Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Neal Pollard - Part 9

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"A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Neal Pollard - Part 9 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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The seas parted. They weren't ready, Roger. Now it's 9:30.
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Now I'm live. All right. I'll tell you,
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I feel 1 Corinthians is
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one of those books that has a lot of what I'd call difficult material,
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somewhat controversial, and sometimes
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that which can cause some discomfort
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and angst and even anger.
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And we feel like we're always kind of hustling so fast through the
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material. If I sound a little bit more relaxed, it's because I don't feel like
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1 Corinthians chapter 12 is one of those chapters. It's really one of
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those that's the least controversial, at least I would believe in this setting
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today. In the religious world, there are some
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divisions about this, and we'll give probably some more notice to that
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as we go deeper into this section, because 1 Corinthians 12 is
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the front end of a section. It's interesting, Paul is
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dealing with, as we talk about being of the same mind and the same
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judgment, unity, and there are some divisions
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among them, and we have been walking through all of those. And some of those
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divisions Paul devotes a lot of space
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to. You think about lining up behind personalities,
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chapters 1 through 4, or sexual immorality,
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chapter really 5, 6, and 7. If you take in some of
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the false ideas they have on marriage in chapter 7, and then eating
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meats offered to idols, making your brother stumble in
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chapter 8 through 10. And really in chapter 11, Hyrum dealt with
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some great difficulties. You think about the matter
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of head covering that has been a matter of division in the brotherhood, even in
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our times. And then in the last half of the chapter,
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understanding the Lord's Supper with greater clarity.
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Paul is going to do something here that he has done from the beginning,
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especially starting in chapter 7,
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after Paul deals with what seems to be the immediate problem in the church at
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Corinth, he starts fielding their questions. It's kind of a question and answer
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session where they're not necessarily physically in front of
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him, but he is dealing with some of the things that they brought to
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his door. And so this is another one of those. In 1
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Corinthians chapter 12, you have Paul following
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that formula that he has been following by saying, now concerning.
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All right, and so it's one way for you to help to divide the
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book. Now, if you want to, you would maybe put with this
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all the way or some through chapter 14 and
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verse 40, or actually I'd say through 15 and verse 1, same subject's
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going to be dealt with. And that's unity and spiritual gifts.
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And so Paul is going to answer that and is going to deal
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with their questions about the utilization of gifts.
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And we'll even say something about the purpose of the gifts. And the
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exercise of those gifts as we go through this section until he
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gets to now to
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reveal basically, it looks like in chapter 15 and verse 1,
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Paul is going to be introducing new material, not necessarily answering a
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question when he talks about the resurrection.
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So there are 2 things I think that we're going to want to try to
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get out of chapter 12 today, and that is Paul's introduction
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to this subject, and then Paul's illustration of the matter of spiritual gifts.
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And we'll see that. Now, I thought it would be helpful for us as
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we dive into this, because our—
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in the church today, things are different than they were in the first century church,
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especially in this particular way that we're going to be looking at today.
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And so I thought it'd be helpful for us to ask the question as we
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lead into this, because we're kind of stepping in the middle of the stream,
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How did the Corinthians get these gifts?
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Now, the gifts that we're going to be looking at are going
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to involve exercising gifts that we would
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call miraculous. And so they
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have it when we're studying in 1
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Corinthians. So question is, how did they get it?
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Okay, by the Spirit.
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That the Holy Spirit is going to figure
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prominently in chapter 12. You're going to see that.
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Any other answers you would give to that? How did they get the gifts?
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The apostles were able to impart those gifts. Okay.
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Now here's a second question.
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Why were these gifts given?
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Okay. All right. I'm hearing some good answers. Somebody said confirm the Word somewhere over
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in this part of the auditorium. Say it again, Clint.
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Okay. To develop their faith in the absence of the written Word.
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Is there any other reasons why these gifts were given?
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Okay. All right. So that's very important. I hadn't even thought about that, Darrell,
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but it was prophesied, Joel chapter 2, And maybe you think
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about Luke, Acts, it seems to be built on that promise and that promise being
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fulfilled that this was going to happen in the church age.
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Any other reasons? Okay, so it's to
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prove the divine nature. You know, somewhat akin to the idea of confirmation,
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but God's behind this. To build
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up the body. All right. Now, let me— I'm going to— we'll dive
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into this a little bit more deeply as we go, but Are there gifts?
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Listen to my question very carefully. Are there gifts in the
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church today? Yes.
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Are there miraculous gifts in the church today?
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If we mean by miraculous gifts involved
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in revelation,
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gifts involved in confirmation, That is something
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that's done. Let's say I say
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something that I'm asserting is truth, that you
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don't have any other place to confirm that. And then I'm
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trying to figure out who I can pick up. Tim.
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Tim, boom, you don't need those glasses anymore.
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Now you know what I'm telling you is the truth. Do we have that today?
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No. Okay. Now there is something that
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is contextual that we want to deal with, and then there's some application. Your initial
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answer with regard to the question is, are there gifts today?
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Absolutely. We're going to look at some passages with regard to that. Now, if you
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were to try to prove to somebody who might disagree with you about the— how
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the gifts were given and why they were given, where would you go in Scripture
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to kind of show that?
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I know you've heard it in Bible classes and you've heard it in sermons,
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but where in the Scriptures does it say that?
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Okay, we're going to look. So we'll get to that in just a moment,
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Harry. If you want to have a thumb in Mark 16, we'll go there in
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just a moment. But let's talk first about how the gifts were given. Go over
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to Acts 8. Acts 8,
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this is when Philip is going to Samaria, and as
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he is working among them, He is teaching them
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the gospel.
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Okay. Now, first of all, Philip, who is he?
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Okay. He's an equivalent of a deacon. He is an evangelist, as he's often referred
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to. He's on a mission trip to Samaria.
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Now, we'll have to kind of fill in a blank and go back a little
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bit, but I want to start here. Let's go to chapter 8 and verse 12.
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And when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and
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the name of Jesus Christ and were being baptized, men and women alike,
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even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued on with Philip.
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And as he observed signs and great miracles taking place,
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he was constantly amazed. Now,
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we know why Philip is able to do this. We've got to go back to
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Acts 6:6 when the 7 are
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set apart by the congregation at Jerusalem for the purpose
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of helping the Grecian widows to get their food in the daily administration,
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it tells us that the apostles prayed over them and
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laid their hands over them. So just kind of file that away in your mind.
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You might even want to put it here in Acts chapter 8 to understand how
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these gifts were imparted. But notice Luke makes
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it very clear in this context. Verse 14, when the apostles in
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Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God,
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they sent Peter and John who came down and prayed for them that they might
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Now, let's pause here for just a moment.
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Didn't they already receive the Holy Spirit?
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All right, so we go back to Acts chapter 2. The folks
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on Pentecost are convicted by the message that Jesus is the
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Messiah of prophecy. He was raised from the dead. He's Lord and Christ. And they
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said, what shall we do? You remember Peter's answer, repent and be baptized,
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every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
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Front end of that is a baptism. That's a
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command. Repent. Change your mind. That leads to a change of
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action. And each one of you is to be baptized for the purpose of—
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to receive the forgiveness of sins. Commanded. Now listen
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to the next part of the verse. And you shall receive the
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gift of the Holy Spirit. Is that a command or a promise?
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It's a promise. You shall receive the gift of
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the Holy Spirit. For the promise unto you and your children.
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Who is that? In context,
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that would be the Jews. And those that are afar off,
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who would that be? Gentiles. As many as the Lord
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our God shall call. That takes care of anybody
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we might've missed, which we haven't. Jews and Gentiles. This is
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a promise. When you are baptized, you receive
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the gift of the the Holy Spirit.
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Anybody until Christ comes again has that promise extended
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to them. If you have been baptized into Christ, and Paul's going to make that
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statement here in chapter 12, then by being baptized into
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Christ, you have the Holy Spirit of
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God within you. All right? He's not working miracles
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through you. He's not causing you to speak in a tongue that you haven't prepared
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yourself for, but He is a seal of the redemption that's to come according to
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Ephesians chapter 1. He produces strength in the inner man,
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Ephesians chapter 3. And there are 14 or maybe 16 verses
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in the New Testament that directly say the Spirit of God is in you.
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My point, I'll get to Kim's question in just a moment, is they already have
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this when we're reading in Acts chapter 8. Yes,
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ma'am. Kim, do you still want to ask it or you asking Kevin?
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Okay. Well, you probably
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won't like mine either. I don't know. You want to think about it?
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Yeah.
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Is, is the— I'm going
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to give you the short answer of no, but then I will,
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uh, Hiram and I over the next 3 weeks will answer that more fully if
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that, if that helps. All right. So, okay. All right.
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All right.
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Now, keep in mind that this has already
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taken place here. And we know
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that that, what's referred to in Acts 2:38, is not the miraculous,
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because if it was, then we wouldn't need what we see in Acts chapter 8
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and what we're going to see in just a moment in Acts chapter 19.
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All right, so here we have the Samaritans. They have believed.
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They have obeyed the gospel. And on the other side of that, according to
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Acts 2:38, they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. As many as the
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Lord our God shall call, But they don't
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have the miraculous gifts that we're going to read about in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
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How do they get that? All right, we'll keep reading.
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Now when the apostles, this is verse 14 of chapter 8, in Jerusalem heard
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that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John. Who are
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they? Apostles. Who came down and
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prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He
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had not yet fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized
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in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands
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on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
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Now there's something visible in this, what's happening with Peter
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and John. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit
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was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money saying,
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give me this authority as well so that everyone on whom I lay my
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hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Again, something tangible,
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visible that's going to happen. He sees it. He wants it.
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Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you because you thought you could
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obtain the gift of God with money. Clear indication
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here that to have gifts imparted
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like we're going to read about here and in 1 Corinthians 12, the apostles had
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to come and to do that for them.
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Pray and impart that. Interesting, same formula in Acts 6:6.
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Now go over to— Acts chapter 19, very quickly.
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Here is the occasion of the 12 men who had been baptized in the
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baptism of John. They're going to be baptized again because
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the baptism that they submitted to was insufficient in the
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Christian age. There was more to learn, more to obey
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beyond what they already knew. And I think this point has been made before,
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that happens sometimes. We, in the past,
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have learned up to a certain point, And maybe we're baptized, maybe baptized
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in a way different from the New Testament, baptized for a different reason than the
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New Testament. And like these men, we submit to
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that again. Now, here's a deduction. It's not— it doesn't require a
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lot of deducing on your part, but when these men in
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Ephesus were baptized, what happened at that moment?
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At that moment, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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Acts 2:38, as many as the Lord our God shall call. Now, that's already
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happened when we read in chapter 19 and verse 6. And when Paul had laid
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his hands upon them, who was Paul? An apostle.
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The Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking
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with tongues and prophesying.
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All right, so that is how the miraculous
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spiritual gifts were imparted.
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Now back to what Harry was saying, we answered the question of
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why these gifts were given. This again is a deduction, but it's a logical
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and reasonable deduction that Scripture helps us with
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in multiple places. The first one being Mark 16:20.
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If you'll turn over there, Mark 16:20,
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very last verse of the book of Mark. This is after
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the giving of the Great Commission.
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And I believe this to be the last sentence in the book of Mark.
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They went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with
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them and confirmed the word By the
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signs which followed. So this goes to what I think Gary and what Clint were
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saying a moment ago. How are you going to build faith in the truth of
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the message of the Word, the Word that the apostles and
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the disciples are spreading everywhere? You've got to have some
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way, absent a completed revelation, for people to know
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that this message is not false. And so when you see the miraculous
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gifts that are taking place, even in the context of 1 Corinthians, that's what's taking
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place. And I know you maybe have heard that before, but I wanted you to
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see where it was in the Scripture. Now, one other passage, and then if there
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are any questions, we'll field those. Hebrews 2:2-4.
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Hebrews writer is establishing the supremacy of Jesus
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in every way here. It's the Jesus is
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better than the Old Covenant, which came— he's
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been talking about how it came and the impressive way that it
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came. But how did the new covenant come? And here's the contrast in Hebrews 2:2-4,
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for if the word spoken through angels, by the way, man, what an
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impressive thing that must have been for the word to be spread by angels.
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But this is better than that. It proved unalterable.
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You can't change it. And every transgression and disobedience received
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a just penalty. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
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After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us
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by those who heard, God also testifying with them,
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by signs and wonders and by various miracles and
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gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His Word. Now, this is, by the way,
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one of the reasons why I don't think that Paul is the writer.
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He certainly influences the book of Hebrews,
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but here in Hebrews chapter 2, he says, this Word
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that's better than the Old Testament Word, this is in verse 3,
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it was first spoken through the Lord. When was that?
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His earthly ministry. Okay? It was confirmed
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to us. So the writer puts himself in the category of
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those that it was confirmed to. By those who heard.
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Who is the those who heard? The apostles. Verse 4,
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God also testifying with them. Who?
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The apostles. Both by signs and wonders and
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by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His
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own will. So we have a picture painted for us. We don't
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need to complicate it. They had the Old Testament Scriptures
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in the first century. Jesus came and revealed His Word. And you remember in John
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13 through 16, He tells them that these things are
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going to be brought to your remembrance. You're going to be
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able to— the things that I've told you, you're going to tell others. John 14:26,
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John 16:13. In Acts
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chapter 2, when they begin to preach, the people going, what's going on here?
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And Peter at the very beginning says, this is what the prophet Joel was talking
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about. You see these manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit.
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It's in order to, according to Mark 16:20 and Hebrews
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2:2-4, to confirm the as yet uncompleted
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New Testament through the miracles, the wonders, and the signs.
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All right, so why don't we need to speak in tongues and to prophesy and
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to interpret prophecy and interpret tongues today?
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The Word is completed. Now, if I go any
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further, I'm going to step all over— maybe Hiram thinks I've already stepped all over
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his class next week, but we'll get there in chapter 13.
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Now, having said all that, please make sure you understand
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that delineation. And you ask any questions you want
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to about that, and somebody in this room can answer them.
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Why do we still have gifts today?
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What— do we have gifts today? Well, you already said yes.
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Why do we have them? Okay,
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build up and edify the church. That's what this was supposed to do. We'll see
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that when we get to chapter 14, a very important concept as to what those
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miraculous spiritual gifts were accomplishing in the first century.
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But we still have the need to edify. He's saying even
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at that time, let all things done for edification to build up the body
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of Christ. This wasn't to showcase what you can do.
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This is according to God's will. God placed each in the body in order
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to accomplish his will, which is to spread the gospel to everyone
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everywhere using the uniquenesses that God knows
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and uses in the church. He's just not imparting revelation today.
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Mike, you have a— Question or comment? Going back— well, it's not going back
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to Acts 2:38. Sometimes you need to look at Acts 2:38
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and Ephesians 13. You know, Jesus is unto
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you, right? And your children. Sure. But listen to the wording of Ephesians,
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the first gift of the Holy Spirit. He says, uh,
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that you who trusted after you had the word, you were then
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sealed with a promise. There you go. So Paul
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with the Holy Spirit. Right. The gifts in Acts 2:38.
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Now he's going to be using— These 2 are parallel passages. Absolutely.
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You're right. Wanted to clear that up because we're going to see
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that terminology of gifts here in 12 through 14 that's
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to be distinguished. And I think if I were you, I would put next
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to Acts 2:38, that's a great passage. I'd put Ephesians 1:13 because it does
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synthesize very well. So Paul's dealing with something different than
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that in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14.
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Any other thoughts, questions, or comments?
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Yeah, go ahead, Hiram. Yes.
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Right. Matthew 5 and verse 16, a passage that indicates that. In fact,
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we're going to see multiple things that are accomplished through the gifts
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even here in chapter 12. Yes, ma'am.
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In Acts 2:38. Yes, ma'am.
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No, ma'am.
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Right. Well,
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and people will certainly claim that. And the problem is I could,
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I could literally say the Holy Spirit told me that,
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um, uh, at 12:30 today,
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there's going to be— the judgment's coming, and, you know,
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or that you should
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double our salary. Holy Spirit told me. What are
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you going to do about that? Give me some confirmation before we do that.
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You see, so that's what happens so often.
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Holy Spirit is working among us, and he is telling us that we need
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to completely change the role of women in the church.
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And so we've got to listen to the Spirit because he's doing that. So that's
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what people will do. And that's why it's important for us to make the distinction
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between the seal of promise, the down
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payment on our redemption of the Spirit being within us. Man, what 1
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Corinthians 6:19-20, you were bought with a price.
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You know, the Spirit of God is in you.
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What a convicting, We should not grieve the Holy Spirit of
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God. Ephesians 4:30, because He's within us,
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but He is not operating in a way to overtake
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our will or to lead us to revelation within.
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I would suggest to you He wasn't doing that, that is overtaking
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anyone's will in the first century.
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He's revealing to the apostles But
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nobody was ever made to obey the gospel or kept back from sinning,
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even in the miraculous age. And what we're going to see in 1 Corinthians 12
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through 14 is Paul— and by the way, how did the Corinthians
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get the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts at
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Corinth? Would you deduce?
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Who established the church? Acts chapter 18. Who was among them for 18
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months? Who was right there able to impart those gifts? It makes sense
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that Paul would be the one. Now, they are familiar with Cephas. Maybe Peter was
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there as well. But at the very least, we have no concern because Paul
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was there. And he lays his hands on them, and they receive the gifts.
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All right. Yes.
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Yeah.
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Right. And so that's a great point, Bruce. And let me
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say this. Here's what may confuse a few people
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here. I thought, man, this is smooth stuff. And it is, but it
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bears some explanation. When I say miraculous,
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I'm referring specifically to the exercise of miraculous
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spiritual gifts. When we're talking about
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God doing something,
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it involves the divine, And so maybe you're saying,
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well, why is that not miraculous? He is comforting,
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providing comfort, and I believe that's true, and he's providing strength,
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Ephesians 3:16. That's an act of God,
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but it is not a miraculous spiritual gift,
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an exercising of those 9 gifts that we're gonna see at the end of
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chapter 12. I wanna make sure before we go further, is that a clear
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distinction? Is that clear as mud?
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Okay. All right. Well, at least it's clear to some degree. All right. Uh,
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yes ma'am, go ahead, Laura.
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Okay.
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It is. And if I get as far as that, I will, I will show
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you why I think Paul says that in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. All right,
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that we are born, and I was going to ask
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you, when we think about the spiritual gifts that exist today,
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let's go ahead and just take a moment. What would be some examples of
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gifts that would exist in the church today, in this post-miraculous
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age? See, Laura's already given us one.
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Now, sometimes a gift cannot necessarily always be a gift,
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but an ability, because you think about Peter, right?
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Peter had that gift of talking. He could talk to apparently anybody anytime about
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anything. Sometimes he didn't need to talk, but he did. But it was a gift
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certainly that God used. All right, what else?
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Hopefully we've got more than talkers. We got what? Teachers.
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Teach. All right. We could go
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to Romans 12:6-8 and we see most of these that are listed
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there. Ephesians 4:16 says that each individual part
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that makes up the body is exercising. Its ability
26:23
in some way to make the entire body work. And that's exactly what Paul is
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saying here. Everything that you have by
26:30
way of your giftedness is to be used. And by the way, it's according
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to his will. He's going to say that verse 11, verse 18, and verse 28.
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This is done in accordance with what he wants to be done. And he uses
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that. By the way, 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, for by one Spirit were
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you all baptized into one body. We know that part. But what does
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he say at the end? You were all made to do what? Anybody know?
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You're made to drink of one Spirit.
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And so God uses— that's why I think that you're right.
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God uses what we come into the body with and
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He distributes that as He wills. Don't we need teachers to
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help the church to grow and to reach out into this community and help it
27:13
to be stronger? So we've got teachers, we've got encouragers, we've got Talkers,
27:19
which may be teachers. What else?
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Writers, all right, earn a living.
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All right, so generosity, Paul would call that in Romans chapter 12.
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Have you ever thought about this? What about working with your hands? Is that a
27:36
gift God wants to use in the kingdom? Do we have biblical precedents
27:39
for that, by the way? Man, I thought about this when I was studying Exodus
27:43
35 and Exodus 36. You have Moses writing about those individuals to
27:48
whom God's Spirit gave them the ability to work
27:52
with their hands to accomplish his purpose, which was the
27:56
building of the tabernacle. I think about every building project
28:01
I've ever seen in the church. We built
28:05
on an education wing in Virginia. And when we did
28:09
it, and you do it different ways, we were more, we call sweat equity here.
28:11
This was a little bit more turnkey than that to some degree.
28:15
But there everybody was using their hands and skills.
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And it was remarkable that when we were getting ready to break ground,
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this is just providential, we baptized a master electrician
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who also did inspections. And that certainly
28:30
was something God used in order to accomplish that work. And I think
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there's nothing miraculous per se in Exodus 35
28:38
and 36. God endowed individuals with through His Spirit
28:42
with the work to do that work. And He
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accomplished that. Yes, sir, Denver.
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Absolutely. Yes, sir.
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That's right. That's right. Now,
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how does the Spirit reveal His will to us today?
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Through the Word. All right. He is not going
29:04
to be writing it in the sky. He's not going to be whispering it in
29:06
your ear. He's not going to be conveying that through any way apart
29:10
from the Word. Is he working through his providence?
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Absolutely. Does God work in answer to prayer apart from
29:17
the Word? Does he answer prayer? Yes,
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absolutely. We're not praying to the Word, we're praying to him. And so God
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is at work, he's active, but we live in a context
29:27
where some people get confused at the extremes on this.
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Mike, go ahead. If I could maybe give a minute, but I'm a
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big Agatha Christie fan. Christie has done is
29:38
there. I'm available to everything after Christie's day
29:43
and who lived in contemporary personally.
29:46
We, if we want to know what your century, if they wanted to know
29:50
what personally, we don't have to because we thought he'd
29:54
written it all out for us. Absolutely. That's good. I like that.
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All right, I've got 13 minutes. Let me deal with the entire chapter.
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We can though. That really, That's why you think I'm not— I don't feel like
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I'm in a hurry because I got 2 points to share with you and I
30:08
think they're pretty straightforward. Let's read verse 1 through 11. This is his introduction
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to the subject here. He says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren,
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I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans,
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you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore, I make
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known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says,
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Jesus is accursed, and no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by
30:28
the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; variety
30:32
of ministries, but the same Lord. There are a variety of effects, but the same
30:35
God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given
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the manifestation of the Spirit, manifestation of the Spirit, for the common good.
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For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the
30:46
word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith
30:50
by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to
30:54
another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of
30:59
spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of
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tongues, but one and the same Spirit works all these things,
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distributing to each one individually just as He
31:10
wills. He's setting the table for what we're going to see for the rest of
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these 3 chapters, that God imparts spiritual gifts.
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And the spiritual gifts he's talking about in this context are to those
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who have already been baptized, upon whom Paul has laid his
31:25
hands and given them these manifestations,
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ability for us to see these gifts at
31:32
work in them. And not everybody has the same gift, which we'll see in chapter
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12. Each one has a different gift in order to accomplish the same purpose,
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God's will. That's what it's all about. Now,
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there seems to be 3 things that Paul says that I want us to touch
31:46
on before we look at the second half. He says, I don't want you to
31:49
be unaware. What he's speaking of
31:53
here is, it kind of hearkens back when he talks about the table of demons
31:56
and the table of the Lord. That you have left the one for the other.
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You are now in Christ. And so Paul says, I want you to
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give focus to the fact that life has changed
32:08
for you. It's different because
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you're Christians. I believe that's what Paul is saying here in verses 1 through 3.
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Now, a lot of times, and it's even in evidence in this letter,
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when we think of things have changed for you when you come out of the
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world and into Christ, What do you automatically think of?
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My life is different because I'm in Christ. Give me an example of
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why, a proof of that.
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Okay, good. And I appreciate that
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because a lot of times what we might say is, I don't smoke, I don't
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drink, I don't, you know, lie, I don't cheat, I don't, you know,
32:45
and that's fine. That's part of it is conforming
32:50
our lives. And he even talks about sexual immorality and some of the things that
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were evidenced, eating meats or or
32:56
sitting at the table of demons,
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but there's positive differences. And you talk about evidences of that,
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ways I grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, but it's even
33:08
more than that. Because I'm in Christ,
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God has me and my abilities at work to
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help the church to grow. Don't miss that part.
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If all you think is that because I'm a Christian, I no longer
33:22
act like the world, you're only halfway there. And even as we
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think about worship and the personal disciplines and devotion
33:30
in life, that's great, that helps to accomplish all of this, but God says
33:34
you're in the body to do what only you can do to help
33:37
the church to grow. And I think sometimes we don't emphasize that
33:41
enough. I don't know, I'm not good at counting numbers. We got over 100 in
33:45
here, I think. If we have over 100 Christians in this room, there's 100
33:50
different things God wants you to do. This group to be
33:53
doing to help the church to grow.
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Now, did you catch that? Not 5 or 6 or 10 or 15,
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not the elders, the preachers, or the deacons and/or their wives.
34:07
Paul's point is everybody has something
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that God saw and is wanting to use in the body.
34:16
So that's what he said. I don't want you to be unaware of that.
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But then number 2, these gifts are varied. That's just an important point that he's
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going to build upon as we go through this,
34:26
they all come from the same source and that source is God. He says,
34:30
Jesus, Spirit, and God. There's a
34:34
nod to the Godhead there, by the way. He works all things
34:37
in all persons. Now,
34:40
at Corinth, some of them were tending to boast in their gifts.
34:44
That's wrong. Is it also wrong for
34:47
us to say, eh, I can't do anything.
34:52
God can't use me. You know, really, I just— I'm
34:56
just a bump on a log. I really don't serve any purpose. Should we say
34:59
that? I don't think that's— Paul's point
35:02
is, I don't care who you are. You are a vital
35:06
part. And that's why in the second half of the chapter, he's going to be
35:09
talking about the illustration. And spoiler alert, the illustration is the
35:13
spiritual body is likened to a physical body in a lot of different ways.
35:16
And there is no part of the physical body that the rest of the body
35:20
says, you know, I don't need you. I don't need you, index finger on
35:23
my right hand. Just go on. We'll be all right without you. We don't do
35:27
that because every part of the body is important.
35:30
And there's a lot of other illustrations he's going to give. A third thing is
35:33
to each is given for the common good. In verses 8 through
35:38
10, he lists out those 9 spiritual gifts,
35:41
but they're all for the common good and God uses them according to his will.
35:45
That's the first half of the chapter. Any thoughts or questions or comments?
35:50
All right, let's deal with the last 20 verses here in the last 5 minutes.
35:54
To each is given for the common— sorry, let's go ahead and go down to
35:58
the second part. Here's the illustration. God's purpose— let
36:03
me move ahead here. God's purpose for the gifts in the church is
36:06
described for us in verse 12 through 31. By the
36:10
way, sometimes— and you don't have time to do this here
36:13
in class, But I would suggest to print
36:18
off 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I don't think this is always as
36:21
impactful as it would be here. Just print it off and you have
36:25
about 20 minutes and go through and try to find ways
36:29
to highlight some words that keep showing up
36:32
over and over again. I'm not talking about 2 or 3 times. I'm talking about
36:36
you just can't miss it as you go through the chapter. And a lot of
36:39
times when that happens, it'll jump off the page to you as to what the
36:42
writer is talking about. And here's what I found, and you can check my
36:46
math. I found the word members, and you can find out where they are in
36:49
the chapter, 14 times in this chapter,
36:52
31 verses. All, 13 times.
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One or same, 18 times. One,
37:00
15 times. Same, 3 times. But in that context of one, same,
37:03
one and same. Body, 18 times. 12 times.
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Spirit, 12 times. Gifts or
37:11
synonyms like ministries and effects, 13 times.
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Let me review. Members, all, one,
37:18
body, Spirit, gifts. What do you think 1
37:22
Corinthians chapter 12 is about? All have
37:27
gifts. All the members have gifts,
37:31
but we're to be one. In the exercise
37:35
of those gifts. That's really 1 Corinthians 12
37:39
through 14, but we're going to give you a lot more detail, shade in a
37:42
lot of that for you. Now, let's notice a couple of things about that.
37:49
The illustration. Let's look at the illustration in verses 12 through 26.
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And this is really going to be the heart of it. For even as the
37:55
body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body,
37:57
though many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by
38:01
one Spirit you are all baptized into one body, Jew or Greek, slave or
38:05
free, made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member but
38:07
many. If the foot says, because I'm not a hand, I'm not a part
38:11
of the body, is it for this reason any less a part of the body?
38:13
If the ear says, because I'm not an eye, I'm not a part of the
38:16
body, it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.
38:18
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole
38:21
were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the
38:24
members, each one of them in the body, just as he desired. And if they
38:27
were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members
38:29
but one body. I can't say to the hand, I have no need of you,
38:32
or the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary,
38:35
it's much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are
38:38
necessary, and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we
38:41
bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more
38:45
presentable. Whereas our more presentable members have no need of it, but God has so
38:49
composed the body, giving more abundant honor to the member which lacks,
38:53
so that there be no division in the body, but that the members
38:56
may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the
39:00
members suffer with it, and if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with
39:03
it. This is a simile that we've already said. It illustrates
39:07
the spiritual body. Here are some highlights. Verse 12, all the
39:11
individual parts come together to make the body work. Is that
39:15
true of the physical body? It's true of the spiritual body. Verses 14 through
39:19
17, each individual body part has its unique
39:22
function to serve, not one less essential than another.
39:26
I thought about this.
39:30
You think you have to hear this once. When I'm running, I record myself and
39:34
I listen to it while I'm running, so I had to hear this again this
39:36
morning. And while I was listening to it, I thought, you think about just one
39:40
example of that. If you are to eat
39:46
a bite of food, think about what all's involved in that.
39:49
You know, we could take some time to build a list of what all's involved
39:53
in giving nutrition to your body. All right, so what's involved?
39:57
The muscle— the muscles are involved.
40:00
The eyes. I mean, some of us, you know, we're eating so fast we don't
40:03
look, but most of us are going to look. Sense of touch,
40:07
hands, you get coordination, right?
40:11
Brain. Maybe you need to think about what you eat before you put it in
40:15
your mouth, but you know, the brain's got to be involved. You think about all
40:18
the different parts of the body that are involved. The digestive system. In the simple
40:22
act of that one thing that's essential to the body, all these different
40:26
parts have to be called into play. Now you think about in the spiritual body,
40:29
is that the case? In any one thing, let me just pull it out of
40:33
the air, equipped. Does that involve one or two people or does
40:37
it take everybody? Is there something everybody can
40:40
do? Trunk or treat, Vacation Bible School, you know,
40:44
whatever it is, the Bible school program. There's so many
40:48
parts involved in that and all have a role to play. Verse 18,
40:53
the body is set up by divine design. That's true
40:57
of the physical body. It's the way we were created. So is the spiritual body.
41:01
Verse 19, a body would look strange with only one body part.
41:06
So would the spiritual body. Verse 21, how strange if
41:09
one body part told another body part, I don't need you.
41:13
Verse 23 and 24, body parts that are less emphasized
41:17
or visible are still vital,
41:20
says the heart, says the lungs, says so many other things.
41:23
Verse 25 and 26, the body is very empathetic toward
41:27
itself. You've heard the illustration of the hammer and the thumb and how much we
41:31
bring in so many other parts to console that thumb.
41:36
Other contexts make this point. You might want to write down Romans 12:4-6
41:40
and Ephesians 4:16. Now,
41:45
I wanna get this dealt with because 27 through 31 is just making the
41:49
application and setting the table for 1 Corinthians 13.
41:53
We are baptized into the body in order to use those
41:58
gifts that God has blessed us with.
42:02
He knows who we are. You know, I think about Paul who said, I was
42:05
set apart from my mother's womb for the preaching of the gospel. God knows with
42:09
perfect foreknowledge He wove us curiously in our mother's womb.
42:13
He was involved in all of that. And so God knows us.
42:17
When we come into the body of Christ, He knows there's a place for us.
42:21
And that's one of the reasons why baptism is essential because God
42:24
does that at that time. So many other things the Bible says
42:27
we put on Christ, but we also are made to drink of one
42:31
Spirit. And then he applies the illustration in
42:35
verse 27 through 31. All right, so we'll begin. Next week with chapter 13.
42:38
Appreciate very much your attention and your comments.