"And if one member suffers, all its members suffer; and if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it!" (I Corinthians 12:26)
In last week's lesson on I Corinthians 12:1-11, the apostle Paul addressed the issue of "spiritual gifts," noting that every believer at the time of his (or her!) conversion, is given one or more spiritual gifts--by the Holy Spirit--to be used for the common good within the church, the "body of Christ"! "To one (he writes) is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues! But one and the same Spirit works in all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He will!"
This, we noted, is not the complete list of spiritual gifts given to believers by the Holy Spirit, and we briefly alluded to the array of gifts listed in the Bible, making reference to, and reading other passages where some of the same or other gifts are cited--including in Romans 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:11-13, I Peter 4:10-11, and in verses 28-31 of our lesson tonight!
Spiritual gifts can basically be divided into two categories, according to MacArthur, and as affirmed by the teaching and constitution of IBC: "permanent gifts," which are given for us today, and for the duration of the church age; and "temporary gifts," which were given, and exercised, as "signs" to authenticate the ministries of Christ and the apostles, until the Scriptures were written and completed, and became self-authenticating!
The permanent gifts are both verbal and nonverbal, with the verbal ones variously described as "prophecy, knowledge, wisdom, teaching, and exhortation," while the nonverbal ones are described as leadership, helps, giving, mercy, faith, and discernment," and the greatest one of all: "love"! The temporary "sign gifts"--again which we believe were limited to the time of Christ and the apostolic age, and have now ceased, included "healings, the effecting of miracles, tongues (or languages), and the interpretation of tongues--which doesn't mean that God doesn't, in His sovereign way, still heal the sick and perform miracles, and do all kinds of supernatural acts, according to His will and purpose! And, in this regard, our lesson closed last week with a reference to the apostle Paul, in verse 11, stressing that while spiritual gifts are diverse, it is the Holy Spirit who "works all these things and distributes gifts to each one individually as He wills"!
Swindoll sums up I Corinthians 12:1-11 this way: "All believers in Jesus have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and therefore have received the gift of the abiding Spirit Himself! The indwelling Spirit of God then bestows upon each individual unique spiritual gifts to exercise for the building up of the body of Christ, the church. The Spirit also nurtures within us the manifestations of His spiritual character, producing the fruit of the Spirit, which enables us to live godly, victorious lives!"
And that set the scene for our lesson last night, beginning with verse 12, where the apostle Paul uses the metaphor of the human body, with its many parts, to describe the diversity and yet the unity of the "body of Christ," or the church--and the sovereignty of God who makes it all happen!
And so Paul begins by comparing the human body with the body of Christ, noting that just as the human body is a beautiful and miraculous display of God's creation handiwork--the "crown jewel of God's creation"--with its many parts carrying out the many different functions of the body (and "each one made of 37 trillion cells," among other things, as Mark Weaver pointed out last night in his slide presentation)--so the body of Christ with its many members carrying out many different functions, with the diversity among its members as an essential characteristic of the unified and living organism known as the church!
Ephesians 1:22-23 says, "And He (God the Father) has put all things in subjection under His (Jesus Christ the Son's) feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all"! (Phillips puts it this way: "God has placed everything under the power of Christ and has set Him up as head of everything for the church. For the church is His body, and in that body lives fully the One who fills the whole universe!"
Romans 12:4-5 says, "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another!"
Paul says, in verse 13, that "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink of the Holy Spirit"! This describing how the church, or body of Christ is formed when the Holy Spirit is "immersed" into the life of a believer, at the time of his (or her!) conversion. Constable notes that "the drinking of one Spirit" recalls the words of Jesus in John 7:37-39 where He "cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink, and that he who believes, as the Scripture said, 'from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water"! Jesus was speaking, John writes, of the Holy Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive "after Jesus was glorified"!
In verses 14-20, Paul writes (again) that just as the human body is made up of many members and every part of the body is essential to the effective functioning of the whole body, so is unity an indispensable need of the body of Christ, or the church, but that divinely-provided diversity is also necessary! And so, "the foot cannot say, 'because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body,' and the ear cannot say, because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body! But God has placed many members in the body of Christ, just as He desired...and so now there are many members but one body"!
Constable notes that "uniformity" is not what makes the human body work and that "if all the members of the body were the same it would not be able to function"! And so the body of Christ! And so, as unique and individual parts, we "need to discover how God has gifted us and become as effective as possible where He has placed us, rather than in longing to have a different gift, or insisting on doing things that God has not gifted us to do!"
Philippians 2:1-4 says, "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is an consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own interests, but also the interests of others!"
And that leads us back to "spiritual gifts," in verses 28-31, where Paul writes that "God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administration, various kinds of tongues"! Indicating an order or ranking of the importance of these gifts but, more likely (MacArthur notes) just representing the sequence of them in the history of the church! And further noting that "the apostles and prophets had three responsibilities: (1) to lay the foundation of the church, (2) to receive and declare the revelation of God's Word, and (3) to give confirmation of the Word through signs and wonders and miracles!
Ephesians 2:20 speaks of the church as "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself being the corner stone"! Ephesians 3:4-5 speaks of "the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it now has been made known to His holy apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit"! And Hebrews 2:3-4 says, "God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will"!
MacArthur notes that "once the work of the foundation of the church was completed, the work of the apostles and prophets was finished, and the gift is no longer given"!
The gift of teachers, or "pastor-teachers," on the other hand, is given for the ministry and interpreting of the Word of God to the church and obviously continues in our day, and throughout the church age!
The second half of verse 28 lists several other representative gifts, both temporary and permanent, again (we believe) with the gifts of healings and miracles no longer existing as gifts given to individuals, although God still deals in supernatural workings in response to the prayers of saints, and according to His divine will and purpose!
In verses 29-30 we are reminded again of the sovereignty of God in bestowing a diversity of gifts among members of the body of Christ, with no one having all the gifts, and God operating under the same principles He followed when He created the human body!
This passage ends with what appears to be a reprimand from Paul to the Corinthians, some of whom were apparently not satisfied with the gifts they were given and so were "earnestly desiring the greater gifts"! Perhaps the more showy and acclaimed ones! For greater recognition and to satisfy their prideful hearts! And so Paul writes that he would "show them a better way"! What they desperately needed was not another "gift" but "a more excellent way"! The way of "love," and the gift of love, which he's about to show them in chapter 13!
Can't wait!
Lowell
In last week's lesson on I Corinthians 12:1-11, the apostle Paul addressed the issue of "spiritual gifts," noting that every believer at the time of his (or her!) conversion, is given one or more spiritual gifts--by the Holy Spirit--to be used for the common good within the church, the "body of Christ"! "To one (he writes) is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues! But one and the same Spirit works in all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He will!"
This, we noted, is not the complete list of spiritual gifts given to believers by the Holy Spirit, and we briefly alluded to the array of gifts listed in the Bible, making reference to, and reading other passages where some of the same or other gifts are cited--including in Romans 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:11-13, I Peter 4:10-11, and in verses 28-31 of our lesson tonight!
Spiritual gifts can basically be divided into two categories, according to MacArthur, and as affirmed by the teaching and constitution of IBC: "permanent gifts," which are given for us today, and for the duration of the church age; and "temporary gifts," which were given, and exercised, as "signs" to authenticate the ministries of Christ and the apostles, until the Scriptures were written and completed, and became self-authenticating!
The permanent gifts are both verbal and nonverbal, with the verbal ones variously described as "prophecy, knowledge, wisdom, teaching, and exhortation," while the nonverbal ones are described as leadership, helps, giving, mercy, faith, and discernment," and the greatest one of all: "love"! The temporary "sign gifts"--again which we believe were limited to the time of Christ and the apostolic age, and have now ceased, included "healings, the effecting of miracles, tongues (or languages), and the interpretation of tongues--which doesn't mean that God doesn't, in His sovereign way, still heal the sick and perform miracles, and do all kinds of supernatural acts, according to His will and purpose! And, in this regard, our lesson closed last week with a reference to the apostle Paul, in verse 11, stressing that while spiritual gifts are diverse, it is the Holy Spirit who "works all these things and distributes gifts to each one individually as He wills"!
Swindoll sums up I Corinthians 12:1-11 this way: "All believers in Jesus have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and therefore have received the gift of the abiding Spirit Himself! The indwelling Spirit of God then bestows upon each individual unique spiritual gifts to exercise for the building up of the body of Christ, the church. The Spirit also nurtures within us the manifestations of His spiritual character, producing the fruit of the Spirit, which enables us to live godly, victorious lives!"
And that set the scene for our lesson last night, beginning with verse 12, where the apostle Paul uses the metaphor of the human body, with its many parts, to describe the diversity and yet the unity of the "body of Christ," or the church--and the sovereignty of God who makes it all happen!
And so Paul begins by comparing the human body with the body of Christ, noting that just as the human body is a beautiful and miraculous display of God's creation handiwork--the "crown jewel of God's creation"--with its many parts carrying out the many different functions of the body (and "each one made of 37 trillion cells," among other things, as Mark Weaver pointed out last night in his slide presentation)--so the body of Christ with its many members carrying out many different functions, with the diversity among its members as an essential characteristic of the unified and living organism known as the church!
Ephesians 1:22-23 says, "And He (God the Father) has put all things in subjection under His (Jesus Christ the Son's) feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all"! (Phillips puts it this way: "God has placed everything under the power of Christ and has set Him up as head of everything for the church. For the church is His body, and in that body lives fully the One who fills the whole universe!"
Romans 12:4-5 says, "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another!"
Paul says, in verse 13, that "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink of the Holy Spirit"! This describing how the church, or body of Christ is formed when the Holy Spirit is "immersed" into the life of a believer, at the time of his (or her!) conversion. Constable notes that "the drinking of one Spirit" recalls the words of Jesus in John 7:37-39 where He "cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink, and that he who believes, as the Scripture said, 'from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water"! Jesus was speaking, John writes, of the Holy Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive "after Jesus was glorified"!
In verses 14-20, Paul writes (again) that just as the human body is made up of many members and every part of the body is essential to the effective functioning of the whole body, so is unity an indispensable need of the body of Christ, or the church, but that divinely-provided diversity is also necessary! And so, "the foot cannot say, 'because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body,' and the ear cannot say, because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body! But God has placed many members in the body of Christ, just as He desired...and so now there are many members but one body"!
Constable notes that "uniformity" is not what makes the human body work and that "if all the members of the body were the same it would not be able to function"! And so the body of Christ! And so, as unique and individual parts, we "need to discover how God has gifted us and become as effective as possible where He has placed us, rather than in longing to have a different gift, or insisting on doing things that God has not gifted us to do!"
Philippians 2:1-4 says, "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is an consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own interests, but also the interests of others!"
And that leads us back to "spiritual gifts," in verses 28-31, where Paul writes that "God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administration, various kinds of tongues"! Indicating an order or ranking of the importance of these gifts but, more likely (MacArthur notes) just representing the sequence of them in the history of the church! And further noting that "the apostles and prophets had three responsibilities: (1) to lay the foundation of the church, (2) to receive and declare the revelation of God's Word, and (3) to give confirmation of the Word through signs and wonders and miracles!
Ephesians 2:20 speaks of the church as "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself being the corner stone"! Ephesians 3:4-5 speaks of "the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it now has been made known to His holy apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit"! And Hebrews 2:3-4 says, "God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will"!
MacArthur notes that "once the work of the foundation of the church was completed, the work of the apostles and prophets was finished, and the gift is no longer given"!
The gift of teachers, or "pastor-teachers," on the other hand, is given for the ministry and interpreting of the Word of God to the church and obviously continues in our day, and throughout the church age!
The second half of verse 28 lists several other representative gifts, both temporary and permanent, again (we believe) with the gifts of healings and miracles no longer existing as gifts given to individuals, although God still deals in supernatural workings in response to the prayers of saints, and according to His divine will and purpose!
In verses 29-30 we are reminded again of the sovereignty of God in bestowing a diversity of gifts among members of the body of Christ, with no one having all the gifts, and God operating under the same principles He followed when He created the human body!
This passage ends with what appears to be a reprimand from Paul to the Corinthians, some of whom were apparently not satisfied with the gifts they were given and so were "earnestly desiring the greater gifts"! Perhaps the more showy and acclaimed ones! For greater recognition and to satisfy their prideful hearts! And so Paul writes that he would "show them a better way"! What they desperately needed was not another "gift" but "a more excellent way"! The way of "love," and the gift of love, which he's about to show them in chapter 13!
Can't wait!
Lowell
RSS Feed