Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians 12:31?
But desire earnestly the greater gifts.
And moreover a most excellent way show I unto you.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, our hearts bow before Thee, thanking Thee for Thy amazing love towards us. Thou dost love us, and love us to the uttermost. Thou hast not withheld anything from us.
Lord, how can we hold back from Thee? We want to hear Thy voice. We want Thy word to search our hearts. We want Thee to bring us out of anything and everything contrary to Thy way. And we want Thee to have Thy rightful place in our lives.
Lord, Thou hast redeemed us with a price. We are all Thine, and we want Thee to fully possess us. Open our understanding and our hearts, that Thy word may fall into good ground and bear fruit unto Thyself, to the praise of Thy name. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We will continue on in 1 Corinthians. We have all been called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. And I do hope that every one of us will really realize what an honor, what a glory, and what measureless love is behind this: that God, our Lord Jesus, should open up Their fellowship to us, that we may share the same with our Lord Jesus and with our heavenly Father, our God.
No one can measure the riches of that fellowship. And because that fellowship is so precious, anything that is contradictory to that fellowship has to be dealt with. And that is 1 Corinthians.
The Corinthian believers are the Lord’s; they are saved. And yet, unfortunately, they still wanted to continue on with their own lives. It was a contradiction. So, by the grace of God, He would deliver us from such a situation.
Now, we mentioned last time that the last six chapters of 1 Corinthians are concerned with this matter of church life. Church life is fellowship life. Church life is body life.
And in this fellowship life, in this body life, there are a number of things that are very essential.
In Acts 2:42, we are told that those who believe in the Lord Jesus—whether you have believed in the Lord for years or have just believed in the Lord—all who believe in the Lord Jesus will continue in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.
The teaching and the fellowship of the apostles are none other than the teaching and the fellowship of Christ. And the two things that express obedience to the fellowship and teaching of our Lord are the breaking of bread and prayers.
We mentioned last time about the breaking of bread. You know, the breaking of bread is a corporate thing. You cannot break bread and remember the Lord all by yourself. You need at least two. So it is a corporate expression.
And so is prayer. We may have our private prayer, personal prayer, and we should. We should have a prayer life. But more than that, we should come together and pray together: corporate prayer.
Now, these are the two most essential and practical ways of expressing our body life, fellowship life, and church life.
Now, there are a number of things in these six chapters that we can share. But because the Corinthian believers wrote to the Apostle Paul about certain things, one of the things they wrote to him about was concerning the spirituals.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 12, you will find the heading, “But concerning spirituals.” That is the original. And the spirituals here are explained as spiritual manifestations, or spiritual gifts.
The Corinthian believers, in the first chapter, were told by Paul, “You are rich in word and knowledge.” They were very rich in doctrines, in teachings. They were very rich in knowledge—not only worldly knowledge, but even knowledge of the word of God.
And not only that, but Paul said, “Ye come behind in no gift.” The Corinthian church was very gifted. Naturally, Corinth was famous for its eloquence, and here you find that even in the church they were rich in word and knowledge, and they came behind in no gift. It was a very gifted assembly.
Now, when you think that if an assembly is rich in word and knowledge and is not short of any gift, that would be a tremendous, wonderful assembly. But, on the contrary, in spite of all their endowments, we find that their lives were corrupt, and they abused the gifts that God had given to them.
So the Corinthian church wrote to Paul, asking him about spiritual gifts. They were not asking whether they had gifts or not. Because of their many gifts, lots of confusion had come into their midst. So it was not a matter of whether they had gifts or not; it was a matter of how to exercise their gifts.
Gifts are given for the sake of building up the church, the body of Christ. So whenever gifts are separated from the body—in other words, when gifts become a personal thing instead of a corporate thing—then there are bound to be problems.
You cannot separate gifts from the body, because spiritual gifts are given for the building up of the body of Christ.
I think even today there is lots of confusion among God’s people about this matter of spiritual gifts. So I think it is very timely that we should really go into these few chapters, from 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, and find some basic understanding that will help us avoid confusion and help us to exercise our gifts for the purpose God has purposed for them.
First, what are spiritual gifts? Now, I think if we want to understand this, we have to go back to when God created man. God gave gifts to man.
When we are born, God has already endowed us with natural talents. Otherwise, how can we live? How can we live in society? God’s purpose is that we may live together, and without natural endowment, if a person is born without any ability given to him, without any natural talent, he will not be able to live. He will not be able to behave or fulfill his responsibility in society.
So, in other words, everyone who is born into this world has been gifted by God with natural talent. Now, our natural talents are all different, because God loves variety. And when you put all these varieties together, it is fullness.
Now, that is naturally speaking. But then, after we are born from above—when we are born again—we are born into the house of God, the family of God.
So God gives us spiritual gifts, that we may be able to live among God’s people, to behave, and to build up one another. So there is a difference between natural talent and spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts are not natural talents.
Sometimes you may find that natural talents and spiritual gifts seem to coincide. But other times you find that a spiritual gift can be just the opposite of your natural talents.
But whether they are together or not, one thing is certain: if you read the word of God, you find that natural talents are for our living in the world, and spiritual gifts are given that we may live in the spiritual world—that is, the church, the assembly, the fellowship, the body of Christ. They are two different things, working in two different areas.
The problem comes among God’s people when they mix up natural talent and spiritual gift. You know, it is very common in Christianity.
Suppose you are naturally endowed with executive talent. Because you have that talent, in the world you can be an executive. Now, after you are saved, you will find in Christianity today that they say, “You have natural talent. You are an executive. Come and be an elder in the church, so you can use your talent to serve God.”
Naturally, perhaps you are very musical. So after you are saved, they say, “Use your talent to serve God.” Now, that is the exhortation you find in Christianity. But if you read the word of God, you will find that it is totally against God’s word.
Moses, for instance, was endowed with natural talents. Not only that, but God seemed to arrange such an environment for him as would develop his natural talents. He was mighty in words and in deeds.
Now, he had a heart for God. He knew that God had a purpose in his life, so he wanted to use his natural talents to accomplish God’s purpose. He tried to save his people, being mighty in words and mighty in deeds.
You remember how he killed an Egyptian to save a Hebrew. You remember how he used his eloquence to try to settle the struggle between two Hebrew brothers. But God allowed him to be a total failure.
Now, what if he should have succeeded? Then the children of Israel would never have left Egypt. Probably they would have taken over Egypt.
So God allowed him to fail completely. He had to spend forty years in the wilderness to unlearn everything that he had naturally learned before, until he could not speak. And that is true: after you speak to a few sheep for forty years, you lose your eloquence.
He said, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, the king? I am nothing.” He was eighty years old, and he himself wrote in Psalm 90 that if a man lives in this world, usually it is seventy years; if you are strong, you can be eighty years. He was eighty years old at that time. He was at the end of his natural life.
And then God appeared to him. God said, “I am with thee. I will be thy eloquence. I will be thy ability.” The Spirit of God came upon him, and he was able to fulfill God’s work.
So, brothers and sisters, it does not mean that God will totally discard your natural talent. If you read the story of Moses, you find that for a person to lead a million people for forty years in the wilderness, that requires some ability.
God can use it, but it has to go through death and be resurrected. In other words, it should not be in your hand anymore; it is in the hand of God.
So, brothers and sisters, let us remember one thing: there is a tremendous difference, a difference of heaven and earth, between natural talent and spiritual gift. Sometimes God can do just the opposite.
But when they seem to work together, you read the history and you find that it always has to go through death and resurrection. All your natural talents have to go to death, and God will pick them up and use them.
So I think this is the first thing that we need to understand: spiritual gifts are given for the purpose that we may live and function in the body of Christ. Spiritual gifts are never given for personal reasons.
You know, the Corinthian believers made a big mistake. They took spiritual gifts as personal gifts, for their personal purpose. And for that reason, the gift they sought after was speaking in tongues, because speaking in tongues is miraculous. It can easily display oneself.
So they had a kind of misunderstanding. You know, that is the reason why, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says, “Concerning spirituals.” Why? Because they were asking Paul, “How can we be spiritual? How can we prove we are spiritual?”
“If we can speak in tongues, that is being spiritual, because that is not natural.” So they mixed up speaking in tongues with the sign of being spiritual. And even today, you have the same error among God’s people.
So Paul had to remind them, “Before you believed in the Lord, you worshiped idols; you worshiped demons. And you had your so-called spiritual experiences. Now it is entirely different. Now you are in the Holy Spirit, not in an evil spirit.”
There is a tremendous difference. If you are in the Holy Spirit, you will say, “Jesus is Lord.” If you cannot say, “Jesus is Lord,” in the spirit, that is an evil spirit. And that is a way to test the spirit.
We find that every time you test the spirit in that way, it works. Because if it is demon possession or evil possession, it will never recognize Jesus as Lord. But remember, you have to address the spirit and not the person, because the person may be a believer. So he will say, “Jesus is Lord.” But if you hold the spirit, the spirit will refuse to say, “Jesus is Lord.”
So it does not mean that because you can speak in tongues, therefore instantly you become spiritual. Not at all.
Spiritual gifts are given because we are in the body of Christ. So when you read 1 Corinthians 12, you find that when Paul mentions spiritual gifts, immediately he connects them with the body.
The body is one, but there are many members. Many members, but one body. So also is the Christ—that is, the body of Christ.
So, brothers and sisters, another thing we need to remember is that whenever you speak of spiritual gifts, they must be related to the body. Yes, they are given to individuals, but why? Because these individuals are members of the body of Christ.
They are given because you are members, because you are in the body. And being in the body, you have a function to fulfill. And how can you fulfill your part as a member of the body of Christ? You fulfill it by the spiritual gift you have received. That is how you are able to function.
In our natural body, we have different members making up this natural body. You have hands, you have feet, you have inward organs, outward organs, and all various members. No member of your physical body lives for itself. All the members of your physical body live for the body.
The eye cannot say to the ear, “I do not need thee.” Nor can the ear say to the eye, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body.” All the members of the body are different. God has arranged it.
It is God Who gave us this body, and it is His will to make this body of all the different members. He put us there. And spiritually, in the body of Christ, the same thing is true.
In the body of Christ there are many members, much more than in this physical body. But not all the members are the same. Some may be like hands; some may be like feet. Some may be like a mouth; some may be like an ear. Because if it is all one member, where is the body?
So, brothers and sisters, remember this: we are members of the one body of Christ. Not only members, but different members—members in particular. And this is not our choice. This is God’s arrangement.
God put us in the body of Christ, and wherever He puts you, that is the best place. Do not admire other people. Be faithful in what God has given to you.
So you can see here that the purpose of spiritual gift is just like the purpose of natural talent. The purpose of natural talent is for your body, that you may live, function properly, and grow. The purpose of spiritual gift is exactly the same, but it is in a different area: the spiritual body of Christ. We are all members one of another.
Now, when do we receive spiritual gifts? This has become a very confusing thing among God’s people today. Some say that you receive a spiritual gift when you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Others say that you receive spiritual gifts when people lay hands upon you. And then others say that you receive spiritual gifts when you are born again.
Then they say, “How do you know you have spiritual gifts unless you speak in tongues? Because speaking in tongues is the gift, the sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit.” So you have all kinds of confused ideas.
Now, do you know why? God’s word is always very simple. We may make everything complicated. If you only remember how God gives you natural talent, then that solves the whole problem.
You know, when a baby is born, God so arranges that the baby has eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, hands, feet, and organs—everything. Every member of your natural body has been given.
When you are born, every organ in your body, every member in your body, has already been endowed by God with a natural talent. He gives you an eye. Can God give you an eye and not give you the gift of seeing? Then what is the eye for?
He gives you an ear. Can you believe that He makes you an ear and does not at the same time give you the gift of hearing? Then what is the use of the ear?
So, brothers and sisters, when we come out of our mother’s womb, all the organs are there, and all the gifts are there. But a baby is just small. He has eyes, but cannot see. The baby has hands, but cannot handle. The baby has feet, but cannot walk.
But as long as there is life there, all these things will come as you grow. In a few days, he begins to see.
In the beginning, he cannot walk, and he thinks that he has to walk on four, so he crawls. But then he gradually discovers that if he does not use his hands to help, he can walk better. So why stay on all fours?
He has a mouth. He cannot eat hard food, only milk from the mother. But gradually, through exercising, he is able to take solid food. He cannot speak, but gradually he is finally able to utter sounds, and then words.
Brothers and sisters, may I ask you a question? Is it because when you can see, that is the time the gift of seeing is given? No. They were all given when you were born, but they were dormant.
They were dormant. Life needs to take over and grow, and then all these gifts will be manifested. And the more you exercise your gift, the better it will be. Like your eye: some people can exercise their eyes to such an extent that they can see things in darkness. Why? Through exercise.
Now, brothers and sisters, is that simple? When you come to the body of Christ, it is the same rule.
In other words, when do you receive baptism with the Holy Spirit? You receive baptism with the Holy Spirit when you are born again.
Think of your new birth. When you are born into the family of God, what happens? The Bible tells us that we are born of the Spirit.
That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
That is your birth. So you find that the Holy Spirit begets us, and we are born of the Holy Spirit. Our dead spirit, the spirit that is dead in sins and transgressions, is raised into life—a new spirit.
And with that new spirit, we cry out to God, “Abba, Father.” More than that, you are not just born from above; you are born into the family of God. When are you born into the family of God? At your new birth.
So whenever you are born again, immediately you are born into the family of God. And that can be easily proven, because when you meet another brother or sister and realize that he or she is also a brother or sister in the Lord, immediately there is a bond there.
And that bond is stronger than the natural bond with your natural brothers and sisters.
So this is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? It is not a sight. It is not a sound. It is being born into the family of God.
So, in 1 Corinthians 12:13:
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
That is the meaning of baptism with the Holy Spirit. You are baptized in one Spirit into one body. So we who are born again are baptized into the body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit not only begets us. After He begets us with a new spirit, He comes and dwells in our new spirit and becomes our Comforter, our Paraclete—being with us, never leaving us, teaching us, directing us, transforming us, and conforming us to Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, at the same time, He has put us in the family of God. So that is what happens when you are born again.
Can you be born again and not be given corresponding spiritual gifts? Otherwise, God’s work is incomplete. How can He put me in the body of Christ as a member and not give me any gift to fulfill my function? Unthinkable.
So, according to the word of God, our spiritual gifts have already been given when we are born again, born into the body of Christ. They are already there.
God never does a work half done. Whenever He works, He fully completes it.
So remember, brothers and sisters, today lots of brothers and sisters are confused. They are asking, “Now, what is my spiritual gift? Can you tell me what my spiritual gift is?” Do you need anyone to tell you what your spiritual gift is? You should know.
Now, why do you not know? There is a reason: you do not grow. If your life does not grow, your spiritual gift will not be manifested. It will remain dormant forever.
So we have a responsibility, brothers and sisters. We do not need to ask, “What is my spiritual gift?” We need to ask ourselves, “Are we growing in the Lord?”
If, after you are saved, you really follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in you, somehow, as you grow, the Lord will impress something upon you. Or, to put it another way, He will burden you with something that is related to your brothers and sisters, to the house of God.
Other people may not notice it, but you notice it. And that is your calling. God is calling you to fulfill your function in this area.
You know, brothers and sisters, spiritual gifts are given for service. We are not born into the family of God just to be a burden to our brothers and sisters, to the family. We are born into the family of God to be contributors.
Every member is to function, to contribute something to the welfare of the body, to the building up of the body of Christ. In other words, we are not born again for our selfish reason. We are born again for God and for God’s house. Otherwise, why should we be born again?
We are born to serve.
Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
We are not to serve our own purpose anymore. We are to serve the purpose of God, and the purpose of God is the building of His house, the further growth of the body of Christ. That is God’s purpose. So that is why spiritual gifts are given.
Now, if we really have a heart for God, when you are among God’s people, supernaturally and naturally He will burden you with something. That is the direction in which He is guiding you. Do it for the Lord.
And as you begin to do it, you will find God’s blessing follows—not only in you, but upon your brothers and sisters. When God’s blessing follows, go further. That is how your gifts are developed, and that is how your gifts function.
Unfortunately, some of God’s people today are saved just for themselves, not for God, not for the house of God. Therefore, their gifts are buried. That is the way to bury them.
Every servant of God is given talents: some five talents, some two talents, some one talent—but at least one talent. The problem is: do you trade with it, or do you bury it? Be faithful.
You know why you need a so-called experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit in order to have that gift released? Why? It is because in your daily life you do not live a consecrated life. You do not live a life for the Lord.
Therefore, you need a special time of revival in order that what has been dormant can be released. From time to time, you need a revival. And when revival comes, it seems as if your gift is manifested.
Then, when you get low before the Lord, that gift is buried again, and you need another revival to stir you up. Brothers and sisters, that should not be the case.
If you read Romans 12, it is very true: consecration is related to function. Because after one is consecrated—“Present your bodies a living sacrifice”—then he realizes he is in the body and begins to function. That is Romans 12.
So, brothers and sisters, the reason why most believers are not functioning in the body of Christ is because they are not growing in the Lord. Seek the Lord. Give yourself to the Lord. Allow Him; allow the Spirit to work in you, so that dormant gifts may be manifested. And never isolate them from the body of Christ.
Well, how should our spiritual gifts be exercised? You know, the Corinthian believers had lots of gifts. They were not short in gifts. But because there were too many gifts, on the contrary, the body was not built up; the body was being destroyed. Why?
So the Apostle Paul said, “Good, you have gifts. But do you know how to exercise them? I will show you a way of more surpassing excellence.”
The Apostle Paul had to use such double and triple emphasis. We say “excellent” should be enough—an excellent way. No. He says, “a more surpassing excellent way.” So that must be pretty excellent.
And what is the excellent way? When you read 1 Corinthians, chapter 12 is on the body and the gifts in the members of the body. Chapter 14 is the exercising of the gifts in the body. But chapter 13 is the more excellent way.
Now, what is the more excellent way? It is love. It is love—not the love that we usually call love, but the love of God, the love of Christ, agape, the love that only comes from God, the love that comes with the life He gives to us.
In other words, if you want to make the distinction: grace is for life; gift is for service. Gift is power. But that power needs to be handled with care, with the right life.
If you give a knife to a little child, his life is not mature enough to handle that knife. He may hurt people and hurt himself. But a knife in the hand of a grown-up is so useful.
So God wants us to remember this: all the confusion you find in Christianity today is because the emphasis is on gift and people forget about life.
God gave us life. That is grace. And God means for this life to handle this gift. If the life is immature, the greater the gift, the more disastrous it becomes. And you find it everywhere, because you do not have a corresponding life to use the gift.
There is a tremendous error among God’s people, and the error is that they think you cannot test the spirit.
The Bible tells us there is a great difference between the Person of the Holy Spirit and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The Person of the Holy Spirit is divine. He is God. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit in gifts are not personal.
To the Person of the Holy Spirit, we need to obey. In Acts 5:32, God gave the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. We need to obey the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Who dwells in us is God, is divine, is a Person. We need to honor Him. We need to obey Him. We should not grieve Him. We should not quench Him. We should obey Him.
But the gift is His manifestation, not His Person. And so far as gifts are concerned, the gift needs to be handled by the one who has the gift.
So you find in 1 Corinthians 14:32:
And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
In other words, you who are gifted are supposed to handle this gift, not be handled by the gift.
So when people think they are having that baptism, they dare not test the spirit, because if you test the spirit, you seem to dishonor the Holy Spirit. Not so. The gift has to be handled by you.
The spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. You can manage it. Sometimes when people speak in tongues, they dare not stop. They are speaking in a wrong situation.
Just as the Bible says, in a gathering, if you speak in tongues and there is no interpreter, the word says that if there is no interpreter, speak to yourself; be silent.
But in our experience, people think that because they are in the spirit, they have to allow the spirit to continue, with no control. That is absolutely wrong. We have gone through these things and suffered for that.
Brothers and sisters, manifestations are impersonal. Therefore, those who are gifted need to handle them, control them, and use them wisely, becomingly and orderly.
Now, if we can see this difference, I think that will help us avoid falling into all kinds of confusion.
But a question will be asked: Is it not written in 1 Corinthians 12:31, “Desire earnestly the greater gifts”? And in 1 Corinthians 14:1, “Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy”?
Now, if spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit, as we find in 1 Corinthians 12:11:
But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as He will.
It pleases the Holy Spirit to give this person a word of knowledge, to give that member a word of wisdom, to give one prophecy, to give another tongues, and to another interpretation. It is according to the desire of the Holy Spirit. You cannot choose.
Then why does He say, “Desire earnestly the greater gifts,” and, “Desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy,” as if we can do that? Is there a contradiction? Not at all.
Why? Because spiritual gifts can be increased. You know, the one with five talents gained five more. Two talents gained two more. But if the one talent is not traded with, if it is buried, it is still one talent.
That is the problem. If you are really faithful to what the Spirit of God has apportioned to you, your spiritual gifts will increase.
And the reason is because you are no longer a babe. A babe seeks only self-display. But when you grow up, when your mind is growing, you are thinking of others. You are thinking of the body of Christ. You are thinking how to help and how to contribute.
And because your mind has been transformed and you are growing in the Lord, therefore God will give you greater gifts so you can serve.
Is that not strange? When people whose eyes cannot see—blind people—their other senses seem to become keener and take some of the function of the eye. Is that not wonderful?
I recently heard of a blind person who could see color. When people described the color to him, somehow he could see it.
So, brothers and sisters, spiritual gifts can be so developed and increased for the glory of God. But remember, not for your own sake. All the gifts are for the edification of the body of Christ—not self-edification, but the edification of the body of Christ.
So there is no contradiction. People may speak in tongues, but in the assembly it is much better to speak five words with understanding than ten thousand words in tongues. Why? For the building up of the body of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to be delivered from making gifts a personal thing. Gifts are not for ourselves; they are for the building up of the body of Christ.
And all gifts need to be exercised by the life of Christ in us. If the life of Christ is in control, everything will be done becomingly and in an orderly manner.
So, dear brothers and sisters, these are very basic matters. I hope that we can have a right understanding concerning spiritual gifts.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we commit these few words into Thy hand. If they are Thine, use them to build Thy church.
O Lord, forgive us. Deliver us from being always self-centered. We pray that we may be Christ-centered and body-minded. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.