Spiritual Gifts

Guest (Male): Even in the early church the subject of tongues inspired controversy and division. And the apostle Paul spent considerable time instructing the Corinthians on their proper use and meaning. But his main focus was on a wider and much more important subject.
Mark Daniels: Welcome to the Bible Study Hour, a radio and internet broadcast with Dr. James Boice, preparing you to think and act biblically. Paul's main concern was that Christians would use the gifts the Holy Spirit had given them for the growth and edification of the body. Join Dr. Boice as he explains the importance of Paul's teaching on the subject of spiritual gifts, their uses, their abuses, and their counterfeits.
Dr. James Boice: Now we come to the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. We're beginning a section of this book that most people know about because chapters 12, 13, and 14 deal with this matter of tongues, tongue-speaking, and in many people's minds, this is the chief question in the book of 1 Corinthians. There are a lot of people who don't like tongues. And that is true, I think, in my own confession. A lot of the Reformed churches are against it. They're sometimes, in some circles, more against it than sin. They have a point. What they're concerned about is that if a person claims to be able to speak under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what they say should carry full authority, being the authority of God because the Holy Spirit is God. This would undermine scripture. Scripture wouldn't be the final authority in the church, and instead, the authority would be what a particular individual who claims to be speaking by the Holy Spirit might say or do. And that's a legitimate concern. But I must say I don't share that particular outlook. I think that restricts God unnecessarily. It puts God in a box, and God, if we know anything about him, we should know is not so restricted and will not be, least of all by us. And moreover, as I read these chapters, I find something quite different. Actually, Paul gives a number of principles for dealing with the practice of tongue-speaking in the church, which are meant to regulate it but not eliminate it. That's perfectly obvious, isn't it? If you give statements that are to regulate it, you're not banning it. And let me say, I don't think that means that everything that goes by the name of tongue-speaking is actually of the Holy Spirit. I'm extremely critical of much of what I hear, I think rightly, but it does mean that we mustn't be categorical in the way we handle this. You look at these chapters, especially chapters 12 and 14, you find that the first thing Paul says is that there are counterfeits—things that appear to be by the spirit, at least the same miraculous type of things, but they're not by the Spirit of God, they're by the devil. And he refers to the pagan background of these Christians at Corinth as proof. They knew things like that in their pagan culture. So the very fact that those things are going on in the church is not in itself proof that the Holy Spirit is active. Second thing he says is that there are many gifts. Tongue-speaking is just one of them. So he says don't get the thing out of proportion. Third thing he says is that if tongues really is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and he believes it is, like the other gifts, it's given for the same reason the other gifts are given, that is for the edification, the growth and the building up of the church. And that's the way it must function. If it functions to build up, that's of the Lord, and if it functions in a divisive way that tears down, that is not of the Lord. So he puts forth that principle. He lists gifts. He does that at the very end of this 12th chapter. And every time he does that, whether that's here or elsewhere, where he mentions tongues, though he doesn't say so explicitly, always puts tongues at the end of the list. That's just a subtle way of saying what he does say as he gets at the very end of the chapter, "Desire the better gifts." If you're going to get a bee in your bonnet about anything, don't get it in your bonnet about tongues. God gives you tongues, that's fine, that's a gift, use it. But if you're concerned for anything, let your concern be for love. That's what he's going to talk about in chapter 13. He also talks in chapter 14 about the dangers that are sometimes present. Disorder in the church is one, lack of intellectual content is another. That sometimes happens. And when he gets to the very end, what we would call in our contemporary business terminology the bottom line, he says, "Do not forbid speaking in tongues." And so, in a nutshell, that's how he handles that in this chapter. But what I want to say as we look at chapter 12 is that if we approach these chapters of 1 Corinthians, and particularly chapter 12, with the idea in mind that what Paul is dealing with here is chiefly or perhaps exclusively the matter of speaking in tongues, what we're going to do is miss something which really should apply to every one of us. Because it may be that one here, one there, perhaps many in another situation are given this gift, this gift of tongues, but that's a minority, I would think, a minority by the very fact of the multiplicity of the gifts. And what we fail to see is that what Paul actually is dealing with in these chapters are gifts, and therefore that includes not just those who speak in tongues but rather includes us all. So that's the way I want to look at it. First thing Paul deals with here when he's talking about gifts is the fact that there is a multiplicity of gifts, a diversity of gifts in the church, and that that corresponds in a most profound way to reality itself and to the nature of God, which is the basis of all reality. It's not difficult to illustrate that. All we have to do is look about at the world in which we live or the universe in which our world is located. If there is anything you learn in scientific disciplines, it is how intricately diverse the universe is. When I was back in high school and college studying chemistry and we began to study the elements and the way they were put together, we thought we understood all about the elements. It all had to do with how many neutrons, how many protons, and how many electrons the thing had. And if you could count them up, balance them out, why, you could do anything. That's just the way you distinguish between gold and uranium and copper and anything else it might be. And yet, as we well know, as this particular discipline has unfolded even within my own relatively short lifetime, the intricacy of the atom has become so complex that nobody today is willing to say that we know all of the particles that are to be found as the basic building blocks of matter. Things that happen in such minute quantities of time that you can't even see what's happening. You can only figure it out from the effects, and you have to build magnificent, huge, expensive machines even to get that to happen. Diversity. My goodness, there is more diversity in a grain of salt than you and I are ever going to understand, and yet it all holds together. And people who explore this sort of thing say it is interesting, isn't it, that the same kind of forces and the same kind of laws that govern the movement of these minute particles within an atom are identical with the forces and the laws that control the moving of the planets throughout all the vast universe. As a matter of fact, in the textbooks when they try to explain what an atom is like, they quite often compare it to a solar system with a sun and the distances which are comparable in relative terms. You see great diversity and yet a magnificent unity. Now as I say, that's because that's what God is like. What we see in reality reflects the character of God, which is the basis of all reality. If you and I were sitting out to talk about what God is like, we'd produce something apart from the revelation of God that was like the Greeks. Either we would see God entirely in human terms and we'd begin to write about the kind of Greek gods and goddesses that were the popular religion of the time, or we would like the philosophers reason to some perfect unitary, distant, immobile ideal and say, well, that's what God is like. And yet, as God speaks to us in the pages of the Word to reveal what he's like, he reveals certainly as the scriptures attest from beginning to end that God is one. There is one God. Christians affirm that together with the Jew. And yet, at the same time, God is three. He is the Father, he is the Son, he is the Holy Spirit. Somebody says explain that. We can't explain that. That's the nature of God, but it corresponds to what we observe in life, unity and diversity at the same time. Now that's the basis for what Paul is going to say about spiritual gifts. You see, one of the problems we have with spiritual gifts is that when we have a spiritual gift, we naturally think that our spiritual gift is where it's at. You can get famous writing a book about your spiritual gift. Preachers do it all the time. They get something going in their church that flows from their ministry, something that God has taught them, and they write a book about it. They say every church should be like this. And then all across America and sometimes across the world there are frustrated congregations and frustrated preachers, sometimes preachers with the congregations, more often congregations with the preachers, and they say, well, maybe that's the answer. And so they try to use that for a while, and it doesn't work real well because it doesn't fit. And then there's another preacher that's writing a book about his spiritual gift and how his church functions, and they say, well, maybe that's the answer. That's not what Paul is saying. Paul is saying he gives different gifts to different people and the essence of the thing is that somehow in the providence of God those various gifts work together to produce a healthy whole, which is the church of Jesus Christ. Now you can divide that up in all sorts of ways. You can divide that up in some little group, a Sunday school class, for example, or a Bible study. You can say people here are functioning in different ways as we study the text. Somebody has a special gift for logical analysis and they really can exegete that text. And somebody else has a gift for application; as they read it, they say, "Yes, and that is what we ought to do in this particular situation." And somebody else has a gift for compassion and help, and they can say, "Yes, that's what we ought to do, but we don't do it, and somebody is hurting because they know they don't." And you see all of that within a small little group. But that's one thing that makes small group dynamics so good because God brings the different gifts together and within that you get a wholeness that you just don't get if you're off there trying to do it separately. You see the same thing within a church, a church such as this. A church like this wouldn't function if it weren't for a wide variety of gifts. That's why the church must function as the church, why everyone must function. Because if you get a situation in which one or two people or worse yet just the minister does it all, then you have an unhealthy church, you have a one-sided church, you have a church that isn't going to thrive. Now sometimes that's a minister's fault. He says, "I'm the minister. I'm going to do it." And sometimes it's the people's fault. They say, "Hey, you're the minister, you do it. Why should we do it?" Both cases are wrong. You need that in denominations. People in denominations have different gifts. Different churches have unique ministries and they need to be balanced off against other things. And can I say it? You need it between countries because there are things happening in the church of Africa that we need to learn about, and things happening in the church in South America and Central America that we need to learn about, and vice versa. You see, that's all Paul is saying when he talks about these different gifts. He's saying, oh, there are many, many gifts and they are all necessary. How many gifts are there? Well, I don't know. Paul has two lists here in chapter 12. There's one list in verses 7 through 11. If you can remember it, there are nine gifts. And then at the end, verses 27 through 30, there are nine gifts. But guess what? They're not the same nine. Some of them are the same but not all of them are the same. They vary. It's his way of saying that there are all kinds of gifts. There are three other passages in scripture that also list gifts in a formal way. Ephesians 4:11—one verse, but it mentions five or six. Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Peter 4:11. I found 19 gifts altogether. But not one of the lists is identical with the other list. Sometimes the gifts are inverted, sometimes you sense that different language is being used to describe the same thing. Just a way of saying there are many, many gifts. So if you're concerned about your gift, you're thinking about it, a place to start is with these lists. Say do I have the gift of wisdom, gift of knowledge, gift of healing, whatever it may be. But if you don't find your gift there, it's all right. I mean, I don't think God is limited in 19 even in biblical symbolism. You just pray, ask God what your gift is, and as he shows it, recognize that we need it. We need it in the church and we need it in this church in particular. Now in the next part of this, Paul gives a great illustration of this unity with diversity, and his illustration is the illustration of the body and its many parts. Now he's already said that. It's as if he already preached the sermon and now he's going to give the illustration, and he gives the illustration at great length. In my Bible, where this falls into paragraphs, there are two paragraphs, and perhaps a shorter one if it begins with verse 12. At least three good paragraphs before he gets on to naming the gifts again. He really develops this at length. The reason I think is that at this point in the context of this illustration he introduces an idea which wasn't quite so obvious in the first part of the chapter. The first part of the chapter he talked about there being many gifts and yet one spirit. And as we think about that, we recognize that the Holy Spirit is the giver of the gifts and we thank him for it and so forth. But the gifts are kind of down here on this level and God is on that level. Now when he talks about the body having many parts, he's talking on this level because we're the parts, but we remember that in Pauline theology—and you find it very strongly in the book of Ephesians—the body... and he says that here as well... is not simply the church as if it were our body collectively considered, but the body of Jesus Christ. And in that imagery, the head of the body is Christ. And so by the image, you see, he gets away from what we may have thought in the first part of the chapter as being a bifurcation, God up here, us down here working with our gifts, but he links it all together, which is a marvelous way of saying the kind of thing he's saying all along: diversity in a magnificent unity that includes not just the great diversity of the church of Jesus Christ but the whole spiritual thing wrapped up together. And I think he would say, you know, if you're worried about what you ought to be doing in the church and if you're uncertain about whether you have any role or if when you exercise your role what you do is worth anything or makes a difference, he says just think what it is you belong to. You don't belong to just a little organization. You don't belong to just a little Bible study or just a little local church or even just a little denomination or even just a big denomination. You belong to the body of Christ. It's Christ's body. And therefore how you function in a certain sense affects the body of Christ, Christ himself, as he operates on Earth through his people. I don't think I need to spell out the obvious points that the illustration makes. The first one, quite obvious, is that all of these parts have different functions. The eye sees but it doesn't walk. The foot walks but it doesn't handle. The hand handles but it doesn't think. All the parts of the body have different functions and so do we. And that's not a failure. That's not to say, "Oh goodness, all I can do is... and I can't do that. Oh, I wish I could do that." That's not a failure. That's the way God made it. That's what God wants, and he wants us to recognize that. That's the first point. Secondly, and equally obvious, all are necessary. Paul's saying, you see, what kind of a body would it be if it didn't have feet? Sometimes that happens; people lose limbs because of an accident or a disease. That is a sad thing. The person is handicapped when that's the case. Or what of a body that didn't have eyes or a body that didn't have hands? All those parts are necessary, Paul says. So don't say, "Well, I only have this gift, you know, and I'm not even sure it's a gift and maybe it doesn't really matter." Of course it matters. Why? Because God gave it to you. And he put you within the church of Jesus Christ by the new birth, and therefore you're to function with that gift within that body to the health of the body, which is the body of Christ. You see how that works. And then the third point, equally obvious, isn't it? Paul says it here in clear words. It is often the case that the least attractive part is most necessary. You know what's the most attractive part? Well, that depends whether you're a woman looking at a man or a man looking at a woman. But generally we say the face. But you know, you can have a terribly disfigured face and you can function very, very well. You can do anything that anyone else could do except perhaps be in the movies. But take away something that is very unattractive and see what happens. Let me tell you about the most unattractive body part I ever saw. I explain first that it isn't a human body part. My wife and I were in France years ago. It was one of our first visits. We'd been there a few days but we hadn't been there very long. And we were in Paris and we wanted to eat dinner. And so we found a little restaurant someplace and we went into the restaurant to order dinner. The menu was presented. There were a number of things on the menu and, you know, I'd studied French. I knew French. And here on the menu was something that went by the name of Cervelle d'Agneau. Well, I knew what an Agneau was, it's a lamb. And I thought, hey, that's great. Lamb. French-cooked lamb very well. I said to my wife Linda, let's have lamb. She said all right. So the waiter came and we said we'll have some Agneau. And he said you want some Cervelle? And we said yeah, that's it, right there. And he said all right, he went away. And he came back with these things. Each of our plates had two of them. They were about the size of half a tennis ball, and they were gray, they looked like slightly dirty milk, and they were convoluted, and they were sitting side by side. And my wife and I deep down in the pit of our stomach knew what they were, but we weren't going to say. We looked at those things and we took a deep breath and we started to eat them. And each bite was better than the next. And after about three bites, we decided that we were eating on the side a very delicious salad and we left the things. You know, that was such an unpleasant experience that we didn't name what those things were until years afterward. And in a private conversation years afterward, we said, you know, I don't think we're ever going to order brains again. As far as I know, I'm speaking personally, in my opinion, the least attractive part of the whole body is the brain. But try taking the brain out and see what's left. You see, Paul is saying no matter how unattractive you think your gift may be, how insignificant, no matter how unattractive you may think you are or how insignificant you may feel yourself to be, you are necessary to the body of Christ. And if we lose you, if your gift doesn't function, the church of Jesus Christ is poorer for that loss. Let me make three applications. Number one, be content with what you've been given. If you're not content, what are you telling God? You're telling God that you know better than God. Whatever he's given you, you be content with that because God gave it to you and he knows best. Number two, don't exalt one of God's servants over another. If there's anything we're guilty of in the church of Jesus Christ, it's that. Preachers, of course, get a lot, at least if they're any good at their job. People say, oh my, how he speaks. I've heard people, well, I've been standing around with other preachers and somebody has said to them, oh, you had so much to say, there was so much wisdom in that, and then they say to me, I just love your voice. Well, that's humbling. Don't exalt one gift over another. Don't exalt one Christian over another. You see, what do we have but what we've been given? If God gives us talents that put us in a place where people see it, well, it's all from God. And if God gives us talents that put us in a job where nobody sees us, that too is from God. And it's God that's doing that and he's doing it wisely. So let's not exalt one Christian over another. Let's not say, oh, look at that wonderful leader. Oh, listen to that wonderful speaker. Oh, look at that person who is so good at doing that. It's generally the thing we wish we could do, but in doing that, we fail to exercise our own gift. Let's not do that. And the final thing, the most obvious of all, is be conscientious. Use your gift. Don't be like the man who had the talent and who buried it and who when his Lord came back and asked him what have you done with the talent that he had left him with, said, oh Lord, I knew you were a hard man gathering where you didn't sow, and so I took your talent and I buried it in the ground and here it is, you can have it back again. The Lord said about that servant that he was wicked and slothful. Wicked because he ascribed evil to his master, which his master did not have, and slothful because his problem wasn't a misunderstanding of what his master wanted but the fact that he was too lazy to use what God had given. Let's not be slothful. Let's not be wicked. Let's use what God has given and look forward to that day when we will stand before the throne of Jesus Christ and by his grace, hopefully, hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Let us pray. Father, bless this passage to our hearts. Bless it to our lives, to what we do day by day. And grant, we pray, that these great sayings, these writings, these truths from the hand of the apostle Paul by your spirit might so fasten themselves upon our hearts and minds that we might be different from this hour forth and account ourselves worthy as a servant of Christ. For his sake, amen.
Mark Daniels: You're listening to the Bible Study Hour, featuring the teaching of Dr. James Boice. Have you ever wondered about your spiritual gifts? Do you question whether you're using those spiritual gifts to their full potential for the glory of God? Dr. Boice's booklet, How to Identify and Use Your Spiritual Gifts, is an excellent resource to answer your questions, and we'd like for you to have a copy. This free booklet offer is our way of saying thanks for listening. Simply call 1-800-488-1888 and we'll be happy to send you a copy of How to Identify and Use Your Spiritual Gifts. That number again is 1-800-488-1888. While it may not seem as exciting as other gifts, Paul lists giving to support the ministry of the church in his list of spiritual endowments. Perhaps giving is one of your spiritual gifts, and if so, would you please consider using that gift in support of the Bible Study Hour? You can make a generous donation online at thebiblestudyhour.org. You could choose instead to call 1-800-488-1888. And our mailing address is 600 Eden Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17601. Thank you for your support. Listen to the Bible Study Hour anytime on the Alliance app. Learn more at alliancenet.org/app. I'm Mark Daniels. A Scottish evangelist, Henry Drummond, preached a famous sermon entitled "The Greatest Thing in the World". It was about love, and if indeed love is the greatest thing in the world, then the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians has to be one of the greatest chapters of the Bible. Join Dr. James Boice as he outlines why love is superior to hope and even to our faith. That's next time on the Bible Study Hour, preparing you to think and act biblically.