The Same Spirit

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 12:3–13 (NLT)

3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

Focus Statement

In Christ, we are called to treat each other with equality and equity...

Equally valuing each other’s gifts as we work together to serve the world in ministry to our Lord.

We are children of the SAME GOD and are FILLED with the SAME SPIRIT.

Point of Relation

I know a person who is in Jail for murder.

When the murder happened, he was apprehended, tried and convicted of the terrible crime.

I was friends with the person at the time and I had a whole bunch of mixed feelings.

I felt awful for the victims and their families, of whom I was friendly with.

I was in disbelieve about my friend and the other one who he was with.

And despite being angry with him for what he did...and the fact that I hurt that he did it...

I couldn’t bring myself to judge him…but I have throughout the years kept him in my prayers.

But boy did others judge him…and I am not referring to the families...

They, simply put, wanted justice and who could blame them...

But the Sussex County community…that’s who I am referring to.

The guy’s family had to move away from their neighborhood due to threats...

My friend’s father ended up committing suicide...

A whole bunch of anger and vitriol were thrown at the family which had NOTHING to do with the crime.

Just now, as I tell this story, some of you may be thinking such a shame that such a guy can get so lost…and he was lost.

But it may also surprise you to learn that in his time in jail,

and despite being constantly denied early release on good behavior...

this man has become a Christian...

And has been given the gift of evangelism...

winning many souls over to Christ.

Here is a guy that most people, and certainly many Christians, would discount as a lost soul...

Maybe even judge where this person will spend eternally for their evil actions…

But the Holy Spirit does not discriminate the way we do and...

This man sincerely handed his life over to Christ and IS EQUALLY equipped as we are for the Glory of God...

Despite the fact that most of us would NEVER do what he tragically did.

The question is…if he were to be released and were to show up at our church to worship...

would he be welcomed…seen as an equal in Christ?

Things to Consider

Because we are subjective beings, we have a difficult time relating with others in a way that sees them as equal to ourselves.

This is because we only truly know ourselves...

We know our thoughts,

our hopes, our fears, our desires.

And we tend to prioritize our own needs over others...

As well as sometimes see our own gifts as more important than others.

For instance, to use my role and gifts as an example,

a pastor could wind up thinking that due to their education and status in the church...

That their role is more essential than others.

I hate to say this, because pastors should know better,

but we all are human sinners like everyone else

and there are such pastors out there.

What’s more, people can also see someone else’s gifts as better than their own...

Equally not true...

And think that a pastor’s role is more important than there.s

Neither belief could be further from the truth.

What Scripture Says

Corinth, to be honest, was a HOT MESS of a church.

It had GREAT potential in a pagan religious, cultural and economic epicenter...

but the church lacked the maturity to serve well in that environment.

The church was such a HOT MESS that Paul actually visited it a couple of times in between 4 letters, one of which he refers to as a letter of tears...

Which may or may not have been included in 2 Corinthians 10-13.

Regardless, we only have two of the four letters included in our Bible today. The fourth letter was lost, as was probably the letter of tears.

But make no mistake, Paul wrote 4 distinct letters to the Corinthian Church, and we are reading what would have been the second…even though it is called 1 Corinthians.

Here is what Paul had to say about the letter of tears, to provide that context:

in 2 Corinthians 2:1–4 (NLT) he writes,

1 So I decided that I would not bring you grief with another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Certainly not someone I have grieved. 3 That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won’t be grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful. 4 I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears. I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much love I have for you.

Corinth was a troublesome church indeed…yet PAUL loved them and saw their potential...

And it grieved him to see them caught up in…and some even condoning…a sexual immorality scandal ( as we learn in 1 Corinthians 5:1-2 NLT).

It grieved Paul to see them have a lack of Christian love for one another (as can be read in both our current chapter 12 and 1 Cor 13, where Paul teaches them what LOVE actually means in verses 4-8:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

It grieved Paul that they were bickering over whose gifts were more important…

which is why later in Chapter 12 he proclaims in verses 20-21:

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

Finally, it grieved Paul that while these Christians knew about Spiritual Gifts,

They did not have the wisdom of how to effectively and cohesively use them...

Nor did they understand how the Holy Spirit works.

It is here that we enter our passage and pick up where we began.

So Paul opens up our passage in Chapter 12 with these words:

“3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”

Why would Paul start it out this way, because Paul wants to remind this church,

particularly the members who are bickering over whose more important…and whose way should be had...

that we are all serving Jesus because of the Holy Spirit that is within us.

No one speaking by the Holy Spirit will curse Jesus…and no one can profess Jesus Christ is Lord without the Holy Spirit being in them.

These opening words are VITALLY IMPORTANT and set up the rest of what Paul has to say.

So let me ask this, what does Paul mean by cursing Jesus?

Pause

In what way can we curse Jesus?

Pause

Well for starters, we curse Jesus when we refuse to obey his commandments, particularly this one:

In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.””

And in John 14:15-17, Jesus said:

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

When we fail to live into and obey Jesus’s commandments,

We are really acting like the world who does NOT recognize JESUS because we are not looking for Him.

Rather, we’re stuck on ourselves.

But when we do obey Jesus’s commandments, it is not because we are good or by our own merit…but because we have been given God’s grace and fallen in LOVE with Jesus

And therefore we are FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT, our Advocate, our Guide...

The One who Sanctifies us, leading us into ministry to all the world!

As such, we are equipped by the Holy Spirit with the Spiritual gifts that Paul is talking about in our passage today.

And in this passage Paul is urging a broken, troubled church to STOP acting like the world,

And to start acting like a people of the Holy Spirit.

A people whose gifts are all welcomed equally as they are ALL GIFTS…of THE SAME SPIRIT.

When we deny other’s gifts, or think that our gifts are more important than another’s,

We are really denying the Holy Spirit in the other.

Let me ask you in this way, is the Holy Spirit less powerful in other people than in you?

OF COURSE NOT, God is not strong here and lesser over there. God is GOD! God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...

Distinct, yet ONE and coequal…and the Holy Spirit in me is the SAME SPIRIT that is in you.

We have all been BAPTiZED into ONE BODY by ONE SPIRIT, and we all SHARE the SAME SPIRIT.

Paul, also reminds us that Spiritual Gifts are given...

Not to prop ourselves up or for our own gratification...

Rather Spiritual gifts are given to us for the GOOD of the WHOLE BODY.

And let’s be clear, It is never good for the WHOLE…when ONE thinks they’re better than everyone else.

What This Means for You

Let me ask you this, when have you seen yourself as being better than someone else?

What led you to feel that way?

Pause

And if you have let go or moved on from those feelings, how did the Holy Spirit empower you to do so?

Pause

What This Means for Us

As a church, we too have people who do not look at or view others as equals in the Holy Spirit.

This should not be a shock, because every church has people like this.

Every HUMAN organization has people like this.

Today, we are being called to examine ourselves and our egos.

Today, we are being called to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit once again...

to see THE SAME SPIRIT in each and every one of our sisters and brothers in Christ.

Today we are being challenged, commanded even, by Christ to serve together,

acknowledging and respecting each other’s gifts...

and putting our own gifts in use along side of others

So that, together, we are serving Christ and his Kingdom!

Those gifts could be anything...

Perhaps you are great with children and/or teaching.

Perhaps you are handy

and good at fixing things.

Perhaps you have a great voice and like to sing.

Or perhaps you’re an artist and can use your gifts to serve Christ in the Church.

Whatever your gifts are the are equally as VITAL to our Church body as mine or anyone else’s

And we desire to have you join us, using your gifts to further the mission and ministry of Christ...

Join us and bring your Holy Spirit-given gifts with you for the glory of Christ and His Kingdom!

Amen? Amen.