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DIFFICULTIES
IN CHURCH WORSHIP (CH 11-14):
THE
USE AND ABUSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS (CH. 12-14)
1Co
12:11-30 (12/21/11)
Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming
Pastor Daryl Hilbert
I.
THE SPIRIT DISTINGUISHES TRUTH FROM ERROR (1-3)
II. THE SPIRIT HAS A VARIETY OF SPIRITUAL
GIFTS (4-10)
III. THE SPIRIT DISTRIBUTES GIFTS TO THE BODY
OF CHRIST (11-13)
A. The Holy Spirit is the Divine
Distributor (11)
1. [1Co 12:11] - It is the Spirit who gifts
all believers (“the one and same Spirit”, the one being spoken of). He is the
Divine Agent or Divine Gifter.
2. The gifts are from Him and being
energized (“works” pres. act. - energe,ō
- Eng. energy) in and through the believer.
3. As the Divine Agent He “distributes” (diaire,ō - apportion or
divide among) them as
He chooses (bou,lomai - determines and
decides).
B. There are Many Members of the Body of
Christ (12)
1. [1Co 12:12] - Though the body has many
members (me,los
- bodily parts) it is a
part of one body. This is the same with the body of Christ, having many
members but all part of His body, the church.
2. Every believer is a member of the body
of Christ and the Spirit has energized every believer.
C. The Holy Spirit Baptizes and Supplies
the Body (13)
1. [1Co 12:13] - This is the one and the
same Spirit about whom Paul has been instructing, perhaps due in part to the
Corinthian’s preoccupation to the Holy Spirit and His gifts.
2. The Spirit “baptizes” (bapti,zō, Eng. “Baptize” and means to
dip, immerse, or wash) all believers into the body of Christ. Believers
are baptized into Christ which is described by the phrase “in Christ” (en Xristō). The Scripture teach
that:
a) Believers (including the Corinthians)
are saved and sanctified “in Christ” (1Co 1:2; Rom 3:24).
b) Believers are eternally secure because
they are “in Christ” (Rom 8:39).
c) Believers have no condemnation because
they are “in Christ” (Rom 8:1).
3. However, spiritual baptism is more than
just a positional truth for believers are made to “drink” (poti,zō - lit. drink,
metaph. eternal life (Joh 4:14) and empowered, Joh 7:37-39) and are energized and empowered to
live the Christian life and to serve the Lord.
a) Believers are dead to sin but alive to
God “in Christ” (Rom 6:11-14 cf. Rom 6:1-4; Eph 5:8).
b) Believers have works to do for the Lord
because they are “in Christ” (Eph 2:10).
c) Believers are being made complete “in
Christ” (Col 1:28 cp. 1Co 3:1).
d) Believers (including the Corinthians)
are graced with spiritual gifts “in Christ” (1Co 1:4; Rom 8:1).
IV. THE SPIRIT USES THE EACH MEMBER OF THE BODY
OF CHRIST (14-31)
A. Each Member is Important to the Body
(14-19)
1. [1Co 12:14] - Paul begins to apply these
truths. The body is made up of many members for a purpose. No one member is
more important than the others. In addition the body is not one particular
member. Unfortunately the Corinthians were looking down on certain gifts and
exalting others.
2. [1Co 12:15] - Paul uses basic
physiological terms to show that the Corinthians have an unbiblical and
self-exalting perspective on the gifts and the body of Christ. The foot (pous, podos - Eng. Podiatrist i.e. foot
doctor) is not “less” (lit. “not of
the body”) than the hand though many might think the hand in more
important.
3. [1Co 12:16] - In the same way the ear is not
less than the “eye” (ophthalmo,s - eye, Eng. - ophthalmologist - eye doctor), in that the absence of either is a
hardship.
4. [1Co 12:17] - If the body simply
consisted of the eye, where would the sensory of hearing come from? Or if the
body were simply the ear and could hear, it would not be able to smell. In
other words, one gift is not sufficient in and of itself. All the gifts are
needed to make up the body of Christ and minister to it.
5. [1Co 12:18] - So is the distribution of
gifts haphazard or random? Absolutely not, God has placed the members, “each
one of them” (emphatic) in the
proper place in the body of Christ. He did this according to His own will and
“desire” (thelō - to will, desire,
or wish). Here we see divine cooperation among the Godhead. It is called
body of Christ (1Co 12:12). Christ also gave gifts (Eph 4:11) as did the
Spirit (1Co 12:11) and the Father (1Co 12:18), who distributed and placed the
gifts in the church. But the Corinthian church had a different and carnal
perspective.
6. [1Co 12:19] - In addition, Paul makes
the logical point that if the whole body was just one particular member of
the body, where would the rest of the body be? In exalting gifts at Corinth,
perhaps there were some who felt that all the church needed was a particular
gift or gifted person. If that would be true, where is the rest of the
Congregation?
B. Each Member is Necessary for the Body
(20-24)
1. [1Co 12:20] - Paul states his premise,
namely that there are many members but one body.
2. [1Co 12:21] - How foolish would it be
for the one member to say to another, “I have no need (chreia - something of necessity) of you.” Could the Corinthians have
made such a comment to one another? Nothing should surprise us about the
depths of their carnality.
3. [1Co 12:22] - In all reality the
smallest and weakest members of the body are very “necessary” (anagkai,os - needful or
indespensible).
4. [1Co 12:23] - In fact, the whole idea
about the body’s important parts is misleading. Some are in the forefront,
some like feet or underneath and often “less presentable” (aschêmōn - unattractive,
indecent or perhaps referring to internal organs like the digestive system). Remove one and it becomes apparent
how necessary and “honorable” (timos)
they really are.
5. [1Co 12:24] - Some of the weaker parts
of the body, “composed” (sugkera,nnumi - to mix or combine together) by God, “are given special attention
by covering them with appropriate clothing and, as in the case of the
digestive organs” (EXP in loc.), thereby giving more “honor to that member
which lacked.”
C. Each Member is to Care for the Body
(25-26)
1. [1Co 12:25] - Being so composed,
combined, and mixed together, the body has no divisions or separate parts.
Each member in the body cares for and contributes to the well-being of the
other.
2. [1Co 12:26] - As one body, if one member
suffers, then all the members are affected and suffer. If one member is
honored or perhaps repaired, then the whole body is benefited and rejoices.
D. Each member is Strategically Appointed
(27-30)
1. [1Co 12:27] - Paul moves from the
analogy of the physical body to the reality of the body of Christ and the
responsibility and perspectives of its individual members.
2. A short reflection on these analogies
(24-26) strikes at the carnality of the Corinthians. They were to:
a) Have
“no divisions” between so called presentable and less presentable
members and their gifts (25a)
b) “Care (and protection) for one another”
instead of ignoring the other members and their gifts as unnecessary (25b).
c) Mourn with and minister to those who
“suffer” (26, cf. “weep with those who weep” - Rom 12:15).
d) “Rejoice” with those who are honored
rather than be jealous (26, cp. “rejoice with those who rejoice” - Rom
12:15).
3. [1Co 12:28] - Paul mentions another list
of spiritual gifts, some of which had not been mentioned in the previous list
(8-10). Perhaps he held off on this list because these were some of ones
which they were over-exalting.
4. [1Co 12:29-30] - However, Paul makes
another point to douse their pride. All do not have all of the gifts. Only
the Lord Jesus Christ would have been gifted with all spiritual gifts. No one
saint is so gifted that he is better than another.
5. In addition, some today have made these
gifts mandatory for salvation such as the gift of tongues. But all do not
speak in tongues do they? The rhetorical answer for all these is “no.”
V. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS
A. We do not seek gifts, God chose for us
through the Holy Spirit’s distribution.
B. Some overemphasize the Holy Spirit and
the gifts and do not take into account that every believer has believer
possesses the Holy Spirit and has been baptized by Him into the body of
Christ.
C. All believers have all of the Holy
Spirit, the question is how much of us does He have, That is the meaning of
filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18).
D. There is a difference between using
gifts by the Lord and living obediently for the Lord.
E. Don’t compare yourself with other gifts.
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