The true gift of the Spirit
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
I want to finish up this discussion about spiritual gifts by going back to the final teachings of Paul in the book of 1 Corinthians 14 :20-40 where he has just told the Corinthian church that he thinks God that he spoke in tongues more than all of the rest of them, but he said in the church services he would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than he would to use 10,000 words in a tongue that no one understood.
In verse 20 Paul begins by saying: "brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking the adults." It is so easy for us as Christians to get caught up in a doctrine or a creed from men that dictates how we treat spiritual gifts. Paul says in verse 22 "tongues, then, are as sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some do not understand or some unbelievers, come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a center and will be judged by all, and the secret of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming God is really among you!"
The point here is that we need to be clear about the purpose for which spiritual gifts are used. The day has come when no one in the world will believe in God because we tell them that he is real. The world will certainly not believe in God's love for them until they see God's love and work through us. The message from the spirit of God has several points; they are that we need to work hard at loving one another instead of competing with one another. We need to find every way we can to bring our church bodies into unity and the bond of love with one another first before we seek to reach out to the community we are in. Any effort that we make to reach out into a community of nonbelievers when we ourselves are in disunity in the spirit of God will result in a failure of ministry. The simple truth is that if the world cannot see God's love demonstrated within the church it will never accept the message from us no matter how much truth there is in the message, because they will reject the messenger.
According to Paul's words to the Corinthians beginning in verse 26 "what then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or award of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two or three the most three should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three profits should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy intern so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of profits. For God is not of disorder but a piece." This is probably the most basic teachings with regard to spiritual gifts, and the order of use in the church for the purpose of keeping a unified body. I can't help but believe that has our culture has changed over the centuries so has the use in the order of use of the gifts of the spirit in church life. What hasn't changed is the desperate need for unity among Christian believers, and the need to show that unity in its completeness to a world which is questioning everything around it. If we are to be successful in our bid to witness to a generation of people who are steeped in moral conflict and self-centeredness we must be able to show that world what God and faith can successfully do when demonstrated as the center of life. That doesn't only include the use of these spiritual gifts, but it includes a genuine attitude of love and unity between those of us in Christ. May you richly bless God to your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I want to finish up this discussion about spiritual gifts by going back to the final teachings of Paul in the book of 1 Corinthians 14 :20-40 where he has just told the Corinthian church that he thinks God that he spoke in tongues more than all of the rest of them, but he said in the church services he would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than he would to use 10,000 words in a tongue that no one understood.
In verse 20 Paul begins by saying: "brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking the adults." It is so easy for us as Christians to get caught up in a doctrine or a creed from men that dictates how we treat spiritual gifts. Paul says in verse 22 "tongues, then, are as sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some do not understand or some unbelievers, come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a center and will be judged by all, and the secret of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming God is really among you!"
The point here is that we need to be clear about the purpose for which spiritual gifts are used. The day has come when no one in the world will believe in God because we tell them that he is real. The world will certainly not believe in God's love for them until they see God's love and work through us. The message from the spirit of God has several points; they are that we need to work hard at loving one another instead of competing with one another. We need to find every way we can to bring our church bodies into unity and the bond of love with one another first before we seek to reach out to the community we are in. Any effort that we make to reach out into a community of nonbelievers when we ourselves are in disunity in the spirit of God will result in a failure of ministry. The simple truth is that if the world cannot see God's love demonstrated within the church it will never accept the message from us no matter how much truth there is in the message, because they will reject the messenger.
According to Paul's words to the Corinthians beginning in verse 26 "what then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or award of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two or three the most three should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three profits should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy intern so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of profits. For God is not of disorder but a piece." This is probably the most basic teachings with regard to spiritual gifts, and the order of use in the church for the purpose of keeping a unified body. I can't help but believe that has our culture has changed over the centuries so has the use in the order of use of the gifts of the spirit in church life. What hasn't changed is the desperate need for unity among Christian believers, and the need to show that unity in its completeness to a world which is questioning everything around it. If we are to be successful in our bid to witness to a generation of people who are steeped in moral conflict and self-centeredness we must be able to show that world what God and faith can successfully do when demonstrated as the center of life. That doesn't only include the use of these spiritual gifts, but it includes a genuine attitude of love and unity between those of us in Christ. May you richly bless God to your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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