CHAPTER 12

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

This chapter deals with spiritual gifts from God, and leads into a discussion about
THE most VALUABLE gift in the next chapter.

EVERY born again Christian has at least ONE gift, and
some Christians have more than one.

The purpose of this chapter is not to explicitly explain ALL the gifts God
gives to His children.
Neither is it to place priority upon any or several of the gifts.
Paul seems to talk at random about the several gifts.

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

EVERY Christian has a past.
Sometimes that past is as a "good person."
But, MOST of us have had a rather degenerate past.

But God, in His infinite mercy, CALLED us away from ourselves, and our idols.

Two things Paul makes mention of here:
FIRST, no person who is genuinely saved can say Jesus (was) is "accursed."
That's because ANY born again Christian has the Holy Spirit of God within him/her.
SECOND, no person can truly say "Jesus is Lord" (of his/her life) unless
he/she is indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

Saying Jesus (was) is "accursed" can only be done by a person who does not believe
that Jesus is God in the flesh -- incarnate.
Saying that Jesus is LORD of one's life reflects a conscious decision to ALLOW Him
to be LORD of a person's life.

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

ALL "gifts" from God to Christians are given by God's Holy Spirit who indwells the believer.

There is a possibility that some of the Christians in the church at Corinth
were claiming PRIORITIES of spiritual gifts.
Perhaps they were trying to impose power upon others.

What Paul is explaining here is:
There are MANY gifts God gives to His people, BUT
They ALL come by God's Holy Spirit AS a gift!

And, later Paul will explain NONE is more IMPORTANT than another!

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

Notice in verse 4, the gifts come by the Spirit of God.
In verse 5, they come by the Lord (Jesus).
In verse 6, they come by God (Father).

May I refer us again to Deut. 6:4 which says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:".
Yes, God is recognized as a TRIPARTATE.
He is made known by three distinct Persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
YET, God ALWAYS is ONE!
He is ALWAYS in UNITY!

In verse 5 also, there is that word "administrations."
It is derived from the Greek diakonia.
That word is sometimes translated as deacons.
Sometimes it is translated as ministers.
Sometimes it is translated as SERVICE.

So, there are differences in our service or ministries.
Again, they ALL come from the same LORD.

There are also differences in "operations".
Or there are differences in the WORKS of God's people.

Note the statement: "to every man to profit WITHAL."
God works ALL of His ministries through individuals!
Therefore, the following gifts are to be used in UNITY!
They are ALL individually used to benefit the WHOLE of the church!

I'm breaking out the gifts of which Paul speaks so as to try and explain somewhat
how they work.
AGAIN, keep in mind this is NOT an extensive list.
It does not contain ALL of the Spirit gifts.

WISDOM -- making wise decisions, and able to give advice to others.

KNOWLEDGE -- amassing facts, having intelligence, and a wide range of knowledgeability.
(It's one thing to have knowledge, and quite another to USE that knowledge with wisdom.)

FAITH -- clinging to, adhering to Jesus as Christ and holding to the Word of God.
(Now EVERY Christian receives faith as his/her FIRST gift from God. (See Eph. 2:8-9)
We are given a "mustard seed" of faith when we surrender to Christ.
Yet some are given a greater "proportion" of faith. (See Rom. 12:6)
EACH of us expected to GROW in that faith!)

HEALING -- the ability to sincerely pray and see others healed from illness and disease.
(ALL of the apostles were given this gift. And SOME of the members of the early church
were given this gift.
Some people say today, that gift is GONE.
Some people say today, that gift is STILL ALIVE.
May I say that it is a gift that must be proven by actual results.)

MIRACLES -- MORE than just healing the sick, & may refer to raising the dead.
(Peter did this. And some others in the early church may have had the same ability given
to them by the Lord.)

PROPHECY - derived from the Greek propheteia (prof-ay-ti'-ah); meaning
the ability to predict something that will happen.
(Let me just say that ALL Christians have this gift in part.
EVERY Christian can predict according to God's Word.
For instance: IF you give yourself to Jesus, He will KEEP you.
Or, Jesus WILL come again.
Or, there IS going to be a last battle between Jesus and Satan's forces.
You see what I mean.)

DISCERNING OF SPIRITS - Being able to tell if a person is following God's will.
(Another gift that ALL Christians have. (See 1John 4:1)
A Christian has the Holy Spirit of God within.
And, when a Christian studies the Bible, he/she is able to tell if others are speaking truth.)

TONGUES -- being able to speak in other languages.
(Let me just say this is not babbling which can't be understood.
It is speaking in a language that someone CAN understand. This gift is necessary
when people of diverse languages meet together. Though I am not fluent in many languages, I have spoken in other languages when preaching to such an assembly.)

INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES -- able to tell what someone is speaking in another language. (Again, this is not some arbitrary interpretation of babbling.
It is the interpretation of a LANGUAGE.
And, this gift is not DEAD as some claim!
This gift WILL pass away one day (See 1Cor. 13:8),
because SOMEDAY we'll all speak the SAME language - and that gift will no longer be needed. This gift is still used in churches today where people assemble who speak different languages. I have attended and preached in several churches which needed an interpreter.)

Again, let me point out that this does not include ALL the gifts God gives.
And, there are no priorities to these gifts, because they are given to ONE that
the WHOLE might profit!

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

God uses these gifts in individuals "as He WILL(s)"
When God sees a gift is NECESSARY to accomplish His will, he bestows that gift.
There is no glory in having a special gift.
It/they is/are to be used to benefit the WHOLE!

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

The church is "the body of Christ" (See 1Cor. 12:27).

There is MUCH diversity in the church.
There are black, white, brown, red, yellow people.
But ALL make up the BODY of Christ.

Jesus had one body.
But it took a lot of PARTS to make up that one body.

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.

In the church at Corinth, some were converted Jews, and some were saved Gentiles.
Some were free born, some were, or had been, slaves.
But they ALL became a PART of the "body of Christ."

It is the same way today.
Churches are made up of DIFFERENT people.
But they ALL TOGETHER comprise the body of Christ.

In verse 14, Paul explains that ONE member does not control the church!
ALL should be INVOLVED!

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Have you ever seen a body that was only ONE member? (a foot, an eye, an ear, a nose?)
NO!
The body is made of MANY parts.
And, ALL need each other!!

I remember when I was in 4th grade and broke my right arm.
Now, I'm right-handed.
I had to learn to use my left hand to write in school.

EACH part of the body of Christ is IMPORTANT!
God has made up the body of Christ with many DIFFERENT members.
We ALL need each OTHER!

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

Now, here is the THEME of the whole chapter.

Even the smallest, most insignificant part of the body is NECESSARY!!
(If you don't believe it, just get your leg broken!)

Therefore we should "bestow more abundant honor" upon even the most menial part!!

THEN, we will have no "schism" in the body.
Schism is taken from the Greek schisma meaning: split, gap, division.

Paul is addressing the fact that the church at Corinth has DIVISIONS among them!
He is stating it ought NOT to be so!
Because, a church should "have the same CARE" for "one" as for "another!!"

If one has the gift of preaching or teaching, he/she shouldn't look DOWN upon the person
who has the simple gift of repairing things in the church building!
They are given by the SAME GOD.
And they are given to minister to ALL the body!

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

If your finger is broken, the rest of your body SUFFERS!
If your finger becomes well again, the rest of the body REJOICES!

Let us take the same care for the body of Christ!

When a person in the church family is ill or having a difficult time,
ALL the other members should CARE and HELP!

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

It takes ALL the people to comprise the BODY!

We are all different, but we make ONE whole!

28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

Now, in the list of gifts (verses 5-10 above), the gifts of apostles, teachers, helps and governments were not even mentioned!
See, it was not a complete list.
And, even adding those 4 does not comprise a WHOLE list!

No ONE has ALL the gifts.
We are not COMPLETE without each other!
We RELY upon each other in order to perform God's purposes for the church!

Not EVERYONE can preach, teach or even evangelize.
And, not EVERYONE can sweep floors, or repair air conditioners.
But they are ALL NECESSARY!

31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Those words "covet earnestly" have tremendous meaning.
DESIRE in a genuine godly manner!

Jesus said, in Matt. 21:22 that whatever we asked in His Name would be given!

And, the words "in His Name" must be conjunctive with in His WILL!

Remember Moses?
He said he was not "eloquent" in speech.
But God made Moses His own mouthpiece to the Jewish people.
And if you think Moses didn't become eloquent just read the book of Deuteronomy!

So, if we DESIRE the best gifts, and ASK for them, through faith and earnest work,
we should RECEIVE!

To me, this means that EVERY Christian can GROW!

Now, Paul says though we DESIRE the "best gifts," there is "a more EXCELLENT way!"
And THAT is to know and express LOVE!

The next chapter, 1Cor. 13, is called The LOVE Chapter of the Bible.

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.
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