Sermon Central
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God's Gifts To The Church Series
Contributed by Christian Cheong on Sep 26, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: Paul corrects the Corinthians' preoccupation with the gifts and draws them back to God's intent, highlighting the nature, the Giver, the purpose and the diversity of the gifts.
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The PURPOSE is clear: 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. That is, for the common good of the assembly, the church.
• The gifts are not given primarily for the individual but for the CHURCH.
• They are meant to benefit the Body and not “self”, to build up the Body and not exalt “self”.
• If they are spiritual gifts, then they can only be “spiritual” in purpose – to build up the Body of Christ and glorify Christ.
Paul set out this objective again in Ephesians 4 written about 5 years later:
• Eph 4:7,11-16 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift…
11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12to equip the saints FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, FOR BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to GROW UP IN EVERY WAY into Him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, MAKES THE BODY GROW so that it BUILDS ITSELF UP in love.
The focus is not on the gifts but on the objective of the gifts.
• We like to focus on the gifts - the more spectacular and miraculous the better – but Paul’s concern is the welfare of the Body of Christ, the very purpose for which the gifts were given.
• What are we looking at today? The gifts or the purpose of those gifts?
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So what are the gifts?
1 Cor 12:8-11 ESV THE DIVERSITY OF THE GIFTS
8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.
We have 9 gifts here – wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues (prayer languages), and interpretation of tongues.
• In 1 Cor 12:28 he mentioned a few more: 12:28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
If we look at what Paul wrote about 2 years later in Romans 12:
Rom 12:6-8 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
