Introduction:

1 Corinthians chapter 12

The Church is one body with many parts (like the human body) that are designed to work together as a single unit.

This passage certainly addresses us as individuals, but I want us to be sure that we don’t miss what this passage is saying to us as a body.  Look around. This passage is also speaking to us as a unit.

One final introductory comment.  It is simply impossible to cover everything in 1 Corinthians 12 this morning.  Forgive me for skipping some parts that may have peaked your interest.

1 Corinthians 12:1-31 NLT

Different Spiritual Gifts

¹ Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. ² You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. ³ So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. ⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. ¹⁰ He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

The Church as One Body with Many Parts

¹² The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
¹⁴ Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
¹⁸ But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. ¹⁹ How strange a body would be if it had only one part! ²⁰ Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.  ²¹ The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
²² In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. ²³ And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, ²⁴ while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. ²⁵ This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
²⁷ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.²⁸ Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
²⁹ Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? ³⁰ Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! ³¹ So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Examine the scriptures:

Spiritual Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 NLT

¹ Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. 

It appears that Paul is addressing a question the Corinthians had asked him. 

• Special abilities are given to us by the Holy Spirit. (More about this in verses 7-11)

I don’t want you to misunderstand this. ² You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 

• The special abilities given to us by the Holy Spirit can easily be misunderstood and misused.

Example: “Those who speak in unknown languages.” (Speaking in tongues.)

Misused or abused.

Let’s not get hung up on the parts of the passage we don’t understand, rather, let’s focus on, and apply, the parts we do understand.

The Corinthian church was strongly influenced by their surrounding culture and the presence of false teachers.

 2 Peter 2:1-2 (NLT) The Danger of False Teachers¹ But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 

• Paul wanted to encourage and disciple the Corinthians to use their spiritual gifts correctly.

• Christians need to learn how to use their spiritual gift(s) correctly to bring glory to God. 

³ So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God (controlled by the Holy Spirit) will curse Jesus,

and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

This may refer to speaking in tongues?

This certainly addressws the Lordship of Jesus.

What are some things that we do know?

Acts 1:8 NLT
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Luke 12:12 NLT
¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”

Luke 21:14-15 NLT
¹⁴ So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you, ¹⁵ for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you!

The Holy Spirit csn be a very powerful positive influence in our lives.

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, 

but the same Spirit is the source of them all.  

⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.  

⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

God works in different ways in each of us.

• Individuals serve the Lord and His Church in various ways. 

⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us

Spiritual gifts were given to the Corinthians. 

• All Christians have at least one spiritual gift. 

so we can help each other. 

• Spiritual gifts are given to each of us so we can help others and bring glory to God.

⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. ¹⁰ He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 

 

Various Biblical passages that list spiritual gifts include:

1 Corinthians 12:28-31

**Romans 12:6-8 NLT
⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT
¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ¹¹ Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 4:11 NLT
¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

• We don’t all have the same spiritual gifts. 

¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

• We do not choose our spiritual gift(s).

• The Holy Spirit determines which gift or gifts each believer should have.

 

The Church as One Body with Many Parts 

¹² The human body 

Scripture uses the human body as an analogy for the Church of Christ.

has many parts,

Necessary diversity. 

but the many parts make up one whole body.

Many parts working together.

Dependent on each other.

One unit.

So it is with the body of Christ. 

Many diverse gifts working together.

Dependent on each other. 

¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. 

But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, 

• At salvation all believers receive the Holy Spirit and become a part of Christ’s body, the church.

John 1:12 (NLT) ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Romans 8:14-17 (NLT) ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. 

and we all share the same Spirit. 

¹⁴ Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.  

¹⁵ If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 

• No part of the body is any less than any other part of the body.

• No believer should think of himself or his gift as inferior to another believer’s gift. 

¹⁸ But our bodies have many parts,

and God has put each part just where he wants it.  

• God has put each part of the body just where he wants it.

God carefully arranged the body to be just how he wanted it to be.

Our God is a God of order.

• Every believer has the gift(s) that God wants him to have.

We should not want to be something that we are not.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Psalm 139:14 (NIV) ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,    I know that full well.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NLT) ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image.    In the image of God he created them;    male and female he created them. 

¹⁹ How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 

 ²⁰ Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 

• Many different parts make up one body.

Challenge:

• Help other believers identify their spiritual gift(s).

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT) So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. 

Tell other believers how you see God working in their lives.

Pray for each other.

Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT)⁹ So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Use Your Spiritual Gift(s) Correctly

²¹ The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 

This may have been a problem in the Corinthian church. (Flaunting spiritual gifts.) Some in positions of leadership were looking down on others in the church.

• Every spiritual gift is important.

• No part of the body is any less than any other part of the body.

• No believer should think of himself or his gift as inferior to another believer’s gift. (repeated)

• We need each other!

Each part is necessary.

We are dependent on each other.

²² In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. ²³ And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 

Paul may have been referring to those in the church with “behind the scenes” responsibilities. (Today it might be the assistants.)

• Some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. (Carefully protect those parts.)

• Some spiritual gifts are more “public” than others.

²⁴ while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. 

So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 

God, not man, assigned the gifts.  (Repeating verse 18)

• God has put each part just where he wants it. (repeated)

• Every believer has the gift(s) that God wants him to have. (repeated)

• God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it.

²⁵ This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 

All of the pars of the body are essential.

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NLT)
Divisions in the Church
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

Philippians 2:2-4 (NLT)
² … make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

1 Corinthians 10:24 (NLT)
²⁴ Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. 

• There should be no division in the body, its parts should have equal concern for each other.

²⁶ If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

A stomach ache affects the entire body.

²⁷ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

• We are Christ’s body.

²⁸ Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,*
second are prophets,*
third are teachers,*
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.

God appointed gifts.

*These may have been considered to be a lesser role by the Corinthians.
The Corinthian Church may not have respected their spiritual leaders appropriately.

²⁹ Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? ³⁰ Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 

³¹ So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. 

Meaning: Stop desiring the showy gifts. 

• Use your spiritual gift correctly.

1 Corinthians 14:12 (NLT)
… seek those (special abilities the Spirit gives) that will strengthen the whole church.

 Ephesians 4:11-13 (NLT)
¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 

• Spiritual gifts should be used to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Something greater than spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians chapter 13

Love should prevail.

2 Corinthians 13:11 NLT
Paul’s Final Greetings
¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

• Special abilities are given to us by the Holy Spirit.
• The special abilities given to us by the Holy Spirit can easily be misunderstood and misused.
• Individuals serve the Lord and His Church in various ways.
• All Christians have at least one spiritual gift.
• Spiritual gifts are given to each of us so we can help others and bring glory to God.
• We don’t all have the same spiritual gifts.
• We do not choose our spiritual gift(s).
• The Holy Spirit determines which gift or gifts each believer should have.
• At salvation all believers receive the Holy Spirit and become a part of Christ’s body, the church.
• No part of the body is any less important than any other part of the body.
• No believer should think of himself or his gift as inferior to another believer’s gift.
• God has put each part of the body just where he wants it.
• Every believer has the gift(s) that God wants him to have.
• Many different parts make up one body.
• Help other believers identify their spiritual gift(s).
• Every spiritual gift is important.
• We need each other!
• Some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.
• Some spiritual gifts are more “public” than others.
• God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it
• There should be no division in the body, its parts should have equal concern for each other.
• We are Christ’s body.
• Use your spiritual gift correctly.
• Spiritual gifts should be used to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.