Ministry in the Spirit

Intro

Unity. If you remember from the book of Acts, Luke emphasizes again and again that the believers were in one accord. 

Paul considered the unity of the Spirit very important also. But it was threatened in the new churches he established. All of them needed help from the Spirit to maintain that unity.

Even in Corinth, where the believers were not lacking in any spiritual gift, there was not only danger of divisions in the church, divisions were actually taking place.

The believers were expressing personal preferences for Paul, Apollos, and Cephas (Peter) to the point that they were forming separate parties.

Sermon’s outline:

The Wisdom of God;

Living like Ordinary Men;

Spiritual Gifts;

One Body;

A Better Way.

N.1 - The Wisdom of God

1A. God’s Wisdom vs Human Wisdom.

1 Corinthians 2:4–5 NIV

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

To help correct the Corinthians’ dependence on human wisdom Paul contrasts the wisdom of God with the wisdom of men;

Paul contrasts the “wise and persuasive words [man’s natural wisdom],… with a demontrastion [convincing proof] of the Spirit’s [mighty] power.”

What Paul brought them was not just another teaching, not just another philosophy, not just some ideas to argue about.

Paul was careful to show that the gospel he preached was taught in the Word of God. He presented proofs from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. But he did more than give arguments. He showed people the power of God.

Quiz: Which of these statements are true?

a) The wisdom the Greeks exalted came from human reasoning. yes

b) Because the Greeks knew and understood wisdom, they were quick to see that the gospel made sense.

c) As soon as the Corinthians became Christians they turned their backs completely on their old ways of thinking.

d) Paul avoided using the methods of natural wisdom and human philosophers in presenting the gospel. yes

e) Paul was not concerned about bringing any kind of proof of the gospel.

N.2 - Living like Ordinary Men

2A. Mere Infants in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:1 NIV

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.

The real problem of the Corinthians was not primarily intellectual, but moral.

They were living, acting, and arguing like ordinary men, instead of like spiritual men: their attitudes and motivations were the same.

Paul reminds them that the judgemnt would reavel the character of their works and leave them without reward:

1 Corinthians 3:13 NIV

their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

Quiz: Which of these statements are true?

a) Paul could not speak to the Corinthians as spiritual or Spirit-led because they were not baptized in the Spirit and had none of the gifts.

b) The Corinthians were acting like ordinary men primarily in that they allowed envy, strife, and division to develop among them. yes

c) The Corinthians were in danger of losing their reward. yes

d) The Corinthians were wrong to exalt Peter, Paul, or Apollos to a place of leadership that failed to recognize that all were just fellow laborers with the Lord. yes

N.3 - Spiritual Gifts

3A. A Variety of Gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:8–10 NIV

To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

Paul did not have to explain what the gifts were, because the Corinthians had them. But they needed instruction concerning their use.

Though the gifts are free, they are still the Spirit’s gifts, and we have a responsibility to use them as He directs. His directions, of course, will be according to what we read in the Word He inspired.

3B. See Chart on Holy Spirit’s Gifts.

Quiz: Which of the following statements are true?

a) God has placed in the church a reservoir of the gifts of the Spirit from which we can always draw.

b) The gifts of the Spirit are necessary if we are to carry on the work of Jesus as He intended in this age. yes

c) God is so eager for us to have the gifts of the Spirit that He pours them out upon us whether we want them or not.

d) Every believer has his or her specific gift whether he or she knows it or not.

N.4 - One Body

4A. Baptized into the Body.

1 Corinthians 12:12–13 NIV

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

The book of Acts shows the close relationship and mutual love and fellowship of the first believers after Pentecost. We must still emphasize the need for unity and closeness in the Spirit as we work together for the Lord. It is in this kind of unity and fellowship that we grow best, both as individuals and as a body.

4B. See Chart on Baptism’s differences.

Quiz: Which of the following statements are true?

a) A believer should be a part of the spiritual body of Christ before he or she is baptized in water if the baptism is to be meaningful. yes

b) The baptism by Christ into the Spirit is primarily for power and service. yes

c) The baptism by Christ into the Spirit is accompanied by the evidence of speaking in tongues. yes

d) Every person who is in Christ is a member of one body, for he or she has been baptized by the Spirit into that one body. yes

N.5 - A Better Way

5A. The relationship between love and the gifts of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

First Corinthians 12 taught the Corinthians a better way to exercise the gifts than the way they were exercising them. First Corinthians 13 shows a still better way.

The way of love. Love will have a concern for others, a concern for the body. Love will provide the motivation needed to seek the unity and well-being of the body.

Quiz: Which of these statements is true?

a) The Bible often refers to love as a spiritual gift.

b) If you have love you do not need the gifts of the Spirit.

c) The contrast in 1 Corinthians 13 is between spiritual gifts without love and spiritual gifts with love. yes

Questions.

1 = A

2 = C

3 = B

4 = B

5 = A

6 = C