Spiritual Gifts 1 Corinthians 12:8

 

word of wisdom, word of knowledge

Yesterday we saw that “Spiritual gifts are spiritual, supernatural abilities, freely given and bestowed by the Holy Spirit as a manifestation of His presence.” Today I will begin to look at the manifestations themselves. I’m striving to be brief while at the same time explaining and illustrating each gift. It’s a challenge keeping each post short!

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

There are 9 manifestations of the Spirit listed here. Paul seems to arrange them into three groups (the colors show the grouping).

I don’t know why he does this, but it’s clear in Greek. Now just a brief word about each manifestation or gift, beginning with word of wisdom and knowledge.

Wisdom and knowledge. Many Bibles have “the word of”, but there is no “the” in the Greek, so it is more accurately a word of wisdom…a word of knowledge. Wisdom is how to apply what you know; knowledge is information. These are revelatory gifts, God reveals something to you:

a word of wisdom “What is the gift of a word of wisdom? It is a tiny portion of God’s total wisdom directly and supernaturally imparted by the Holy Spirit. God has all wisdom. But, fortunately for you and me, He does not give it to us all at once because it would completely submerge us. This gift is given by supernatural means because the results would not be available by natural means. It is imparted by the Holy Spirit.” (DP)

A couple of examples from Scripture of when the Holy Spirit gave a revelation, an insight into the way to solve this problem

Acts 6:1-4 This was when there was a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. So the apostles gathered the disciples and instructed them to choose seven men to oversee this ministry.

Acts 15 The Jerusalem Council. This was a huge issue: Do Gentiles need to be circumcised to be saved? There was much discussion, argument, discord, until James said, “Here’s my decision.”

a word of knowledge “I defined a word of wisdom as a tiny portion of God’s total wisdom imparted by the Holy Spirit. A word of knowledge has a parallel definition. It is a tiny portion of God’s total knowledge supernaturally imparted by the Holy Spirit.” (DP) A few examples from Scripture:

John 4 Jesus and the woman at the well - You have had five husbands…

Acts 5 Ananias and Saphira – They had sold some property and given the money to the apostles, pretending they had given all the money. Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? He only knew it by revelation.

Acts 14 Paul with the lame man at Lystra - perceiving that he had faith to be healed.

This can be a revelation about a person, a situation, or an insight into something in Scripture. I am familiar with the expression, “I have a word from the Lord” and I confess I don’t often separate them, “This is wisdom, this is knowledge” etc. I mean, they don’t come with a tag! It’s just a word from the Lord. As I will repeat, all the revelatory gifts are (for me) hard to distinguish.

NEXT: faith, gifts of healings, workings of miracles

(DP) - Derek Prince, from his book, The Gifts of the Spirit: Understanding and Receiving God’s Supernatural Power in Your Life.

Spiritual Gifts

 

Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14

My plan is to go through these chapters focusing on what they say specifically about spiritual gifts. This means there will be sections I will not cover, not because they are not important, but because I am only focusing on the gifts. All of the quotes noted DP are from Derek Prince and his book, The Gifts of the Spirit: Understanding and Receiving God’s Supernatural Power in Your Life. Some questions I will be asking and answering:

+ What are these things we call spiritual gifts?

+ When do we receive spiritual gifts?

+ What are the spiritual gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:1-7
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

(Let’s begin with a parenthesis! While verses 2-3 are important in this matter of spiritual gifts, I’m skipping them now, but will return to them in my last post.)

Please notice that the first thing Paul says is, Brethren I would not have you ignorant concerning spiritual gifts. He wants us to know what they are, how they are received, and how to experience them.

Second, right away, in the first 7 verses, we find 3 words for spiritual gifts: spiritual, gifts, manifestations. This helps us answer the question: What are spiritual gifts?

1 Spiritual This first verse is very interesting, it should read, Now concerning the spirituals. The Greek has the article “the” and so should we because it is important here, he is talking about something specific. It is plural because there is more than one. The KJV has the word gifts in italics, which tells us there is no word for gifts in the Greek; it was supplied by the translators because in this case “the spirituals” does refer to the gifts of the Spirit. But when we understand that he is calling them spirituals or spiritual things, this gives us our first definition:

They are spiritual. These are not natural talents or abilities; you are not born with them; you do not develop them; or learn them in school; you don’t need to take a personality test to see which one you have. They are spiritual in nature; they are supernatural abilities. They are spiritual because they are linked to, associated with, given by the Holy Spirit. This tells us what they are, but not when we receive them.

4 Gifts - Now there are diversities of gifts

Diversities - There are many different gifts. Like when you go to the grocery store, there are a variety of fruits in produce, but they are all fruit. Even so, there many gifts. But the most important thing for us is the word, gifts.

Gifts is the word charismata; we get our word charismatic from this. It comes from the word for grace. These are gifts of grace; gracelets; freely given; not related to merit or worth; no relation to spiritual maturity. Receiving these or possessing these says nothing about how spiritual you are, how deserving you are, how mature you are – they are freely given by the Holy Spirit. And again, this tells us what they are, but not when we receive them.

7 the manifestation of the Spirit. Isn’t this cool? Spiritual gifts is a way that the Holy Spirit makes his presence known. This refers to times when we are gathered together, such as church, a prayer mtg, a Bible study, and other times when such manifestations are needed, basically any kind of ministry situation. As we will see in 8-11, gifts are given by the Holy Spirit when he wills, thus received at different times, or as Paul says it, manifested at different times.

He goes on in v 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Profit withal? That all may profit or benefit; the manifestation is given to one for the good of all.

To sum up: Spiritual gifts are spiritual, supernatural abilities, freely given and bestowed by the Holy Spirit as a manifestation of His presence.

NEXT: 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 The Manifestation of the Spirit

When the Holy Ghost applies the brakes

Oh, I’m sorry, I'm old school, When the Holy Spirit applies the brakes.

At the beginning of May I posted a 3 part series, Are we living in the last days? You can read them  here. At the end of Part 1 I pointed out that the biblical view of time is this present world and the world to come. It was part of my original plan to add a related post on the words world and age, but every time I sat down to write something, the Holy Spirit would put His foot on the brakes. How? Well, for starters, I couldn’t even write the first sentence!

In between empty trips to the laptop, He would prompt me, “Read this…look here…study that…” As a result, this morning I had a breakthrough – my subject was far richer and deeper than I realized! If I had pressed on and written something, it would have been so inadequate, so shallow.

So this is my post today: Thank You, Lord, for guiding me, and giving me grace to listen to the still small voice!

Are we living in the last days? Part 3

 

Keith Green's Last Days Ministries sign*

 

Are we living in the last days? This is an excellent question and I’ve thrown my hat in the ring to answer it. I went through the New Testament and found every occurrence of last days and last times.

In Part 1 I pointed out that last days and last times refer to The period that began with the first advent. Even though this is not what people are thinking about when they ask the question, this is what the Bible teaches. We are living in the last days, the acceptable time, the day of salvation. And in these last days God is gathering out a people for Himself from all the nations. Thank you, Father, the door was open for me!

In Part 2 we saw that last days and last times can also refer to The days that come at the end of these last days, or what we often call the end times.

In Part 3 I want to look at one more phrase:

The last day – the day he appears, the day of resurrection

We only read the phrase the last day in the gospel of John.

John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

These verses are, to put it simply, amazing!

First, the promise is repeated four times, I will raise him up at the last day. Our hope expressed in nine powerful and wonderful words! Resurrection from the dead. New, heavenly, glorified bodies fit for reigning with Christ in the millennial kingdom and the new heaven and the new earth.

Second, all the initiative for our salvation is with the Father: He sent the Son to save us, He gave us to the Son, He draws us by the Spirit to His Son.

Third, the way of salvation is seeing and believing in the Son. How do we “see” the Son? In the Gospel, in the Word, by faith.

Fourth, I am persuaded v 54 has a reference to the Lord’s Supper. The bread and the cup are the communion of the body and blood of Christ. We are receiving Christ, we are receiving life and forgiveness. What grace!

Ah, back to the point. Last day. What does that mean? The very last day of this world and the beginning of the world to come. And just when is that? When the Lord returns in glory. And when He comes, the dead shall be raised, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, then appear with Him and return with Him in His glory. Maranatha!

John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Jesus had said to her, Thy brother shall rise again. (Her brother was Lazarus, who did indeed come back to life.)

Martha replied, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

And then follows the most wonderful words, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Yes Lord! I believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God sent into the world by the Father that we might be forgiven, restored to the Father, receive life, and be raised from the dead on the last day. And the coolest thing, the most powerful thing, is this: eternal life and the resurrection are not things we receive or that happen to us. Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life!

And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who has not the Son of God has not the life.+

 

John 7:37 & 12:48 are the other two occurrences of the last day

+ 1 John 5:11-12 

* You can read Keith & Melody Green's story about Last Days Ministries here.

 

Are we living in the last days? Part 2

The Last Days Part 2 - The days that come at the end of these last days

Wait a minute! I thought my last post, Are we living in the last days? Part 1, said we have been living in the last days since the first advent of Christ?? You can read it here. I’ll wait while you catch up . . . . . 

It sure did! As the Apostle Peter wrote, Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.+ I also admitted this is not what most people think of when they talk about the last days. There is a reason for that. You see, last days also refers to the end times, or the end of the world.

2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Perilous times shall come, in the future. The last days, the days of the end times, will be perilous times, troublesome, dangerous, hard to bear.

James 5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 

He is speaking to the rich, who have a tendency to be greedy, corrupt, and abusive. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” (1-2) When? at the return of the Lord (7-8), that is, the last days.

2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts 

There have always been scoffers, but there shall come is future tense, this scoffing will increase in the last days.

There are last days still coming, they are the end times.

There is another phrase that also refers to these yet future last days, it is the last times. Three different Greek words are translated times in the King James (the version I use).

1 Timothy 4:1-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

In the latter times or seasons, there will be a great falling away from the faith.

1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

I love this, salvation ready to be revealed in the last times or season. Just when it looks like we lose, Christ will be revealed in the skies, bringing salvation!! Maranatha!!

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

In the last times antichrist will come, and even now this antichrist spirit is at work, opposing Christ and in His name offering new doctrines and a new holiness. John uses the word for hour, the last hour. Man, we need to live in expectation of His return! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Jude 1:18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Jude quoted Peter or Peter quoted Jude. Peter said last days, while Jude wrote last times. Same period.

There are many other signs of this final period we know as the end times and honestly, this is what people are thinking about when they ask, Are we living in the last days? We look around and it sure looks like the last times. So, Are we living in the last days? and I mean by that, the end times? Still an excellent question! And one we need to be careful answering.

Listen, Jesus himself was asked, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? He answered the question,* so there is an end of the world, there will be last days, and we can apparently have some kind of idea about it all. But the first thing he said was, Take heed that no man deceive you.±  It would seem there is a great danger of being deceived in this matter. So I will answer the question this way, again quoting the Lord:

Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.§

 

NEXT: The last day – the day he appears, the day of resurrection

+ 1 Peter 1:20
* Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, Luke 21
± Matthew 24:4
§ Mark 13:33

Are we living in the last days? Part 1

I heard a question two or three weeks ago, “Are we living in the last days?” This is a good question. An excellent question. And one I would like to answer.

Are we living in the last days? Absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, Yes!

But hold on - don’t quit your job or stop paying your bills! Let me 'splain.

First, there are several related expressions in the New Testament, last days, last times, last day.

Second, last days refers to the times of or days of Messiah. With the first advent of Christ, with his birth, the times or days of Messiah have begun.

The Last days - The period that began with the first advent

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

This is Peter’s Pentecost sermon. He is quoting Joel 2 to explain why the disciples are all speaking in tongues – this was the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Joel had said, And it shall come to pass afterwards, but Peter, speaking by the Holy Spirit, says in the last days. Pentecost, the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is a sign that we are living in the last days.

Hebrews 1:1-2 In many times and many ways God of old spoke to the fathers by the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son

Here Paul (yes, I believe Paul wrote Hebrews) declares that the advent of Christ, his birth, his ministry of teaching and healing, his crucifixion and resurrection, is God speaking to us, is a revelation of God to us through his Son, a revelation that is superior, better, greater than his revelation through the prophets. And to our point, this is a sure and certain sign that we are living in the last days.

I suspect that this is a new thought to many people. And I confess it is not what most people think of when they talk about the last days. Nevertheless, it is true – we are indeed living in the last days. Been the last days since the birth of Christ!

This raises two questions: Why are these the last days? And, The last days of what?

Why are these the last days? They are called the last days because they are the last step in God’s plan to extend grace and mercy to mankind. Christ is the fulness of God’s revelation and plan of salvation. These last days are the day of salvation!

For He says:
“In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the accepted time!
Behold, now is the day of salvation!
(2 Corinthians 6:2)

The last days of what? The last days of this age. The Bible presents this perspective, this present world and the world to come. (This is its own study, one I hope to present soon.) So, last days refers to the last days of this world, the next step in God’s eternal plan is the world to come.

NEXT: The Last Days Part 2 - The days that come at the end of these last days

Premi who?

Sunday, in his sermon from Mark 13, the pastor mentioned the various views on the second coming: premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial. It wasn’t the place, nor did he have the time, to explain these, so I thought I would take his cue and attempt a brief explanation and history of these different eschatological (you like that big word? It means “end times” or last days”) opinions or teachings.

First, Every true believer, Christian church and organization believes in the literal, personal, visible second coming of Christ as stated by the Apostles’ Creed:

"I believe…in Jesus Christ…who was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead."

Second, All of this talk of pre-, a-, and postmillennial, is a discussion of the second coming as it relates to the kingdom of God, specifically Revelation 20:1-6, where we read, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The question is two-fold: (1) Will there be a literal kingdom of God on the earth that lasts a thousand years? and if so (2) Does Christ return before (pre) or after (post) this thousand year reign on earth?

Let me also point out that millennium is from the Latin word for thousand, mille. The Greek word is chilia: premillenniallism is chiliasm; premillennialists are chiliasts.

What I want to do is briefly explain each viewpoint, along with a short history of each. Obviously, I believe one of these to be the correct position, but I am striving to be as objective as possible. In case you don’t detect my opinion, I will state it at the end.

Premillennial

Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus will return before the Millennium, the thousand-year kingdom described in Revelation 20:1-6. It is based on a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1–6. This was the prevailing view of the early church for the first 300 years. We find this in the writings of Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Barnabas, Papias, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and many more. They said this was the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles. It was a continuation of the Jewish understanding of the kingdom of God. They all expected to go through the tribulation and that final battle with the antichrist. They believed the kingdom would be the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies; and in the view of some, the church had replaced Israel. This is known as historical premillennialism. Premillennialism fell out of favor after AD 300 (see amillennial below), but never totally disappeared.

In the 1800s a man named John Nelson Darby developed a theology called dispensationalism. He introduced the idea that seven years before the visible return of Christ, there would be a secret coming of Christ to rapture the church. This is known as the pretribulation rapture. In 1909 Cyrus I. Scofield popularized dispensationalism and pretribulation premillinnialism through the publication of The Scofield Study Bible. This is the premillennial view that most of us are familiar with. 

Amillennial

The “A” means “no”, as in no millennial reign. This is somewhat misleading because amillennialism does believe in the kingdom of God, just not a literal, earthly kingdom. They believe Revelation 20:1-6 is symbolic of the current age, that Jesus is presently reigning from heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father; that the millennium began with the resurrection of Jesus; that the Church is the kingdom. They believe in the second coming of Christ, and that this coming will bring the new heaven and new earth.

Justin Martyr (died AD 165), who was premillennial, said, "I and many others are of this opinion, and [believe] that such will take place, as you assuredly are aware; but, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise." I tend to think he was saying these others were amillennial, though of course, your guess is as good as mine!

Why did the premillennial view fade in popularity? For (at least) two reasons:

(1) The early church had become very anti-Jewish, and since chiliasm or millennialism was so tied to Jewish thought, it was rejected. This was also why the celebration of the resurrection (Easter) was separated from Passover; previously it was celebrated at the same time as Passover in much of the church.

(2) Allegorical interpretation had replaced literal interpretation. The millennial kingdom was considered too carnal, too physical, so it was replaced with a spiritual understanding of the kingdom.

The amillennial view was adopted by the Catholic church, and was embraced by the Reformers and the churches they started (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist et al). This is probably the longest held view, and the one believed by the majority of Christians and churches throughout church history. 

Postmillennial

Postmillennialism teaches Christ will return after the millennium or 1,000 year reign of Christ. It teaches Jesus Christ established his kingdom on earth through his preaching and redemptive work in the first century and that he equips his church with the gospel, empowers the church by the Spirit, and charges the church to disciple all nations. Postmillennialism expects that eventually the vast majority of people living will be saved. Increasing gospel success will gradually produce a time in history prior to Christ's return in which faith, righteousness, peace, and prosperity will prevail in the affairs of men and of nations. After a thousand years (or so) of such conditions Jesus Christ will return visibly, bodily, and gloriously, to end history with the general resurrection and the final judgment, followed by the new heaven and new earth. Postmillennialism was a dominant theological belief among American Protestants who promoted reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries such as abolitionism and the Social Gospel. This is the newest, most recently (even though the 19th century seems like so long ago!!) introduced interpretation of the 1,000 years of Revelation 20.

So, where am I? I am a historical premillennialist. I believe the Bible teaches only one second coming - the personal, visible return of Christ in power and glory to set up his kingdom on the earth; that he will reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years, as the prophets prophesied; after that the Great White Throne Judgment, followed by the New Heaven and the New Earth. Before he returns in glory, there will be the great tribulation (3 ½ years, not 7, but that’s a whole other post!) which we, the church, will go through, and have to do battle with the antichrist. At the coming of Christ Israel will be converted, the dead saints will be resurrected, and those who are alive and remain will be caught up with them (raptured) to meet the Lord in the air and return with him.