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COMPLETE SERMON NOTES

See Holy Spirit sermon series HERE

The Supernatural Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12-14) HOLY SPIRIT PART 2

Why this is a priority: The Holy Spirit points us to Christ; we don’t grow closer to the H.S., we grow closer to Christ thru the work of the H.S. He leads us into a deeper relationship.

 

‘Divided Tongues of Fire’ ACTS 2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? [THEN IT GOES ON TO LIST ALL THE LANGUAGES]—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

“I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit.” -John Knox

1. Why is TONGUES controversial? All believers experience God’s redemption work, but not all experience the gifts of the Spirit.

2. What is the GIFT of tongues? A GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH DISTINCTIVE The Gift of Tongues was a divinely bestowed supernatural ability to speak in a human language that had not been learned by the one speaking. According to the Apostle Paul, when believers exercised the gift of tongues in church, they were to speak one at a time, and only two or three were to speak in a given service (1 Cor. 14:27). Furthermore, when tongues were spoken in the church, they were to be interpreted by someone with the gift of interpretation so that the others might be edified by the God-given message (1 Cor. 14:5, 13, 27).

3. Why would I waste an entire sermon on this topic? Paul invested 3 Chapters in 1st Corinthians – he wanted to show the proper use and what abuse looks like. Additionally those who embrace extra-biblical views need to be lovingly challenged.

THE IRONY: The gifts were great for the early church

• It’s the only thing I’m aware of that was good; now it’s bad

Now Concerning Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12 1Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.2You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.3Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.Does this apply to us?

8To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^a and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

1. The Spirit distributes them. This is why you can’t teach someone to do…

12Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink [TAKE IN]. 14Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body….AND SO FORTH … 27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third [pastor] teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

2. “Eagerly desire” don’t eagerly fear.

• Why I don’t believe tongues is for everyone

          a] Do all speak in tongues?

          b] Many Spirit-filled Christians have never received this gift

          c] There is not a gift that everyone has to have

1 Corinthians 13 1-7: IF I DON’T HAVE LOVE, I HAVE NOTHING!… 8Love 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. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes [that which is perfect], what is in part disappears. 11When 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. 12For 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…

3. Love is eternal – the ‘gifts’ help during our temporal state

GRACE TO YOU: Although 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 teaches that prophecy and knowledge will cease when the “perfect” (i.e., the eternal state) comes, the language of the passage—particularly the middle voice of the Greek verb translated “will cease”—puts tongues in a category apart from these gifts. Paul writes that while prophecy and knowledge will be “done away” (passive voice) by “the perfect,” the gift of tongues “will cease” in and of itself (middle voice) prior to the time that “the perfect” arrives. When did this cessation of tongues take place? The evidence of Scripture and history indicate that tongues ceased in the apostolic age.

• Active and Passive [Middle voice is caught in the middle]

The lion ate the gazelle. The verb “ate” is in the active voice, but in the sentence: The gazelle was eaten by the lion. The phrase “was eaten” is passive.

• In my opinion, verse 8Love 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, indicates that all these gifts will cease when the perfect comes.

• We don’t mind the gifts of prophecy and knowledge, but tongues…

• PRIDE gets in the way – “their not more spiritual than me.” Have you ever considered that they may be weaker in a sense?

GRACE TO YOU [I highly respect MacArthur and thoroughly enjoy his teachings]: It is significant that tongues are mentioned only in the earliest books of the New Testament. Paul wrote at least twelve epistles after 1 Corinthians and never mentioned tongues again. Peter never mentioned tongues; James never mentioned tongues; John never mentioned tongues; neither did Jude. Tongues appeared only briefly in Acts and 1 Corinthians as the new message of the gospel was being spread. But once the church was established, tongues were gone. They stopped. The later books of the New Testament do not mention tongues again, and neither did anyone in the post-apostolic age.

• Once you fully exhaust a topic there is no need to repeat.

• This is an argument from silence. Does 1 or 2 Peter talk about the Lord’s supper; does James or Jude?

• How would the reader know that these instructions to the church are now invalid?

One site commented: “If the gift were still available today, there would be no need for missionaries to attend language school. Missionaries would be able to travel to countries and speak any language fluently, just as the apostles were able to speak.”

• Tongues was not a new way to communicate; it was never designed to replace a language, it was meant to complement the walk of the Believer and to be a sign to unbelievers.

On what basis can we distinguish you from cults who also claim to speak in tongues and prophecy?

• 1 Corinthians 12 answers this: 1Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed…I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

On what basis can we distinguish us from cults who also use the Bible? FRUIT! TRUTH ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE

No one in the post-apostolic age mentioned the gifts: Tertullian, Origen, (c. AD 248), Ambrose’s On the Holy Spirit (NPNF 2:10, 134), from the 380s, said, “To one is given through the Spirit the gift of healings, to another divers kinds of tongues, to another prophecy.” So, then, the Spirit gives [present tense] the same gifts as the Father, and the Son also gives them.

• In all 7 of my books, I don’t think I mention tongues.

1 Corinthians 14 1Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.3But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5I would like every one of you to speak in tongues,^b but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues,^c unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

• I want you all to speak in tongues…why? To build themselves up: “The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.”

“LIVING CHILDREN NEED RULES; DEAD CHILDREN DON’T” [Lloyd-Jones] 6Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.10Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. [IN OTHER WORDS, EXERCISE SELF-CONTROL. There is an immaturity and arrogance in those who don’t.] MORE NEXT WEEK…

13For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.16Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer,^d say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”22Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.

• Tongues was a sign to Israel that God was extending the gospel to all people – it was a fulfillment of Isaiah 28:11-12. “This is that, that Isaiah spoke of…”

But fulfillment doesn’t mean that it has ceased…

JOEL WAS FULFILLED TOO, BUT IT’S STILL APPLICABLE: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

SOME SAY: “Manifestations of tongues are identified with groups that are heretical, fanatical, and unorthodox.” BUT PIPER, LLOYD-JONES, TOZER, RAVENHILL, GRUDEM, HAYFORD, FRANCIS CHAN, ETC. ALL BELIEVE IN…

• Important instructions to the church are valid throughout history.

• What kills the concept of gifts today: 1] I’ve never experienced them so they must not exist. 2] I was raised in a denomination that believes they ceased. 3] People act very weird and bizarre who exercise them.

During the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards penned his thoughts regarding the revival in New England saying that the great hindrance to revival is spiritual pride. Paraphrasing Edwards, “Unless this disease was cured, all medicines used to heal other diseases would be in vain. Spiritual pride will defend itself against any truth that might reprove or correct it.” The heart cannot be revived is spiritual pride is holding us captive.

Apply: Don’t allow misrepresentation, ego, image, and upbringing to rob you of all that God has. On the flip side, the silly and bizarre things need to stop – people cannot get drunk in the Holy Spirit, toke the Holy Spirit, or excuse odd behavior.

• God doesn’t not respond to weirdness; He responds to brokenness.

How are you doing in this area? Its a shame that people raise their hands yet allow carnality to reign in their hearts. They speak in tongues, but can’t keep their marriage together. They go here and there asking, “What are the prophets saying,” instead of asking, “What is Jesus saying?

Closing: 2:21 And it shall come to pass that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” [Most Important Verse].

HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!

1. Our mission is evangelism, not division. MY HEART BEAT IS HERE – To Awaken Dead Souls

Do you truly know Him? Jesus is not a curse word; He’s not a “good teacher”… He is a …

JUDGE     LION     REDEEMER    ROCK OF MY SALVATION

EVER PRESENT HELP      LIGHT OF THE WORLD

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, PRINCE OF PEACE…

THE WAY…THE TRUTH…THE LIFE    THE SON OF GOD!

YOU MUST CALL ON HIM TO BE SAVED!​

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