Market Day. It is the day that brings everyone together,
especially outside the city. The farmers, the lappa sellers, even the
entertainers. Each person brings something to the market that the community
needs, yeah? Life in the village would be impossible without the market. Like
the market, a healthy church is made of people with many skills and abilities,
and they offer those gifts to benefit others. A market with few stalls
indicates a weak village, and a church with only a few workers points to a weak
church. Just as the diversity and quality of the marketers promote a thriving
community, so the diversity and quality of spiritual gifts exercised in the
church help grow and mature and expand the church. In our passage today, we see
the value and power of a spirituality that uses the gifts given by the Holy
Spirit to grow and plant churches.
Key Truth: Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 12 to teach believers that unity in the church comes from a spirituality develops spiritual gifts and relationships.
Key
Application: Today I want to show you what God’s Word says
about spirituality and the local church.
Key Verse: 1 Cor. 12:7
Pray and Read: 1 Corintian 12 in Liberian Kolokwa
1 Now den, ma broda an sista, I na
wahn fa you na know le trute bout le differen-differen gif
dat le
Holy Spiri’
done gii. 2 You know when you wa’ sinna, somehow you went around bad people to go
da wrong way and do wrong ting around medicine dat can’t talk. 3 So
den, I
wahn fa you to ondastan
dat no pwoson
talkin by le Holy Spirit can talk say, “I curss Jesus.” An nobody na able ta say, “Jesus le Lord,” ecep by le Holy Spirit.
4 Dey plenty gift na, but de same Spirit. 5 Dey plenty
different kind o’ service
wey pippo do, but le same Lord. 6 And dey plenty workin, but le same God doing all le work in all men.
7 Na to each pwoson le Holy Spirit can show hisself fa everybody so-so good.
8 To
one,
dere is given tru
le Spirit plenty God sense, an anoda plenty idea tru le same Spirit, 9 to anoda fait tru le same
Spirit, to anoda le gift o’ curing tru dat one Spirit, 10 to anoda plenty power
for miracle, to anoda le power to prophesy, to anoda le power to tell le
diffren between le spirits, le power to speak different kind o’ Spirit word,
and to anoda le power to explain le Spirit word. 11 All-o’-nem la-le work o’ le one and same Spirit, an he
give dem according to he own will.
12 Da body e one ting but made o’ plenty parts, but having plenty parts,
dey still make one body. Da same ting wi Chris’. 13 For all o’ u’ wer’ bapti’
by one Spirit into le one body – no matter Jew o Greek, slave o free – an all
o’ u’ wer’ given le one Spirit to drink.
14
Now-Now da body na made o’ one part but plenty. 15 If our foot say, “I na hand,
so I na belong to le body,” that mo na be da reason dat it should na be part o’
le body. 16 An if our ear should say, “I na eye, so I na belong to le body,
that mo na a be da reason dat it should na be part o’ le body. 17 If da whole
body wa eye, den how you be able to hear? If le whole ting hearing, den how
will you be able to smell? 18 But now-now God have put togeda le parts in le
body all o’ dem da way he want dem to be. 19 If all o’dem wa one part, where
would da body be? 20 But now der plenty parts, but one body.
21
Le eye cannot say to da hand, “I na need you.” An le head cannot say to da
feet, “I na need you.” 22 On da oda side, dose parts o’ le body dat seems to be
lazy, dey more important. 23 An da parts o’ le body dat we tink have less
respect, we treat wi’ more respect, an le parts na to be seen are treate’
good, 24 but da parts dat are to be seen na need no special care. But Go’d put
togeda da group o’ da body an have given plenty respect to the parts that na
get it 25 so that der will be no difference in da body, dat each part should
have da same care for one anoda. 26 An if one group suffer, all da group wif it
suffer, an if one group get respect, all da group is happy wif it.
27 Now-now you pippo are part o’ da body o’ Chris’t, and every one o’ y’all are a part o’ it. 28 An in da house o’ Go’d, Go’d ha choose hi’s first o’ all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers o’ miracle, also dose wif gift to cure, dose able to help odas, dose wif gift o’ managing, dose speaking different-different Spirit words. 29 Can all o y’all be apostle? Can all o y’all be prophet? Can all o y’all be teacher? Can all o y’all work miracle? 30 Can all o’ y’all have gift o’ curing? 30 Can all o’ y’all speak Spirit word? Can all o’ y’all interpret? 31 But mostly ask fo da best gifts. An now I will show you a betta way.
Contextual Notes:
The Apostle Paul outlined
his letter to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:5-9. He wrote to them
about the importance of speaking and knowledge (1 Corinthians 1:18-4:21; cf.
1:5), the importance of being blameless and holy (1 Cor. 5:1-11:34; cf. 1:8),
the importance of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:1-14:39; cf. 1:7), the importance
of revealing the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15; cf. 1:7), and the importance of
fellowship (1 Cor. 16; cf. 1:9).
We find ourselves in a new section of
the letter today, 1 Corinthians 12-14, which is about the importance of spirituality
and grace gifts. These three chapters should be taken together as one section.
In chapter 12 Paul gives the principles of spirituality in the context of
spiritual gifts. In chapter 13, he demonstrates that we cannot have real
spirituality without love, and in chapter 14, we see the practice of
spirituality in the context of spiritual gifts. So while chapter 12-14 discuss
spiritual gifts, there are deeper truths here about true spirituality.
Sermon
Points:
1. Grow
Your Gifts to bring unity in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-13)
2. Grow
Relationships to bring unity in the Church (1 Corinthians 12:14-31)
Exposition: Note
well,
1. GROW YOUR GIFTS TO BRING UNITY IN THE SPIRIT (1 Cor.
12:1-13)
a. 1
Corinthians 12:1 –
Pneumatikon: This may surprise you, but the word “gifts” is not found in
the original text here. It is better to read this verse without that word and
see these chapters 12-14 as a teaching on spirituality.
b. 1
Corinthians 12:1-3:
In the ancient world, ecstatic utterance was considered a sign of possession
and approval of the gods. Even epilepsy was a divine disease, and the sayings
of drugged priestesses at the nearby Oracle of Delphi who breathed in the
sulfuric gases of a volcano in the ground and then spoke from that state of
drunken brain poisoning in unintelligible language then interpreted by the
priests. Their words were believed to be messages from the gods. Perhaps from
demons, but not from gods. Paul says that when they were pagans and ignorant,
they were influenced and led astray by idols which could not speak.
c. 1
Cor. 12:4-7:
Here we find key teaching on spiritual gifts. We learn several things here.
i.
Lists
of gifts are found in Romans
12:4-8; 1
Corinthians 7:7; 12:1-11, 28; 14:1-25; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 4:10-11
ii.
Service – diakonia, lit.
“deaconing” “ministries” Biblically, deacons are servants, heads of ministries,
not an executive board
iii.
Working – energēmatōn, lit.
“energizings” power
iv.
Word
of Knowledge – ability to grasp facts, principles
v.
Word
of Wisdom – ability to apply spiritual principles in life
vi.
Faith
– mountain-moving 1 Cor 13:2; Mt 17:20; 21:21
vii.
Healing
– Acts 19:11-12; 20:9-12
viii.
Miracles
– Acts 5:1-11; 13:11
ix.
Discerning
of Spirits – 1 Thess 5:20-21; 1 John 4:1
x.
Tongues
& Interpretation of Tongues – apparently a usual practice in the life of
the Body, not a one-time evidence.
xi.
Tongues
was probably one of the most prized gifts in pagan Corinth. WHY? Larry
Richards: The problem was that the attitude toward highly ecstatic or emotional
utterances, such as tongues, was carried by converts to Christianity into the
church. They believed that this was evidence of being closer to God, and
therefore more spiritual than others. Even when these “prophecies” contradicted
basic Christian truth, some of the congregation were awed into believing them.
In this cultural background, Paul speaks into what is true spirituality,
spiritual gifts, and the proper exercise of the gift of tongues.[1]
d.
APPLICATION: Spiritual Gifts are not
talents, skills. They are a divine grace given to believers. We learn several
important things about gifts.
i.
There
are different kinds of gifts.
ii.
Each
gift comes from the Holy Spirit, and He distributes them.
iii.
No
gift indicates a person has “more” of the Spirit than another.
iv.
Each
person has a spiritual gift (usually a cluster of them)
v.
Spiritual
gifts function within the church for the common good of the body.
vi.
How
do I find out my gifts? Serve others and see how God uses you in their lives
and in the church.
2. GROW RELATIONSHIPS TO BRING UNITY IN THE CHURCH (1 Cor.
12:14-31)
a. 1 Corinthians 12:12ff. This
is one of the three major images used to define what the church is. The church
is a living organism, and each member makes an important contribution to the
health of the body. The image of the body emphasizes that the church is built
on close, loving, interpersonal relationships in order for spiritual gifts to
function and the church to be healthy.
b. 1 Corinthians 12:13 – Unity
of the Spirit (Many parts - One Body - One Spirit). This verse defines “baptism
of the Spirit.” It is not something that happens to a believer after salvation
to enable them to speak in tongues. Baptism of the Spirit is the work of the
Spirit to unite all Christians to the living body of Christ. Notice the word
“all.” This is important. It means that every believer is baptized by the
Spirit at conversion. It must take place a that time because all are baptized
by one Spirit.
c.
1
Cor. 12:21-22 – Independence cannot exist in Body of Christ. v. 24-25 – “God
has combined the members”
d. APPLICATION:
People
joining local body bring gifts, talents, viewpoints, ministries. The church
needs different gifts functioning in order to be healthy, grow, serve, and
multiply (vv. 14-20). We are dependent on one another. We promote unity in the
church when we discover we depend on one another (vv. 21-26).
e.
1
Corinthians 12:28 -- Order same as Ephesians 4:11.
i.
Apostles:
not restricted to Twelve, but incl. Barnabas, James the Lord’s brother (Gal
1:19), Paul, lesser known figures (Rom 16:7) cf. 1 Cor 15:5, 7 indicates wider
group than Twelve.
ii.
While
prophets and teachers not necessarily apostles, apostles are both prophets,
teachers (4:17; 14:6; Col 1:28; 1 Tim 1:11) Gift leads to Office. Serve on
basis of gifts
f.
1
Corinthians 12:31 – Desire the greater gifts. This encouragement is directed at
the whole church, not individuals, to stop emphasizing less significant gifts.
Invitation:
Sources:
Africa
Study Bible. Oasis International, 2016, 1677.
Africa Bible Commentary,
Tokunboh Adeyemo, gen. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 1392.
Lawrence
O. Richards, The Bible Reader’s Companion
(Wheaton: Victor, 1991), 768.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament, vol. 1: Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1989, 607-609.
Preached:
10:30am Sunday, June 16, 2024, at Grace Evangelical Church, Congo Town,
Liberia
