Trinity Church of Benicia
Zach Jamison - 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

      • Psalm 18:1–3ESV

  • Holy Holy Holy
  • Oh But God

      • Ephesians 4:1-3ESV

      • Ephesians 4:4-7ESV

      • Ephesians 4:8-10ESV

      • Ephesians 4:11-13ESV

      • Ephesians 4:14-15ESV

      • Ephesians 4:16ESV

  • It Was Finished Upon That Cross
  • Introduce yourself
    1 Corinthians 12:1–3 ESV
    Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 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.
    1 Corinthians 12:4–7 ESV
    Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
    1 Corinthians 12:8–9 ESV
    For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
    1 Corinthians 12:10–11 ESV
    to 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. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

    Pray

    Teach us, Give us, Make us.

    Introduction

    The gifts of the Spirit are gifts of grace granted by the Holy Spirit that are designed for the edification of the church, which can be divided up as gifts of speaking and gifts of serving. - Thomas Schreiner
    The Corinthians were exercising powerful and extraordinary gifts of the spirit especially the speaking gifts and they are confident that they knew what they are doing.
    Confidence can be a dangerous thing…
    Have you ever had the experience of realizing your confidence exceeds your knowledge or ability?
    This is often most felt when it happens in public
    “Competative League”
    Illustration: The Dunning-Kruger
    The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with limited knowledge or skill in a specific domain greatly overestimate their own expertise. This happens because their lack of awareness prevents them from accurately evaluating their own performance, leaving them blind to their own mistakes.
    Mount Stupid (Peak of Overconfidence): After learning just a little bit about a topic, individuals experience a massive spike in confidence. They know enough to feel like an expert but lack the experience to understand what they don't know. [1, 2]
    The Valley of Despair: As individuals dive deeper into the subject and encounter its complexities, they realize just how much they still have to learn. Their confidence plummets as they recognize their own shortcomings. [1]
    The Slope of Enlightenment: Confidence slowly begins to rebuild as real knowledge, experience, and competence increase. [1, 2, 3]
    The Plateau of Sustainability: Confidence eventually aligns with the person's true, proven level of expertise.
    But Paul is writing this section of scripture to the Corinthians because the are uninformed about the source and the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit.
    They think they know what they are doing but their confidence is misplaced.

    Historical Background

    Corinth (Much like Modern SF)
    A prosperous
    Modern
    Pluralistic
    Haves and have nots
    The Church
    Paul planted this Church with Priscilla and Aquila on his second missionary journey
    Primarily gentile converts
    Paul’s ministry prospered (1.5 years)
    The occasion for the letter
    After Paul left he began to hear reports of problems in the church at Corinth
    This is why Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians
    There were five main issues
    Divisions within the church
    Sexual immorality
    Food Sacrificed to Idols
    The Gathering
    Resurrection
    Paul’s letter addresses each of these issues, describes how the gospel impacts them, and how to live in light of the truths of the gospel.
    Ch. 12-14 issues facing the gathering.
    The people in Corinth had some wrong views of the gifts of the Spirit.
    They were proud of the supernatural speaking gifts
    They looked down on the serving gifts
    But instead of using them to serve one another they were using them to promote themselves.
    There were disrupting the service and distracting people especially people who were coming to here the gospel
    They thought that displaying their supernatural gifts were more important than the people around them
    They also promoted some of these gifts above others, as though the ones who exercise those gifts were grater than others
    The Corinthians fundamentally misunderstood the spiritual gifts.
    Paul begins to correct them in our passage this morning
    He wants them to know that…

    BIG IDEA: God gives uncommon power to common Christians.

    How does he do this?
    Why does he do this?
    Our passage is going to answer both of these questions
    Let’s first look at how God does this

    1. God gives uncommon power, through a common Spirit.

    Explanation
    Paul starts by reminding the Corinthians of their idolatrous past.
    Corinth was pluralistic and a majority of the believers their were gentiles who worshiped the pantheon of Greek gods.
    But these “gods” were not the true God.
    These “gods” were not the living God.
    Paul references a common old testament criticism of idols calling them “mute”
    Psalm 115:4–8 ESV
    Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
    Paul juxtaposes the leading of idols to the leading of the Holy Spirit
    Pagan worshipers are often lead along by a spiritual or euphoric experience in connection with with their gods
    However a spiritual experience does not validate or authenticate idols.
    Implication
    The Corinthians believed the “spiritual experiences” that manifested as miraculous gifts were a validation of their elevated spiritual status.
    How many in our world today are searching for a spiritual experience in order to validate a certain religious system.
    There may even be people who believe they are Christians based on some kind of “spiritual experience”
    However, Paul tells the Corinthians that the true sign of the Spirit’s work in the live of the Christian is not a spiritual gift or a miraculous sign but a truth confessed.
    The sign that the Spirit has moved in your life is that you confess that Jesus is Lord!
    We can not proclaim Christ unless the Spirit has moved in our hearts first!
    This is the greatest miraculous gift!
    Application
    Christian: How often do we marvel at the fact that our selfish, prideful, wicked heart has gone from saying “my will be done” to “your will be done”?
    The miracle of regeneration through the Spirit of God is more miraculous than any healing or prophetic utterance.
    This powerful transformation of heart and allegiance is not reserved for the spiritual elite
    The miracle of regeneration is that the Spirit of the living God takes up residency in you!
    This is the powerful experience of every Christian!
    This is a death to life experience!
    How often do we take this for granted?
    Non-Christian:
    The idols of today are not statues like the ones in Paul’s day
    There are things that this world holds out to us that promise power
    These things are just as powerless as the greek “gods”
    Idols only lead to chasing an experience drugs, sex, ect…
    Pray that the Spirit of God would indwell you and fill you with the power of the living God!
    That you would recognize that Jesus is Lord!
    You don’t need to be a “Spiritual” person to receive this power only repent and believe.
    So we see that what every Christian has in common is the power of God through the indwelling of the Spirit
    but this alone doesn’t inform our of the Corinthians understanding of the gifts of the Spirit.
    Paul also wants to draw their attention to why the gifts are given
    The first reason is our second point in the text…

    2. God gives uncommon power, for the common good.

    Explanation
    Paul moves on to address not just the power of the Spirit for regeneration but the continuing operation of the Spirit in the life of the believer.
    He points out that their are a variety of gifts, service, and activities that the Spirit empowers the believer for.
    Paul also brings a trinitarian shape to the source of the gifts
    gifts from the Spirit
    service from the Lord (Christ)
    activities from God (Father)
    He closes this section with a clear purpose statement for the gifts
    “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”
    Implication
    The Corinthians wielded the gifts of the spirit as if they were their source and as though they were the primary beneficiary
    They didn’t care if their gifts disrupted the congregation
    They exercised the gifts to validate their own “spirituality”
    and though they may have recognized God as the source of the gifts they weren’t hesitant to take credit for the gifts.
    Paul wants them to know that the believer is neither the source of the gifts or the ultimate recipient of their benefit.
    The only place where the recipient of the gift is emphasized is in the certainty that each believer receives a gift.
    So the believer is neither the benevolent giver of the gift nor the primary recipient of their benefit.
    Application
    Christian:
    Failing to recognize this purpose for the gifts can manifest in two ways
    Neglect
    Perhaps the neglect is due to ignorance or a low view of a particular gift.
    Verse 6 & 7 “but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit”
    He has enlisted you for service with in the body of Christ
    How are you exercising the gifts you’ve been given?
    We must be stewards of these gifts
    We must remember that we are neither the source or the primary end user.
    God has given you to his church for its building up!
    2. Over value
    We don’t assign value to people based on their gifts.
    Some gifts are more conspicuous
    (Teaching/Preaching vs. service or administration)
    Their are no JV or Varsity Christians
    Christians identity is that they have been transformed by the power of the Spirit. (v. 1-4)
    Don’t assign value or simply operate out of your gifting.
    The source of these gifts is God and they are empowered by His Spirit that is indwelling you
    This is where Christians root their Identity in Christ
    Don’t make your gifting your identity because you are not its source God is!
    When we do this we are setting ourselves up as the means and end of what God is the source of and the ends are for the building up of the church.
    Are you using your gift for the common good?
    Are you the only beneficiary of your Spiritual gift or is it being exercised for the benefit of your brothers and sisters in Christ?
    How are you currently exercising your gifting for the good of the church
    Enlist to serve
    So we see that gifts come from a common source (Holy Spirit)
    For the common good
    Finally we see that…

    3. God gives uncommon power, to display His glory in common Christians.

    Paul continues His primer on the gifts of the spirit with a list of extraordinary gifts.
    Utterance of wisdom & Utterance of Knowledge
    Not prophetic insight into strangers lives
    I believe this is connected to teaching/preaching
    Because in similar lists Paul reference preaching/teaching it would be unusual for it to not be included here
    b. Paul often connects wisdom and knowledge to the message of the gospel (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16)
    faith
    Super natural faith (the kind that moves mountains)
    healing
    working miracles
    prophecy
    distinguishing spirits
    The ability to discern the truth from falsehood especially identifying its source in God or in the demonic.
    tongues
    Controversial but I take this to mean people speaking in a language that is not their own which should be necessarily interpreted by someone with the gift of interpretation
    interpretation of tongues
    I don’t want to address these gifts exhaustively or make an argument for their uses today because I don’t think that is the reason Paul is giving us this list.
    Paul is giving us a list of the more conspicuous and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit
    He doesn’t include things like encouragement, mercy, or admin
    Paul is intentionally listing the gifts that the Corinthians assigned the most value to.
    He’s emphasizing the most conspicuous gifts
    Because these were the gifts the Corinthians were using to make much of themselves
    They believed exercising these gifts showed how spiritual they were
    But note what Paul says at the end of our text
    1 Corinthians 12:11 “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
    God distributes the gifts according to His will.
    Not because there is anything in us.
    Implication
    God does not give extraordinary gifts to extraordinary people.
    God is not beholden to us
    He does as he wills.
    The reality is that we are all worthy of God’s wrath and instead He has chosen to make us recipients of His grace
    We are all by nature and by choice unworthy and common sinners
    But God in His infinite wisdom has decided to chose what is common to reveal His Glory!
    1 Corinthians 1:26–28 ESV
    For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
    1 Corinthians 1:29–31 ESV
    so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
    We don’t just see this in the letter to the Corinthians
    Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV
    But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
    Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV
    For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
    This is not only seen in the gift of salvation but in the gifts of the Spirit.
    Spiritual gifts display the immeasurable riches of His grace!
    The gifts of the Spirit reveal the extraordinary power of God in ordinary people.
    All the gifts of the Spirit do this not just our salvation or the sign gifts.
    When you exercise your spiritual gifts you are not only stewarding well the gifts God has given you.
    You not only build up the church by walking out the works that God has prepared for you.
    You are displaying the glory of God!
    Not only to each other but also to a watching wold.

    Outro

    Ultimately the Apostles hope for the Church in Corinth is the same as my hope for us this morning.
    Not that we would move from “Mount Stupid” to the “The Plateau of Sustainability”
    The Plateau of Sustainability: Confidence eventually aligns with the person's true, proven level of expertise.
    But that you would be confident in your identity in Christ
    Knowing that he has already powerfully equipped you for a life of obedience and service through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
    That we would be a church that is built up through the exercise of these spiritual gifts for the common good
    And that as we do this God would be glorified and Christ would be put on display here in Benicia.

    Prayer

      • 1 Corinthians 12:1–3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 12:4–7ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 12:8–9ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 12:10–11ESV

      • Psalm 115:4–8ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:26–28ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:29–31ESV

      • Ephesians 2:4–7ESV

      • Ephesians 2:8–10ESV

  • Nicene Creed
  • Here Is Love
  • O Church Arise

      • Jude 24–25ESV

Trinity Church of Benicia
info@trinitybenicia.com
http://www.trinitybenicia.com
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