-
Here's a question put forth
-
by Mako Hughes.
-
He says this,
-
"So many people around the world
-
say that Jesus is Lord
-
and are probably not saved.
-
I just don't understand
1 Corinthians 12:3."
-
So we should all turn there.
-
"I just don't understand
1 Corinthians 12:3."
-
Now those of you
familiar with your Bibles,
-
you may already know
-
what he's alluding to.
-
1 Corinthians 12:3,
-
The Apostle Paul speaking
-
to the Corinthian church.
-
"Therefore, I want you to understand
-
that no one speaking in the Spirit of God
-
ever says, 'Jesus is accursed,'
-
and no one can say,
-
'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
Now, do you all get that?
-
"Therefore, I want you to understand
-
that no one speaking in the Spirit of God
-
ever says, 'Jesus is accursed,'
-
and no one can say,
-
'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
So now you all see the verse.
-
Now, let me just read this whole question.
-
"So many people around the world
-
say that Jesus is Lord
-
and are probably not saved.
-
I just don't understand 1 Corinthians 12:3
-
which says, 'Therefore,
I want you to understand
-
that no one speaking in the Spirit of God
-
ever says, 'Jesus is accursed,'
-
and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
Please explain why many are not saved,
-
yet they say,
-
'Jesus is Lord.'
-
I'm just confused."
-
So what do you think?
-
Paul says,
-
"No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
Let me ask you this question.
-
When you were lost,
-
could you verbalize those few words?
-
Did you have it in your capacity
to say those three words?
-
Jesus is Lord.
-
When you were lost?
-
So, do you believe like Mako believes
-
that a lot of lost people are saying,
-
"Jesus is Lord"?
-
When the Apostle Paul himself says,
-
"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
I mean, I would think
-
that most of us when we're first saved
-
and we're reading through the Bible
-
for the first few times,
-
we come across that verse,
-
and if you're reading with
any level of discernment,
-
if you're asking questions as you read,
-
if you're trying to understand
-
and comprehend as you
read through Scripture,
-
you come across that statement
-
and it says that no one,
-
no one can say "Jesus is Lord,"
-
except in the Holy Spirit,
-
and you're thinking to yourself,
-
well, that can't be true.
-
There's lots of people that are lost
-
and they can make statements like that.
-
And yet, it doesn't sound like Paul
-
is being anything but absolute here.
-
I mean, it's not sounding like
-
he's giving any exceptions to this.
-
He says, "no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
Well, okay.
-
Let's think for a moment here.
-
Let's pick this apart.
-
What I'd like to do is actually read -
-
of course, anytime you're going to try
-
to understand Scripture,
-
the thing that you want to do
-
is you want to look at the context.
-
That's always stressed.
-
Any kind of faithful Bible interpretation,
-
you've got to look at what's being said
-
in the broader picture.
-
You need to see what's being said
-
around this verse.
-
Now, let me ask you this.
-
1 Corinthians 12 is a chapter
-
that is primarily known for what?
-
Spiritual gifts. That is true.
-
1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14
-
is the most extensive treatment
-
of spiritual gifts found
anywhere in your Bibles.
-
That ought to come to our mind right off.
-
That is what is being dealt with.
-
Now, let's read these
first three verses together.
-
"Now concerning spiritual
gifts, brothers..."
-
Okay, see what the context does
-
to help us here?
-
It tells us where Paul's mind is going.
-
Paul's mind is concerned
-
with spiritual gifts.
-
He's not just laying out
-
any old general, generic statements
-
about people's ability
-
to say "Jesus is Lord"
-
or "Jesus is accursed."
-
He's very specifically got
spiritual gifts in mind.
-
And notice,
-
"Now concerning spiritual
gifts, brothers..."
-
Well, that's interesting.
-
"Now concerning spiritual gifts..."
-
This phraseology:
-
"Now concerning,"
-
is found repeatedly in 1 Corinthians.
-
Let's just look at some.
-
Go to 1 Corinthians 7.
-
"Now concerning the matters
-
about which you wrote..."
-
Okay, that's helpful.
-
What did they write?
-
Well, they wrote to him.
-
And every place where you pick up
-
"now concerning,"
-
he's just laid the
table for us right there.
-
"Now concerning the things
about which you wrote..."
-
And so every time you
get that kind of verbiage,
-
"now concerning," what Paul's doing
-
is he's very specifically responding
-
to what they wrote to him about.
-
Let's just look at the things
-
that they wrote to him about.
-
"Now concerning the matters
-
about which you wrote,
-
it is good for a man not to have
-
sexual relations with a woman."
-
Now, understand this,
-
Paul is not saying it's good for a man
-
not to have sexual relations with a woman.
-
That's what they wrote him about.
-
That's what they put on the table.
-
And he says, now, hold on.
-
Because of temptation
to sexual immorality,
-
each man better be touching his wife
-
and each woman better
be touching her husband.
-
You see, they wrote to him,
-
and they put forth their own ideas
-
about the things that
they wrote to him about.
-
And he's coming back
-
and he's not only answering them,
-
he's correcting their
faulty thinking in things.
-
And so, you have that here in 7:1.
-
Look at 7:25.
-
"Now concerning the betrothed..."
-
See, this is very familiar language
-
here in this letter.
-
If you go to 8:1,
-
"now concerning food offered to idols."
-
You see, they're asking him
about all these things.
-
What do we do in this case?
What do you about women?
-
You know what?
-
If you didn't have the New Testament,
-
and you suddenly got converted,
-
and you're thinking, well, we know
-
Paul doesn't have a wife
-
and we know Jesus doesn't have a wife.
-
Maybe it's best to be single.
-
Maybe it's best to put your wife away.
-
What if I have a lost wife?
-
You know he addresses that
in 1 Corinthians 7.
-
Those are valid questions.
-
They have questions about
-
all the kind of idolatry they came out of;
-
do we eat the food?
What do we do?
-
He says, "Now concerning
food offered to idols..."
-
That would be a genuine question.
-
Hey, that food was offered to idols.
-
Is that really something that we should be
-
participating or not participating in?
-
What's the deal?
-
If you go further,
-
obviously when you get to 12:1,
-
you get this: "Now concerning
spiritual gifts, brothers..."
-
Why would he say that?
-
Because they wrote to him about that.
-
They asked him questions
about that as well.
-
And that may help us
-
as we dive in to understanding this
-
to recognize that they had written to him
-
about something.
-
Just before we leave this,
-
if you jump to chapter 16:1,
-
you will see,
-
"Now concerning the
collection for the saints
-
as I directed the churches..."
-
V. 12, "Now concerning
our brother Apollos..."
-
Very interesting.
-
He uses this terminology very often.
-
It's not typical to his writing
-
in most of his other epistles.
-
Okay, anyway,
-
I wanted to try to give you the backdrop
-
that they had written to him.
-
And they're asking questions
-
about different things.
-
And now, what he says here is,
-
"now concerning spiritual
gifts, brothers..."
-
And the thing is
-
if you go through and you read
-
these three chapters,
-
well, let me ask you guys.
-
Do you know what spiritual gift
-
gets talked about more than any other one?
-
Tongues.
-
Let's just look at this.
-
Let's look at every place
where "tongues" shows up.
-
If you look at v. 10,
-
"working of miracles, to another prophecy,
-
another the ability to
distinguish between spirits
-
and other various kinds of tongues..."
-
If you look at v. 28,
-
"God has appointed in the church
-
first apostles, second prophets,
-
third teachers, then miracles
-
and gifts of healing,
-
helping, administrating,
-
and various kinds of tongues."
-
V. 30, "Do all possess gifts of healing?
-
Do all speak with tongues?"
-
So you see it showing up.
Look at 13:1,
-
"If I speak in the tongues
-
of men and angels, but have not love,
-
I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."
-
If you look at 13:8,
-
"Love never ends. As for prophecies,
-
they will pass away.
-
As for tongues, they will cease.
-
As for knowledge,
-
it will pass away."
-
And then 14 - 14's just full.
-
V. 2, "The one who speaks in a tongue
-
speaks not to men but to God.
-
For no one understands him,
-
but he utters mysteries in the Spirit."
-
V. 4, "The one who speaks in a tongue
-
builds up himself,
-
but the one who prophesies
builds up the church."
-
V. 5, "Now I want you
all to speak in tongues,
-
but even more to prophesy.
-
The one who prophesies is greater
-
than the one who speaks in tongues
-
unless somebody interprets,
-
so that the church may be built up.
-
V. 6, "Brothers, if I come
to you speaking in tongues
-
how will I benefit you unless I bring you
-
some revelation or knowledge
-
or prophecy or teaching?"
-
So you see that tongues is all over.
-
V. 9, "So with yourselves,
-
if with your tongue you utter speech
-
that is not intelligible,
-
how will anyone know what is said?
-
For you will be speaking into the air.
-
There are doubtless many
different languages in the world,
-
and none is without meaning,
-
but if I do not know the
meaning of the language,
-
I will be a foreigner to the speaker
-
and the speaker is a foreigner to me.
-
So with yourselves, since you're eager
-
for manifestations of the Spirit,
-
strive to excel in building up the church.
-
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue
-
should pray for the power to interpret."
-
V. 14, "For if I pray in a tongue,
-
my spirit prays, but
my mind is unfruitful."
-
V. 18, "I thank God that
I speak in tongues
-
more than all of you."
-
V. 19, "Nevertheless, in church,
-
I would rather speak
five words with my mind
-
in order to instruct others
-
than 10,000 words in a tongue."
-
V. 21, "In the law, it is written,
-
by the people of strange tongues,
-
and by the lips of foreigners
-
I will speak to this people,
-
and even then, they will not
listen to Me, says the Lord.
-
V. 22, "Thus tongues are a sign
-
not for the believers,
but for unbelievers.
-
While prophecy is a sign
-
not for unbelievers, but for believers."
-
V. 23, "If therefore the whole
church comes together
-
and all speak in tongues,
-
and outsiders or unbelievers enter,
-
will they not say that
you're out of your minds?"
-
So, you can see, v. 26, v. 27.
-
"If any speak in a tongue,
-
let there be only two
or three at the most
-
and each in turn and
let someone interpret."
-
V. 28, "If there is no one to interpret,
-
let each one of them keep silent in church
-
and speak to himself and to God."
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Anyways, I read the wrong verses there,
-
but you get the idea.
-
You get the idea that this is here a lot.
-
V. 39, "So brothers, earnestly
desire to prophesy
-
and do not forbid speaking in tongues."
-
This is key.
-
Now, you go back to chapter 12.
-
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers,
-
I do not want you to be uninformed."
-
Well, whatever their
question is, we don't know.
-
It's not told to us.
-
But it probably has to do with tongues.
-
And it probably has to do
with how they're using it.
-
And the idea that we get
-
is that you see how he
hits them with tongues.
-
Look, you guys need to
use your spiritual gifts
-
in a way that builds up.
-
You need to use your spiritual gifts
-
in a way that manifests love.
-
Love builds up.
-
You can have the tongues
of men and angels,
-
but if you don't have love,
-
you are nothing.
-
And so, again, he not only
answers their questions,
-
he tends to be corrective.
-
They had wrong ideas about things.
-
And they're coming to him
-
and so often this was
the case with Jesus too,
-
people would ask questions
-
and it's like Jesus would answer,
-
but you get the feeling that He
wasn't answering their question
-
because their question wasn't right.
-
They have to be corrected.
-
They have to have things set right.
-
And here's the thing about tongues
-
that I think you and
I need to think about.
-
Remember where we're going with all this:
-
Nobody says "Jesus is accursed"
-
by the Spirit of God.
-
And nobody can say "Jesus is Lord"
-
except in the Spirit.
-
The thing about tongues
-
is most people today have this idea
-
that you can turn it on and turn it off.
-
That you can basically
speak in tongues at will.
-
And you know why most people think that?
-
Because most people that claim to have
-
the gift of tongues
-
don't really have the gift of tongues.
-
And they speak all manner of gibberish
-
and they can turn it on
-
and turn it off like a faucet.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
I was just listening
to something recently
-
Martyn Lloyd-Jones did -
-
he was speaking about tongues.
-
And he said that when he gets people
-
that claim that they can speak in tongues,
-
he says,
-
"Can you speak in tongues
any time you want?"
-
And they say yes they can.
-
And he says, "Okay,
speak in tongues for me."
-
And he said typically, they rattle off.
-
And he says, "You don't have
-
the biblical gift of tongues."
-
Because, he said the corrective verse
-
in Scripture for that
-
is found in 1 Corinthians 14:18.
-
1 Corinthians 14:18, Paul says,
-
"I thank God that I speak in tongues
-
more than all of you."
-
Well, as Lloyd-Jones was saying,
-
that is a totally useless verse
-
if we can just speak in tongues
any time we want to.
-
Because you see what he's saying?
-
He's saying, "I thank God
-
I speak in tongues more than you."
-
Well, certainly, he wouldn't say that
-
if speaking in tongues was just a matter
-
of doing it or not doing it.
-
Because if it was something that he
-
or they could do anytime they wanted,
-
how could he even be certain
-
about a statement like this?
-
He couldn't be certain.
-
Because how does he know
-
one of those Corinthians
didn't just go out
-
and just jabber in tongues
-
endless for weeks at a time?
-
And do it more than him?
-
You see what he's saying is
-
this is a gift -
-
now there's a mystery here,
-
because clearly even when you
-
have the gift of tongues,
-
you can stop yourself from doing it.
-
As he says - if there's not
an interpreter present,
-
don't do it.
-
And even as somebody who has
-
prophecy revealed to them,
-
they can give place if something
-
is revealed to another person.
-
So on the one hand, it's not something
-
you can just manufacture and make happen,
-
but it is the kind of thing
-
that when the Spirit is
prompting you to do,
-
there is a measure of control there.
-
That's the mystery that we get
-
from the things that are said here.
-
But I think one of the corrective verses
-
on a proper understanding
of tongues is this.
-
It is something that the Spirit gives.
-
It is something that people
-
don't just turn on and off.
-
It is something that the
Spirit of God has to give
-
and enable the person to do
-
when that gift is being activated.
-
And it's probably that the Corinthians
-
were asking a question
-
about something - perhaps,
-
they were asking a question
-
about something that was said.
-
Perhaps, this is where
their confusion was.
-
They said wait a second.
-
People in the Corinthian church
-
were experiencing all sorts
of supernatural gifts.
-
We see it.
-
We see it in 1 Corinthians 12.
-
All manner of gifts.
-
Healing, tongues, interpretation,
-
prophesying, miracles, healing,
-
administration - we see
that all of these things
-
were being done in the church.
-
All sorts of things were happening.
-
And perhaps their question was
-
about something happened in their midst
-
with regards to tongues,
-
(incomplete thought).
-
Perhaps what we can glean
from this happened
-
is that they had the same mindset
-
so many in the charismatic movement have.
-
That so many people today have.
-
Look, if you can simply
do the supernatural,
-
you can typically fool 99% of the people.
-
And in fact, there seems
to be the supernatural
-
that even if it was possible,
-
the elect themselves would be deceived.
-
The supernatural is quite
convincing to people.
-
And I believe that that's what tongues is
-
by Paul's very words there in 14:18,
-
that he thanked God that
he did it more than others
-
because it was something
supernaturally being given to him
-
and that's what that gift is like.
-
And I have a feeling people
-
were given these utterances
-
in the church at Corinth,
-
and something was said
-
where people thought,
-
well, that was supernatural,
-
but it didn't maybe seem
-
to honor Christ so much.
-
What do we do with that?
-
That is probably something
along the line of the question.
-
We get two chapters that deal
-
very emphatically about tongues.
-
And you get this idea about speaking.
-
Listen, look at this.
-
Go back to 1 Corinthians 12.
-
"Concerning spiritual gifts, brothers..."
-
You guys wrote to me about these things.
-
Now concerning those, let
me talk to you about them.
-
"I don't want you to be uninformed."
-
About what? Not about just somebody
-
out here on the street.
-
Whether you can go across
to the neighbor's house
-
and get somebody to
say "Jesus is Lord" or not,
-
that's not what he's talking about.
-
He says, guys, now
concerning spiritual gifts,
-
I want you to be informed.
-
So that's what he's got on his mind.
-
And tongues is a big deal here.
-
He's got speaking gifts in mind.
-
And so he says -
-
and this is interesting too -
-
he says guys, I want you to remember
-
when you were pagans.
-
Why? What happened when we were pagans?
-
Well, supernatural things
happened back then.
-
Do you remember that?
-
"You know that when you were pagans,
-
you were led astray to mute idols,
-
however you were led."
-
Now, what does that mean?
-
What's all that about?
-
Why even bring that in?
-
I want you to know, guys,
-
about spiritual gifts,
-
but let me take your minds back.
-
Remember back.
-
Go back in your minds.
-
Remember, you were pagans.
-
You were led astray to these mute idols.
-
They couldn't talk,
-
but however you were led...
-
However you were led?
-
Some kind of leading.
-
They have mute idols,
-
but they're being led.
-
What's that about?
-
You know what, if you go back not far;
-
if you go back to chapter 10.
-
In fact, it's right in the middle
-
of chapter 10:19.
-
We're only talking a chapter
and a half before this.
-
"What do I imply then?
-
That food offered to idols is anything?"
-
Here's the idols. They were pagans.
-
They went after these mute idols.
-
He's talking about food that was offered
-
in their pagan idolatries
-
before they were converted.
-
He says,
-
"Am I implying that food
offered to idols is anything?
-
Or that an idol is anything?"
-
They're just these mute, dumb idols.
-
They're nothing.
-
Am I implying that they're anything? No.
-
"I imply that what pagans sacrifice,
-
they offer to demons and not to God.
-
I do not want you to be participants
-
with demons."
-
You see the issue here?
-
Their pagan religion - these mute idols -
-
but there's idea that they were being led.
-
However you were led.
-
There's these leading spirits.
-
What is it that leads the pagans
-
to bow down?
-
Brethren, there's more in idolatry
-
than just what meets the eye.
-
It's more than just somebody decides.
-
There's something compelling in idolatry.
-
There's something supernatural
-
in idolatry.
-
That's what makes it so convincing.
-
Listen, the people that are bowing down
-
to all the statues of Mary,
-
and these things can weep blood
-
and do all sorts of things,
-
that's real.
-
People feel things.
-
People have dreams.
-
People are led.
-
Supernatural things
happen - they really do.
-
The Catholic church has all manner
-
of supernatural things happen.
-
We ought not to be amazed.
-
You know, when we were watching
-
on Sunday, Ariandes was showing us
-
some clips from Cuba,
-
and they were talking about
-
carrying around these statues
-
and how heavy they are.
-
Well, you know, in India,
-
same kind of thing.
-
You know what?
-
You go to a different country?
Different idol.
-
Same thing. They carry around their gods.
-
Well, James Dali told us
-
that they have one certain festival
-
where they carry the god around
-
on some kind of platform
-
and they say that the longer they go
-
on the parade, the heavier it gets.
-
Heavier, heavier...
till it's almost so heavy
-
they can't bear it up and
they throw it in the river.
-
I mean, that's what
they do with their god.
-
It gets heavy, heavy, heavy,
and then they throw it in the river.
-
But there's demons -
that's what he says here.
-
There's demons behind this.
-
And he's reminding them.
-
Why would he remind them?
-
Probably because he's saying, look,
-
if you go back to your pagan days,
-
you know people said things then;
-
people got stirred up;
people went into trances,
-
people said things.
-
There were supernatural
things that happened then.
-
Do you guys remember that?
-
That's probably what he's saying here.
-
He's saying, "concerning
spiritual gifts, brothers,
-
I don't want you to be uninformed.
-
You know that when you were pagans..."
-
Something happened.
Remember your pagan days.
-
Remember. Probably, remember,
-
there were some kind of inspired
utterances that took place,
-
but not inspired by God;
-
inspired by demons.
-
Things that happened supernaturally
-
that they were part of your idol worship.
-
And it's demons behind all that stuff.
-
Do you guys remember that?
From your pagan days?
-
It seems like that's the idea here.
-
Listen, brethren,
-
the thing you and I need to recognize
-
is just because something's supernatural
-
doesn't mean it's from God.
-
Just because it's supernatural
-
and happens in the church
-
does not mean that it's from God.
-
And you see, that's probably
-
the bigger issue here.
-
They're saying, well, Paul,
-
something happened with regards to tongues
-
in the service.
-
And he's saying,
-
you have to be discerning.
-
What? How?
-
Well, when subjective things happen,
-
you better check them with the objective.
-
What?
-
The objective is biblical doctrine.
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You hear something
supernatural in the church,
-
if it's not exalting Christ,
-
there's the red flag.
-
Don't be led away by the supernatural
-
even when it happens in the church.
-
You need to be discerning.
-
That seems like where
he's driving in all this.
-
I mean, the whole idea in all this
-
is the Spirit (v. 3),
-
"Therefore I want you to understand,
-
no one speaking in the Spirit of God..."
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Now, remember, we're
talking about spiritual gifts.
-
We're not just talking
about being a Christian.
-
Or, not a Christian.
-
We're speaking about spiritual gifts.
-
He says, "Concerning
spiritual gifts, brothers,
-
I do not want you to be uninformed."
-
Not about just what's
possible if you're lost.
-
But when a gift -
-
a true spiritual speaking gift
-
from the Spirit
-
is always going to exalt Christ.
-
Always.
-
And you could say, well, is it always
-
going to say He's Lord?
-
I say it more broadly it's
always going to exalt Christ.
-
You know why I say that?
-
Because when you go over to 1 John,
-
1 John hits on the same thing.
-
1 John gives us a test -
why don't you guys turn over there?
-
1 John 4.
-
We dealt with this recently
-
when we went through 1 John.
-
1 John 4:2,
-
"By this you know the Spirit of God,
-
every spirit that confesses
-
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
-
is from God,
-
and every spirit that
does not confess Jesus
-
is not from God."
-
What does that mean? Confess Him?
-
Well, confess Him for what He is.
-
Throughout this letter,
-
we see confessing that
Jesus is the Christ,
-
confessing that Jesus
has come in the flesh,
-
confessing that Jesus is the Son of God.
-
Over in 1 Corinthians 12,
-
it's confessing that Jesus is Lord.
-
But in all of them,
-
it is proclaiming the Christ of Scripture.
-
Look, the Spirit inspired the Word.
-
The Spirit carried holy men along.
-
And this book came as a result of that.
-
That Spirit that carried men along
-
to pen this book
-
is never going to contradict this book
-
when He gives spiritual gifts to people.
-
And when He gives unique and special
-
and supernatural speaking gifts,
-
He is not going to inspire people
-
to speak against Christ.
-
Remember your pagan days.
-
Yeah, people got led along,
-
but did they say things
-
that exalted Jesus Christ?
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No, they didn't.
-
Behind those mute idols
-
that you were led along to worship
-
were demons.
-
It seems like that's the issue.
-
But brethren, I think the thing
-
that we have to remember
more than anything here
-
is where Paul takes this whole thing.
-
It's like the ultimate manifestation
-
of the Spirit;
-
the ultimate identification
-
of the Spirit's work is to be found
-
in the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
-
And what's so critical about that
-
is that these people
-
even when they were using
-
the true gift of tongues,
-
we can tell, they weren't
doing it out of love.
-
We know the Corinthians were contentious.
-
They were factious.
-
They were suing one another.
-
Everything he's saying,
-
he's having to tell them,
-
look, when you use your spiritual gifts -
-
if you go back to 1 Corinthians,
-
what he's correcting is
-
this using of spiritual gifts
-
for their own self-exaltation.
-
The idea here is in 1 Corinthians 12
-
is look, v. 7,
-
"To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit
-
for the common good."
-
You can speak in the
tongues of men and angels,
-
but if you're not focused
-
on helping, encouraging, and
building up God's people,
-
it's all wrong.
-
They truly had the gift of tongues.
-
The true gift of tongues,
-
which is a manifestation of the Spirit,
-
has been given them for the common good,
-
but they weren't using
it for the common good.
-
That's why they have
to be exhorted like this.
-
And even when it's a
manifestation of the Spirit
-
and it's the true gift,
-
and when it is the true gift,
-
it's going to exalt Christ.
-
But when you have people using the gift
-
who are using it to show
how great they are
-
and how gifted they are
-
and they want applause from people
-
and people to pat them on the back,
-
they want to get attention for it,
-
you see how it's all lost.
-
He's saying, no, guys. No.
-
You need to be building each other up.
-
The thing is the Spirit's
primary intention
-
is the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
-
And as we're showing and using
-
these gifts to God's people
-
in a way that is exalting Christ,
-
that's really how we're
going to build people up.
-
Using your spiritual gifts.
-
If you're given a teaching gift,
-
an administrative gift,
-
a gift to do whatever,
-
it's never to be: look at me.
-
It's always: look at Christ.
-
If those gifts are given, you can tell
-
the Spirit's fingerprints are on it
-
when Christ is the one being exalted.
-
And the thing is,
-
what he's saying is,
-
look, when he says,
-
"No one speaking in the Spirit
-
ever says, 'Jesus is accursed.'
-
No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,'
-
except in the Holy Spirit."
-
I think it's "in the Spirit"
that we have to see here.
-
It's got to do with v. 1
concerning spiritual gifts.
-
V. 7, "To each is given the manifestation
-
of the Spirit for the common good."
-
This is what he's talking about.
-
This is what he has in mind.
-
We can always tell the Spirit of God.
-
I've said this,
-
people oftentimes wonder about
-
a good church or a healthy church,
-
and the sign of a good church
-
or a healthy church is a church
-
where the Spirit of God is operative.
-
But the sign of that is not
-
where they make much of the Spirit,
-
which that's what's true
in charismatic circles.
-
They talk all the time about the Spirit.
-
But you know where the
true Spirit of God is found,
-
it isn't the Spirit that's magnified,
-
it's Christ Who's magnified.
-
Show me a church where Christ is exalted,
-
Christ is central to the ministry,
-
He's central in the preaching,
-
then you will see a place
-
where the Spirit of God is very active.
-
Whatever you think about
whether tongues still exists today,
-
the truth is that in whatever capacity
-
the Spirit of God operates,
-
He always operates in capacities
-
that bring great glory to Jesus Christ.
-
When He sanctifies us,
-
Christ is the mold.
-
He's the model. He's the pattern.
-
What are being transformed into?
-
His likeness.
-
Predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Him.
-
That's what the Spirit does.
-
When the Spirit transforms us,
-
it's always as we behold the Lord.
-
The Spirit is supplied by faith.
Galatians 3.
-
Faith in Jesus Christ.
-
The fruits of the Spirit
-
are always provided by faith.
-
The Spirit is supplied by faith,
-
but that faith is in Jesus Christ.
-
It's looking to Him.
-
This is how the Spirit operates.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Can anybody think of a place
-
where Jesus said,
-
"He will glorify Me"?
-
In John.
-
He will glorify Me. About John 16.
-
He will glorify Me.
-
In fact, that's worth looking at.
-
I hear some of you turning there,
-
so let's look at it.
-
John 16:14,
-
"He will glorify Me."
-
That's what the Spirit does.
-
That's His hallmark.
-
And so we can always look for it.
-
So, look, I believe it should
be obvious to us now.
-
That 1 Corinthians 12 is not dealing
-
with just what any unbeliever
-
can do or can't do
-
any more than in 1 John.
-
1 John is saying that wherever you find
-
the Spirit of God,
-
you're going to find people
-
who have a right theology of Christ.
-
That's the idea,
-
that the Spirit is always going to lead us
-
into that right theology.
-
Now whether somebody actually stood up
-
in the church and said,
"Jesus is accursed,"
-
or whether they just
had a question about it,
-
and he's saying remember your pagan days
-
because that's the kind
of thing you heard then.
-
You know, exactly what happened;
exactly what their question is,
-
it's hard to know exactly what happened,
-
but you can be sure of this,
-
the Spirit of God is not
going to tear Christ down.
-
He's not going to present a Christ
-
that's contrary to the
doctrine of Scripture.
-
We need to test.
-
This is the principle
-
that we need to derive from this.
-
We need to test the spirits.
-
Test all the subjective by the objective.
-
Subjective? I mean,
-
when you have things happen;
-
when you have people do things;
-
when there's teachings;
-
when you get subjective things happening
-
in certain churches
-
or gifts being manifested
from certain people,
-
or teachings coming
forth from certain places,
-
then everything needs to be tested
-
and checked by objective truth
-
of God's Word.
-
Objective truths about Jesus Christ
-
must govern everything
in the subjective realm.
-
Everything.
-
That's how you test spirits.
-
And the objective is found right here.
-
The objective is here.
-
And by the way,
-
it ought not to surprise us
-
that the critical points have to do
-
with the Person of Jesus Christ.
-
Because that's what the Spirit came to do:
-
glorify Him, exalt Him.
-
He is the centerpiece of our Christianity.
-
And the truth about Him,
-
His Person, and His works -
-
brethren, that's life and death.
-
If you don't have the right Christ,
-
you don't have life.
-
So it's not a suprise that Paul
-
is hitting with the very core,
-
the very essential,
the heart of the matter.
-
What do you think?
-
Does that sound like a
proper interpretation of that?
-
It makes sense.
-
It certainly doesn't lead us believing
-
that it's impossible for anybody
-
who's not saved and filled
with the Holy Spirit
-
to say "Jesus is Lord."
-
Obviously, people can willingly give
-
lip service to that.
-
Lost people can do that all day long.
-
Just because you stand
to look in the mirror
-
and watch your lips say that
-
doesn't attest to your
spiritual condition.
-
This is a matter of some
kind of supernatural
-
impartation of a Spirit-given gift
-
that is being put on the table here.
-
James: Even Matthew 7
-
where they say - many say,
-
"Lord, Lord,"
-
and then He says, "I never knew you."
-
Then He even says there
-
they did mighty works -
-
prophesied - and so maybe
-
some of the people in this church
-
fit that description in the end.
-
Tim: Well, and you know,
-
one of the things that's interesting
-
about these Corinthians?
-
He said "I speak in tongues
more than all of you."
-
And yet what's interesting is
-
he is acknowledging that
they speak in tongues.
-
And if we go back to 1 Corinthians 1,
-
he says to that church
-
you come behind in no gift.
-
They had the full
gamut of spiritual gifts.
-
What's very interesting is they're carnal.
-
He said you guys are acting like mere men.
-
You're carnal.
-
You're immature.
-
You're suing one another,
-
there's sexual sin, you've got people
-
that need to be disciplined
out of the church
-
that you haven't disciplined.
-
You guys get together, there's divisions
-
among the rich and the poor
-
when you take the Lord's Supper.
-
You've got issues going on there
-
with their heads covered,
-
eating food offered to idols.
-
They're having all manner of problems.
-
They've got factions.
-
"I'm of Apollos." "I'm of Cephas."
-
All sorts of things
going on in this church
-
that they're carnal.
-
They're carnal.
-
They've got some real issues.
-
But you know what's interesting?
-
Their spiritual gifts
-
seem to be flourishing.
-
Paul doesn't come along and say to them
-
in chapters 12, 13, and 14,
-
well, the gifts you guys
are doing aren't real
-
because you guys are carnal
-
and the Spirit of God only does His gifts
-
where people are mature and not carnal.
-
What's very interesting is
-
the spiritual gifts were true.
-
They were being exercised
by carnal people.
-
You know what that ought to tell you?
-
Just because somebody's gifted
-
doesn't mean they're godly.
-
Beware.
-
There is not necessarily
-
a direct correlation between
-
gift and holiness
-
as is evident here.
-
Sometimes we think that way.
-
And look, I'm not going to argue the fact
-
that you take a guy that goes
-
and preaches every week,
-
and he starts playing too much golf
-
and he's giving his life
to these kinds of things,
-
I'm not saying that the
people in the assembly
-
may not recognize that
there's something wrong
-
and there's emptiness
-
and they feel that the fire's gone out.
-
I'm not saying that people can't discern
-
when ungodliness creeps in to a life.
-
I'm not saying even necessarily
-
that when ungodliness creeps in,
-
God might not stop using them.
-
I mean, that definitely could happen,
-
but what I can tell you from this account
-
is they had spiritual gifts
and they were using them,
-
and yet they were carnal.
-
So, we just want to be careful
-
that we ever make a direct correlation
-
between gift and godliness
-
because it may or may not be the case.
-
Any other thoughts about this?