Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Everyone in a community has a contribution to make, just as each part of the human body contributes to its ability to function properly.

The analogy of the body as a way of understanding how people work interdependently has a long history, dating back even to the ancient Greek and Roman writers, and carrying forward still describes various ways that we work with others today.

We see this in the oilfield where there is a driller, an inside hand, an outside hand, and derrick/mud man.

Some even have more than this.

Yet each has a job to do and if they do not do it, there are problems.

Same with cowboying.

When making a drive every man has a job to do.

If he does not do it, then the whole drive gets messed up.

The list is endless of jobs and functions of each person within that particular industry.

It is the same with our bodies.

Each member of the body has a job and role to play.

If part of the body is not functioning, then the whole body is down or not working to its optimum ability.

To look ahead a little, Paul says that we, believers, are “The Body of Christ.”

He does not say we are like a body, he says we are the Body (1 Cor.

12:27).

Since we are the body using the human body as an example is the best way to illustrate this.

Through the Spirit each person has a vital contribution to make to the whole.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul calls these contributions “spiritual gifts” (v.

1), “gifts” (v.

4) and “manifestation[s] of the Spirit” (v. 7).

I. DIFFERENT GIFTS—vv.

1–11

1. Use of Gifts—vv. 1 Cor.

12:1–3 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!”

and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

Gifts are useless, if not known how to use them.

In these verses we see Paul saying he does not want us uninformed about spiritual gifts.

That many were led astray by mute idols.

This is true.

When we are of the world anything that is big and looks amazing will lead us astray.

Many have fallen pray to Ouija boards, seances, and other forms of witchcraft.

It is because of these practices that were amuck back then and are now too that Paul explains how to discern what is from what.

No one who is in the Spirit will say Jesus is accursed nor can one out of the Spirit say He is Lord.

According to Leon Morris “Obviously a mocking unbeliever can mouth the words Jesus is Lord.

Paul is not denying this.

He is saying that the words can be uttered with full meaning only under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

The Lordship of Christ is not a human discovery.

It is a discovery that is made and can be made only when the Spirit is at work in the heart.”

What Paul is saying is that those who are believers will know that Jesus is the Savior and Lord and know if anyone says He is accursed that they are not a believer.

This is a gifting of the Spirit because to reject Christ is to reject Christianity.

So one gift that all believers have is the Spiritual ability to discern the truth.

We are saved by the one true God and as such we have the ability to know when someone is speaking erroneously about Him.

This applies to those who want to say ‘I got a Vision from the Lord.”

“The Lord told me...” and many other false things.

We get a word from the Lord from His Word.

He will use it to speak to us by the Spirit but it is not direct revelation we receive but divine illumination

Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote of this saying, “The Spirit of God is given to every saved person as an indwelling Paraclete, thus providing a limitless resource both for understanding and teachableness.”

(9, Systematic Theology Volume 1).

I do not mean to say that God may not use differing methods in countries that do not have a Bible, but for all who do, this is how we learn the truth of Scripture.

We are submitted to God and His word.

2. Unity of the Gifts—vv.

1 Cor.

12:4–11 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

Verse 4 explicitly tells us that these gifts are from the same Spirit.

This is aid so people do not think they are better than others.

The same Spirit gives the gifts.

Any gift one has is from the Spirit and it is not of them.

a. Plan for gifts—vv.

4–6

Here we see that they are gifts for a variety of service and activities.

The service is performed by each individual for what it is they were gifted.

All are for service but the method of service is different.

Much like if I gave you a tool set.

Say it is a 300 piece tool set.

Wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers, sockets, pliers, extensions, magnets, drill bits, adapters, wire strippers, and many other items.

Now each tool has a particular job it is to do.

When you use the proper tool for the job, the job is performed relatively easily.

Now, if you use a wrench as a hammer you may get the job done but it is not done as easily.

The same can be said of using a screwdriver as a chisel.

It may get done but it is not as easy and the tool may break.

That is what is being said here.

Each one has been given a gift for service and activity but not all are the same.

But what is for sure known is that they are for service and activities.

They are not to be held in and not used.

Within the plans of the gifts there is the unity again.

The varieties mentioned three times are for the strengthening of the body.

Each variety is for the purpose needed to make the body stronger and better.

No variety is better as I already mentioned.

We see the unity in the threefold

the same Spirit

the same Lord

the same God.

It is the triune Godhead that gives the gifts as He sees fit.

He gives them to “empower them all in everyone” 12:6.

This means people are gifted differently by God but God and His work is unified.

Simply put, if your gift is to be a help then cleaning the toilets is just as important and needed as one standing up and preaching.

This is why Paul goes on and says 1 Cor.

12:7 “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Each gift is for the common good of the church.

All are to be used for the good and upbuilding of the body.

If someone is gifted in an area that another is not, there is to be no belittling because each gift is just as important as the next one.

Just like the tool set from earlier.

Each tool regardless what it is is just as important as another when it is needed for a job.

No tool is unnecessary if it is needed.

Each person in the body of Christ is needed.

No one is less than and no one is better than another.

We are all equal in Christ but gifted differently.