THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH

1 Corinthians 12:1-14
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God called Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit.
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
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:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.
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.
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."

Christ came to establish a new society on earth. It was not enough for Him to call individual sinners to God. He promised that He would build His Church. It would be the most powerful force on earth providing it could be created, inspired and sustained with His life and love. Nothing could stop—or ever has stopped the revolution of love which He began two thousand years ago!
Someone once commented: "I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon the earth as has that One solitary life...Jesus Christ!"
In John 17 we have a glorious picture of the purpose of God's Church on earth, as Jesus prayed that it should be marked by four main things: the glory of God, the Word of God, the joy of God, and united in the love of God.
THE GLORY OF GOD! This is clearly the main burden of Christ's prayer from the fact that the words 'glory' and 'glorify' came no less than seven times. The word GLORY means basically the visible manifestation of the splendor and power and radiance of God. It is God revealing Himself so that, as far as possible, we can

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see the beauty and majesty of His living presence with us!
In secular Greek, the word GLORY means REPUTATION or OPINION. It is a sobering truth that God's reputation in the world, or the world's opinion of God, will depend to a large extent, on how far His glory is seen in the Church. Listen to Jesus pray: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;
That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou has sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:20-22)
Paul prayed that the Ephesian church, according to the riches of God's glory, might be strengthened by God's Spirit and rooted and grounded in God's love; that there might be 'glory in the church' as well as in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:14-21).
GUIDED BY THE WORD OF GOD! In John 17 Jesus prayed much about the word of God. "I have given them Thy word...They have kept Thy word...Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth..."
Many of the great revivals of the past have begun with deep repentance, great joy, fresh love and spontaneous praise; but have withered away due to the neglect of God's Word. It is the church which bases its life upon obedience to God's Word, especially the written Word in the Scriptures, that is likely to see the power of God at work, providing that church is also dependent on the power of the Spirit of God.
The church that is alive and relevant for today's generation must always be a prophetic church. We must therefore listen very carefully in order to discern what God is saying to us today. It will always be in accordance with the teaching of Scripture, and there is no such thing as new revelation or new doctrine--but the Spirit of God will always be wanting to pin point certain aspects of the total truth of God's Word that are especially relevant for today--and that will almost certainly be different from what was especially relevant for yesterday.
FILLED WITH THE JOY OF GOD!
Christ longed that His joy might be 'fulfilled' in His disciples. Often He referred to this: "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11). The New Testament church was filled with this remarkable quality of joy, even in the midst of the fiercest trials, and this in itself was a powerful witness of the life of God's Spirit within that Church.
A national newspaper once had an article entitled: "Why must Christians be so miserable?" That is certainly the general impression. But God wants His people to be bathed in the beauty of His glory and filled with the radiance of His joy!
UNITED IN THE LOVE OF GOD! In John 17, Jesus prayed four times that His disciples might be perfectly united in love: ‘that they may be one, even as we are one...that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee...that they may be one, even as we

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are one...that they may become perfectly one, and that the love with which Thou has loved Me may be in them.'
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL APART FROM THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH IS THEOLOGICAL ABSURDITY. The heart of the gospel is that, through the death of Jesus Christ, all the barriers are down. WE have access into God's presence; and we are all one in Christ Jesus. There are no more walls of hostility—except those of our making. How, then, can we preach a message of love, forgiveness and reconciliation—between man and God, and between man and man—unless the reality of that can be seen by the unity and love as Christians? This should be the distinguishing mark of all true disciples of Christ: that we love one another as He loved us!
Such then is the character of the Christian church for which Christ prayed so fervently before He went to His death. Later, after He had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, the Spirit was poured out upon the disciples, and Christ's prayer was answered. When they were filled with God's glory, His Word, His joy, united in His love, nothing could stop them. On and on they went, against all human odds and terrible persecution, as they began the greatest spiritual revolution that the world has ever known!
QUESTION!
WHO IS IT THAT EMPOWERS THE CHURCH TO BE THE KIND OF CHURCH CHRIST PRAYED THAT IT MIGHT BE? It is the Holy Spirit! And in the passage we cited in the opening of our lesson (1 Corinthians 12), we observe that the Holy Spirit ministers in and through the Church in various ministries and gifts.
Now before we explore the manifestations and administration of these gifts, we must decide one very important question. Did the Holy Spirit intend that His gifts be given only to the first generation of the church or can we expect that the Holy Spirit continues to bless the Church of Jesus Christ with His presence and His gifts today? In the study of theology this is known as THE CESSATIONISTS DEBATE.
Within the evangelical world today there are differing positions over the question, "Are all the gifts mentioned in the New Testament valid for use in the church today? Some would say. Yes! Others would say, No!...and would argue that some of the more miraculous gifts (such as prophecy, tongues and interpretation, and perhaps healing and casting out of demons) were given only during the time of the apostles, as "signs" to authenticate the apostles during the early preaching of the gospel. They state that these gifts are no longer needed as signs today, and that they ceased at the end of the apostolic age, probably at the end of the first century or beginning of the second century A.D.
Here is the verse on which the CESSATIONISTS build their argument...1 Corinthians 13:8-13. "Love never ends; as for prophecies they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease, as for knowledge it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see

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in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
In his argument, Paul connects the function of prophecy with the time of its cessation. It fills a certain need now, but does so only imperfectly. When the PERFECT comes, that function will be better fulfilled by something else, and prophecy will cease because it will be obsolete or useless. So the overall function of 1 Corinthians is to show that love is superior to gifts like prophecy because those gifts will pass away but love will not pass away.
The phrase "the imperfect" refers most clearly to knowing and prophesying, the two activities that are said to be done "partially, imperfectly" in verse 9. So the passage here in 1 Corinthians could be translated: When the perfect is come, prophecy and tongues and other imperfect gifts will pass away. So the problem is to determine what time is meant by the word "WHEN." The meaning of verse 12 seems to require that verse 10 is talking about the time of Christ's return. The word THEN in verse 12 refers to the time "when the perfect comes" in verse 10. This is evident from looking at verse 12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know even as I have been known." When shall we see "face to face"? When shall we know "even as we have been known"? These events can only happen when the Lord returns? We conclude that the time when "the perfect" comes must be the time of Christ's return, therefore, we can paraphrase verse 10: "But when Christ returns, the imperfect will pass away." Or, to use our conclusion above that the imperfect included prophecy and tongues, we can paraphrase, "But when Christ returns, prophesy and tongues and other imperfect gifts will pass away." Thus we have in 1 Corinthians 13:10 a definite statement about the time of the cessation of imperfect gifts like prophecy; they will be made useless. Another reason why this passage refers to the time of the Lord's return can be found in a more general statement from Paul about the purpose of spiritual gifts in the New Testament age. In 1 Corinthians 1:7, Paul ties the possession of spiritual gifts to the activity of waiting for the Lord's return: "you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This suggests that Paul saw the gifts as a temporary provision made to equip believers for ministry until the Lord returned.
I prefer to accept the conclusion to this argument as explained above that the gifts would continue in the life and ministry of the church until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that if we accept the explanation that the gifts ceased with the apostles, we limit the work of the Holy Spirit for today. Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall He do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." (John 14:12).

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Now, let's explore what the passage in 1 Corinthians has to say about the work of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the church.
Verse 3 says: "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 Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
In the Church at Corinth the most amazing things were happening through the action of the Holy Spirit, but in an age of ecstasy and of enthusiasm there can be hysterical excitement and self-delusion as well as the real thing. And Paul begins his explanation of the gifts with this warning.
How could a believer under any circumstances say such a thing in the Christian assembly, and how is it that he or she would need such instruction? Moreover, if this were actually happening in the Corinthian assembly, one is hard pressed to explain both how this introduces the rest of the argument and why Paul does not pursue such blasphemy with his usual vigor.
In the final analysis, therefore, it seems more likely that it is either hypothetical, perhaps serving as an analogy to their pagan past, whose point is its shock value, or else it is something that some of them had actually experienced in their pagan past. In either case, Paul's point in context is not to establish a means of 'testing the spirits,’ but to remind them that "inspired utterances" as such is not evidence of being led by the Spirit.
Paul's insistence that 'no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit’ has also troubled later readers, since it would seem possible for anyone to say these words at will. But that misses the radical nature of this confession for the earliest Christians. The use of "Lord" in such a context meant absolute allegiance to Jesus as one's deity and set believers apart from both Jews, for whom such a confession was blasphemy, and pagans, especially those in the cults, whose deities were called "lord." Thus this became the earliest Christian confession, tied in particular to Jesus’ having been raised from the dead, and therefore having become the exalted One. Paul's point, of course, is that just as formerly they had been ‘led about and carried away' to mute idols, so now one who is possessed by the Spirit of the living God is led to the ultimate Christian confession. Jesus (the crucified One) is (by His resurrect ion) Lord (of all the universe). Only one who has the Spirit can truly make such a confession because only the Spirit can reveal its reality.
Because of its less than clear relationship to the rest of the chapters 12—14, especially for those whose chief interest in this section is in learning about spiritual gifts, this passage is generally passed over quickly. But if our interpretation is correct, then it continues to stand as a particularly important word for the church, in which many of these spiritual phenomena are recurring. The presence of the Spirit in power and gifts makes it easy for God's people to think of the power and gifts as the real evidence of the Spirit's presence.

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Not so for Paul. The ultimate criterion of the Spirit's activity is the exaltation of Jesus as Lord. Whatever takes away from that, even if they be legitimate expressions of the Spirit, begins to move away from Christ to a more pagan fascination with spiritual activity as an end in itself. We must never forget the words of Jesus!
"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself: but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. HE SHALL GLORIFY ME: FOR HE SHALL RECEIVE OF MINE, AND SHALL SHEW IT UNTO YOU." (John 16:13-15).
The work of the Spirit is Christocentric...He draws attention to Christ...not to Himself. He will glorify Christ, and will take the things of Christ and declare them!
It is extremely interesting to me that Paul begins this explanation of the gifts of the Spirit and their ministry in the Body of Christ with this clarion call to keep our attention on Christ and not on the gifts!
Verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 12 starts the commentary on the differences, administrations and operations of the gifts of the Spirit in the Church.
Paul's idea in this section is to stress the essential unity of the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ and the characteristic of a healthy body is that every part in it performs its own function for the good of the whole; but unity does not mean uniformity, and therefore within the Church there are differing gifts and different functions. But every one of them is a gift of the same Spirit and designed, not for the glory of the individual member of the Church, but for the good of the Body...the Church.
Paul begins by saying that all special gifts come from God and it is his belief that they must, therefore, be used in God's service.
Paul writes, "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge." These two gifts are mentioned nowhere else in Scripture, and no other early Christian literature outside the Bible has been found to use these phrases of any spiritual gift either. The words Paul uses for "word", "wisdom", and "knowledge" are not specialized or technical terms, but are extremely common words in the Greek New Testament.
Most Bible scholars believe that Paul is simply referring to the ability to speak a wise word in a given situation that adds clarity and direction in a matter. It could have the element of the miraculous in that the word spoken exceeded human knowledge and wisdom and gave evidence that the Spirit of God had revealed the information to the believer. The 'word of knowledge' is the ability to speak with knowledge about a situation wherein the speaker did not have previous knowledge or information. The word that Paul used the word SOPHIA which is the highest kind of wisdom which comes not so much from thought as from communion with God.
Dr. Gordon Fee writes: "The phrase means either "a message/utterance full of wisdom." In either case its content is probably to be understood in light of Paul's own argument in 2:6-16. There the "message of wisdom" revealed by the Spirit, is not some special understand-

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ing of the "deeper things" or "mysteries" of God. Rather, it is the recognition that the message of Christ crucified is God's true wisdom, a recognition that comes only to those who have received the Spirit. Thus in the present case the "utterance of wisdom" comes "through the Spirit," and in Corinth it is almost certainly to be found among those who give spiritual utterances that proclaim Christ crucified in this highly "wisdom-conscious community." It is of some interest, therefore, that this particular "gift" does not appear again in any further list or discussion."
THE GIFT OF FAITH (v.9). While it is true that Paul considers the "faith" that leads to salvation to be the work of the Spirit in the believer's life, what he has in mind here is the special gift of supernatural faith that can move mountains, mentioned in 13:2. It probably refers to a supernatural conviction that God will reveal His power and mercy in a special way in a specific instance. It is a faith which really produces results.
It is not just the intellectual conviction that a thing is true; it is the passionate belief in a thing which makes a man spend all that he is and has on it. It is faith which steels the will and nerves the sinew of a man into action. Our prayer; O God, when the heart is warmest, and the head is clearest, give me to act; to turn the purposes Thou formest into fact! Amen.
THE GIFTS OF HEALING (v.9)
There is not the slightest doubt that gifts of healing did exist in the early Church; Paul would never have cited them unless they were real. Surely the gifts of healing not only refers to physical, but spiritual healing as well. We must realize that physical sickness came as a result of the fall of Adam, and illness and disease are simply part of the outworking of the curse after the fall, and will eventually lead toward physical death. However, Christ redeemed us from that curse when He died on the cross; "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows...by His wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5).
As with other spiritual gifts, healing has several purposes. Certainly it functions as a "sign" to authenticate the gospel message, and show that the kingdom of God has come. Healing brings comfort and health to those who are ill, and thereby demonstrates God's attribute of mercy toward those in distress. Healing provides opportunity for God to be glorified as people see physical evidence of His goodness, love, power, wisdom, and presence.
This word of caution! God is sovereign, and He determines in His sovereign will when to heal and when not to heal. Thus, some, when prayed for, will be healed. Others, God will use their infirmity or illness to bring Him glory! When God chooses not to heal, even though we ask Him for it, then it is right that we "give thanks in all circumstances" and realize that God can use our sickness to draw us closer to Him and to increase in us obedience to His will. David prayed: "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes..."Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word" (Psalm 119:67).

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THE WORKING OF MIRACLES (v. 10). We must realize that the English word MIRACLES may not give a very close approximation to what Paul intended, since the Greek word is simply the plural form of the word DYNAMIS, or POWER. This means that the term may refer to any kind of activity where God's mighty power is evident. It may include answers to prayer for deliverance from physical danger (as in the deliverance of the apostles from prison in Acts 5:19-20 or 12:6-11), or powerful works of judgment on the enemies of the gospel or those who require discipline within the church (Acts 5:1-11), or miraculous deliverance from injury (as with Paul and the viper in Acts 28:3-6). But such acts of spiritual power may also include power to triumph over demonic opposition (as in Acts 16:18). Since Paul does not define "works of miracles" any more specifically than this, we can say that the gift of miracles may include the working of divine power in deliverance in danger, in intervention to meet special needs in the physical world.
PROPHESY (v. 10).
Although prophesy was an especially widespread phenomenon in the religions of antiquity, Paul's understanding—as well as that of other New Testament writers—was thoroughly conditioned by his own history in Judaism. The prophet was a person who spoke to God's people under the inspiration of the Spirit. It consisted of spontaneous, Spirit-inspired, intelligible messages, orally delivered in the gathered assembly, intended for the edification or encouragement of the people. We have too much associated prophesy with the foretelling of what was to happen. But at all times, prophesy has been far more forthtelling than foretelling. The prophet is a man who lives so close to God that he knows His mind and heart and will, and so can make them known to men.
THE DISCERNING OF SPIRITS (v. 10).
In a society where the atmosphere was tense and where all kinds of manifestations were normal, it was necessary to distinguish between what was real and what was merely hysterical, between what came from God and what came from the devil. It seems most likely that Paul is referring to the same phenomenon as in 14:29, but is using the language of "spirits" to refer to the prophetic utterances that need to be "differentiated" by the others in the community who also have the Spirit and can so discern what is truly of the Spirit.
DIVERS KINDS OF TONGUES, TO ANOTHER THE INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES, (v.10). In our next lesson, we are going to discuss this gift as we go to 1 Corinthians 14 and learn of the problem and the challenge that confronted Paul in seeking to bring clarity in the exercising of this gift. This was one gift that the Corinthians had greatly misused which resulted in much confusion in the assembly. There is much confusion today in certain segments of the Christian Church in the matter and we will seek for understanding and guidance from the Holy Spirit in this issue in our next lesson.