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The Ministry of Divine Assistances (1 Corinthians 12:28) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. So you know, you probably look
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around your local church and just assume the most vital
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person in the room is the one holding the microphone.
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Yeah, that is a really common assumption.
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We tend to look at the stage, right?
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We look at the gathered assembly and we assume the individual
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with the spotlight. Or maybe the eloquent speech
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carries the most spiritual weight.
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I mean, it is a totally inverted way of looking at the body of
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Christ. We tend to diagnose the health
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of a local assembly by looking at what is loud and visible.
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Yeah, assuming volume equals vitality.
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But the scriptural exegesis we are examining today proves that
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assumption is completely backwards.
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It really is. We have a massive stack of
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sources on the table for this deep dive.
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We have historical research on 1st century Greco Roman culture,
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lexical commentaries on the original Greek text, and some
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incredibly sobering modern sociological surveys regarding
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pastoral attrition. It is a lot of data, but it all
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points to one thing, right? Our mission today is to uncover
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a heavily neglected yet highly supernatural mandate found in
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First Corinthians chapter 12, verse 28.
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We are looking at the gift of helps.
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Yeah, we are going to unpack why quiet, unapplauded labor in the
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local church is actually a direct, authoritative operation
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of the Holy Spirit. The.
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Stakes here are massive. Oh, absolutely.
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I mean, if you are listening to this and you happen to be the
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person who sets up the chairs or balances the budget or cleans
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the nursery, you might feel like a backstage technician.
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Like your job does not really matter.
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Yeah, exactly. I mean spot on.
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But this research demonstrates that your ordinary behind the
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scenes assistance carries is immense theological weight.
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It is not about filling a volunteer roster.
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No, not at all. This concerns the literal
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structural integrity of the Church.
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Well, to really grasp what the Apostle Paul is saying in First
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Corinthians, we cannot just read the text in a vacuum.
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We have to understand the people he was writing to.
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For sure, context is everything. So I was looking through the
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historical research on ancient Corinth around 8055 and the
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socioeconomic landscape is staggering.
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We are stepping into a metropolitan chaos.
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It was a wild place. Corinth was a Roman colony in
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Greece, sitting right on the isthmus.
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Right, that narrow strip of land connecting mainland Greece with
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the Peloponnese. Yeah, and geographically it was
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an absolute goldmine because it had two major seaports.
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Lykium on the West and I think Sanctuary on the east, right?
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That is right, so merchants would literally drag their
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smaller ships across the paved trackway of the isthmus.
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Just to avoid the dangerous sea journey around the Southern
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Cape. Yeah, that sea journey was
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notorious shipwrecks, so dragging the ships was the
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safest route. And that meant a constant,
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massive influx of sailors, wealth and raw materialism into
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the city. It was a booming economy built
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on new money, and the research highlights that it was a city
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defined by social climbing. Oh, heavily.
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It was also dominated by institutionalized paganism.
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Overlooking the city was the Aqua Corinth, a massive Rocky
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Hill, and at the top sat the Temple of Aphrodite.
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Yeah. So you have a culture that is
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aggressively competitive, highly sexualized, and, well,
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completely self seeking. In that specific society, your
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worth was determined entirely by your public honor, right?
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Yes. They operated on a strict Roman
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system known as clientele. It was a patron client
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relationship. Break that down a bit.
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What did that look like day-to-day?
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So the wealthy elite would sponsor the poor, they would
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provide financial backing or legal protection, but in
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exchange the poor clients had to offer public praise, they had to
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vote for their patron in elections and essentially build
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up the patrons social status. Looking at those social
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dynamics, it sounds identical to modern influencer culture.
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Oh, it really does. Like the Corinthians were
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essentially ancient clout chasers.
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They were treating the public square like a stage for personal
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branding, just trying to accumulate a dependent
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following. That is a highly accurate
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parallel. Success meant dominating the
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room and showing off your rhetorical brilliance.
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Now the crisis begins when the Gospel breaks into this Pagan
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stronghold. Paul preaches Christ crucified,
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a message that totally subverts human pride.
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People convert. But when these new believers
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walk into the local church, they do not leave that clout chasing
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at the door. They just bring it right inside
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with them. Yeah, they drag all their
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cultural baggage right into the pews.
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They imported the patronage systems, the social
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stratification and the competitive self display
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directly into the gathered assembly.
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It was a disaster. The historical commentaries
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point out that they took the spiritual gifts God had given
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them and weaponize them as tools for status.
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Instead of utilizing their gifts to build up the church, they
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utilize them to build up themselves.
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Precisely. And because of their cultural
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obsession with public honor, they heavily favored the visible
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vocal gifts. Like speaking in tongues.
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Yeah, the gift of tongues became a massive status symbol.
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If you could speak in tongues, you had the spotlight.
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You were the spiritual elite, and conversely, they look down
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upon anyone doing the quiet, nonverbal practical assistance.
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I want to look at the psychological and spiritual
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danger of this mindset because, you know, on the surface,
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someone listening right now might just say, well, they're
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just overly enthusiastic about spiritual things.
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What is the actual harm if they want to speak in tongues loudly?
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The danger is that it substitutes the glory of the
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Creator for the self aggrandizement of the creature.
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Wow. Yeah, when you treat the
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gathered assembly like a stage for personal branding, you are
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no longer worshiping God, you are worshiping yourself.
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You are taking the things God provided and using them to
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glorify yourself. Right, you are utilizing the
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provisions of God to rob God of His glory.
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It creates a toxic, competitive environment where the body is
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torn apart by jealousy and pride rather than united by grace.
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The Apostle Paul has to dismantle this toxic
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environment, and he does it brilliantly in First Corinthians
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12. He really does.
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He starts by establishing A strict theological baseline.
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He says nobody can confess Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit.
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Meaning all true spiritual gifts must elevate Christ, not human
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pride, right? And from there he moves into his
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famous analogy of the human body, spanning verses 12 through
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26. He uses incredibly vivid, almost
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humorous logic to breakdown their elitism.
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He says, imagine the foot saying because I am not a hand I do not
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belong to the body or the ear, saying because I am not an eye I
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do not belong. Paul points out the sheer
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absurdity of this. He asks if the whole body were
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an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
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It is a ridiculous image. Yeah, like if everyone in the
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Corinthian church had the vocal, visible gift of tongues, the
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church would be a monster. A giant rolling eyeball.
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Right, it could not function at all.
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A body requires diverse parts with distinct functions.
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Yeah. And then Paul addresses the
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other side of the pride coin. He says the I cannot tell the
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hand, I have no need of you. The head cannot say to the feet.
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I have no need of you. In fact, God constructed the
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body so the parts that seem weaker or less honorable are
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absolutely indispensable. So Paul is looking right at the
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wealthy tongue speaking elite in Corinth who are treating the
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quiet laborers like second class citizens, and he's telling them
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they actually cannot survive without the people they despise.
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It completely flips their hierarchy, yes.
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And the critical phrase Paul uses is that God arranged the
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members and the body, each one of them, as he chose.
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This highlights the theology of God's eternal decree in His
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Providence. Absolutely.
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The distribution of gifts is not a democracy.
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It is not based on your personal ambition or your socioeconomic
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status. It is a sovereign placement.
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Let me push back on this just to clarify the reality of what Paul
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is saying. When modern Christians hear this
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body analogy, we often treat it like an ancient team building
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exercise. Right.
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Like a corporate retreat. Yeah.
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We view it as a helpful corporate synergy metaphor, like
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a manager saying we all play a part on the team.
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So is called just giving us management advice.
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Or is this something much more literal?
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It is entirely literal and this is a vital covenantal reality.
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This is not a voluntary association or a local club.
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The local Church is the literal, visible manifestation of
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Christ's mystical Body on earth. So the placement is intentional.
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Every joint, every ligament, every single member is placed
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there by divine decree. If you are listening to this and
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you complain about your placement, or if you despise
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someone else's placement, you are not just having a
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disagreement with a volunteer coordinator.
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You are arguing with God. Right, you are an act of
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rebellion against the Creator's Providence.
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Since every part is placed by divine decree, we need to 0 in
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on one specific, highly misunderstood joint in this
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body. The gift of helps.
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This is where the lexical analysis is so helpful.
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Yeah, the commentaries we reviewed dedicate significant
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space to the lexical anatomy of this specific word.
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In First Corinthians 12.28, Paul uses a very specific Greek word.
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It is antilepsis. In English translations it is
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usually rendered as helps. Let us break down that Greek
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noun. It is the plural form of a rare
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word, and to really grasp its meaning we must look at the
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compound verb it comes from, which is anti lambano.
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OK, what does that combine? It combines the preposition anti
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which means over, against, or opposite, and the verb lambano
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which means to take, to receive, or to lay hold of.
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Putting opposite in to lay hold up together creates a very
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physical, graphic connotation. Yeah, the research notes
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describe it as coming alongside someone who's being crushed by
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an overwhelming weight. Yeah, you grab that burden from
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the opposite side and you ease their load.
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That is spot on. It is not a passive word.
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It requires exertion. It immediately makes me think of
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helping a friend move. Imagine you were trying to get a
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massive, heavy, solid oat dresser down a narrow flight of
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stairs. Oh, that's a great.
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Image one person cannot do it alone.
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They will get crushed under the weight.
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You have to get on the opposite end, bear the weight, pivot with
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them and take the load so they do not fall.
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You are laying hold of the burden from the opposite side.
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That is a brilliant way to visualize it, and what is
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fascinating here is the vocabulary Paul deliberately
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chose not to utilize. What did he avoid?
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He did not use diaconia, which is a very general term for
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ministry or general duties. He did not use letourgia, which
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refers to public, formal or civic duties.
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So he was being very specific. Yes, he chose a word that
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specifically means taking hold of a heavy burden to relieve
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someone else. The historical lexical notes
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also trace this word back to the Septuagint.
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The Greek translates to the Old Testament, and seeing how the
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word is used there elevates the concept completely.
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It really does. In the Psalms, this specific
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word describes Yahweh's protective, saving assistance
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toward His covenant people. Psalm 22.99 says, But be not
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Thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength hasty to help me.
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And that phrase help me is that same root word right?
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We see it again in Psalm 89.18, linking the concept directly to
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divine protection. When you synthesize that lexical
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data, the theological conclusion is staggering.
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When a believer in the local church executes the gift of
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helps, when they grab the other side of that heavy oak dresser,
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so to speak, they act as the physical, historical instrument
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of God's own protective, sustaining care for His flock.
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They are the tangible hands of God providing relief.
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Yes. It is not just doing a chore, it
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is an operation of grace. Now that we understand what the
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word means, we have to look at where strictly Paul places this
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heavy lifting function within the hierarchy of the church
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because he gives us a divine catalog right there in verse 28.
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The order is so deliberate. He writes and God has set some
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in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
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teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps
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governments, diversities of tongues.
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The grammatical structure of that verse is crucial.
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Paul utilizes ordinal numbers first, second, third.
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He uses them to establish a primary hierarchy based on the
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authority of declaring the Word of God.
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So the spoken word comes first. Right, the apostles and prophets
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laid the scriptural basis and the teachers expound it.
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The ministry of the word is primary, but then the grammar
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shifts. He stops using numbers and
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utilizes adverbial connectors like after that and then.
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The placement of helps in that secondary list is stunning.
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It is sandwiched right between gifts of healings and
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governments, which means administrations and the gift of
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tongues. The one that Corinthians valued
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above all else, the one that utilized to build their personal
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brands, is shoved to the absolute bottom of the list,
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last place. We have to consider the intended
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effect on the original audience hearing this read aloud.
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This was a calculated, devastating strike against
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Corinthian spiritual elitism. I can just imagine their faces.
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Right. Imagine the wealthy patrons
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sitting in the assembly, waiting for their turn to speak in
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tongues so everyone can applaud their spiritual superiority.
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And Paul reads this catalog and publicly humiliates their pride.
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He puts their favorite public platform at the absolute bottom.
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At the exact same time, he is bringing massive divine
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validation to the slaves, the women, and the lower class
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members doing the quiet physical labor in the background.
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It changes everything for them. Paul is telling them your
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practical labor is a sovereign appointment by the Creator of
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the universe. You are placed in the same
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structural catalog as the workers of Miracles.
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It destroys the elite hierarchy and brings immense dignity to
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the lowly. The specific mixture of
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miraculous signs and practical administration in the same list
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forces us to look at the progression of redemptive
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history. How do we, as Reformed believers
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who rely on the finished Canon of Scripture, understand this
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catalog today? Because obviously we do not see
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apostles walking around healing people with a touch of their
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shadow in our modern assemblies. This introduces the cessationist
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understanding of this text, which the theological
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commentaries outline Clearly. We must differentiate between
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the extraordinary sign gifts and the permanent ordinary gifts.
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Let's define those categories. The sign gifts included
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apostles, prophets, miracles, healings, and tongues.
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The research explains that during the Apostolic era, the
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New Testament Canon, the written scriptures, was not yet
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complete. God utilized these miraculous
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signs to authenticate new revelation and to validate the
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authority of the apostles. Right when an apostle preached a
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new revelation about Christ, the miracle proved that the message
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possessed divine authority. But once the Canon of Holy
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Scripture was complete and the final apostle passed away, that
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specific era of the Church ended.
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Those temporary sign gifts ceased because their objective
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had been fulfilled. The authentication was complete.
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I want to use an analogy here to map this out for the listener.
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It is like building a massive skyscraper.
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When you first start construction, you bring in the
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heavy machinery, the giant cranes, the exterior
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scaffolding. They are huge and loud.
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Yeah, they are highly visible, spectacular pieces of equipment
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that draw a lot of attention. But once the structure is built,
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you remove the cranes in the scaffolding, you do not need
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them anymore. But the internal load bearing
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walls, the pillars, the steel beams inside, those remain
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permanently. That analogy captures the
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reality perfectly. The sign gifts were the
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temporary cranes. The completed scripture is the
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finished structure, but without the cranes.
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What is left to sustain the local church week after week?
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The load bearing walls, the permanent ordinary gifts,
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teachers, helps and governments. We must expound on the gravity
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of this reality. God views these quiet,
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administrative and supportive functions as carrying the same
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divine authority to sustain the Church today as the spectacular
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signs did in the 1st century. That is a massive statement.
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It is the truth. The gift of helps is the
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permanent scaffolding of the local church.
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Without it, the structure cannot stand.
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If this is the load bearing wall, every single provision in
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the church must point back to the head of the church.
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We have to anchor the gift of helps entirely in the person and
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work of Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate cosmic
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exemplar of burden bearing. Everything the Helper does is
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just a faint echo of what Christ has already done perfectly.
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We see this clearly when we examine Christ's active and
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passive obedience. Yes, the eternal Son of God laid
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aside his heavenly glory. He took upon himself the form of
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a bond worker. In His active obedience He
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perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of the
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law that we could not keep. And then the cross.
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Right. And his passive obedience, he
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went to the cross, He took hold of our massive crushing burden
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of sin, guilt, and the wrath of God, and he carried it in his
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own body on the tree. As Mark 10.45 says, the Son of
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Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to
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give his life a ransom for many. He literally stepped under the
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opposite side of our crushing weight and took the entirety of
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it upon himself. Yes, we see this beautifully
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prefigured in the Old Testament shadows.
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I was actually reading the notes on the Levitical priesthood and
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the details regarding the physical labor are striking.
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You had the high priests offering the sacrifices, but
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they were supported by the Levites.
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Specifically, the Kohathites, the Merorites, and the
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Gershonites. They did the grueling, silent
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physical labor of moving the Tabernacle.
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They did all the. Heavy lifting.
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The Gershonites carried the heavy curtains and coverings.
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The Merorites carry the massive solid wooden pillars and silver
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bases, and the Coathites carried the holy vessels like the Ark of
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the Covenant and the Table of Showbread.
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They packed, carried, and maintained the structural
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elements of the sanctuary through the wilderness.
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They did the exhausting manual labor so the sacrificial
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mediation could proceed without blemish.
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The Blood could not be offered on the altar if the helpers had
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not carried the altar through the desert.
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They were the Old Testament burden bearers.
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That is right. But I have a question here.
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If Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father, He is
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not physically here on earth doing that labor right now.
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How is He still physically executing this burden bearing
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for His flock today? The Ascended Christ pours out
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his Holy Spirit upon the church when a believer exercises the
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gift of helps. Whether that is changing a
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diaper in the church nursery so a young mother can hear the
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sermon, cleaning the sanctuary after hours, fixing a broken
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pipe in the building, or balancing the church budget, it
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is the 10 eligible historical extension of Christ's ongoing
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pastoral care. That drastically alters the way
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you view a spreadsheet or a mob. It does.
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It is Christ Himself working through that believer to comfort
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the afflicted, relieve the poor, and sustain the physical
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structures of the assembly. Our Lord Jesus continues to come
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alongside His weak, weary people to take hold of their loads, and
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He utilizes the hands of the helpers to do it.
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If this is God's brilliant sovereign blueprint for the
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church, a body where the prominent teachers and the quiet
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helpers are knit together in mutual dependence, how have
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modern Christians managed to completely lose the plot?
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We tend to forget history. The sources we are reviewing
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pivot to modern applications here, and they expose 2 massive
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errors in the contemporary evangelical landscape that
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directly violate the command of First Corinthians 12.28.
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Now we're just looking at what the sociological and theological
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data presents. Right, we are just impartially
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reporting what the commentaries identify as violations of the
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specific mandate. We have fallen back into the
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same kernel traps as the ancient Corinthians.
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The first error outlined in the research is the Pragmatic Church
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Growth model. Right, the data describes this
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as the seeker sensitive approach.
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It notes that this model treats the local church as a commercial
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enterprise. The leadership relies on secular
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marketing, corporate strategies, and professional entertainment
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to draw a crowd. The pastor is viewed as ACEO.
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The worship is viewed as a highly produced show.
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It relies heavily on human engineered events rather than
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the Holy Spirit's quiet, steady provisions, and the second model
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the sources outline is the Charismatic Mysticism model.
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Yeah, according to the research, this includes the prosperity
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gospel and modern charismatic movements.
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In these environments, there is a craving for constant,
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extraordinary manifestations. They elevate private subjective
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experiences, direct revelations, and highly vocal platforms.
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It mimics the exact carnal chaos of ancient Corinth.
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It really does. Now, as the research points out,
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both of these models look very different on the surface, but
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they make the same fundamental mistake.
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They bypass the ordinary, quiet, permanent scaffolding of the
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spirit in favor of something that looks impressive to human
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eyes. I have to challenge this though,
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specifically regarding the pragmatic model.
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Let's look at the corporate approach for a second.
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Don't we need efficiency in organization?
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What is the actual harm if a church runs like a well oiled
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Fortune 500 company? That is a fair question to ask.
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If the bills are paid, the seats are full and the production is
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flawless, isn't that a good thing?
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Well, that raises A valid point. But we must understand that
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efficiency without the Holy Spirit is sterile.
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True Biblical Helps is an operation of grace governed by
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love, not a volunteer program driven by institutional
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ambition. There is a difference in the
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motivation. Absolutely.
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Pragmatism asks the question what works to get people in the
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door? Scripture asks what edifies the
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body according to Christ's command.
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So treating a volunteer like an unpaid employee in a corporate
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machine is totally different from honoring a St. who is
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executing a divine gift. Right when Helps becomes mere
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corporate efficiency, the helper burns out and feels used, and
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Helps is recognized as a divine appointment.
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The helper is nourished by the Spirit and honors Christ.
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This failure to rely on the Spirit's actual provision of
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helps has created a devastating silent crisis behind the pulpit.
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The numbers are alarming. The modern sociological surveys
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included in our sources present horrifying statistics on
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pastoral health. Over 70% of Protestant pastors
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report constantly battling severe exhaustion and
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depression. A 70%.
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Nearly 80% of pastors spouses feel their husband is overworked
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and undersupported by the congregation, and over 50% of
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active pastors admit they would quit the ministry today if they
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had another viable source of income to feed their families.
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Half of the pastors currently in the pulpit want to quit.
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We must analyze why this is happening.
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The cause is that congregations expect one man to bear an
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impossible load. They pile everything on to him.
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Yeah, they expect the pastor to be the chief theologian writing
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brilliant sermons, the administrative CEO running the
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staff, the financial director balancing the budget, the
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facility custodian making sure the building is running, and the
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primary counselor for every emotional crisis.
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It is utterly violating the divine blueprint.
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You are taking the entire weight of that massive oak dresser we
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talked about and dropping it on one person's back while the rest
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of the body stands around and watches.
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It breaks people. I look at these statistics and I
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think of a human body where the skeleton has vanished.
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The mouth is still up there, preaching, trying to deliver the
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word, but without the internal load bearing structure of the
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bones, without the helpers, the administrators, the burden
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bearers, the body simply caves in under its own weight.
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That is a terrifying, accurate image.
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The preacher cannot function if the body lacks its skeleton.
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Therefore, the practical application of this text demands
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immediate action. The sources layout 3 actionable
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directives we must walk through. The first directive is
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repentance. We must repent of spiritual
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elitism and the desire for visible platforms.
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The congregation must confess the sin of despising the quiet
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administrative physical tasks of the church.
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We have to start measuring spiritual maturity by how loudly
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someone speaks from a stage and start valuing the lowliest acts
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of assistance. Second, local sessions and elder
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boards must actively cultivate and publicly honor the deacons
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and the quiet helpers. Yeah, the leadership must
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identify the Saints who possess this gift, utilize them
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properly, and honor them as essential, divinely ordained
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partners in ministry. They are the load bearing walls.
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The third directive applies to everyone listening.
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Every single member must look for ways to come alongside the
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leadership to take hold of physical and administrative
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burdens. You must ask yourself, what
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heavy load can I help carry? How can I free up the elders so
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they can dedicate themselves to prayer and the ministry of the
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Word? I want to offer a comforting
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word to those weary Saints currently doing that unnoticed
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labor. If you show up early to unlock
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the doors, if you quietly drop off meals for the grieving
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family, if you do the unglamorous data entry for the
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church office, you might feel invisible.
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You might feel completely unseen.
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You might feel like your work does not matter because nobody
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claps for you. But the Father sees you.
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The Lord Jesus Christ sees you. You are not a backstage
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technician running a religious show.
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You are a vital, indispensable member of Christ's body.
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The Holy Spirit is utilizing your hands to sustain His
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church. Your labor carries eternal
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value. What a striking reality to sit
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with. To summarize where we've been
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today, we have seen that the gift of Helps is not just a nice
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volunteer program. It is a sovereign, supernatural
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provision given by God. It is absolutely essential for
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the structural integrity of the church, and it demands the
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complete abandonment of our individualistic platform.
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Seeking pride, we must rely on the permanent scaffolding God
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has provided. If we look at the bigger
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picture, there is a final thought I want you, the
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listener, to Mull over. We've spent this time analyzing
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the humility required to exercise the gift of helps, to
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be the one doing the quiet, unapplauded labor.
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But there is a flip side to this that we often ignore.
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To receive help requires an even deeper death to pride.
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Walk us through that. Why is is receiving help so
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difficult? Think of Jesus in the upper
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room, wrapping a towel around his waist and kneeling to wash
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the disciples feet. Christ washed Peter's feet, but
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Peter first had to admit he needed washing.
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Peter tried to refuse. He tried to maintain his
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self-sufficiency, his pride. You shall never wash my feet, he
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said. But Jesus told him that if you
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refuse this help, he had no part with him.
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Refusing help is actually an act of pride.
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We want to leave. We are totally self-sufficient.
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Yes. If you refuse to let the body
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aid you, if you insist on carrying every burden yourself
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out of a desire to look strong or a fear of looking weak, you
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are actively resisting the very hands of Christ reaching out to
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ease your load. You are telling the hand that
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you have no need of it. Let that sink in.
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To be a part of the body means you must be willing to bend down
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and carry the weight for someone else, but you must also be
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willing to let someone else carry the weight for you.
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Look around your local assembly this Sunday, look for the quiet
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grace operating in the background, and let the body be
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the body. We will see you next time.