The Devotional - 1056 - Foot steps in First Corinthians, ongoing

The Devotional – 1056 – Foot steps in First Corinthians, ongoing

The importance of unity as said yesterday is critical in the church of our LORD Jesus Christ. Today I was reminded of this in Proverbs 17; much of this chapter challenges the reader to self-discipline his or her ways daily. For example Proverbs 17:14 and 17. Anyone can play the fool when they believe that they are right without hearing the purpose of the other. Now I do not mean that the other is silent, no in fact; the other person is not silent, it is just that the fool has no ear to hear the other side of the story. One of the LORD’s favorite sayings is, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” Matthew 13:9. In the synoptic gospels this phrase is found eight times. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Verse 3 – Here I will use an excerpt from Dr. Constable’s notes on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

"In classical [Greek] literature, Apollo was particularly renowned as the source of ecstatic utterances, as on the lips of Cassandra of Troy, the priestess of Delphi or the Sibyl of Cumae (whose frenzy as she prophesied under the god's control is vividly described by Virgil); at a humbler level the fortune-telling slave-girl of (Acts 16:16) was dominated by the same kind of 'pythonic' spirit." (End of quote).

Because of one’s past religious activity it is hard for many to know the difference between what is demonic and what is godly. That this sort of demonic control cannot be permitted in the church of Jesus Christ, yet over recent years, at least in my lifetime of three quarters of a century we have seen the rise of this “pythonic spirit”. My very first encounter with such an event was when I was aboard ship, as an unbeliever. The details although interesting are not important at this point; but I will include that story for tomorrow.

Verse 4 – The apostle Paul states that God the Holy Spirit has allotted to the church various kinds of gifts. Now I highlighted the word church because the apostle is speaking to the church and not specific people within the church. We might liken this as spiritual property belonging to the church, and disbursed according to the Will of God and not the will of man. Also of my own opinion I believe that the authority in the church experiences “limited control” in this matter, this is why we have so much confusion and dissention, as verse 5 -7 reveals that it is triune authority of the Spirit, the LORD and God who works all (of this) in all (of us).

Verses 5-7 – brings this to light that every believer in Christ has opportunity to use the allotted gifts of the church; or to be used of God the Holy Spirit. Yet the manifestation of the Spirit is given to ONE (not for the profit of that one) but for the profit of all (see; Romans 15:14) that is the church. 

Also remember that in the middle of 1 Corinthians 12-14 is chapter 13:1-13, see verse 13. And now abides faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these three is love. The saint of the LORD must have these three gifts working maturely in their life, in order for God the Holy Spirit to use him or her for any temporary spiritual work in the church (Hebrews 11:4-7).

As we slowly move forward in this we need to see that the “temporary gifts” (verses 8-11) belonging to the church are able to function by the administration and purpose of God through the saints of God who are mature believers who have faith and hope, working with love, (not all believers have the ear to hear this). Now there is plenty of evidence in the revealed Word of God to show that God will not permit any outworking of the gifts of the Spirit by immature saints who do not understand that the Spirit of God functions with those of faith, hope and love. 2 Timothy 2; Hebrews 11 and 12 are good chapters to reveal this truth.