In our study of 1 Corinthians we have come to chapter 12 which deals with the subject of spiritual gifts. We have stopped in our exposition of 1 Corinthians to deal topically with this subject. We want to look at each of the 20 gifts listed in Scripture and attempt to understand their function and purpose.
We saw in our last study that the gifted men are to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. What is the work of the ministry? Most people think of it as coming together and running meetings. If that is what the work of the church is, then it comes down basically to ushering and singing in the choir, pastoring and teaching Sunday School class, and perhaps heading a few committees and doing some janitorial work. But that is not what God has in mind at all. The work of the church is to carry on the work of Christ. Christ's work is described in:
Luke 4:18 (NKJV) "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;"
The church is here to manifest the life and power of Jesus Christ in this twentieth-century hour. We too are to be involved in preaching the gospel, healing the broken-hearted, giving deliverance to the poor, opening the doors to the captives, setting free people who are bound in prisons of doubt, fear, anxiety and selfishness and leading them out into liberty, freedom and power. That is the work of the church. That is what God has called us to do, and it takes every single one of us to do it. We are all in the ministry. This has nothing to do with full-time, part-time or any other relationship to time, and to each is given a gift for that purpose. Each and every Christian has received a gift for ministry, and the supreme task of his life as a Christian is to discover that gift and put it to work. That is the only way that the church will ever be what it was designed to be. Only you can fulfill that peculiar function in the body of Christ which is allotted to you. If you do not do it, the whole body suffers. Therefore, it is exceedingly essential that we know what our gifts are and begin to use them.
Let me say again that a spiritual gift is a God-given capacity through which the Holy Spirit supernaturally ministers to the body. We saw last time that there are a total of 20 gifts listed in Scripture and these 20 gifts fall into different categories. There are several distinctions that need to be made. There is a distinction between the Gifts and the Gifted. Some of the gifts are personified and some are not. Some refer to gifts and some to gifted men. We studied the gifted men from Ephesians 4 last time. There is also a distinction between the Permanent edifying gifts and the Temporary foundational and sign gifts.
The Temporary Foundational Gifts are: Apostles and prophets, the word of wisdom and word of knowledge and discerning of spirits. The Temporary Sign gifts are: miracles, healing, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. The Permanent edifying gifts are divided in two categories: (1) Gifted men: evangelist and Pastor-teacher and (2) Gifts: teaching, faith, helps, governments, mercy, ministry, exhortation, giving, ruling.
This morning I want us to look at the Temporary Foundational Gifts. There are five of them. We have already looked at two, apostles and prophets in our study of "gifted men." The gifts I want us to look at this morning are the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and discerning of spirits.
Now as I have said, nowhere in the Bible is there a verse that says that certain gifts were temporary. But the fact that some gifts were temporary is inferred. Let me give you several reasons why I believe that there are temporary gifts.
A. There are several Scriptures that hint at the fact that some of the gifts were temporary.
Hebrews 2:3-4 (NKJV) "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?"
Mark 16:20 (NKJV) "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen."
The time of the present participle is relative to the past tense of the main verb. The same is true in Hebrews 2:3. All this was past at the time Hebrews was written. The main verb is past tense and the participle is relative in time to the main verb, "was confirmed." In both cases, the signs, wonders, and miracles are referred to as being in the past at the time of the writing. In both passages miracles were performed by the apostles (eyewitnesses) and are described as intended by God as evidence to authenticate the apostles preaching.
B. A study of Biblical history shows that there were basically only three periods where miracles occurred. When we were on vacation we visited a church and the pastor said in his message, "the Bible is a book of miracles from beginning to end; therefore, we should expect miracles." I disagree.
In reality there are only three periods of miracles.
1. Moses and Joshua- God authenticated them by signs. These weren't normal occurrences and we cannot do today what Moses or Joshua did. 2. Elijah and Elisha- these men were used by God to perform many supernatural acts. 3. Jesus and the apostles.
2 Corinthians 12:12 (NKJV) "Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds."
Miracles aren't the norm, they are the exception. This becomes clear as we study the Biblical history.
C. The nature of certain gifts demands that they be temporary. Gifts such as apostle and prophet. An apostle must have seen the resurrected Christ. Paul explicitly stated that he was the last one to see the resurrected Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:8 (NKJV) "Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time."
He specifically connected this fact with his apostleship.
Since apostles were temporary, the Biblical precedent is established that some gifts given in the apostolic age did not continue and were only temporary.
D. The voice of history confirms the temporary nature of certain gifts. If the miraculous gifts of the NT age had continued in the church, one would expect an unbroken line of occurrences from apostolic times to present. The entire controversy exists because the miraculous gifts of the NT age did cease and did not occur for almost 1900 years of church history. Chrysostom, a 4th century theologian, testified that the miraculous gifts ceased so long before his time that no one was certain of their characteristics.
To argue that the NT gifts could occur today or that no verse rules out such a possibility is not enough. It must be shown that the modern charismatic gifts are the same as in the NT. I submit to you that there is a definite lack of similarity. For example, do missionaries blind their opponents as Paul did? Do church leaders discern hypocrisy and pronounce the immediate death of members? Do evangelists amaze an entire city with miracles as did Philip? Are there entire multitudes healed by merely being in the shadow of the healer? No!
The charismatic movement in all its forms rests not on exegetical evidence that the gifts will continue, but on an assumption contrary to history that since they occurred in the apostolic age they should occur today. Let's look at these temporary foundational gifts.
Word of Wisdom:
1 Corinthians 12:8 (NKJV) "for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,"
The emphasis here is on the diversity of forms in which the same Spirit manifests himself in different individuals. The gift of wisdom is direct insight into truth and the ability to apply that insight to a specific situation. Little is known about this gift since it is mentioned only once in the four lists of Spiritual gifts. It is associated with the other temporary gifts. Both wisdom and knowledge are tied to the word "logos." The Greek word logos means reason, then speech, or word. The word for wisdom here is "sophia." It is used many ways in the NT but its primary use is of spiritual understanding of God's will. It was the ability to understand God's will and make application to obedience. They could not seek the NT order for things as we can, the NT was not yet written. Thus the gift of wisdom as a revelatory gift was relied upon for guidance as to God's will in each situation. It was a special understanding of the doctrine and truths of the Word of God and how they were to be applied to the situations of life.
Wisdom is not understanding the "why" of things, but wisdom is the ability to respond correctly to the situations of life. It is adjustment to and acceptance of God's revealed truth. Wisdom is inseparably linked to fearing God.
Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV) "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
The fear of God comes from knowing Him. So the gift of wisdom gave insight into the new doctrines and truths God was revealing. The gift of wisdom passed away with the completion of the cannon.
We have wisdom today as we know God through His written revelation. As we know God we fear Him, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we truly fear God we will respond correctly to the situations of life. This gift helped the NT believers to respond correctly to God's new revealed truth.
The Word of Knowledge. As with wisdom it is tied to logos, so it is a speaking knowledge. It was a gift by which the Holy Spirit enabled a first-century believer to know and to instruct the assembly in truth now recorded in the NT. It is the ability to grasp the truth about a present situation seeing, knowing and understanding as the Holy Spirit sees, knows and understands.
Acts 5:3-4 (NKJV) "But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 "While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
How did Peter know they were lying? He must have been very sure that they were, because they died as a result of it.
Acts 16:27-29 (NKJV) "And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas."
How did Paul know the guard was about to kill himself and that the prisoners were all still there? It was a flash of omniscience from God himself, revealing what the person normally would not know. The T.V. evangelist who claims to know who is sick and where they live is not exercising this gift. That is often done with technology, not the Spirit's power.
Christ used this gift, Christ had all the gifts.
John 3:34 (NKJV) says "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure."
Matthew 12:28 (NKJV) "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."
Notice that he did this by the Spirit of God. Remember, our Lord did no miracles before his baptism. His miracles were done in the power of the Holy Spirit and not by his divine nature.
Matthew 9:4 (NKJV) "But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?"
I believe that this is a demonstration of the spiritual gift, the word of knowledge. Christ knew this only because the Holy Spirit revealed it to Him. In his incarnation he wasn't omniscient. He walked to the fig tree only to find out it had any figs on it. He asked the crowd "Who touched me?"
The Word of Knowledge is not knowledge that is acquired by diligent perseverance and hard work; it is a direct revelation from God. One commentator says this, "It is the Spirit given ability to observe biblical facts and make conclusions. In other words, it is the ability to understand the bible." Is the ability to understand the bible only for those who are especially gifted? What do we call the God given ability to understand the Bible? Illumination! It is promised to all believers on the basis of humility— Psalms 119:18 (NKJV) "Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law." , holiness— Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV) "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:" and hard work— 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV) "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
The Word of Knowledge was a temporary foundational gift that ceased with the completion of the Scriptures.
Discerning of Spirits:
1 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) "to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues."
The word discerning is diakrisis, (dee-ak'-ree-sis) which means to separate, discriminate, to decide. In the early church this gift was the watch dog, the patrol, the guard, for the truth until the NT was written. When someone stood up and said, "God says," or, "I am a prophet of God," or "I speak for God", how did you know if they were really from God? The Holy Spirit gave a supernatural ability to certain people who could determine the true from the false.
1 Corinthians 14:29 (NKJV) "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge."
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (NKJV) "Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good."
The NT prophets were to be tested, proved. As the NT had not been completed, there was no written word to appeal to except the OT. With the coming of the completed NT, the written Word made this work of the Spirit no longer necessary. How do we tell today the true from the false? By the Scriptures! We need discernment today, but many Christians have none, they just look at who is supported on TV. Our discernment is based upon our knowledge of the Word of God.
Isaiah 8:20 (NKJV) "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
1 John 4:1-3 (NKJV) "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. 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."
How do we test the spirits? By what they say. Does what they say line up with Scripture?
1 John 2:21-23 (NKJV) "I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."
Matthew 12:33-35 (NKJV) "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."
These are the five temporary foundation gifts. I believe that these gifts passed away with the completion of the Scriptures. They were special gifts needed for the foundation of the church. Once the cannon was complete they passed away.
Now, I want to just introduce the other category of temporary gifts, the temporary sign gifts. The primary purpose of the sign gifts was to authenticate the message of the apostles.
2 Corinthians 12:12 (NKJV) "Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds."
There are four temporary sign gifts: healing, miracles, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. In the rest of our time this morning I want to give you an introduction to the gift of healing.
1 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV) "to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,"
This is a very controversial subject. There is a lot of interest in this subject because the number one human problem in the world is sickness. It's natural for the human heart to desire healing, we all want our health. It is also natural to go to God for healing. In Exodus 15:26 God calls himself "the LORD who heals you," or "Jehovah Rapha." Divine healing is surrounded today by so many fallacies. Let's try to clear up some of these before we study the gift of healing.
I would like to answer three important questions.
1. Is there healing in the atonement? By the atonement I mean all that was accomplished by the death of Christ.
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."
Does this include physical healing? The charismatics say "yes", the evangelicals say "no!" The basis of divine healing is in the atonement and ultimately the healing that we shall have in the resurrection is related precisely to what Jesus did on the cross. But we are not promised freedom from sickness or disease until after the resurrection.
Romans 8:22-23 (NKJV) 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."
We don't have redeemed bodies yet, we await the redemption that will happen at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:21 (NKJV) "who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."
Revelation 21:3-4 (NKJV) "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
The reason we shall have a resurrection body someday is because Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary and paid our sin debt. So, Yes! Healing is in the atonement, but the full realization of it won't come until the second advent.
2. Is all sickness the result of sin? The ultimate cause of human suffering is sin. In the final analysis the reason we get sick is because Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. Because of this we are all born with a sin nature and one of these day we will all die. Death is a culmination of sickness.
Romans 5:12 (NKJV) "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;"
Your personal sickness may not be as a result of personal sin but sin is the ultimate cause of all sickness. So we should ask the question this way, "is all sickness a result of personal sin?" The answer is no! Let me give you five Biblical reasons why Christians get sick.
1. Overwork and lack of care for the body:
Philippians 2:30 (NKJV) "because for the work of Christ he (Epaphroditus) came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me."
There is probably not too many of us who have to worry about the overwork part. But many of us do not properly care for our bodies. Physical sickness can be a result of negligence.
2. Educational: sickness can be educational to help us grow spiritually.
Psalms 119:71 (NKJV) "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes."
1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV) "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."
Psalms 119:67 (NKJV) "Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word."
3. For God's glory:
Job 1:8-11 (NKJV) "Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" 9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"
You may be sick because you are in a contest for God's glory. God is showing the devil how much you love Him.
Job 2:3 (NKJV) "Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Notice those last words "without a cause."
Job 2:10 (NKJV) "But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
Job never knew why this was happening to him, yet he retained his faith. Would you do this well in a similar situation?
John 9:1-3 (NKJV) "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."
4. To keep you humble:
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV) "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
5. Chastening for sin: yes, you may be sick as a result of chastening for your sin. Deut. 28:14 and following; 2 Chron. 26:5, 15 & 16, 20 & 21.
1 Corinthians 11:30 (NKJV) "For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep."
If illness comes as a result of chastening and you eliminate the cause for the chastening and repent, chances are you will eliminate the illness. (Me and Gillian Birae.)
James 1:21 (NKJV) "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls (lives)."
This verse gives us the theme of James which is, "how to save yourself from the damage that sinning brings."
James 2:14 (NKJV) "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?"
Save him from what? Can the fact that he is a Christian save him from the damaging effects of living in sin? No!
James 5:14-18 (NKJV) "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
This sickness is related to chastening for sin. "Confess your sin that you may be healed." When you get sick the first thing to do is examine your life for sin and confess it.
The third question that we need to answer is:
3. Is it always God's will to heal? Does God want every believer to be healthy? NO! The false teaching that says that God does want every Christian to be healthy is from the pit of hell, it places tremendous pressure on the sick person. Sickness is not always the direct result of personal sin. Those who teach that it is are contradicting the teaching of the Word.
1 Timothy 5:23 (NKJV) "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities."
Paul didn't tell Timothy to call the faith healer, or find someone with the gift of healing, but to take some medicine.
2 Timothy 4:20 (NKJV) "Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick."
Philippians 2:30 (NKJV) "because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me."
God does not always choose to heal. Sometimes it is his will for his people to be sick. Whenever God does choose to heal it is a result of His grace. Healing cannot be demanded as a right. We cannot demand to be healthy, but we may receive healing as a result of his grace.
If we understand that:
1. Healing is not in the atonement until the resurrection.
2. All sickness is not a result of personal sin.
3. It is not always God's will to heal.
It will help us to better understand divine healing as we study it next week.
My God help us to base our beliefs on the sound teaching of His Word and not on our emotional desires.
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||