Sunday Service at Calvary Boulder Valley in Louisville Colorado. Pastor Brent Lewis’ teaching on November 13 2022 titled “Intro To Spiritual Gifts-Part 1-1 Corinthians 12”
I. Veteran’s Day – Pray for Veterans.
II. Announce – Today is the Last Service in Louisville Middle School!
III. A.G.
IV. Intro.
V. Preview
a. The Exhortation to Know Spiritual Realities (12:1-2)
b. The Expression of the Spiritual Gifts (12:3)
c. The Authorship of Spiritual Gifts (12:4-7)
VI. Body
a. The Knowledge/Exhortation to Spiritual Realities (12:1-2)
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
i. Background - The Corinthian Christians experienced what many churches experience today: The crashing of their culture into the church. Or the struggle to surrender their old life to the New life in Christ. The Corinthians took it to a whole new level. That is why the church was so divided. Paul is addressing this through the letter to the Corinthians. Let me give you a few examples:
1. Divided Over Personality - They were divided because they practiced sectarianism, they divided into a group of personality followers.
a. 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 - 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
i. This stemmed from the Greek culture in Corinth. People would follow after philosophers in that day like people follow after celebrities, musicians, athletes, or sadly…reality stars. So, when they were saved and started to go to church in Corinth, they took this attitude with them into the church and followed after their favorite leaders in the church.
2. Divided Over Wisdom – In the Corinthian culture, it was customary to argue different philosophies of wisdom. It was an exercise in debate, and they started to do that when they attended the church in Corinth. They argued about words of human wisdom. So what did Paul do?
a. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 - 2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
3. Divided Over Personal Liberty – Through chapters 8-10 we discovered that they were divided over how to use their Christian liberty. Many of them thought like many people in our culture think. I can do whatever I want. And if anyone has an issue, that’s their problem. They are the weak ones. Paul came along and said, “When you are exercising your liberty, it needs to be tempered with love, self-denial, and discipline.”
4. Divided Over Spiritual Gifts – So it shouldn’t surprise us that this fellowship which was divided in so many areas was also divided in the area of spiritual gifts. Like today, there were many people abusing the spiritual gifts they had been given.
5. Paul’s First Exhortation is That they Know Spiritual Things/Realities. We find that right at the beginning in 12:1.
ii. Know Spiritual Realities (12:1) 12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: - There is an aspect to the life in the Spirit that Paul is now addressing to the Corinthians. It is a very important aspect of walking with the Lord.
1. Question – Have you ever been to a “perfect” church? While we might say that this church, we went to at one time was great, we realize that each church has its own issues or problems. Why? Because it’s made up of people. As they say, “When you find the perfect church don’t go in. You’ll ruin it by not being perfect.”
2. As long as we live in these physical bodies, we will present problems. What we fail to see at times is that all our problems stem from spiritual attitudes. Paul is now addressing those spiritual realities in the church that he doesn’t want them to be ignorant about.
3. Gifts? – The word gifts is not present in the Gk. This word for spiritual is pneumatikos has come up 26 times in the NT. Only three times is the word gift put next to it without italics.
a. Romans 1:11 – For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift. This is not referring to spiritual gifts as we refer to them, but it speaks of ..
4. Spiritual Things – Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 to convey the meaning that he has in 1 Corinthians 12:1
a. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 – 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
b. In 1 Corinthians 12:1 Paul is not just referring to spiritual gifts. He is dealing with spiritual realities each Christian operates in. He is now moving on from the corrective part of the letter to the instructive aspect of spiritual realities, of which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are a part of.
iii. Spirit Faculty – The word spiritual/pneumatikos comes from the root word pneuma, which means spirit or breath or wind. Paul is dealing with that faculty of each believer, that place where God communicates with our spirit; and our spirit is now enabled to communicate with God because we are born-again.
1. E.F. Hutton (Illus.) Do you remember years ago there was a commercial that said, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, everyone listens”? This is something that should be true when it comes to our spirit hearing God. But unfortunately, that is not the case for all believers. Consider this:
2. Reasons for Not Hearing God – If the spirit of man is the faculty by which man hears from God and God hears from man, then what prevents people’s spirits from hearing God? The Bible tells us there are a few reasons.
a. Being Unregenerate/Unbelief – The unbeliever doesn’t hear the Spirit of God, in general, speaking to him because he is spiritually dead.
i. 1 Corinthians 2:14 - 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
ii. Natural – Gk. This is the word psychikos. It means soul or soulish. The soul is the same aspect of our nature that we share with the animal kingdom.
1. Soul is the window to our world around us in having natural life and relating to man. But the spiritual is the window to the world above us; having eternal life, and relating to God.
iii. Ephesians 2:1 – And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…
1. This is referring to anyone before Christ who were, in our spiritual state, dead. Not physically dead. That wouldn’t make sense. But spiritually unable to hear because we were spiritually dead in regards to God.
b. Sin (Generally Speaking)
i. Psalm 66:18 – If I regard (cherished, harbored) iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
ii. Psalm 59:1-2 – Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.2But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
c. Carnality (A lifestyle of living in the flesh)
i. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 - And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
1. This is what Paul was trying to communicate to the Corinthian church. They were so wrapped up in their own carnal lifestyle of division and self-interest that they didn’t realize that they were living in the flesh, and consequently unable to understand, their spirits were dulled to hear God regarding the realities of the spiritual life Paul wanted to tell them about.
2. John tells us how our spirits can be dulled to hearing God’s Spirit in 1 John 2:15-16.
ii. 1 John 2:15-16 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
iii. Friendship with the World is Enmity with God. Anytimt you choose to put your love towards the world in front of your love for God, the Bible says that antagonizes God.
1. James 4:4 (BRUTAL SCRIPTURE) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God…but He gives more grace (4:6).
3. Don’t Be Ignorant About Spiritualities - The spiritual realities is essential to what it means to be a Christian. This is something that Paul doesn’t want us to be ignorant about. It naturally leads to how we operate in the gifts of God’s Spirit that He gives to us to go forward as the body of Christ. The whole point to this principle is that if we are walking in carnality, or we are living in sin or loving the world, we will not be able to receive or understand what Paul is trying to accomplish with the spiritual realities of which the gifts are a part of what God has given us. It is up to you to choose which world you want to be a part of.
a. Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken
i. I shall be telling this with a sigh
ii. Somewhere ages and ages hence:
iii. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
iv. I took the one less traveled by,
v. And that has made all the difference.
4. Now he will deal more specifically to the spiritual gifts to help the Corinthians to do so.
iv. Don’t Be Ignorant - There are several areas in the NT where Paul tells the church he doesn’t want them to be ignorant.
1. Don’t Be Ignorant (Note Takers) – Areas Paul doesn’t Want the Church to Be Ignorant:
a. Romans 11 – The Future of Israel.
b. 1 Corinthians 10 – The Old Testament Typology
c. 1 Thessalonians 4 – The Rapture
d. 2 Corinthians 3 – The Tactics of Satan
2. Don’t Be Ignorant of Spiritual Gifts (Specifically)
a. Don’t be ignorant of the existence of spiritual gifts. This is something that the church has done.
b. Cessationists – There are a group of people in the church who say that the gifts are not intended to be operated in the church today. They are called Cessationists. They get their position from the text in 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 – For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
i. The Cessationists contend that that which is perfect has come is the finalizing of the Bible; the canon of Scripture. Because it contains the words of knowledge, prophecy, words of wisdom, and everything else we need to know.
ii. But this text refers to seeing Jesus again. The word for perfect is the word telos. That speaks about the coming of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 1:8, 15:24, James 5:11 and other passages. Jesus is the One who is perfect. We will see Him one day; either in the rapture, or when we go to heaven.
iii. Some also say that this interpretation didn’t come into existence until 1910 after the Azusa Street Revival when the gifts of the Holy Spirit began a revival.
3. Don’t Run from Gifts – There are a lot of Christians who see the abuse of the spiritual gifts and consequently want to be as far away from the gifts as they can. But that isn’t the tactic Paul is taking. The church in Corinth was established 25 years after Pentecost when the gifts first broke onto the scene. And the church in Corinth was certainly abusing them. Yet Paul didn’t tell them to stay away from the gifts of the Spirit. Instead, he corrected them on their proper application.
a. We need to make sure we aren’t ignorant of the use of spiritual gifts, church. God wants them to be exercised in His church.
b. There are things that God has for you in this fellowship to exercise. He has a plan and He wants to involve you in that plan in using that gift so others may see God more clearly by you exercising your gifts.
c. Don’t Leave Any Money on the Table (Sales Vernacular) Don’t leave any money on the table. With the gifts, we are leaving part of what God has for us on the table. There is an additional dimension to your walk with God’s Spirit that He intends for you to know and experience.
v. Example of Evil Spiritual Realities - 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
1. Paul’s Contrast – First of all, Paul reminds them of their past of bad experiences with evil spirits. The Corinthians were people who followed dead mute idols to their lives now as people who follow the living God who speaks to them and leads them by His Spirit.
2. Led By Evil Spirits – There were some who were led by evil spirits or demons prior to salvation. They were not in control of their faculties.
a. Evil Spirit Background – I remember this in my background. I used to be part of seances. We would mess around with the Ouija Board and it would MOVE ON ITS OWN! No joke! There were dark influences in friends of mine who had given themselves over to those spirits that they boasted about. IYou need to exercise extreme caution because it seems so interesting at first. But now the Spirit of God lives in the Corinthians.
b. Mystery Religions - Paul is bringing this up because he realizes that their past with the superstitious ways of their culture. A lot of these came from what is referred to in Greek culture as Mystery Religions. It all stemmed from Genesis 11 when the Tower of Babel was built. It was intended to be a religious system to reach to God on their own. This is something you can look up. Or you can read the book, the Two Babylons by Reverend Edward Hislop. It is a fascinating read. When God scattered the people, they took their religion formed at Babel and translated it into their own cultures. That is why you see so many similar gods among some of the ancient religions. That’s where the Mystery Religions in Greek culture came from. It all originated back at the Tower of Babel.
3. Corinthians’ Past Occultic Experiences Flavored Present Understanding – The problem Paul is pointing out is that the past bad experiences the Corinthians had with the Mystery Religions or occult didn’t form an accurate basis to understand the spiritual realities of God’s Holy Spirit.
a. We Bring Our BC Past Into Spiritual Realities - Too many times we do try to take what we knew from our BC Days and overlap them onto the things of God’s Spirit and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as well.
i. “Magic Bible” (illus.) As a new believer I was reaching out to a young kid who would hang out late at night at the grocery store I worked at. And we struck up a rapport. I took him to church. And as Pastor Jeff told us what reference to turn to, my Bible opened right to that spot. We both looked at each other in amazement! And he said, “How did you do that?” With a smug look on my face I said, “It’s a magic Bible.” WHAT?! I brought some of my old understanding from dabbling into magic and the occult into my fresh young relationship with God at that time. Paul is trying to correct this with the Corinthians.
vi. TRANSITION – PAUL IS EXHORTING TO KNOW THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXERCISE OF SPIRITUAL THINGS IS NECESSARY. PAUL UNDERSCORES THAT WITH THEIR PAST OF EVIL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES. NOW HE WILL SHOW HOW THE EXPRESSION OF SPIRITUAL REALITIES FROM GOD’S SPIRIT IN VERSE 3
b. Paul Shares the Expression of the Spiritual Gifts (12:3)
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
i. Knowledge Brings Discernment – Paul shows how their knowledge of spiritual realities will bring discernment to the operation of spiritual gifts. He wants them to know how to discern between when God’s Spirit is speaking vs. the voice of evil spirits.
1. Background – It seems that there were some people in the fellowship who were claiming to be filled with the Holy Spirit who were cursing Jesus! Paul is responding to show that it’s not true or possible for someone who is filled with God’s Spirit to curse Jesus.
a. Believer’s Meetings – I’ve had times when I would go to a meeting where believers would simply wait upon the Lord. We would worship the Lord, then we pray, and it is followed with a time of waiting on the Lord to speak. We will have times like this when we wait upon the Lord. It is a time to exercise the speaking gifts that God has given to His people. God genuinely speaks through those times of waiting on Him. Never did I hear God’s Spirit saying that Jesus is accursed.
2. Principle of Discernment #1: Pass the Test.
a. 1 John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
b. John tells us that we are supposed to put spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues to the test. We will learn more about that later. This is the same thing Paul is telling us to do this morning.
3. Principle of Discernment #2: It’s All About Jesus! This is the first thing Paul wants us to understand when it comes to discerning the things of the Spirit. How does what is said or done relate to Jesus? Because it is all about Jesus Christ. Does that spiritual gift exalt or insult Jesus Christ? Does it exalt the real Jesus or a false perception of Jesus? It’s all about Jesus! Listen to what someone says about Jesus to know if they are filled with the Holy Spirit, or an evil spirit.
a. 12:3a - 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed… This is something that we can know right away if it is of God or not.
b. 1 John 4:2-3 - 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
i. Ouija Board Test – I heard a story about a group of teenagers who asked a Ouija Board if it was protected by the blood of Jesus. And it flipped out on them. Started to spin in a crazy fashion.
4. Principle of Discernment #3 (12:3b) and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit: The ministry of the Holy Spirit will not draw attention to Himself, but will draw attention to the real Jesus and His Lordship. We learned this in our discipleship class this week.
a. John 15:26 - 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
b. John 16:14 - 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
c. John 16:14 (NLT) 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
i. Just as the Son came to testify of the Father, so too, the Holy Spirit has come to testify of Jesus.
d. What the Holy Spirit Will Not Do – This is why those who are filled with the Spirit will not attempt to draw attention to the Holy Spirit.
i. You will never see Calvary Boulder Valley Holy Spirit week, as if the Holy Spirit would want to draw attention to Himself. And as if He worked that way where He could be confined to work in a specific amount of time.
c. Review
i. Paul Exhorts the Knowledge to Spiritual Realities (12:1-2)
1. We need to know the aspect of spiritual realities and their gifts of God’s Spirit.
2. We want to make sure we are hearing God’s Spirit. Because it is through our spirit we hear God’s Spirit.
3. The gifts of the Spirit are still in operation today.
4. God wants us to know and experience all that He has given to us.
5. We need to be careful not to allow our past experiences, superstitions, bad spiritual experiences color our present understanding of how God’s Spirit works.
ii. Paul Shares the Expression of Spiritual Gifts (12:3)
1. He wants us to have discernment as to the nature of Spiritual Gifts.
2. No can curse Jesus
3. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
d. Conclusion
i. We need to ask God to give us His gifts for His church. And we need to ask today.
