1Corinthians12
1Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant
Isn’t it amazing that the
thing that the Holy Spirit doesn’t want us to be ignorant about is probably one
of the things we are most ignorant about. The gifts and ministry of the Holy
Spirit. We have left it to a few people that we think are the super spirituals
and the ministers. And yet this is for everyone and God wants everyone to
understand it.
2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto
these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
He begins this off with a
reminder and a warning at the same time. In the past they were led to follow
dumb idols and evil demonic influences that were not from God. They should not
fall into the same mistake again. Why is he warning them?
Because there are familiar
spirits (Leviticus19:31, Deut18:11), seducing spirits (1Timothy4:1), lying
spirits (1Kings22:22-23), and apostles and messengers of darkness that
masquerade as messengers of light and righteousness. (2Corinthians11:13-15)
Not everyone who seems to
be having words from God is having words from God, not every prophecy is from
God, not every revelation is from God (Jeremiah14:14, Jeremiah23:21,
Ezekiel13:6), not every demonstration of power and miracles is from God. (Revelation16:14)
There are lying signs and
wonders (2Thessalonians2:9), there are false prophecies and false words
(Acts13:6), there are false revelations and doctrines of devils (1Timothy4:1).
These things are manifested by false prophets, occultist, diviners, mediums,
shamans, exorcists and religious legalistic Christians.
There are many Christians
yielding to spirits they shouldn’t be. And many of them are ministers. They
receive words and revelations that are not from God. They receive visitations
that are not from God. They receive prophecies that are not from God. They have
doctrines that do not line up with the New Covenant. And sadly many of them
don’t know that they are astray and are leading the body of Christ astray.
When you receive words,
visions and visitations, you shouldn’t just trust your own judgment and
feelings. Both can be very deceptive. There should be other parameters by which
you determine whether it is from God. These are the Word of God, The Cross of Jesus,
the 6 foundational doctrines of the doctrine of Christ. In the next verse Paul
gives us another clue to determining what is from the Holy Spirit and what is
false;
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.
You can’t speak by the
Holy Spirit and associate Jesus with a curse. You cannot curse the body of
Christ (the church) and claim to be speaking by the Holy Spirit.
The very first and most
important question to ask when we receive a word, gift, prophecy, revelation
etc. is this; ‘Does it glorify Jesus?’
The Holy Spirit will
never lead anyone to defame Jesus in any way. The job of the Holy Spirit is to only
glorify Jesus. John15:26. Any word, prophecy or action that denies Jesus and
His work on the Cross is not from the Holy Spirit.
This used to happen in
the Corinthian church. Apparently some men would stand up and curse Jesus and
the body claiming to be speaking by the Spirit.
It happens today all the
time. Preachers that pronounce curses and judgment on Christ’s body. Preachers
who claim to have received visitations, words, prophecies, dreams and
revelations from God that are contrary to Jesus’ work on the Cross and proclaim
curses on His body. These men and women are not speaking by the Spirit of God.
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
This word diversities
means different kinds. The Holy Spirit has many different kinds of gifts.
The word used for gifts
is the word charisma which is related to the Greek word Charis. Both words
imply God’s grace. His lavish unmerited gift giving and influence in our hearts
and upon us. So a literal translation would be graces. These gifts are graces
of the Holy Spirit.
What is grace? It is the
unmerited influence and power and ability of God working in us to make us able.
It is the influence of God on our heart that is unmerited. And this is how
these gifts/ graces of the Holy Spirit work in us. He works them in us through
the heart to make us able to do what He wants us to do or to do what needs to
be done in a situation.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but
the same Lord.
The word administrations
means attendance, aid, technician, office, relief, service etc. It comes from a
word which was translated as deacon, minister, ministers, servant and servants.
So the Holy Spirit does
not only give ministry gifts but also administration gifts. There are people
who are supernaturally gifted in administration offices. They do most of the
background work and without them it is almost impossible for ministry to occur
properly. They ensure the smooth running of things. A wise leader finds people
like this.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is
the same God which worketh all in all.
The word operations means
effective working, excellent work, performance etc. it speaks of the results or
effects of the working through energy given by the Holy Spirit.
It speaks of working and
accomplishing results in a variety of different ways and having ‘varieties of
effects’ (NASB).
In other words, the same
gift can operate in different people and get different results.
We can have the same gift
and yet use it in different ways and get different results. We can’t all
operate in the same way and do the same things and flow in the same ways.
And this is the mistake
many of us make today. Thinking that we should exercise the gifts in the same
way so and so does or some leaders thinking that everyone needs to operate in
the gifts the way they do.
That’s why we have many
Christians copying other Christians. Blowing on people because you saw your
spiritual guru do it, touching people in a certain way because you saw someone
doing it that way, talking like someone else talks, using the same words you
saw your spiritual guru using etc.
We have to understand
that there are different ways to operate in the gifts and yet be effective and
get results. Even the results can be different. There are diversities of
operations.
So here we can see the
different manifestations of the graces of the Holy Spirit. We have diversities
of gifts for ministry, we have different administrations and finally different operations.
“…but it is the same God which
worketh all in all”
The Holy Spirit works all
of His gifts in all of us. Not in some, not in the preachers, in all of us.
This needs to be shouted from the mountain top. God manifests His gifts in
every believer. Without exception. As long as a person yields to God and avails
themselves, they will flow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t matter
who they are, their background, whether they are deep, whether they are a
preacher etc. just avail yourself. You have to be available and willing.
They are His gifts, not
ours. This means that He has them all. And we have Him in us. He lives in us. We
are His house. We are His temple. We are His vehicle. And He touches people
through us, He ministers to people through us, He heals people through us, He
delivers people through us, He prospers people through us, He works through us.
And He does this through His gifts and graces. He releases them in us and
empowers us to flow in them and minister to others.
Having the Holy Spirit in
us also means that we have whatever He has. His anointing, His gifts and
everything else that He has.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to
every man to profit withal.
The manifestation of the
Spirit is given to everyone to profit others.
The word manifestation is
the word phanerosis. It means to reveal, to manifest, to exhibit, to express.
It is given to ‘every man’
Every believer who has
been baptized in the Holy Spirit has the ability to reveal, to exhibit, to demonstrate
the reality of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of
the Holy Spirit working in them. Everyone!
The gifts are given to
everyone. The power is given to everyone.
Everyone is as empowered as everyone else to flow in the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. It is our expectations that limit Him. And our personalities. And
our doctrines. And our confidence. It is our job to connect with Him and yield
to His flow and to His working.
And they are for the
profit of others. Not for our profit only. They are ministry gifts that are
used to minister to others. We are supposed to minister the gospel with the
gifts of the Holy Spirit backing us up.
In the book of Acts when
the church had just began we saw that the preaching of the gospel was always
confirmed with signs and wonders following. There was always power to back up
what they were saying. Mark16:2.
Even Jesus used the
miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit to confirm His teaching and
authority (Hebrews2:4) and to prove that He was from God. As we discussed in
the previous lesson, the Holy Spirit came upon us to empower us to demonstrate
the power of heaven on earth. He does this through His gifts operating in us.
And this is what attracts unbelievers to the gospel. Power. People are looking
for power. They want help. They want solutions to their problems.
But sadly, today many
have chosen to preach the gospel without the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
They just talk and argue and debate. There is no power to what they are saying.
There is no evidence that the things they are saying are true. There is no
evidence that they are representatives of heaven declaring the gospel of the
King who has all power and authority in heaven and on earth.
As a result the church
isn’t respected by the world. We are considered irrelevant and a nuisance. They
think we are just radical bigots, fools and losers. We need to get back the
power. We need to yield to the Holy Spirit afresh.
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