GIFTED (part seven)
In Rom. 12 we looked at the seven motivational gifts. Now, we'll be focusing on 1st Cor. 12 where we find the seven manifestation gifts. Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, discernment of spirits, tongues/interpretation of tongues. Today we'll look at the first three
1st Cor. 12:4-11, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."
Vs. 7- 'manifestation'. This is the only occurrence of this word in the bible. Greek word phanerosis, meaning disclosure, revelation, setting forth plainly. It's important to understand that although these might be gifts, they are different from the gifts listed in Rom. 12:6-8. The gifts in Rom. 12 are more of a practical and ongoing nature, whereas the gifts in 1st Cor. 12 come about as God wills.
For instance, take the gifts of healing or miraculous powers. The Apostles had these gifts but they didn't manifest themselves all the time. Peter walked on water but that didn't mean he could walk on water whenever he liked. So these types of gifts aren't a constant like encouragement, mercy, teaching or service are, they're gifts that are used in certain circumstances as God wills and as he moves people to act in the Spirit.
1) Wisdom.
We are all to seek wisdom. Some who have excelled in wisdom have the ability to apply the principles of God's word in a practical way in specific situations and then to recommend the best cause of action at the best time. They can give practical insight and solid advice.
Wisdom takes the truth of God's word and holds it up to the problems and situations of life and connects them and makes sense out of them so they can be addressed, attacked and dealt with. In 1st Cor. 12 Paul words it as the message of wisdom. Again, in keeping with the word manifestation, this would be different than living in wisdom. This would be a special revelation of a word of wisdom from God given for a specific purpose.
Denver Cheddie makes a connection between this and the ability to understand mysteries. He writes, "The first 2 vs. of 1st Cor. 13 contrast the temporal nature of the gifts with the eternal nature of love. The structure goes: “If I have such and such a gift but not love, I am nothing.”
He mentions gifts like tongues, prophesy, understanding mysteries, knowledge, faith. All of these are gifts mentioned in the previous chapter. But right in the middle, there is a reference to understanding mysteries. Where did this come from?
Well, by the process of elimination, we can equate that with the word of wisdom. After all, the bible does teach a correlation between wisdom and understanding. This scripture implies that the word of wisdom is a supernatural ability to understand mysteries. Daniel exhibited this gift."
Daniel 1:17-20, "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom."
And if you read on you will learn about Daniel interpreting dreams. Daniel and his friends were given this special insight and ability to show themselves to be better than their pagan counterparts so the king would see the God of Israel as the one true God. God will give these abilities to his followers so that people could be convinced that God is the one and only.
Denver Cheedie continues, "Paul demonstrated this gift in the New Testament. In various places, he referred to the mystery that was given to him, that God offered the same salvation to the Gentiles as he did to the Jews (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:3-10).
This was a word of wisdom, where God enabled Paul to understand a mystery that was hidden from everyone else. Then Paul wrote it in the scriptures and it became doctrine. This was not a future prediction, but a mystery that was coming to pass at the present time. Essentially the word of wisdom is a divine understanding of a mystery involving God’s will."
The message of wisdom is God revealing to someone something not previously understood. It's not meant for the individual alone but for others to hear also. Sometimes it has to do with something about scripture that is hard to make sense of and God reveals the answer. It could be divine insight into a specific situation or problem someone is facing and God gives you a direct answer to speak into the situation to help. These can constitute the message of wisdom.
2) Knowledge.
Again, we are all supposed to desire more knowledge and understanding of the scriptures and Jesus as he is revealed there. But there are some who have a heightened ability to discover, analyze and systemize truth for the benefit of others.
One who speaks with understanding and penetration and can see into the deeper aspects of scripture. They may know the meanings of words, the original Greek and Hebrew renderings, contextual insights, cultural backgrounds, etc. It's also seen in God revealing things (scriptural or otherwise) that could not come from a natural understanding but only through God.
But our text specifically mentions the message of knowledge. This is a special manifestation where God reveals something previously unknown. It's somewhat similar to the message of wisdom but where the message of wisdom pertains to something that was known but not understood, knowledge pertains to something not previously known at all. This can be seen in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.
Acts 5:1-4, "Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
They gave the allusion that the money they brought to the apostles was the full price for the property they sold. Unless they said something everyone would have been none the wiser. But Peter knew they weren't being truthful. How? He could only have known through the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit will reveal specific knowledge to us regarding something like what happened with Ananias and Sapphira or it could be insight regarding a situation or a specific person or group. So when God reveals specific information about a person or situation that you could not know otherwise, he will move you to action to reveal it so the other person would ask, "How could you know that?"
Hopefully you won't answer, "Because I'm psychic." Instead your answer will be, "Because God revealed this information to me." And that opens the door for either the gospel to be presented or the person to take their situation and their relationship with God, more seriously.
But we have to be careful because this gift can be misused or misperceived. Sometimes we may think God is revealing special insight or knowledge but it's not from him; it may stem from a personal desire that we want God to validate. "God told me that you're supposed to marry me." Sometimes this may be given as a confirmation but I would think God would give that same insight to the other person.
We need to be careful. Does it line up with scripture? Does it go against any biblical principle? Is it too vague? "I know there's someone somewhere who's suffering from something." That's not divine insight or knowledge. The messages of wisdom and knowledge must be handled carefully and only used when it's crystal clear that it's from God.
Typically we will know that because it will come upon us suddenly and we may have to talk ourselves into revealing it. Rather than when it's more personally focused and we try to force it or will it.
3) Faith.
Again, we all need to have faith but there are those with the gift of faith who have the ability to have a vision for what God wants done and confidently believes it will happen despite the circumstances or appearances to the contrary. It involves the ability to believe the impossible more easily. We are all called to have faith but people who have the gift of faith typically believe and trust without much struggle or doubt.
In 1st Cor. 13:2, Paul alluded to the faith that can move mountains. Most likely this refers to a supernatural endowment of faith such that one can remain firm despite any opposition. We see an example of this in Acts 27. Paul was a prisoner on a ship sailing to Italy. He had warned the centurion about the inclement weather but to no avail.
Then a violent storm of hurricane force came upon them. They unloaded cargo and fought the wind and waves night and day. For days they saw neither sun nor stars. It got to the point that the men had given up hope of survival. But then Paul stood up and addressed them.
Acts 27:21-25, "After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.
Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me."
"An angel". An angel came and encouraged Paul. He believed what the angel told him which strengthened his faith and gave him the courage to be confidently hopeful. This isn't the first time angels have been involved to help people to continue in faith.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce she would give birth to Jesus. When she asked how this would be possible since she was a virgin he explained how it was going to happen along with telling her that her elderly relative Elizabeth was pregnant, finishing with Luke 1:37, "For nothing is impossible with God." Mary believed and carried on despite the accusations she would receive.
The same angel appeared to Joseph, encouraging him to not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. He believed and acted in faith and married Mary despite the ridicule he would face in doing so. When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemene, after he asked the Father if there was another way, Luke 22:43 says that an angel came and strengthened him. Heb. 1:14 says that angels are ministering spirits for those who will inherit salvation.
We might not experience an actual visitation, but we will be strengthened and encouraged in our faith in stressful times and unbelievable situations.
"of the God whose I am and whom I serve". This is a definitive statement. Paul acknowledged to all that he belonged to God and that he served him. That will be our anchor also. When we know that we belong to God what or whom shall we fear? If we know we are faithfully serving God then we know that God will take care of us to the very end.
God sent the angel to give Paul assurance for the journey and God will give us assurance when we face storms in our journey. After battling the storm for two weeks the ship was lost but all 276 men made it safely to the shore of Malta.
I'm sure they wondered if Paul's prediction would come to pass with the continuation of having to fight the violent storm's raging winds and turbulent seas. But they made all made it. They saw the faith of Paul stand firm and pay off in the end. I wonder how many of them came to faith after seeing Paul's display of it? How many people are affected by our display of faith?
Sailors in the northern oceans have frequently observed icebergs traveling in one direction in spite of strong winds blowing in the opposite direction. The icebergs were moving against the winds, but how? The explanation is that the icebergs, with nine-tenths of their bulk under the water surface, were caught in the grip of strong currents that moved them in a certain direction, no matter which way the winds raged.
In the Christian life, no matter how strongly the winds of opposition are blowing, the believer who has a depth of living in the currents of God’s grace will move in the direction of righteousness.
There was another storm where faith was an issue. This one involved Jesus and his disciples. Matthew 8:23-26, "Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."
It's understandable why the disciples would've been freaking out. But Jesus is like, "why you trippin'? I got this. Where's your faith? Why are you so afraid? You've seen me do amazing things. Didn't I tell you I would make you fishers of men? Why would I let you drown now?"
They hadn't seen Jesus take command over the wind and the waves though. But the idea is that since they had seen Jesus do miracles before; things they had never seen, shouldn't they have thought he could do anything?
What about us? We benefit from the scriptures that talk about all Jesus did. We have the stories of the heroes of the faith that believed and saw miraculous things. So what about when we face hardships and stressful situations? Do we belong to God? Are we his servants? Should we believe God will send us help in our time of need?
Psalm 112 starts out by saying, 'blessed is the one who fears the Lord and finds delight in his commands'. Then it goes on to describe some things about such a person.
Psalm 112:6-8, "Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes."
Do you know anyone like that? What about us? We can be the ones whose faith is never shaken in times of turmoil. We can be the ones who have no fear when bad news or trying times come our way. We can be the ones whose heart is firm, steady and secure; trusting in the Lord at all times.
The following is a poem by William H. Bathurst. "O for a faith that will not shrink, ‘Tho pressed by every foe; That will not tremble on the brink, Of any earthly woe! That will not murmur nor complain, Beneath the chastening rod; But in the hour of grief or pain, Will lean upon its God; A faith that shines more bright and clear, When tempests rage without; That when in danger knows no fear, In darkness feels no doubt."
This is the gift of faith.
