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And now let's listen in to today's teaching.
If you are joining with us for the first time, Time this
morning, we've been working through this letter of
Corinthians, the Paul's letter to the Corinthians versus
chapters 12 through 14. And as we've been studying First
Corinthians 12 through 14, we've taken some time to understand
Paul's larger flow, of thought, and of, try to take some time to
Define some terms for us. We're going to take a look this
morning at the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And as I've mentioned before, Paul's primary, point is for us
to understand, not each gift in Nuclear, although the we will
understand and seek to understand that the larger
understanding is what does it look like when the church
gathers together? Like, we are doing this morning
in corporate worship and how do we exercise these gifts of the
Spirit and in particular in particular, the Corinthian
Church, excuse me, the Corinthian Church was struggling
with, how do they do such things in a mature way in chapter 12,
verses 1 through 30, if we're going to kind of look at the
flow of thought, again, Paul speaks the unity of the body.
And then he points to the E of gifts that are given to them and
then he goes on to speak about the most excellent way that we
can present ourselves and worship which is in love to one
another in love for Christ. And love for one another, it is
for the common good that we exercise, these spiritual gifts,
then in chapter 14, what Paul will do is it will encourage us
encourage the church in Corinth to pursue that, which is
building up for the church. In fact, the point is Paul is
trying to instruct them on how to use to particular spiritual
gifts to gift of Prophecy and to get the tongues, And pick that
up in the flow. He is arguing that the thing
that is best for the church is that thing that is most
understood and we're going to work through that in a few
weeks. Next week, most likely or the
week after then finally what Paul does he give some order and
instruction to the Church of a, how they should order themselves
during public? Corporate worship.
The reason I say that is because we can, we can get stuck and
bogged down into the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And in the context of the passage we want, understand that
the end goal is for us to worship, well, to Worship in
such a way that is not only building up for the church, but
also a witness to the world around us, and for those who
would join us in seeing how Christ manifest himself in his
people. And so we talked about that.
The fact that every believer is gifted by God.
And now we're talking about the gifts that are used by God and
Paul points us to be open to the Holy Spirit and to be others
centered. And to remember that the
objective is love for Christ and that our worship should be
orderly. Spiritual gifts are The common
good of the church which are to be done in love for Jesus and
for one another now, in First Corinthians chapter 12, he opens
by saying that there are multiple gifts but the same
spirit and then what we ask is what are those spiritual gifts
that were being using being used in the context of local church?
So I gave some context last week as to the reasons why the topic
of spiritual gifts is somewhat confusing and it's, sometimes
unnecessarily divisive against Christians, I'm Not going to
repeat myself this week. You can listen to that for
yourself and if you need a refresher you can go onto our
website and listen to that. I will remind us one thing that
Pentecost, the reason why Pentecost happened in the
Redemptive story of God is one to point us to the reality that
the promised holy spirit is given to us permanently, and it
is not just given to one people's given to all people,
which is the foundation with which Paul says that we can have
the spirit poured out on us. That all are gifted by the Holy
Spirit. This means that the spirit is as
much present with us today. Whoever we are, wherever we are
wherever we come from or whoever were descended from.
The spirit is, as much alive in us today as he was present in
those in the first century. So we have been given the Holy
Spirit as a gift and that gift that is given to us, is not the
thing that comes and goes. But the gifts that the Holy
Spirit present in US manifest themselves for the building up
of the body. And so, in verse 8, Paul begins
to list the things that are manifesting in the Corinthian
Church in verse 7. He says that a manifestation of
the spirit is given to each person for the common good and
then what he will do is he will go and he lists the Fruits of
the spirit. Not the manifestations of the
spirit in verse 8. Last week we focused on the fact
that to one is given a message of wisdom, through the spirit to
another message of knowledge by The Same Spirit pointed out that
the emphasis here is on the law, God's, the message that is
producing wisdom and knowledge, that it is not a distinct gift
of wisdom or gift of knowledge. But in fact, it is the
knowledge. And the wisdom that is produced,
by those who have the gift of teaching that To teaching
produces in us, a wisdom and discernment and a knowledge of
Jesus Christ and of his gospel and of the story of God, wisdom
and knowledge are paired here. Together that serves as a result
of someone who is teaching teaching and preaching from
which a person will gain wisdom in life, and knowledge of God in
the context of worship. As we move on to verse 9, Paul
says that to another Faith by The Same Spirit.
Now, this this Faith hear. This word is not saving Faith.
The reason why we laid the foundation of say, you cannot be
spiritual apart from the holy spirit.
So, this is not a saving Faith. This word faith here is not one.
That means that to one is giving Faith to believe, but it is a
faith to have an extraordinary trust in God.
In other words, this gift is not the tendency of The Optimist to
be positive about everything saying that.
That man, Everything is awesome. Everything is going to be
awesome. That faith is not the the power
to just see with everything Rose, The Rose Colored Glasses,
right? Someone quoted it like this, The
Optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible
worlds. And the pessimist fears, that
this is true. Did you catch that some of you
live with people who are optimists?
And some of you are pessimist by Nature, it's your temperament.
You just? I don't know, but that's not
what this is. Faith is not just just it just
being positive about everything, d.a.
Carson defines it. Well, he says this special
Faith, enables a Believer to trust.
God to bring about certain things for which he, or she
cannot claim some Divine promise recorded in Scripture or some
State of Affairs grounded in the very structure of the Gospel.
This is a faith that is not claiming things like.
Jesus Christ has said that he would save us because of his
resurrecting power. That's a promise that's given to
us in the gospel. This type of faith is one that
looks at God's character and stands firmly on his promises
seen in Hebrews chapter 11. If you're familiar chapter 11 is
known as the Hall of Faith, people, that looked ahead they
didn't see Actually, what was to come, but they trusted that God
promised that it was there. Modern examples of extraordinary
Faith might be someone like Amy Beatrice Carmichael.
If you're familiar with her, she lived between the eight-time of
1867 and 1951 and she was an Irish Christian Missionary in
India, who had 28 at 28, trusted God and believed God for opening
an orphanage and founded a mission in India where she
served there for 55 years, trusting that God would meet her
in that Act of Faith. Or perhaps you might be familiar
with Hudson Taylor who was a British Christian.
To China. Who founded the China inland
mission spending 51 years there in China establishing schools
and churches there for those who have never heard the gospel or
perhaps you might think of Bill bright, who founded campus
Crusade for Christ, as a Ministry for University,
students trusting that God wanted people to hear the
gospel. And so he stepped out in faith
and trust in God for Ministries across the globe, he wrote a
book called the four spiritual laws, he trusted God to raise up
people to produce a film called the This film, he had great
faith. He trusted that God would meet
him if he moves forward in Faith Church Planters, people that
start Ministries, people that respond to something that is on
their heart that they believe God for.
This is the faith, the faith to believe God for his promises.
But we need not only look to these stories of a.
So what we tend to do is we tend to take these men and women and
we Elevate them, I just just kind of put that all before you.
But the one thing that we need to Understand.
Is that this faith is not a scenario for those who are just
super spiritual. Again, this is we tend to do
this. We tend to hyper spiritual eyes,
people who do great things but Faith, exercising, Faith as is
here. The gift of faith.
It means that in every scenario and perhaps, even this local
church and every small local church, some scenario requires
the gift of someone who has the gift of faith.
The gift of faith is distributed by the spirit as he chooses to
boost. Perhaps may be flagging murder,
all the more. Of his people, someone that says
that. No, we're going to stay here.
We're going to stay here and continue on.
We're going to, we're going to persevere in small things or
trusting God for things that seemingly look small to the
outside world. Perhaps the local church
pursuing an upward call of God, where they believe that.
Perhaps, maybe we need to trust God for our budget failures or
perhaps the provision for a youth group leader, or even the
calling of a new pastor or even a decision that needs to be made
regarding facilities or missions or meat.
And need in the local church. What faith does this gift of
faith that it. Underwrites are obedient to
Jesus. Lord.
And even the most seemingly insignificant member, which we
will get to in the illustration of the diversity in the body and
the need for one another. Even the most insignificant
member seemingly May well be used to impart such faith for
the whole body at a crucial moment of decision making.
Have you ever experienced that or some little old lady in the
back? Who are some little old man?
Or some unassuming person stands up and says why I believe that
we can trust God for this and we should move forward and
everybody rallies to it and says that's true.
And then it happens. And these are the things that we
have been given in the body of Christ, where we do not need
great vision, casting and leaders and strength.
But rather it is any member in the church who might have this
gift given of Faith. Extraordinary faith, Now, Paul
moves on in chapter 10 verse 10, he says to another Gifts of
healing, by the one Spirit to another the Performing of
Miracles to another prophecy. What we're beginning to enter
into is what's known as the miraculous gifts in the
revelatory gifts there, / things that are miraculous being that
there are Supernatural, they do not happen in the natural and
then the revelatory things that reveal, what is on God's heart
and then come directly from God, In the gifts of healing here.
It's plural. The, the word, the Greek here is
its plural. Its Gifts of charismatic.
It is a pluralized world of charismatic.
It's another gift. And these plural gifts are given
by the one Spirit, the gifts of healing seem to be something
that is for the various illnesses in various ways.
If the verses in chapter in verses eight, if we think about
eight overlapping with wisdom and knowledge of wisdom and
knowledge, Or overlapping Paul might be overlapping these gifts
here as well where he's trying to point to the fact that some
are given Gifts of various healing.
Is that perhaps in the early church, there were multiple ways
in which people needed healing. They needed a miraculous healing
and miracles as opposed to just healing Miracles.
Could be something where it's either healing diseases or well
or perhaps The Exorcism of demons maybe perhaps.
Doing something that is beyond healings, no one really knows
the context, doesn't tell you, but what we do is we let
scripture interpret scripture and so what kind of healings do
we see in the New Testament? Well, the healings of Jesus, and
of the Apostles, if you read through the gospels, and if you
read through the book of Acts or which I'm not going to work,
walk us through there. You can do that on your own.
You can read your Bible. That's why you have one, the
gifts of Jesus and the apostles in terms of healing, they were
direct. They were Dick and they were by
word and they were by touch. They had an immediate impact.
And so, as we went through, the Gospel of John, there was a man
who was blind, he was born, blind.
And one of the Miracles Jesus did was told him to see it was a
man who was blind. And now he sees a man who was
lame. And now he can walk a person, a
son, a daughter who was dead, and now they are alive, direct
healings. This is not kind of just a slow
retrieve retrieval to health. These are direct healings.
They were no different than what is proposed today in terms of
the miraculous the miraculous healing if something is
miraculous it should be above the supernatural I mean it
should be above the natural did something that you can't explain
other than the supernatural effect of God.
Now where this comes into play, in terms of the need for
maturity is that all sorts of people can claim, all sorts of
gifts of healing. And sometimes, what we see is we
see this healing of things that seem subjective to Nature if I
have a headache, or, if there's something that I'm feeling,
like, anxiety or sadness, or fear or perhaps, maybe I have an
ache or something, that is not really a verifiable, it can be
subjective in nature. Sometimes people claim that they
have this Gift of healing. That seems to be kind of
unarguable. It's like, it's like when
someone says and we'll talk a little bit about this.
Is if someone argues you that, the Lord told me, well.
Okay, sometimes we throw that argument out there and it's hard
to argue against that because, again, it is subjective in
nature. So objective is truth.
That is verifiable. It's it stated subjective is
like, well, I kind of feel this way.
Well that's it's kind of shaky ground.
When I first, when I was first where this where this can be
damaging is, let me share a story with you when I was campus
director at West Chester University, we were on staff at
Penn State for a while and we had, we had moved to West
Chester and I was excited to be back the summer before I got
there. The campus director had to walk
through something. That was significantly, trying a
handful students. Had a friend who had was killed,
tragically in a car accident. In fact, I found out.
Later that this student was actually a counselor at the camp
that I worked at his name is Martin and he was a Godly kid.
He loved Jesus. He was tragically killed in a
car accident and before I was the director there, one of the
groups of students decided that they wanted to exercise the gift
of healing and they wanted to trust God and have exercises of
faith and they wanted to trust God for something big and they
believe that God LED them and told them.
To raise Martin from the dead. Do you see where this is going?
So, what they did is they went to the funeral and They begged
for the parents, to let them come over the coffin and pray
for the miraculous healing of Martin from the dead.
Because one of them believed that they had the gift of
healing. Now, Martin did not rise from
the dead, he will one day, but he did not that day, but the
hurt that was caused and the the pain that was caused and the
witness for immature believing Faith.
There is is the damage was done. When we move forward without
understanding or teaching, this is why Paul is teaching his,
this is why we submit ourselves a word and think through the
things that we have been told in Scripture.
When we subject ourselves to some false teachings or some
immature teachings, we see the church act immaturely.
We see people that genuinely love, Jesus, and believe Jesus.
For great things, do things that are not warranted in scripture.
And so, when we think about the gifts of healing, this was
happening in the Corinthian Church.
So in context, I want you to know that there were Believers
men and women that had the gifts of healing in.
Context. And also, like I said, the
miraculous gift of healing does occur, but a particular gift of
healing for a particular person to have a gift of healing.
I do not believe and will look further at why, I don't believe
that that there are individuals that do possess this gift of
healing as per the abilities of the Apostles, in the first
century or the early church. Again, this does not mean that,
I don't think that the scripture leads us to believe leave that
Miracles, have ceased. Only that specific people are
given specific gifts of healing to go around and miraculously
heal. As we move on, Paul says that
there is another gift in. This is the gift of Prophecy.
There is some confusion about what prophecy is and the
questions about what prophecy was in, the first century is
enormous. I can give you 12 different
books if you want to read about them all like 500 pages, thick
if you want to read them this afternoon I will be glad to hand
them to you. Do your study on your own, the
questions about what and was not prophecy or what was thought
about prophecy, or the different ways in which prophecy is talked
about in the Scriptures in the hole is is Myriad.
But one thing I want you to notice is that the prophecy that
Paul speaks about here. The gift of Prophecy is not a
prepared preaching, and teaching as some might argue as they do.
But it seems that it is an occasional and spontaneous word
from God. We might look to the words of
agabus and Acts chapter 11, when he had a prophecy for Paul or
even when John says that Caiaphas the high priest who was
in the Sanhedrin prophesied that Jesus.
Must Die for the sake of Israel. It is a spontaneous event.
In fact, if you turn really quickly, if you just make a
right hand turn Paul says that in the order of worship, in
chapter 14, verses 29 through 32, he gives order and says that
two or three prophets should speak in the other should
evaluate. But if something has been
revealed to another person sitting there, the first person,
the first prophet should be silent.
He's giving order in the context of worship, and so it is a
spontaneous. Vent prophecy does not always
need to foretell the future. It can speak to current
circumstances. It may also be used to bring
others to Faith since it reveals, the secrets of the
heart. Again, in chapter 14, we'll see
where that plays out. But what I want to see here,
just to get a definition of what these gifts are in the context
of the Corinthian Church. The gift of Prophecy is linked
to having Mysteries and knowledge.
That is not readily accessible Tom.
Reiner in his book on Prophecy and kind of this commentary on
this. He says, this at the prophet,
the prophetic manifestation in the New Testament is of the same
nature. Meaning it is the same
substance. It, is it operates the same way
as it did in the Old Testament? In other words that it was God
communicating typically either through a spontaneous event or a
revelation By His prophets which were authoritative and
completely true. And so it is the nature.
I think that we look here and we can't just come up with
different ways. which the screen around the issue, I believe the
gifts of Prophecy in the context of the Corinthian Church was
such that God revealed to someone in this context, a word
that was to be revealed and it was encouraging to the local
church and as they heard they were called to weigh it to
discern it and then the if it was indeed not necessarily true
in terms of its specificity they were to deem it as not something
that was prophetic and they were A move on.
If we go back to Pentecost, if we think about Pentecost in
Acts, chapter 2, Peter points to Joel's prophecy in Chapter 2,
verses 28 through 30 to in the last days, Peter says that, God
says, I will pour out my spirit on all people that your sons and
your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions
and your old men will dream dreams and I will even pour out
my spirit on my servants in those days both men and Women
and they will prophesy. When we hear this, this
prophetic word. This, this pointing to God's
promise of the holy spirit being poured out on his people, what
we understand is that this prophecy of Joel is to be
Universal that there is no corner on the globe that the
spirit is not poured out onto his people and we ought to
expect. So, when Peters giving the
sermon at Pentecost, the expectation is that, hey,
remember the promise that God said he would pour out his
spirit, it's happening. It is happening.
And here it is. In the reason why you're hearing
all of these different languages and tongues in the gospel being
proclaimed is because this was the promise of God and
therefore, it is something that we ought to expect.
That God would manifest himself in the power of this.
Holy Spirit, not just in the age of the Apostles, but throughout
the age of the church and to come the spirit would be with
his people. The spirit of Prophecy that was
recounted in the process of Prophecy of joy.
Joel suggests that this is not something that we ought to find
absent. In any age, we ought to expect
God, to prophesy through his people.
And the prophetic Ministry was okay in the Old Testament and is
now in the New Covenant, God's present word for God's present
people. So, let me ask you this
question, who are God's people? Who are God's present people?
Say it loud and say it proud. Yes, right.
Where do we see or hear his word?
We see it in scripture, Jesus is the word in the word.
We see God, we know God, we hear God in the beginning was the
word and the Word was with God. And the Word was God, he came to
his own and he revealed himself. God has completed his word of
Revelation to us through Jesus Christ.
And when we think of the words of God that we need for life and
living, assisting, all of the word that is necessary for all
time. And for all of God's people is
contained in the scriptures in the The scriptures.
And so, when we think in terms of the prophetic gift, now, as
the church was growing, God miraculously, we look at history
and we say to ourselves again, I rightly admit that there are
those who might disagree with me, but I have to have to look
at the scriptures, and I also have to look at the process of,
how did God work in history? What's the big story and God
shows up? And he does things, and he does
things in such a mighty way, in a powerful way in history, and
then it, Compass has what he's intended to accomplish and then
there seems to be just kind of like, it's not as it's not as
awesome anymore. You.
Jesus Christ comes he ascends and now we're like waiting for
him to return the Israelites were enslaved.
He rescues that rescues down the power, and then he asks him to
live for a couple hundred years in the land, just living, quiet
lives and waiting for him and trusting him.
There are ways in, which God manifests himself in moves in
history. And at the beginning of the
early church, we see these things happening and the church
is exploding and then the churches established And then
over the course of history, we should see certain things needed
and certain things that are not needed.
And when you think in terms of the prophetic gift, now we ought
not to think of it in terms of the fact that there's an
augmentation of truth, but rather there is an application
of truth. Then in other words, a prophetic
word. Rooted in the scriptures might
be something that is found in the scriptures and can be
verified by the scriptures but ought to be weighed in such a
way in which perhaps someone might be right about how they're
applying God's word to our lives.
They might feel a nudge the Holy Spirit to share something that's
on their heart and if it's in line with scriptures then we
take it and we weigh it truthfully.
I've had plenty of people who have given me prophetic words
friends that have given me prophetic words and on And some
of them have just said, hey, this is the way in which I sense
that I want. I feel like the Lord is speaking
and so I want to share this with you and they give me a prophetic
word and I listen to them and they just they share with me how
they believe that. The father desires for me to do
all things that are good and too kind of like think through the
way in which I've been called in to live in a manner, worthy of
the Gospel. I'm like I think I've heard that
before your recounting to me, something that is in scripture.
And if it affirms with my Spirit, the things that I'm
like, hey, I'm wrestling with that.
Thank you for sharing that it's an encouragement, it builds me
up. I've also had friends that have
given me, prophetic words that God has told them that something
or something is going to happen in my life and it doesn't happen
in some ways. I've had things shared to me,
that is a prophetic word and it has come to be the opposite
thing. And it has been a painful thing
was, like, why did you share that?
That was, that was absolutely wrong.
Now, I want you to understand friends that the Pentecostal
understanding I have pointed to the fact that there's a
difference between Pentecostal views of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit and other particular views.
But I want to, I want to point this out, particularly about
what is the Pentecostal understanding of Prophecy
Pentecostalism believes that the gifts of the holy spirit are
alive, and well, healing prophecy tongues, revelatory
gifts, miraculous gifts as they were in the day.
Pentecost in an early church but it has laid dormant.
So the four ways in which I want you to know that Pentecostal
understanding of Prophecy is this.
So it is one a direct Revelation from God.
A Pentecostal understanding of Prophecy is that it is a direct
Revelation from God. That the thoughts of God have
come specifically from God to a particular person gifted with
the gift of Prophecy. That to the words of Prophecy,
frequently will include specific directions from God concerning.
Earning his plans for the future three that the proper verbal
form typically used, when a gift of Prophecy is given to someone.
In a Pentecostal stream would say that it is God who says that
I am, the one that God says, I who speaks is frequently God
himself. So it is directly from God.
Speaking through the gifted prophetic word about something
in the future and it is God himself.
Who is speaking? And finally for that because the
sign was given In the Apostolic Church, it is a sign.
So, prophetic sign that with the other signs get the sign gifts.
They have been in kind of dormancy until recently until
lately again. Like I said, the history of
Pentecostalism comes up and about the at the, the 1950s,
there's a Resurgence. And then from that point,
there's a stream of Pentecostals and that says that the gifts of
the holy spirit are now awakened in Alexis season in the church
some would call it a third wave of the Holy Rohit, I don't have
time to get into all of that now.
But when you compare the understanding of a Pentecostal
view of Prophecy and perhaps, what is the understanding that
if God has revealed to us all that he is intended to reveal to
us. Is if there is nothing that we
need to add, John says that, if anything, if anyone adds to this
Revelation, let him be accursed. There's, there's nothing we need
to add Jesus as he's revealed himself to the apostles and the
prophets and he said to him, go and make disciples of all
Nations. Nations baptizing them in the
name of the father, and of the son of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them all that. I have commanded you to teach
teach them to obey this word. That the necessity for God to
add anything to his word, seems to be void if there's no need
for God to add anything because everything that we have.
Now some might argue with me on this but I believe that the
prophetic gift is not just something that is given to the
church as a means by which we might just know the future.
But the prophetic gift is something that allows us to
know. Clearly, what the scriptures
say, and they ought to be weighed carefully.
So as we move on, Paul says that there is another gift to
another. There is distinguishing between
Spears. This is plain and simple
discernment, just discernment deciding what is true from what
is false John. And first John Chapter 4, verses
1 through 3 says that we are to test the spirits to see if they
are from God. And the reason is because he
says many false prophets have gone out into the world at the
time of the early church, there were many false prophets.
For many, who would come in and teach that which was not true,
but they were called to discern and to test the spirits Jesus
himself in Matthew chapter 7 says not everyone who says Lord
Lord and teaches and does these things that are in my name will
be ones. That I know they might do things
in the name of me but they may not be.
In fact, lie for me or with me, this is discernment.
You can see throughout the Book of Acts and all of the gospels.
If you read through the New Testament, you see that the
apostles And the churches are exhorted to discern to teach
through false teaching and lying spirits that they are to
discern. Everything that is thrown at the
church, as it advances, the Gates of Hell to beat down the
doors deception, half-truths, we are called to discern today, to
discern, what it is, that is true and what is not and the
only way, how do we discern? Well it's if we discern, if we
have the knowledge of God and the wisdom of God and the
teaching of God and we have his word with us.
And so the more we learn Of God's word and we think his
thoughts after him, the more were able to discern but the
gift of discernment is Discerning.
Which spirit is speaking again remembered the beginning of this
chapter where someone was saying Jesus is cursed in the context
of the corporate worship? If you look at verse 3, Paul is
saying, you can't say that if you're filled with the Holy
Spirit, it just doesn't work. Discerning.
Here's some bonus gifts for you
that are listed by Paul and First Corinthians 2 chapter 12.
The same 12. If you go forward and verse 28,
I figured I would just throw all the gifts in here.
You ready? Paul says, and God has appointed
different offices in the church and he lifts other gifts that
are not listed in. This first one, there's the gift
of helping and the gift of leading or which otherwise known
as Administration and helping this is the the word that is
used as a very general term for use of Of all kinds of
assistance. It's to lift people up and to
Loops, this is the Greek word, it's to lift up people.
The second word is translated leading or Administration.
And in the plural, it indicates various leading leading
positions of the body of Christ. It's typically used in the Greek
for piloting or steering a ship. So you have some people that are
able to come alongside and assist and there's some people
that are not there's some people that Have come alongside of us
and have tried to help and let's be honest.
You've been like you have helped me absolutely in no way and I
would appreciate if you do not offer your advice anymore but
then there are those who do, you know, the people who help you,
you're just like man they just come into your life and they
just like man, thank you for that.
That's you there's no way you would have been able to do that
and they help you and they do it with joy.
People that just know how to steer things.
They know how to take things in a particular direction and they
Do it? Well, this gift of leading is
not the offices of Pastor teacher Elder, but this gift of
leading means that people are able to lead in a particular way
where people will follow them and it will go well in Romans,
chapter 12, Paul lists other gifts, he lifts the lift, the
gift of exhortation, which is emboldening another and belief
or a course of action. It's to give encouragement to
make a strong request to make an appeal to lift another ones
spirits to come. Order to consolidate the
consulate. When someone exhort you to do
something, you want to do it, they have this gift with a
embolden you and they give you great courage.
To another is given the gift of giving.
This giving here is giving with generosity, he gives an
adjective. He says, when you give give
generously that giving, there is someone that can give resources
to help another more than likely in the first century Church.
There were were two types of people, the very rich and the
very poor. There was no middle class and so
Paul often speaks to those who are giving and to give
generously those who have resources and even those who do
not like the Philippian Church, they give out of their love for
Paul and they give generously liberally without thought of
their own selves for the common good.
They give there's another word of leadership here and that is
another exercise of leadership where they do it with, with Zeal
with diligence, with haste, with speed.
And Paul tells the Roman Church has, some are given that gift of
leading where they do it diligently, where they want to
lead, they want to take on a responsibility and they go with
it or perhaps the one who has given the gift of Mercy, they
show Mercy with cheerfulness that cheerfulness.
Word is hilarity tests which is where we get the word hell.
Are idiots. We do it with cheer with joy.
We show Mercy where it is a joy to get down on our knees and to
show Mercy to someone. In First Peter Paul lists two
more gifts, the one who speaks in the one who serves Lalo and
DNA 0, which is again, where we get the word Deacon, a, or we
get Deacon one who serves one, who speaks Paul speaks to Peter,
speaks to two different gifts, the teacher, and the servant,
the Deacon, the pastor, the Elder, the Deacon, they have
been given gifts to do this. Now I'm going to, I'm going to
burst some of your Bubbles and I'm going to show you that one
of the things that is not a gift.
It's not a spiritual gift is the gift of hospitality.
How many of you believe that you have the gift of hospitality?
Come on. Some of you are loved to be
hospitable. But what Peter says is that the
gift of hospitality is not necessarily, it's not listed as
a spiritual gift. It's actually listed as
something that we're all to do. We're all to do.
And what does hospitality mean hospitalities that generous and
gracious treatment of guests? It's people in need of temporary
shelter and food because of travel or necessity.
Christians are generally urge to show Hospitality to everyone.
We don't need to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit to for
us to take in people Hospitality in the context of the first
century church are the fact that people were poor and without a
home and they were kicked out of their families and Hospitality
very much meant taking in an apostle who was preaching or
Paul in his servants. Taking them into their homes and
feeding them and extending Grace, and kindness to them and
and giving them everything that they need while they were on the
road. And so hospitality is not a
spiritual gift but it's something that we all have to
do. Sorry.
Andrew your but you are, you can be hospitable.
And so those those are the gifts of the Spirit that we come up to
an end with the tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.
And again, what I want you to do is know what these gifts are.
So we have people that are helping and leading their
Discerning, they're teaching their preaching, they're they're
revealing words of God to the Corinthian Church, there are
people that are speaking in tongues and then Paul is saying
there needs to be an interpretation of tongues.
Now, I'm probably not going to satisfy you right now, but we
will get to this eventually when we get to the point, when Paul
begins to specifically in chapter 14, he goes after the
gifts of tongues in the interpretation of tongues in
their place in worship, but what I want you to do is I want you
but I want to give to you this morning is, I want to finish
this list and I just want to tell you what it is that Paul is
talking about when it comes to tongues here.
D.a., Carson asked that we need to approach a tasket at at
approach the text and ask three questions, one in context of the
Corinthian Church, where they ecstatic tongues were they
ecstatic, was it just kind of like blabbering on with
something that they kind of got caught up in their emotions?
And the worship? Was it ecstatic?
The other question is, was there content?
Was there, actually something in their words when I say the
Eagles are going to win the Super Bowl?
There's content there. And because you knew what I was
saying. It was a known human language.
Was it ecstatic? Was it was their content was
there human language on the balance.
When we look at the text, when we look at what Paul is writing
here, the evidence favors the view that Paul thought that the
gift of tongues was a gift of real languages which were
cognitive that is that someone other than the speaker would
know what was being said, because the language actually
existed, it was real. It had In tax, it had verbs and
nouns and everything. And the language was either a
known language of men or an in gelik language known only by
God. The text is just clear that in
this context it was either something that was known or
something that was not known. In terms of the Angelic words
that Paul says that even he speaks and Angelic tongues.
One of the things we need to think through is when we see in
Acts chapter 2, verse 11. What what carries over is that
those who speak Speak in tongues that they began to speak in
tongues to proclaim the mighty works of God and the people that
were present there, they understood.
In Hellenistic literature the word tongue or glossa does not
mean ecstatic utterances. It is always something that is
understood it's not meaningless Babble and so when we want to
make an argument for whether tongues was a real thing or not,
Paul understands it to be a real language.
The Greek is clear gloss. Mm.
And something that was understood, what is unclear, is
what Paul means by Angelic tongues and that's where that's
where we start to get. It stuck and people will take
one road or the other, and basically the answer is we
cannot know for sure what exactly Paul is saying.
When he talks about there is a tongue that is spoken and it's
either an Angelic tongue or it is a known language.
We just we just weren't there is just it is not possible for us
to know, for sure. But what we can understand is
the fact that it was something that was understood and Paul's
emphasis here. This is where I don't want it to
be. It's a speed.
We don't need to linger here and try to figure out things that we
weren't meant to figure out Paul's emphasis in this, whole
section of the letter is a weight, upon the fact that the
Corinthians were immaturely, putting this gift above all
others, that it was so elevated. And it was so unimportant in
Paul's mind that he needed to address, the fact that you guys
are doing all of these gifts, you have such a gifted church,
but yet you're taking this one gift and you're elevating it
above these, all things and is starting to cause cause
division. It is the edification of the
church that is of Paramount concern for Paul.
Turn with me really quick and we'll end here.
I want to show you in chapter, 14 will get there, but I'm
fast-forwarding. I want you to understand this,
the edification of the church chapter 14 verses 6 through 12,
He says, so now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you
speaking in other tongues, how will I benefit you or edify you
or how will I build you up, unless I speak to you with a
revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching something
that is understood? And then he gives the
illustration that if instruments don't make a distinct note or
they don't aren't played correctly, how do we recognize
that? And so there may be different
languages verse 10. Languages in the world and none
is, without meaning words, have meaning, the most important
thing is for you to understand what I'm saying.
So be zealous for spiritual gifts, and seek to Excel and
building up the church. Paul links interpretation with
tongues, Because he believes that in order to be encouraged
in order to be edified in order to be built up, you need to
understand what is being said. And if you cannot understand
what is being said, if interpretation cannot come
alongside whatever, this gift of tongues was being spoken of it
needed to be clear and it needed to help build up the church and
that is what's most important not division.
When we do things that divide the church, we do this with all
things, we Elevate Republicans Or democrats, we Elevate this
thing or the other thing. We Elevate things that cause
division that are not supposed to be elevated.
And the Church of all places ought to be the place where it's
Paul is arguing. It was scriptures argues that we
need to do all that we can to build the church and strengthen
the church not divided. And lest we think that, you
know, we dismissed tongues in the context of the early church
or even or even today in 1st Corinthians chapter 14, verses
13 through 19. He says, therefore, the person
who speaks in another tongue, should pray that he can
interpret there, right there. Is that Paul links tongues with
it is prayer. Therefore, the person who speaks
in another tongue, should pray, it's in the context of prayer.
It's the context of Prayer in the church or even private
prayer. Look what Paul says for if I
pray in another tongue, my spirit prays but my
understanding is unfruitful what.
Then he says, I will pray with the spirit and I will also pray
with my understanding, I will sing praise with the spirit and
I will sing praise with my understanding.
He can compares the the proclamation of singing of
songs, most likely, the Psalms that the Jews Who's sang or new
hymns? That they were creating as a
church, he's comparing the fact that when I pray, I pray with
understanding to myself and I pray in the spirit but when I
sing, I sing praise with the spirit verse 16.
Otherwise if you praise with the spirit, how will The Outsiders
say? Amen.
I agree that you're giving of thanks since he does not know
what you're saying. Verse 18.
I thank God that I speak in other tongues more than all of
you yet. And here's the thing, yet in the
church, I would rather speak five words with my understanding
in order to teach others also than ten thousand words in
another tongue. Paul himself one prays in
tongues. But Paul himself to says, in a
set when he Compares, I'd rather speak five words in a than ten
thousand words. He's basically saying you're
never going to find me do this, what I do in private in public
in church, because I'd rather teach him in preaching.
Give you something that is clear.
Now, why does he say that? Because they had such an issue
in the church? He was addressing them
pastorally. He's saying, you guys are
elevating this gift which I do in private and he's a sensitive
Pastor. He says, I do this as well.
Like, I'm with you, I'm with you.
Let's let's pray in tongues. But when you do it publicly in
such a way that no one knows what you're saying, it is better
that you refrain from that so that there might be order and a
building up and people would understand Paul emphasized.
So this is a strong defense for a personal prayer language.
So if you have an experience of saying you have a personal
prayer language and you do speak in tongues and you have come
from a tradition where perhaps, maybe you have been encouraged
to pray in tongues and speak in tongues in private, which is a
private prayer publicly. It's always connected to
interpretation. But privately there's there's
nothing pastorally that I personally can say nor anyone
can say is that you should stop that.
It's when we practice it in the public corporate setting.
Like this of worship, where we were to discern, how a
particular local church, a church that is submitted to the
leadership of the church and the teaching of the scriptures and
the encouragement of one another to say, how will we worship
together and Paul is saying That he prays, but he does it in
private and then he will, he will move on and he will give
them instructions on how to do that orderly and he will give
some other instructions. So there it is.
You are smart people. You can read and you can look
and see if anything that I've said is is not true in the
scriptures and you can study it for yourselves.
I'd be glad to lend you some books that I've read on that.
But we finished with this in verse 11, where does it all come
from? Where do all of these?
Spiritual gifts, come from verse 11, 1.
In The Same Spirit. Is active in all of these things
distribute to each person as he Wills, there's no hierarchy of
individual value. And there's there is no one that
has a corner or any right to any particular gift.
The spirit gives as he wills and who is the Holy Spirit, giving
the gifts for Jesus Christ, when he ascended to sit on the
throne, had the power to send his Spirit to give his church to
his people to his body, the gifts of the Spirit, That Jesus
himself manifests himself to us. And through us when we exercise
these gifts, when we submit ourselves to these gifts, it is
Jesus himself serving us. Isn't that encouraging?
That when we serve one another, when we exercise our gifts,
we're not, it's not about us. It's about one another.
And the reason why it's about one another's because Christ not
came not to be served but to serve So whenever anybody thinks
that they're joining a church or participating in a church, and
is something that they kind of like, you know, it's just some
sort of club or something that they have to do or check off the
list. No, it's actually it's actually
as Believers we are joining a local church so that not so much
that we might suck all the life out of it, right?
But that we might participate, In doing what we are called to
do which is be the body of Christ.
I get to do this every week and it is a gift of God.
I hope that I do it with Clarity relative Clarity.
I hope I hope that it's helpful for you, but we all have gifts
to give one another and we give those gifts, because Jesus loves
us and wants us to love one another.
And so, as we as we move forward in this study, See, I hope that
that's the thing that I want us to understand is that, you know,
and I've taken quite a bit of time.
I wanted to get through the list because I didn't want to be a
part part 12. You know it's just spend a few
extra minutes but how will you respond to this?
This is what I want to ask you. Will you you pray like if you
are a member of this local church, if you've taken the time
to go through the membership process and as you're thinking
about your own gifting, would you pray that the Lord would
lead you? And show you give you patience
and Bring it out. We need you.
This local church needs. You, would you have the courage
to step out and serve in whatever way?
You may not know exactly what your gift is, maybe you do, but
it takes time and patience for the Lord to lead you.
We know what our gifts, our when we step out and face a I'm just
going to do. This is the the Holy Spirit my
nudge you, there might be an opportunity.
It might be something that the Lord would have for you to do
long-term, maybe not, but the way that we evaluate the gifts
of the holy spirit as we We allow ourselves to be open to,
however, the Lord leads us. And as we step out in faith and
we use our gifts, what will happen is other people will say,
you know what, you you're a great encourager.
I love being around, thank you for your encouragement.
The more you hear some of that stuff you move like I might have
the gift of encouragement. Some of you are generous givers
you give behind the scenes and you help people you hear need.
And you like, you cut a check without even thinking.
Nobody knows that you cut the check.
Just a need is met some of you. I have the gift of teaching,
some of you can teach really well and there might be
opportunities for you to make the scriptures.
Clear. And so I want us to have hearts.
That would be open to that to know that the gifts of the holy
spirit are alive and well in our lives, but to also evaluate the
way in which we use those gifts and look forward to how those
gifts might be manifested, which gifts ought to be manifested
publicly in which met gifts, ought to be manifested in our
own private time and how together with grace and
patience. As a local church, we seek to
serve the Lord Jesus you Using our gifts.
But being gracious towards one, another who are still learning
and trying to figure out how that works out in the context of
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