|
1A)
Introduction
1B)
One of the primary aspects of church leadership is how it seeks to develop
each individual in the church to realize the fullness of Christ within them.
1C) God is going to hold the leadership of this church accountable
for how we sought to teach, encourage motivate and lead every individual who
regularly attends this assembly.
2C) He is not going to hold the leadership accountable for how you
responded to the leadership, but how the leadership sought to lead.
2B)
One of the biggest aspects to Christian growth is the proper use of spiritual
gifts within the church. People have a general idea that they exist, but what
are they, how are they used, what do they look like, how do I know what I have
what are their purpose?
1C) The church at Corinth had similar questions. So when they send
a delegation to Paul to report on the state of the church and to ask him some
questions, these were part of those questions. Their questions lead him to
write 1 Corinthians 12-14, which is the central passage on spiritual gifts and
a vitally important passage on church unity. The next three chapters deals
with the subject of Spiritual gifts
2C) Lord willing I will be speaking on these three chapters the
next three opportunities I have to speak, one chapter each time. I have had to
condense a total of about 20 sermons into 3 so it will be rather fast and I
cannot get into all the details.
2A)
Overview
1B)
Chapter 12 Four Principles governing Spiritual Gifts
2B)
Chapter 13 – Necessary motive for proper use of Spiritual Gifts
3B)
Chapter 14 – Particular restrictions on the use of tongues
3A) All
true Use of Spiritual Gifts results in the glorification of Christ (vs. 1-3)
1B)
“Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were ….”
1C) This is a very important topic yet it is something with which
they were totally unfamiliar.
1D) It is important because it ties in very closely with
their spiritual growth both individually and corporately as a church. This is
why I am speaking about this topic; we want to continue to build these into
our church.
2D) It was unfamiliar to them because the Corinthians were
primarily Gentiles; they had come out of paganism and were totally unfamiliar
with the concept of a sovereign God. Look at verse 2.
2C) As pagans they in reality had control over their god so that
it became to them whatever they wanted it to be, they could do whatever their
debased and sinful nature wanted to do.
1D) These people were stoics or epicureans. Both these
systems of philosophy were evolutionary based. (Don’t think that evolution
came from Darwin in 1859) as such they believed that everything came out of
randomness and chaos. Since there was no god to please they could do whatever
they wanted.
2D) With no desire to please a holy God to what depths will
an unregenerate heart descend?
3C) Paul wants to make a strong contrast between what they knew
previously and their situation now as Christians.
2B)
“Therefore I make known to you that no
one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"….”
1C) It is possible that some were doing this very thing in their
speaking in tongues, however that makes the 2nd phrase which is
parallel rather difficult. (If the 1st phrase is referring merely
to speaking the words, then the 2nd phrase is also. But anyone can
say the words “Jesus is Lord.”)
2C) Let me suggest this interpretation, Paul is telling the
Corinthians that in contrast to the way you used to serve your god, where
anything goes, as a Christian, whatever you do will never belittle or derogate
Christ, and contrary-wise any true ministry, under the direction of the Holy
Spirit will always glorify Him.
1D) If you see someone professing to serve the Lord, but is
exalting something other than the person and work of Christ, you can be
assured that they are not being directed by the Holy Spirit. (Televangelists
that glorify themselves with their healing.)
4A) The
Triune God is Sovereign over the gift (vs. 4-6)
1B)
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but
the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries ….”
1C) Notice that there are three phrases each phrase mentions that
there are varieties of something and each phrase mentions a member of the
Trinity.
2C) Gifts = the specific spiritual gift (Holy) Spirit; Ministries
= the area or ministry the gift is exercised in associated with the Lord
(Jesus); Effects = How the gift is energized and works itself out associated
with God (The Father)
2B)
I will not go so far to say that the Holy Spirit is in charge of the Gifts,
whereas the Son is in charge of placing you in a certain ministry and the
Father is in charge of enabling you to accomplish that task. I do not want to
make that firm of distinctions
1C) But I believe that we can say that in contrast to the pagan
doing whatever he wants to do We have the Triune Lord God of heaven in
absolute control of us to use us to glorify His Son.
2C) Just think about it, Here is the God of the universe, who has
gifted you and me, placed us in the exact position where He wants us to
minister, both in the church and in our jobs, and equipped and empowered us to
do that task for Him; a task which He from eternity past decreed that we would
do.
5A) The
Holy Spirit sovereignly gives the Gift for the benefit of the entire Church
(vs. 7-11)
1B)
“But to each one is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
1C) Three things that I want to emphasize in this section. This
verse has the first two.
2C) Each and every saved individual has a gift or gifts given to
them by the Holy Spirit. There is not a single Christian left out.
1D) All too often when asked to do something in the church a
person will say, well I can’t do that, I’m not gifted. That is not true and
will not cut it as a reason for not serving the Lord when we stand before Him
to give an account of our service.
2D) We are all stewards of His gifts to us and as stewards
we will be held accountable for faithfulness (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)
3C) Every individual is gifted so that everyone else in the church
will benefit from that gift.
1D) As we will see in the following section, and as we
possibly know by experience there are some people that use their gifts to
advance themselves in the esteem of others, to puff themselves up.
2D) Also I have heard people say of their gift, “It makes me
feel so good, I pray better ….” That entire attitude is wrong and sinful and
will come out as wood, hay and stubble.
2B)
“But one and the same Spirit works all
these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
1C) The third issue here is Who is in charge of the distribution
of the gifts. It is the sovereign Lord God in the person of the Holy Spirit
that chooses for us exactly what gift we have.
2C) Did you choose your eye color; hair color; (Well maybe some of
you do now but not at birth) natural talents and abilities? Neither did you
choose your spiritual gift.
3C) This becomes important later in this chapter
6A) The
Result of the Gifting of the church is Diversity in Unity (vs. 12-30)
1B)
“For even as the body is one and yet
has many members, … so also is Christ.”
1C) Here Paul introduces his metaphor comparing the church to a
human body.
2C) Our bodies are made up of a number of parts, each with a
different function and each part is responsible for accomplishing the task it
was designed to do.
3C) When each part accomplishes its individual task the body
thrives. When a part fails to accomplish its task the body suffers.
1D) When one part fails to do its task the body has to
compensate for the loss of that part.
2D) The body survives but it does not work as well
2B)
“For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body… and we were all made to drink of one Spirit”
1C) Just like the Lord God is the designer of the human body, so
He is building His church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
2C) While this passage does deal with the universal church, it is
applicable to a local church. Indeed in a practical sense this can only really
be applied to a local church
3B)
“If the foot says, "Because I am not a
hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not … a part of the body.”
1C) Paul is going to extend this illustration with two absurd and
silly examples to confront problems within the church. These are not merely
problems within the Corinthian church, but are problems experienced by every
church
2C) First Problem – Jealousy. “Everybody appreciates hands, I get
stuffed into this sock, then a shoe, I get walked on all day, I get corns,
bunions, calluses what do I get for all my efforts? Oder eaters. Hands get
cream rubbed on them, they get held, kissed. I’m tired of being a foot I want
to be a hand.
3C) Here I am hanging on for dear life on the side of the face
exuding wax. All they ever do is stick an earring in me and cover me with
hair. They’re ashamed of me. Nobody ever stares deeply into me and sighs. They
never say, “The ear is the window to the soul.” I want to be an eye!
4C) That is exactly what we are doing when we say, I can’t preach
like brother Terry. I can’t sing like Jeané. I can’t do anything in the
church. No you can’t preach or sing like anyone else. God only made one like
Terry or Jeané. But then again He only made one you. And only you can
contribute what God has equipped you to contribute. Until you do, the church
suffers
5C) There is not one ministry in the church, but many. That is why
all of us aren’t eyes.
4B)
“And the eye cannot say to the hand,
"I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of
you.”
1C) Second Problem – Arrogance One of the dangers of being a
pastor is that we have so many people listening to us and believing what we
say, we get enamored with our own importance. In reality preachers are in
every way as sinful and fallible as anyone else.
2C) The sooner we as pastors and leaders understand our utter need
of the gifted, Spirit-lead fellow-servants around us and seek to develop those
people, the better off everyone will be.
5B)
“And if one member suffers, all the
members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice ….”
1C) Picture this, you get you finger caught in a car door, the
rest of your body says, “Stupid digit! You got yourself into that mess; now
get yourself out!”
2C) The entire body ministers to itself by each member caring for
each other member.
6B)
Paul ends this section by listing in an order of priority various gifts within
the church
Lessons for our lives
1. The
ultimate product of our lives is to glorify Christ. What a great privilege it
is to know that if we do what we are designed to do, because we desire to
please the Lord, the Holy Spirit will ensure that will happen. We cannot fail
if we just seek to serve Him.
2. Aren’t
you glad the Lord does not save us then abandon us to muddle through this
world on our own? He is intimately involved in every aspect of our life,
leading us, teaching us all things.
3. This
is true to the point that He has designed and built and gifted you exactly as
He would have you to be. There is not another person like you. As such there
is not another person who can do things you can do in the way you can do them.
That is not merely humanistic flattery talk. There is a real responsibility to
follow through and serve. There are great blessings to be enjoyed by those who
do serve as He would. There is great sorrow ahead for those who choose not to.
Question: How do I know how I am gifted? Answer: Not “Spiritual
Gift Assessment tests” Just serve however you can and pay attention to how God
uses you.
4. Remember:
we are all one body. God has formed us together to minister to one another and
care for one another. Don’t think of yourself as superior or inferior to
anyone else within the church. Just different from everyone else within the
church; equipped uniquely to accomplish the task God from eternity past formed
you to do.
|