1st Corinthians 12:1-11
One of our students spent about a month in a remote part of Kenya with a pastor we were supporting at the time. He called me one day, a little bit shaken, because he didn’t know what to make of what he just witnessed. A group of pastors had been called to the house of a man who wanted to accept Christ, however, there was great demon oppression that had been holding him back. When the pastors began praying for this man, he fell to the ground and started convulsing. They continued to pray, and as they did, the man went still, and opened his eyes, and accepted Christ.
Another one of our students took a gap year to figure out what the Lord had for her life. She ended up going on mission with YWAM, and her placement began at the training school at Bethel in California. She called me one day, in a similar state of shock. She had just been in a class in which the instructor told the students to put their heads down and ask the Lord for a vision. After a few minutes, the students all lifted their heads and began sharing one by one what the Lord had revealed to them; all except our student. I encouraged her in the fact that we don’t get to make demands of the Holy Spirit, but if the Lord wants to give her a vision, it will be for a specific purpose at a time that He determines.
I could go on, like hearing from a young girl in Beirut that a man appeared to her in a dream and told her to go to a specific location the next morning, and it was the church that I happened to be preaching at. Or the story of the family who had cabinets opening and closing in the middle of the night, until their family accepted Christ.
Here’s the point: There tends to be a lot of confusion around the way in which the Holy Spirit works today. There are 2 main views that we find, specifically those gifts that deal with miracles, and depending on your church background, you’ll fall into one of these 2 categories. I want to briefly define these 2 terms, and just know that we will get deeper into this discussion in a few weeks, so we won’t dive too deep this morning.
Cessationism: The belief that the “miracle gifts,” specifically speaking in tongues, miracles and healing, have ceased. They would say that while the Spirit still does perform miracles today, He no longer gifts individuals with these abilities. However, cessationists do believe that the Holy Spirit still endows believers with all the other gifts mentioned in Scripture.
Continuationist: The belief that all spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, miracles and healing, have continued since the apostolic age.
Big Idea: The Holy Spirit gives various gifts to believers for the purpose of edification.
Paul devotes the last 3 chapters of his letter to spiritual gifts. So, like we always do, I want to focus on what we absolutely know to be true. Whether or not you believe certain gifts continue will be something you have to personally wrestle with, and again, something we’ll discuss together in just a few weeks.
Read 1st Corinthians 12:1-11
As was the case with head coverings and the love feast, the Corinthian church had gone astray, and had a misunderstanding of the function of the abilities that were given to them by the Holy Spirit. This is why he begins by contrasting their old life to the new.
“Before, you worshipped idols that could not speak, that were not real. Now, as you are learning about Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, you are struggling to discern between those who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, and those who have not.” It would seem that in their midst, some were denying Christ, even borderline cursing His name. That’s not of the Spirit! In the same way, when someone claims the lordship of Christ in their life, that is evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
“So, because you were misled in your old way of life, I want to make sure you understand what you have been given in your new way of life.” So what do we see about the giftings of the Holy Spirit?
1. There are a variety of gifts (4)
I don’t want to spend too much time here, because next week when we talk about the body of Christ, this will be the message. But what is really great here is that Paul directs our attention to the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit empowers each believer with various gifts, all coming from the same source. This word for gifts is “charisma.” So, in a sense, we can say that all of us in this room are charismatic 🙂 We see also that these gifts can be used in different areas of service. So, one who has the gift of teaching can use that gift with children, men, women, students, and so many different areas. And all gifts are enacted under the lordship of Christ. All of this is established by God.
2. Spiritual gifts are given, not earned (11)
You remember Simon the Magician in Acts 8? He was baptized and followed Philip, during which time he saw him perform miracles. One of those miracles was Peter and John laying their hands on believers, at which point the Holy Spirit fell on them. Simon wanted that power, and offered to pay to get it. Peter basically condemns him, after which Simon pleads for forgiveness. But, the point is, you can’t earn spiritual gifts. When we become believers, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and in that moment he endows each of us with various gifts. It doesn’t mean that the gift is yet perfected. It doesn’t even mean we realize it has been given to us.
Oftentimes we grow into these gifts. Sometimes, the Spirit gives us a certain gift for just a brief moment. But, here’s one of the more critical truths we see about spiritual gifts.
3. Spiritual gifts are given for the common good (7)
Critical because this is how we are able to discern the validity of various expressions of spiritual gifts. What I mean by that is this: In many charismatic and pentecostal churches, there is a wrong understanding of these gifts. There are manifestations of these gifts that are more of a distraction than they are useful. One example is being overtaken by the Holy Spirit and falling on the ground in convulsions. This is not for the benefit of the church. This is not edifying other believers. Remember, God is not a God of confusion, and that is very confusing.
Another example is when a prosperity preacher uses his self-proclaimed gifts of healing or prophecy to fill his pockets, to buy extravagant houses, clothes and jewelry. These things are not for the common good. They are not edifying other believers. It’s self advancement and lust for power.
We have to understand that the gifts that we have received from the Holy Spirit are always for glorifying God, proclaiming the gospel, and edifying those around us. So, with those foundational understandings, let’s look at this list that Paul lays out for us in chapter 12.
Spiritual gifts in 1st Corinthians 12:1-11
This list is not exhaustive. We see other gifts mentioned later in chapter 12, Romans, Ephesians and 1 Peter. But I want to walk through these 9 and hopefully provide some clarity around each of them. We’ll spend a little more time on some than others, which will make sense as we go.
Wisdom
The Greek word “sophia” is a comprehensive understanding of how things work together. The person who has this gift is able to understand the deeper meanings of Scripture, and can help apply it to our lives. This is a speaking gift, which is why Paul refers to it as the “word” or “utterance” of wisdom. Someone who is gifted in this way will be able to offer solid biblical counsel, using the truth of God’s Word to help others. They will be able to guide and direct individuals or groups of people in a deeper understanding of how we are to live in light of Scripture.
Knowledge
This is also a speaking gift, as evidenced by the “word” or “utterance” attached to it. This is the Greek word “gnosis,” and falls more closely to the knowledge of truth. This is very similar to wisdom, but wisdom seems to be the more comprehensive term in Scripture. Knowledge is knowing the truth, and wisdom is discerning the application of the truth. Someone who is gifted in this way will speak truth into our lives. Maybe we are feeling weighed down, and so they remind us of the promise of Jesus to take our burdens from us. Maybe we are fearful, and they remind us of the promise that Jesus is with us even in the valley of the shadow of death.
Faith
This is not faith that saves. If it were, then every Christian would have it. This type of faith is exceptional faith. A faith that believes, wholeheartedly believes, that God can do the impossible. A faith that believes that God can literally move a mountain if He wanted to. By faith Noah built an ark. By faith Abraham left his home and family in pursuit of the Lord’s promise. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice. By faith Moses stood before the King of Egypt and demanded freedom for God’s people. By faith the walls of Jericho crumbled. The gift of faith is an unwavering belief that God is a God who comes through on His promises.
Healing
This is a difficult one, since this Greek word is not found anywhere else in Scripture. So, all we know about this gift is here, and it’s not much. The word is plural, and many believe this implies that the one with the gift had a specific group of diseases that they were able to heal. They couldn’t heal ALL diseases, but certain illnesses with the objective of proving the power of God and confirming the message that they were preaching. This is one of the gifts that has caused much debate today. Cessasionists would say that the gift of healing was for a specific period of time for a specific purpose, to confirm the gospel message being preached. They would also say that God is still a God who heals, but doesn’t use people to bring about healing. Continuationists would say that there are still those who have this gift and are able, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to heal.
Miracles
Miracles would be a more extreme display of the power of God. Paul raising Eutychus from the dead. Apostles casting out demons. Tabitha being raised from the dead as well. This would be another one of the gifts that causes disagreement between the 2 camps. In the same way as healing, cessationists would say that the Holy Spirit can absolutely still do miracles, but that He doesn’t use individuals to to them. Continuationists would say that this gifting is still present in the life of believers today.
Prophecy
This gift is not referring to telling the future. Whereas in the Old Testament prophets would predict coming judgment, or the future Messiah, or even the end of the world, prophecy in context has to do with preaching the Word of God. In our modern context, it’s the same, and the idea is that when the canon of Scripture was completed, there was no need for new revelation. So prophesying went from speaking new revelations from the Lord, to preaching the revelation that has already been given.
It may be fun to look at current events and consider how they might point to the end times. However, if someone claims to have a word from the Lord that has to do with the future, this is not a spiritual gift as mentioned by Paul.
Discernment
This is exactly what it sounds like. This gift carries with it the ability to discern between the truth of Scripture and the lies from the enemy. This allows for the person to look into culture and wade through the mess. It allows for a proper view of morality and ethics, especially held up against the wicked level of morality and ethics we find in our world.
Speaking in Tongues
We come to the most debated and controversial gift in this list. It is the most misinterpreted and misused gift. We have to remind ourselves, once again, that God is not a God of confusion. We first see mention of tongues in Acts 2 when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other languages. We see there that the languages were real, intelligible languages. We see that the multitude came together and were dumbfounded, because all of them heard the apostles speaking in their “own languages.” So here, in the context of chapter 12, this is what speaking in tongues means.
If we jump ahead to 1st Corinthians 14, we’ll see a different kind of spiritual tongue, and the goal of that is for personal edification, between a believer and the Lord. But we’ll tackle that in a few weeks.
Interpreting Tongues
The implication here is that when someone would speak in a different language, if someone didn’t understand that language, another would interpret so that all could understand the message being proclaimed.
If the tongue gifts were active today, and were realized in a church context, then it would look a lot different than what we see in churches that practice this gift. It would be a real language, and it would be for the edification of all, because again, God is not a God of confusion.
Application
Big Idea: The Holy Spirit gives various gifts to believers for the purpose of edification.
As we being our time together working through Paul’s discourse on spiritual gifts, this is a great place to start. How do we discern whether or not someone is living out the Spirit’s gifting in their lives? If whatever is happening is confusing, or chaotic, or unintelligible, then it is not of the Spirit. If the body is being built up, if the gift being expressed is for the common good, for the edification of believers, then that’s a good indication that it is of the Spirit. Next week, we’ll talk about how every believer has been uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit, and how we all work effectively together to ensure a healthy, gospel-centered church.
