One Spirit, One Body
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Where are the words of knowledge, the prophesy, the healings the miracles the speaking in tongues today?
Sure, some charismatic churches today claim to be demonstrating supernatural, miraculous, spirit-filled, displays of these gifts.
but even they don’t compete with Corinth.
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.
By chapter 14, Paul is so overwhelmed by the endless displays of spiritual gifts that they display,
he has to give them some points of ‘good ordered’ to hold them back
You can’t stop these guys!
This is a church on Fire - the Fire of the Spirit.
We attended a church in South Africa that claimed to have raised a women from the dead,
they held huge healing events,
Everyone apparently spoke in tongues - if you couldn’t you weren’t as spiritual - you were missing out! I was regularaly told - I’m missing out.
We didn’t stay long at that church.
Have I been missing out for 43 years?
Are you, we missing out today?
Isn’t it a little ironic - that this scripture passage is the one used by many churches today to say - you’re missing out.
When this passage actually makes precisely - the opposite point.
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
If you are able to say ‘Jesus is Lord’ - you have the HS.
He very much fills your heart and your life.
I’ve called this section:
Speaking by the Spirit
Speaking by the Spirit
We know what Paul means,
If we have repented for our sin before God, trusting in the death and resurection and the future glorious return of Jesus for eternal life - then only the HS can enable us to do that!
It is only by the indwelling of the HS that anyone can say
such powerful and comforting words.
‘Jesus is Lord.’
How those words must be echoing around the hearts of Ukrainian Christians this last fortnight.
Jesus is Lord.
They, are speaking by the Spirit - for they cannot truly believe those words without the Spirit.
Or when life is triumphant, great blessings have come and we are able to shout for joy
Jesus is Lord
The HS empowered you to say that.
Don’t be uninformed says Paul
- there are no 2 categories of Christian,
no second blessing,
no extra topping up of the Spirit in our hearts.
The Spirit is a person, once he entres your heart he’s in.
The Power of God has awakened your soul,
and we can speak his words..
And His words say what He is all about - and that is exhulting Jesus:
so we say:
Jesus is Lord.
Every single Christian has been filled by the Spirt to speak by the Spirit.
No other miracle or sign is required - other than the sign of salvation which is true belief in Jesus as Lord.
Paul uses another common phrase, often misunderstood today in v13.
Baptised by the Spirit
Baptised by the Spirit
You see Receiving the Spirit at Conversion - baptises us into one body of 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 Corinthians (and I might suggest this is a danger of todays Charismatic church) is to imply a sense of hiracy within Christianity - based on an individuals display of the Spirit’s gifts.
But Paul’s point is not that Baptism of the Spirit segregates you into different camps of spiritual giftedness,
but quite the opposite -
You receive One Spirit to Speak Jesus is Lord - and by that one Spirit you are baptised into One body to love each other equally.
Rather than elevating certain gifts or manifestations of the Spirit - Paul wants to level the playing field for us all.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
So you might in Corinth have been able to miraculously heal someone, or, you might be serving tea and coffee after the service, or you might be caring for someone who is mourning, or stacking the chairs.
The healer is not greater than the server, and the server is not lesser than the worker, and the worker is not greater than the miracle worker.
If any Christian does something to build up the local church - they are only able to do so by virtue of the HS’s work in their life.
Of course a non-Christian can stack chairs, but they can’t do it selflessly for The Lord Jesus,
in a way that builds up the church. There are other forces and motivations at work.
Elsewhere in the Bible Paul talks about the gifts of hospitality or administration for example (although I would put the gift of administration in the miraculous category!).
The point is, all are equal - All that we are and have been given freely by God to serve the church
- whether it appears to be miraculous or ordinary - all is the Spirit’s work to build up the local church..
The whole illustration of the body made of many parts emphasizes this point:
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
I’m not a preacher, so I don’t belong to the church - I’m not impressive enough! Rubbish - you’re truly essential and valuable to us all - why?
Because every part of our physical bodies is important (apart from perhaps your appendix - but we get Paul’s point)
I don’t preach becasue I’m more spiritually gifted than a helper in Diggers - we are just differently gifted
- although you may want to debate my gifting..
Kids drive me mad! You might be nervous to speak to a crowd. I’m a foot - you’re a hand.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
i think we all know what Paul’s getting!
We are baptised by the HS into the one body in Christ -
And That means a few things.
1 - Do not look down (or up) at others - we are all gifted by the same Spirit to love each other. look to Jesus as Lord.
2 - It means we must attend church - a Christian is someone who has been baptised into the body. At worst If you don’t come then perhaps you’re not Spirit filled. Or at best if you don’t come often you’re detaching yourself from your body!
3 - It also means we come to church to serve and build up the body. We’re not consumers, or observers - we are the body - each part must play it’s part.
So - now - onto the the elephant in the room...
or you might argue the elephant not in the room..
Charismatic gifts of the Spirit
Charismatic gifts of the Spirit
Charistmaitc is the origional Greek word for gift In v4
Are we missing out?
Have we forgotten something,
Are we denying this particular work of the Spirit here at GCWP, or at the millions of reformed, or conservative, churches, bible schools across our world?
Well I hope you’re not surprised to hear me say, no - absolutely not.
We’ve already seen how we are all filled with the spirit if we are able to declare that Jesus is Lord.
So what is going on here in Corinth - and why is is different today?
In scripture miraculous ‘signs and wonders’ have marked significant changes or times or individual people in God’s salvation history.
The plagues in Egypt and the miracles of provision in the wilderness - marked the beginning of God’s new nation and people.
Elijah the prophet, in the face of near eradication of all of God’s prophets performs miracles to restore the glory of God in the face of defeat.
Jesus - comes with a new covenant - to complete salvation for all who truly repent and believe.
We would be surprised if Jesus and his time didn’t come with signs and wonders.
So around Jesus - around the greatest development in salvation history we have an explosion of signs and wonders.
The apostles are all given the ability to perform great and unquestionable miracles.
Even in Corinth - there was recognition that the apostles had another level of gifting..
For example in Paul’s next letter to them he writes..
I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.
But On top of all that, there also appears to be something else going on in the wider church at this significant time.
Great visions - such as John’s account in Revelation
Son’s and daughters of the early church sharing phrophesies that could not be known without God’s revelation.
Miraculous healings,
The ability to speak of Jesus in a foreign language that they had not learned.
It would be nieve to think this period of time was not significant, and so I think we should expect it to have been different.
And the bible helps us understand why..
Hebrews 1:1–2 (NIV)
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.
In the OT even outside the occasional signs and wonders, there were still phrohets who spoke at many times and in various ways - but now we have a full and final word in Jesus.
We need no more prophetic extra revelation about God, from God - for somehow it’s all now said and done in Jesus.
And in chapter 2 of Hebrews explains more.
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
The signs wonders, miracles at the time and the gifts of the HS confirmed the Word they have heard from eyewitnesses about Jesus.
Signs and wonders had a clear purpose.
henrews point is that we now, after that time have something better!
We have The full and final word of Jesus - recorded for us in the bible by the eyewitnesses and first early churches being confirmed at that time by signs wonders, miracles and gifts of the Spirit.
We no longer need eyewitness accounts confirmed by gifts or signs - it is done.
We live in the most privileged time of all salvation history,
God’s word the bible is closed and complete - the evidence is in our hands and has lasted the test of time.
It’s Something the earliest churches did not have.
They relied on letter like this one and visits from Apostles
- and God’s Spirit to be at work in revelatory ways and confirmation ways
that we no longer expect to normally see.
Even by the time that lastest books of the NT were written there didn’t appear to be this same outpouring of miraculous gifts.
There is actually very little about these sort of gifts outside of 1 Cor and Acts.
And In the book of James for example one of the last books written,
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
There seems to already be a shift from individualised spiritual gifts of healing to a reliance on the corporate prayer of the church trusting in the salvation and word of Jesus.
Galations and Colossionas move to talk of fruit of the spirit not gifts of the spirit.
A radical change in character - no mention at all of supernatural gifts available to all.
Todays fascination with Charismatic gifts in very modern. While there have been corners of church history that seek such gifts, the very vast majority of church history did not.
Saint John Chyrsostom writing about this very passage in around 370ad writes this.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.12: Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians (Homily XXIX)
THIS whole place is very obscure: but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place.
Does all this mean God cannot or does not act in miraculous ways any more!?
Of course not - God may and can act as he chooses.
We, as James wrote, have an expectation of healing when we pray -but we trust God’s will not our gifting.
We have an expectation that God will speak to us through His word by His Spirit.
We see us all hear each week serving and loving each other - all confirmation of the Spirit’s work in his Body the church of Jesus.
And in fact every soul that confesses Jesus is Lord is the greatest and most essential miracle and work of the Spirit available to anyone.
But we need not, should not, expect to be able to work miracles, healings, new revelations, prophesy about the future or speak in new tongues.
Aside from that theological explanation - I would also ask us to look at the evidence around.
Where are the great healers who would surely empty hospitals if they had such a gift?
You wont find (i don’t encourage you to look) a single ‘obvious’ healing on the internet that has been caught on camera.
How could that be possible in our day and age - there are endless ridiculous pretences of healing - but nothing at all that demands the response that was seen to Jesus and the apostles.
Biblical miracles are obvious, undeniable and proven - people truly witnessed and saw.
With regards to tounges - we are running out of time - but the bible’s natural reading is to assume people were miraculously able to speak foreign languages without learning them. It’s described clearly in Acts 2.
We will talk more about prophesy and tongues specifically in 2 weeks when we get to chapter 14 where it comes up again, so I wont spend more time on it now.
but let me close by aknowldeging that Some of us may have experienced or even believe we practice charismatic gifts,
and I do not deny anyone’s experience that has led them to faith or to build up the church.
But my encouragement is to always seek to grow in the Word of God, not in experiences, or other peoples words or gifts As those things experiences can be misleading or even of the devil. - as they sometimes were even in NT times.
But The Word of God is sure and is God’s glorious plan for all nations to come to and remain in faith that declares “Jesus is Lord.
My aim is to encourage the church that our position is not one of ‘fear of the unknown’ or nervousness about the Spirit’s work,
but one of conviction that we have the Spirit very much in our hearts
and we love his gracious work in all of our lives to bring us to faith,
empower us to live fruitful, church building and gospel spreading lives.
I’m sure there will be many questions about all this,
so I plan to host a Q and A session on this topic in the next month, so please look out for that if you have questions - but also feel free to grab me afterwards or email me about specifics as well.
But for now -
let us seek to use all that we have been made in christ to build up the body of Chirst in this our local church in the power of His Spirit..
PRAY
Got Questions.org
Prophecy – The Greek word translated “prophecy” in both passages properly means “a speaking forth.” According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the word refers to “discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events.” To prophesy is to declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of God, or to make known in any way the truth of God that is designed to influence people.
Word of wisdom – The fact that this gift is described as the “word” of wisdom indicates that it is one of the speaking gifts. This gift describes someone who can understand and speak forth biblical truth in such a way as to skillfully apply it to life situations with all discernment.
Word of knowledge – This is another speaking gift that involves understanding truth with an insight that only comes by revelation from God. Those with the gift of knowledge understand the deep things of God and the mysteries of His Word.
Faith – All believers possess faith in some measure because it is one of the gifts of the Spirit bestowed on all who come to Christ in faith (Galatians 5:22-23). The spiritual gift of faith is exhibited by one with a strong and unshakeable confidence in God, His Word, His promises, and the power of prayer to effect miracles.
Healing – Although God does still heal today, the ability of men to produce miraculous healings belonged to the apostles of the first century church to affirm that their message was from God. Christians today do not have the power to heal the sick or resurrect the dead. If they did, the hospitals and morgues would be full of these “gifted” people emptying beds and coffins everywhere.
Miraculous powers – Also known as the working of miracles, this is another temporary sign gift which involved performing supernatural events that could only be attributed to the power of God (Acts 2:22). This gift was exhibited by Paul (Acts 19:11-12), Peter (Acts 3:6), Stephen (Acts 6:8), and Phillip (Acts 8:6-7), among others.
Distinguishing (discerning) of spirits – Certain individuals possess the unique ability to determine the true message of God from that of the deceiver, Satan, whose methods include purveying deceptive and erroneous doctrine. Jesus said many would come in His name and would deceive many (Matthew 24:4-5), but the gift of discerning spirits is given to the Church to protect it from such as these.
Speaking in tongues – The gift of tongues is one of the temporary “sign gifts” given to the early Church to enable the gospel to be preached throughout the world to all nations and in all known languages. It involved the divine ability to speak in languages previously unknown to the speaker. This gift authenticated the message of the gospel and those who preached it as coming from God. The phrase “diversity of tongues” (KJV) or “different kinds of tongues” (NIV) effectively eliminates the idea of a “personal prayer language” as a spiritual gift.
Interpretation of tongues – A person with the gift of interpreting tongues could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language that was being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand.