5-7-23 Kasey Campbell: For the Profit of All

 Today we'll continue our study in 1 Corinthians 12. We're going through chapters 12, 13, and 14 because it's important to know how God wants us all to minister and what that looks like. We say this a lot, but I'll say it again - ministry is an overflow of the Holy Spirit's living water; it's an overflow of our relationship with Jesus out onto other people. Ministry is not a position or a title. God wants everyone to minister His kingdom, His Son, and His love in their circles. That's why we're baptized in the Holy Spirit. It's so we can be empowered to continue Jesus' mission of reconciliation with God on earth. Jesus wants us to continue His work. That's what He says; John 14:12 NKJV "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. God's plan was for Jesus to return to heaven and, from there, continue His ministry through his disciples the same way God empowered and directed Him. Jesus' ministry on earth wouldn't end when He ascended into heaven, but it would expand because, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in each one of us, we could do what He did and speak what we heard Him speak. This is what Jesus did with His Father. And we've been looking at these chapters in Corinthians because we want to learn how to minister and move into the gifts of the Spirit the way God wants us to. As we talked about last week, the Corinthians had a lot of problems. But Paul still didn't want them to stop trying to move in the gifts. He does start with a warning, though, before he talks about the gifts. He wants to remind us that not all manifestations, miracles, prophecies, or other spiritual activities come from God. Some come from the flesh, or worse, the devil. So we have to take responsibility to be discerning about what the source is. We also have to be loving and kind to each other as we grow into the gifts God has given us. That was last week - the message has been posted along with full sermon notes for anyone who wants to revisit it. And today, Paul will continue his introduction to the gifts in 1 Corinthians - and the theme he'll talk about is unity and community. Or, you could say, building up the body. We'll talk about the power of community and how it allows the gifts to flow freely and in power. Let's pray before we jump in. PRAY. 1 Corinthians 12:1-7 NKJV Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: We'll be focusing on verses 4-7 today. We've had the warning from Paul that not all spiritual manifestations are from God. And he says he doesn't want us to be ignorant about the 'spiritual gifts' or 'things of the Spirit.' That was the Greek word pnematika, if you remember. He uses two new words in verses 4 & 5 - charismata and diakonia. 1 Corinthians 12:4 NKJV There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 'Gifts' is the word charismata, which are supernatural empowerments that are spontaneously given to meet a need existing in a person or group. Literally, it's a grace-gift, an enablement, an endowment, or a blessing given by God. These gifts come from God and are unmerited - they can't be earned. That's why the Corinthians could still operate in them even though they were messed up. Thank God for the gift of His grace and His grace-gifts! And then the word ministries (diakonia) is the way God repeatedly uses a person. This kind of service, or ministry, is often associated with a person's sense of calling or the way God hardwired them and a decision to invest disciplined time into that ministry, service, or calling. In other words, the 'things of the Spirit (spiritual gifts) and the grace-gifts (enablements) are given so that we can move into ministry to build up one another (the body of Christ) and reach out in evangelism to the world. And Paul wants us to know that these gifts, graces, and ministries are going to be diverse in nature. They're going to be different because we're all different vessels - we're all different people. Narrow uniformity is not a part of God's character. Paul doesn't want the Corinthians to restrict ministry to a few people. He also doesn't want them to make up formulas for the way God works or to put God in a box. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NKJV 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. When we are committed to unity instead of uniformity, it will create many different spiritual activities. The word 'activities' here is 'energemata,' which means 'things we do that the Holy Spirit puts his power into.' We get our English word 'energy' from this. It's the same Lord, the Same Holy Spirit, the same God who is moving upon us, who is breathing into us to minister as we all come into unity. Paul says next 1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." Say 'the profit of all.' The reason Paul brings up the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit here is that he wants us to see that unity in community is vital to the flow of the gifts, just like the unity of purpose with the Father and Holy Spirit was vital to Jesus' ministry. We're all a part of the body, and a body only works with all the parts doing the same thing. I'll skip down a little in this chapter; 1 Corinthians 12:12-21 NKJV For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." You see, one reason Paul talks so much about unity is that the church at Corinth didn't have much. They had a lot of clicks and factions going on, fighting about who was the better teacher and who the real apostles were, and what that meant. And this created problems when they tried to minister because they weren't all unified in mind and purpose to glorify Jesus and come into His presence together. And Paul says, 'Hey, stop all this in-fighting and power-struggle stuff. Just like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in unity, and just like all people, Jews, and Gentiles, come into unity with Jesus, and just like a body is in unity with itself doing what the head tells it to, so we should come into unity of purpose together so that we can all glorify Jesus through the grace-gifts he gives us. Then the Holy Spirit will put supernatural energy into our activities or our ministries.' To Paul, this unity was so important that he talked about it every single time he talked about the gifts of the Spirit. Did you know that? Here in 1 Corinthians, before he talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he talks about unity in the community of believers or unity in the church. Before he talks about the offices (or gifts of the Son) in Ephesians, he talks about unity first. And (you guessed it) before he talks about the motivational gifts (of the Father) in Romans, he talks about unity first. Every single time Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit, he talks about being in unity with the church. You need to understand this. It's a major theme we have to understand if we're going to understand God's gifts and how we minister them and move in them. We've seen this concept in 1 Corinthians, but let's see what Paul has to say in Romans right before he talks about motivational gifts. Romans 12:3-8 NKJV For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Do you see it? In verse 5, he says that because we are all different people, in unity as one body in Christ and in unity of purpose to minister Jesus, we can now operate in the various gifts that God has given us. Paul bookends this discussion by talking about submission to the body of Christ and the governing authorities in our lives. Romans 13:1 NKJV Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Romans 13:7 NKJV Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Why would he talk about unity, mutual submission, and submission to authority in the same section where he talks about the gifts? Because unity and community, mutual submission, and submission to authority are essential principles of operating in the gifts in power. He'll talk about it a third time in Ephesians. He writes about the offices given to the church (apostle, prophet, teacher, etc), and he talks about the importance of unity within the body. Ephesians 4:1-7 NKJV I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul shows what God has done for us, and now he talks about how we are supposed to live as a response to Jesus. We're not robots, so we get to choose if we will walk in the unity of the Spirit if we will walk in humility and gentleness and grace and love with one another. But as we see from the church at Corinth, being a part of a church community isn't easy. It can be hard just to show up. Sooner or later, there will be some friction. Either someone hurts our feelings or we hurt theirs (not that we want to). Some people stretch our patience because they're difficult, and others make us feel inadequate because they're just so amazing. Getting in unity and working together to accomplish God's purposes requires a real commitment to love one another, and not everyone is willing to pay the price. Remember how a real, committed love for people is one of the ways we can gauge the motivation behind a manifestation of the Spirit? But whenever a community of people makes the commitment to love and grow together in the purposes and pursuit of Jesus, amazing things happen. Lost people are saved, sick people are healed, addicted people get free, confused people find purpose, damaged relationships are restored, and lonely people find a family. The Bible says that we can accomplish so much more together than we can alone. And the gifts will be activated by the Holy Spirit when that's the case. Remember what God said about the people who were unified without His Holy Spirit back at the tower of Babel? Genesis 11:6 AMP And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them. God has redeemed his people, and He has unified them under His cross, and He has changed their evil hearts of stone for soft hearts of flesh. And now God is the One who gives us the same language so we can accomplish His purposes. And it's the language of love. God desires that we are unified as one body, speaking the language of love to one another so that no Godly ministry that we could think of or imagine will be impossible for us to accomplish. This is why from God's perspective, it's so important that each one of us chooses to do whatever we need to in order to come into His family, into His church community, and into the body of His Son, Jesus Christ. But it's hard. It's hard even to find people who want to form a community that wants to follow Jesus no matter the cost. It's hard because we have to allow a transformation in the way we operate. And depending on our culture, background, family history, and many other factors, integrating into a church family can require more or less amount of change. We need to learn to stop being independent and how to be interdependent. We need to learn new and deeper social and relational skills. We need to learn how to make our attention be outward and 'others' focused instead of inward and 'me' focused. We need to learn how to be 'familial' in our thinking, weeping with those who weep and mourning with those who mourn, rejoicing with those who rejoice. That's in Romans 12, too, by the way, right near the gift section. Romans 12:15 NKJV Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. And in Ephesians 4, when Paul exhorts us to keep the unity of the body, he gives us specific attitudes that we need to grow in so that can take place. Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. If we're going to 'keep the unity through the bond of peace,' and if we're going to function in the gifts of the Spirit that He wants us to operate in, then we have to learn to relate to other people in these ways. The first is humility. Romans 12:3 AMPC For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. Before Jesus, humility was seen as a cowing, servile, fearful, bad quality, but after watching Jesus, it's raised up as the epitome of doing what God tells us to do. It's knowing who we are and whose we are, and it's about obeying or serving Jesus despite the shame and despite the cross. One commentator said that humility is facing one's self - that is the most humiliating thing in the world if we're honest. True humility comes when we are no longer the center of the universe; when we face ourselves and see our weakness, our selfishness, our failure in work, relationships, and achievements and then fully give ourselves to God because He can run our lives better than we can, and He gives us all that we need to accomplish His purposes through us. Christian humility is based on 'the sight our ourselves, the vision of God, and the realization of Jesus Christ. It comes from setting our life beside Jesus' life and allowing Him to shine His light through us without pride. In 1 Corinthians 12:7 NKJV But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: The word manifestation has to do with revealing something by having light shine on it. Paul is speaking poetically of the Holy Spirit and how He shines through people in different ways. Humility lets the light in - but pride shuts it out. Second, we need to learn to relate to people in gentleness. We need to put aside our self-assertiveness and self-interest so we can treat others with respect. To do this, we need to keep our hearts free from malice or the desire to get back at those who hurt us. Third, we need to learn to have patience with those weaker and younger in the faith than we are. Fourth is growth in submission. 1 Peter 1:5 MEV Yes, all of you be submissive one to another and clothe yourselves with humility, because "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." and Hebrews 13:17 NKJV Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. In other words, it's mutual submission within the body and submission to authority. And fifth is growth in spiritual insight. Last week we talked about taking responsibility for our own growth, but we need to grow in our insight as to why unity is so important, why community matters so much, and why the devil tries so hard to attack and destroy our unity. These are some growth areas we are called to, and as I start to close, I want to give you some reasons why God places us into a community and wants us to be in unity with His body. It's so the gifts can flow freely and in power. In other words, it's for ministry; it's because the full dimension of Jesus' ministry can't be expressed through one person. It takes a body with many members, each part working together in harmony. It's for refining us. Ick. God joins us into a family and makes us 'grow up' in terms of our attitudes and relational skills. This refining and growth in attitude is essential for us to fulfill our calling. Many gifted and talented people are held back because of poor or non-existent relational skills. Refining is also essential for holiness. We have a Father who is very concerned about our character and wants to refine it to mirror Jesus from the very moment that we are born again. He wants us in unity and community so we can have revelation. The most vivid revelation of Jesus Christ to the world occurs when His people love one another. John 17:20-23 NKJV "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Basically, the Father leads Jesus, and Jesus leads the church by the Holy Spirit. If we live our lives in intimacy with Jesus, people who don't know God yet will be convinced that Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. And they'll know God loves them because they'll see us walking it out. There will be miracles and signs and wonders, sure. But the love of God is what will compel them to repent and come to Christ. God wants us in unity and community for safety. When hard times come, either personally or corporately, God stretches our hearts to care for people who aren't even our blood relatives. And then the body is also for sustenance. Every follower of Jesus has to be constantly nourished and strengthened to stay strong and grow into their calling. Some elements here include the bread of the Word, the wine of worship, and the oil or incense of prayer. It's possible to do these things alone, but Jesus didn't want to. Matthew 26:36-46 NKJV Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there." 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." This message, that God wants us to be in unity in community can be easy to hear but difficult to do. But it's essential in order to move into the gifts of the Spirit and ministries of our Lord in power, grace, and love. And the questions for us as I close are these: Are there any steps God is calling me to take to be a fully functioning member of His body? Are there any heart attitudes I have that I need to work on? Will I reject passivity and step out to help create community and unity? Has my ministry been hindered because of isolation or misunderstanding about the importance of the body? Move into communion. Unity & Community | 1