pseudo-faith and spiritual activity of abstaining from intimate
relations with their spouses, explaining this was the root of their immoral
behavior.
He
also warned them against lawsuits with other believers, saying the only reason
they could not come to terms together inside the church was because of their
pride and arrogance.
He
instructed them to be content in their situations, so as to quench the immoral
behavior that was coming from discontent, and selfish ambition. Paul warned
about becoming a stumbling block to other believers if we have certain
knowledge that they do not possess.
Paul
explained again about Christian Liberties, and about God's Will, and last week
explained Communion.
This
week we will see Paul talking about Spiritual Gifts. Why, because the Church in
Corinth was behaving badly, selfishly, sinfully, and Paul was trying to correct
their path.
Committing
a sin is one thing, however, living in that sin is another, Paul explained this
to us a few chapters back when he talked about Israel and how those who died in
their sin never saw the Promised Land.
SCRIPTURE
REFERENCE I Corinthians 12:1 - 11
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different
kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There
are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There
are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.8 To one there is given
through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to
another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to
another miraculous powers, to
another prophecy, to
another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of
tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All
these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just
as he determines.
I.
IS HE CURSED OR
LORD?
a.
About the Gifts
i.
Paul is speaking of the 9 gifts he spoke of in verse 8-10
1.
Wisdom - information
concerning the future of people, places or things.
2.
Knowledge - concerns the
past or present relative to persons, place or things. "the word of knowledge", meaning a
"small amount".
3.
Faith - special faith
4.
Healing - prayers for the
sick
5.
Miracles - extraordinary
things
6.
Prophecy - this is for
edification, exhortation, and comfort (I Corinthians 14:3), this has
nothing to do with the OFFICE of Prophet.
7.
Discernment - whether the
Spirit of God, human spirits or evil
8.
Tongues - the kind meant to be
interpreted.
9.
Interpretation of
Tongues.
ii.
Brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be
uninformed (LIT. Ignorant) The
Spirit of God speaking through Paul wants the Church to know about these gifts.
b.
You were
influenced, led astray by mute idols
i.
Before they knew God they were led by superstition and
witchcraft
c.
If you are led by
God's Holy Spirit
i.
You cannot say Jesus is cursed
1.
The Spirit of God would never do such a thing.
2.
Anyone who does say this is not led by the Spirit of
God.
3.
This is done by word, action (behavior) or deed.
ii.
You can say Jesus is Lord
1.
Because it is the Holy Spirit alone who reveals the Lordship
of Jesus Christ.
II.
ONE GOD
a.
Different Gifts but
one Spirit
i.
The Holy Spirit never contradicts Himself
b.
Different kinds of
service (administrations, ministries, offices) but one Lord
i.
Christ is the one who assigns the different Ministries
ii.
The Holy Spirit then carries out the function
iii.
Christ never contradicts Himself.
1.
We have three Deacons chosen to serve this church
a.
Bud Kramer
b.
Kurt Ulman
c.
Dale Keel
d.
Just because you may help one Sunday, does NOT make you
a deacon.
2.
Their office is to serve the church and people in it as
described in scripture. There are certain qualifications they must meet
according to scripture, and they each received a certificate designating them
as Deacons, as well as a book full of scripture verses describing their office
as such.
3.
This office is different than Elder, which is someone
called by God to serve as Spiritual Leader in the Church.
a.
Voting for a deacon is the only place in scripture
where you see an actual "vote" take place for any office in a church.
4.
Different administrations, ministries, offices, but all
serving the same Lord.
c.
Different kinds of
workings but one God
i.
Referring to the different ways the Gifts work
ii.
But one God who authors all of this for one purpose,
His Will
III.
ALL OF THIS IS FOR
ONE COMMON GOOD
a.
Various Spiritual
Gifts serve God's purpose
i.
If the gifts are allowed to function properly, they
profit ALL
b.
No one person has
them all
i.
This would defeat God's will of congregations.
ii.
The only people I have ever seen claiming to have all
the gifts were TV evangelists wanting to cheat people out of their money.
iii.
Scriptures make it clear, the gifts are distributed as
the Holy Spirit sees fit, and are for the building, strengthening, and
edification of the church, not selfish gain and riches.
c.
But they all work
to the good of the Body of Christ (the church)
CONCLUSION
vs 11 All these (Spiritual Gifts, services, ministries,
offices, and the ways the gifts work) are the work of one and
the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
The Holy Spirit determines the distribution. Men
and women cannot impart Gifts to other individuals. That is the domain of the
Spirit alone!
You may desire certain gifts and pray for them as
scripture says in I Corinthians 14.
Paul explains the gifts and their purposes again
in hopes of correcting the path of the Corinthian church.
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