The Very Different Church of 1 Corinthians 14:26  

The Very Different Church of 1 Corinthians 14:26  

1 Corinthians 14:26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

1. Does this look like a modern church service where hundreds gather? 

   1. A reason why so few of the gifts manifest today is that the early first-century church was made up of a small group of believers who met in houses.

   2. Encourage you to be spirit-led in small groups and minister to others in your gifts 

1. The “Both And” of Acts 2:46

Acts 2:46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

• Meaning of the Word “Church” Ekklesia is a Greek word defined as “a called-out assembly or congregation.

• Manifestation and Spiritual Gifts have not ceased because the Holy Spirit has not ceased working. 

The Church has stopped being the Whole Church. 

Manifestation Gifts of the Spirit did not end with the Apostolic Age because Pentecost was not the end of the Apostolic Age; it was the beginning of the Age of the Spirit. 

• We are still in that age. 

• That age was not about the Apostles, it was about and still is about the Spirit! 

Defining Word: The word cessationist is a doctrinal term that purports that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased – hence the word cessationist.  

Defining Word: A continuationist believes the gifts of the Holy Spirit still function today. We are still in the Age of the Spirit; therefore, the Spirit is still manifesting gifts and miracles today. 

1 Cor. 1:7 Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Did you hear that? Do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for Jesus to return. 

• Paul is a continuationist. Because he says do not lack any spiritual gift, all the way until Jesus returns!

II. Poor Hermeneutics Leads to Poor Doctrine:

• The church has been wrongly taught that gifts have ceased. 

1. The tongues and prophecies shall cease the argument. 

• 1 Cor. 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

  • This verse is talking about seeing Jesus face to face. Spiritual gifts will not be needed at this point. 

Have these other verses been fulfilled yet?  

• Obviously not!  True perfection will not happen until we are with Jesus! 

III. Some Background:  One thing you’ll notice when reading First Corinthians is that there’s a tendency for all these different themes that Paul brings out to seem very random and abstract, like a big hodgepodge of ideas. 

• Chapter 1 – human and divine wisdom; 

• Chapters 1-4 – division and the need for unity.

• Chapters 5-6  – sexual immorality; 

• Chapter. 7  – singleness and marriage, 

• Chapters 12-15 – spiritual Gifts and love

  • There are other themes:  Order of worship, gender roles, the Lord’s supper, financial generosity, and idolatry.

Example: This is unusual for us, because if you go to a Christian bookstore and buy a book on a theme—let’s say, the gifts of the Spirit—every chapter will be about that one thing. 

• But you have to understand that Paul was not writing a book like we would today.

• He was writing a letter, and not just any letter, but a very specific kind of letter: 

A Corrective Letter – one written to address specific problems within the church at Corinth. 

• We should not read this letter to defend our bias and position, but to check and correct our position. 

• Plus…1 Corinthians is not Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. 

  • The first letter he wrote, we don’t have, but he references it here, in 1 Cor 5:9.

  • So, we are joining a conversation that’s been going on. 

    • Example: Have you ever walked into a room and overheard a conversation that’s been happening for a while, and you felt lost? Or maybe you started watching a TV series and missed the first few episodes, so you didn’t know what was happening? 

• That’s what’s happening here—we’re joining an ongoing conversation between Paul and the Corinthian church, but we’re only hearing one half of the conversation.

• One of the Ongoing issues was spiritual gifts and division in the church.

  • There was division in the church of Corinth, with one side denying the gifts and the other manifesting them in a disorderly way, with confusion. 

• Paul had to write them again about this because, among other issues, they didn’t listen to him the first time! 

  • Logical Question: If Paul believed that spiritual gifts would cease with the Apostles, why continue to address the issue? It would be a moot point to write again and again about something that is going to fade away anyway. 

    • Paul wrote more than once because the issue comes up more than once, just like it does today, where people divide over the gifts of the Spirit manifesting in gatherings! 

  • Paul included the correction on Spiritual Gifts becuase, like the other issues of singleness, marriage, sexual immorality, worship, gender roles, the Lord’s supper, financial generosity, and idolatry, these issues are not going away and are still here to this day. 

Paul says in 1 Cor 12:1, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed.” 

• Whenever Paul says something like “I don’t want you to be ignorant,” 

• It usually means, “You guys are ignorant about this—let me help you.” 

• So, there’s a strong possibility that the Corinthians were ignorant about the gifts of the Spirit: 

  • What were the gifts for? 

  • Whether to minister in them or not? 

  • Why were they given?

Paul says, “You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols. 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 by the Holy Spirit.” 

VI. Paul needed to clarify that the Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus Christ.

1. Let me just say at the outset: whenever you approach the things of the Spirit, remember—the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. 

   1. He reveals, exalts, and honors Jesus. 

   2. If you find a spiritual environment where there are manifestations of the Spirit involved and it glorifies anyone or anything other than or contrary to the glory of Jesus Christ, I promise you, the Holy Spirit is not involved.

   3. There are many spirits, but there is only one Holy Spirit.” 

2. Jesus is not a side issue in the church. He is only focus, the reason we are here. 

   1. The Holy Spirit has not come to glorify you, or even himself; 

   2. He has come to glorify, reveal, and exalt our precious Lord Jesus Christ.

   3. Not you, your gifting, your church, your ministry, your books and podcast ministry, nothing and no one will be in the spotlight but Jesus! 

   4. If it is the Holy Spirit it will be about Jesus from beginning to end.

3. One of the reasons we love the gifts of the Spirit is that they are gifts from the groom (Jesus) to the bride (us, the church). 

   1. The gifts of the Spirit are one of the ways we reveal and bring glory to Jesus.

   2. He wants His whole Bride in unity and reflecting the Character of God, which is in Unity! 

4. This is important because the Corinthians were prolific in exercising the gifts, but they used their gifts to bring division into Christ’s body. 

   1. Paul is showing them that if you allow the gifts to divide you, you’re actually working against their very purpose. 

   2. The gifts weren’t given to create categories of Christians—the extraordinary, the elite, the spiritual, the “super Christians”—versus the ordinary people. 

   3. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the great equalizer and unifier: “In the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh…” Everyone is equal at the foot of the cross.

Let’s take a look at the purpose of spiritual gifts:

1 Corinthians 12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

V. Notice here the subtle allusion to the Trinity: 

1. Varieties of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit; 

2. Varieties of service, but the same Lord; 

3. Varieties of activities, but it is the same God. 

   1. Spirit, Son, God. 

   2. That’s an allusion to the Trinity. 

      1. In unity, they decided what gift to give to you. 

      2. And in unity, we are to use the spiritual gifts. 

      3. So, unity is very key when it comes to the purpose of spiritual gifts.

Looking again at 1 Corinthians 12:7, we see a very important phrase: 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

• Or another translation, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so that we can help each other.” 

  • The Bible never says you get to choose what gifts you have, and the reverse is also true; the Bible never says you get to choose what gifts you don’t want to have the Holy Spirit decides that. 

This verse gives us the purpose of spiritual gifts. 

• Spiritual gifts are not for status or show—they are for service. 

• They are not to elevate one member of the body above another. 

• The purpose of the gifts is to serve one another in unity, edifying, building up, and encouraging each other. 

  • That’s not me! Remember that you died with Christ! 

  • Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

  • Do I have to? No, you don’t have to, you get to!

Why call it a service if no one is serving? 

And that Answers the Big Question…

IV. Why are so many Churches spectatoring?

1. Many churches are afraid of the spooky stigma that has been attached to the gifts of the Spirit through certain movements in the church over the last 150 years. 

   1. What many have seen is a lot of spookiness, emotionalism, chaos, confusion, disorder, and a desire for attention. 

   2. There’s been a lot of flesh involved in this, and so that flesh that

   3. This is FLESH, NOT THE SPIRIT! 

   4. Fruit Loops vs Raisin Bran – Only one has fruit! 

1. When you understand the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit and how they operate, I think many more churches would transition into being Spirit-led churches. 

• The gifts of the Spirit are not emotional.

• The Spirit is not a spotlight 

• The Spirit is not spooky

  • Not Frosted Flakes, Not Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!

2. Example: Who had the Holy Spirit more than anyone ever? 

• Jesus ministered for three and a half years under the power of the Holy Spirit. 

• He never was spooky; He avoided the spotlight. He was never emotional;

• He never went into a trance; He never fell over; His eyes never rolled back in His head; 

• He never shook and jerked. 

• Jesus was ministering out of love, and He was using the tools—the gifts of the Spirit—to bring life to people, to set them free.

1. When Jesus was ministering and speaking, 

   1. His words were words of knowledge, wisdom, and prophecy, 

   2. He demonstrated miraculous faith, performed miracles. 

   3. He discerned spirits 

2. If you want an example of the gifts of the Spirit, look at Jesus, look at His life, look at His ministry.

Conclusion: Personal Control or No Desire to Surrender to the Holy Spirit? 

1. People are not gathering in smaller groups and relying on the Holy Spirit to empower them to minister to others.

2. People do not want to allow the Spirit to have control because they fear acting or looking crazy. 

• It’s not losing control or acting out of control 

  • The fruit of the Spirit is SELF-CONTROL!  – Galatians 5:22-23

  • How can the Holy Spirit make you do something out of control and produce self-control in you at the same time?

  • The Holy Spirit manifests in power in peace, love, and self-control!