our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome all of you tonight. And many are, I'm sure, fighting traffic to get here. It's really heavy on I-35. We're glad that you have joined us again for First Corinthians. And now let us pray together. Almighty and merciful God, we do thank you so much for your mercies to us. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for this night when we can gather around your word, when we can come together, Lord God, in your presence, seeking to discern the meaning of your very words, which have been given to us through your apostle. Heavenly Father, as we seek to find these things out tonight. We pray that you would be with us by your spirit. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the things that we will learn from the passages before us tonight. We thank you, Lord God, most of all for what we will learn about loving one another and the love that so pictures here on earth the love that you have had for us before the foundation of the world. And we thank you, Heavenly Father, that you have preserved what you have inscripturated for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. And so we pray, Lord God, that you would help us in the things that we do know. And as we proceed at times from the known to the unknown or the uncertain or those things that we have trouble with, We pray that always you would keep the big picture before us of your revelation in Jesus Christ, your plan for your church, and the lordship of your son over all. We thank you that we are part of his kingdom tonight. We come in his name to worship you by studying your word. We pray, Lord God, that we will find that it testifies of him and that the spirit will exalt him tonight and in his name We give you honor and glory in Jesus' name, amen. Please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12, I'm sorry, 11. 1 Corinthians 11, we ended in the middle of chapter 11 last month. And we're going to start tonight with the 17th verse. And it is a verse that I find full of biting irony because there are some people who have the idea that any old worship service is a good thing. And some people have the idea that the more loose and informal and unstructured and unorganized worship services, the more authentic and spontaneous, honest, and passionate it must be. Others have the idea that all worship services are roughly equal, and you worship in your way, I'll worship in mine. You go to your church, I'll go to mine. It doesn't matter if we have differing opinions about different things. It seems to me that verse 17 gives the lie to all of those things because the Apostle Paul says, now in giving these instructions, I do not praise you since you come together, not for the better, but for the worse. It's actually possible to come to church and get worse. It's actually possible to come to church and do things which are positively harmful for you and disobedient to your Lord. And he says that this is what is going on in connection with the Lord's Supper. First thing he says is, verse 18, for first of all when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it. Now we already know that there were divisions among them, don't we? We saw those divisions way back when we first started studying the book. But these were sort of, shall we say, private divisions or divisions that did not necessarily intrude on the worship service. Anyone remember what those divisions centered around? Remember the factions in this church? Excuse me? Well, there were things about things offered to idols because there were some who had freedom, they felt like, to eat things sacrificed to idols. There were others who, with very sensitive consciences, felt like that they could do no such thing. Any other divisions that you can think of? and some followed the others, and some people felt like that they had benefited from the ministry of one over the other, and they each had their own leader. One said, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, and so on. And so what you find here is that if there was anything for this church to be divided about, It did. And we'll find that in other instances here in our study tonight. There were also, of course, divisions about other questions that came up, questions about marriage and questions about the the immorality that was in the church, about the man who needed to be excommunicated. In short, there was a lot of bad conduct in this church and a lot of divisions, factions, and schisms, but at the same time, they didn't seem to affect worship until they got to this issue of the Lord's Supper. And Paul says about these divisions in verse 19, Not that there's anything wrong with that. For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. This is an interesting thing because the word he uses here is one of the works of the flesh in Galatians, but in true reformed fashion, he says even that can work together for good because those who stand the test and are authentic will be revealed. So he's addressing divisions here and they are based on wealth and social division and they have to do with the Lord's Supper. Now as we get into this in verse 20, let me just say a word that I definitely want to encourage discussion tonight. We have the overhead mic on and So by all means, if you have a comment to make, just hold up your hand and I'll be happy to let you make it or ask a question. With some of the material we're going to be covering tonight, I think of a commercial that came out for Radio Shack several years ago. You remember it ended with, you've got questions, we've got answers. So tonight, it's probably going to be more like You've got answers, I've got questions. But in any event, we're going to do the best we can. And the first issue is the Lord's Supper. And Paul says you're not eating it. Verse 20. When you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. That's not what you're doing. You may think you're doing that, but you're not doing it. Here's why. Verse 21, for in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk. So you have about four infractions there in that verse because you have, first of all, a confusion of a fellowship meal with the Lord's Supper. It is not fellowship meal in the sense of an agape feast or the kind of thing that we do on fifth Sundays or on Wednesday nights and so it says each one takes his own supper ahead of others so there's no sense of sharing they've got no sense of communality about it and one is hungry and So one is a victim of not being able to have anything to eat and he is completely left out by those who are wealthier or just simply so self-centered that they're not noticing him. And another is drunk. Someone is actually drinking wine to excess. So this is an actual meal where everybody brought food and some were left out and some actually got drunk. And there was no pretense of genuine sharing. It was a travesty of love. Paul's response in verse 22 is what? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. So these are rhetorical questions that highlight the shamefulness of it all, that they're not even engaging in fundamental love one toward another. and what they think they're doing in eating the Lord's Supper bears no resemblance to what the actual meal is supposed to be like. So the Apostle Paul tells them what they're supposed to be doing when they eat the Lord's Supper. Verse 23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. And so he's telling them that he is an apostle, has learned this directly from the Lord. And it's very interesting that this may be the earliest written form of what was said at the Last Supper by Jesus, because this letter was probably written before Matthew, Mark, or Luke. So he conveys what he has personally learned from the Lord about when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. And it is very poignant, of course, in verse 23, that it was on the night in which he was betrayed. While he was doing something so wonderful and so grand and far reaching for others, he himself was about to be betrayed by one of his own. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Those of you, who have NIVs or New American Standard Bibles will see that broken is not included in the text. And one can well argue that it is appropriate that it not be included. Why would it be appropriate to omit it? because not a bone of his was broken in fulfillment of the requirement for the Passover lamb. Not a bone of his was broken and that was a key element, you know, in John's gospel when they saw that they did not need to break his legs. However, this may not refer to the bones being broken. This may instead refer to the piercing of his body. to the fact that, as Isaiah put it, he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. So the textual case can be argued either way. You can either say, oh, well, this was added mistakenly because everyone should know that a bone would not be broken. But you can also say, No, no, no, broken was taken out because of a misunderstanding of what was being said here. Broken was removed from the text because of, to bring it more in line with the rest of scripture. The key word is for, that's the key word in the verse. It takes our place. The body takes our place. This is my body, which is, in your place as a substitute for you. And you are to eat this bread in remembrance of me." And what does that mean? It means the activity of calling to mind. In other words, the focus of the Lord's Supper should be calling Jesus to mind, remembering him, remembering what he has done. And the significance of the tense of the verb is it's a continuous presence. Continue to do this in remembrance of me. Verse 25, in the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. and his blood was the means by which the new covenant was established. The new covenant was established at the death, at his death on the cross, when the veil was rent in twain from the top to bottom, access to God was open to all. And at that point, the new covenant went into effect, and this cup stands for it. One of the things that needs to be remembered among Reformed people is that the cup is the sign of the new covenant. That's important when we get into discussions with our Presbyterian brothers who speak about how the sign of the covenant is baptism. Because the sign of the old covenant under, or sign of the Abrahamic covenant with circumcision the sign of the new covenant which has now replaced circumcision is baptism. Scripture absolutely does not say that anywhere. And first of all, it is unwise to give in to a Presbyterian at that point, as poor Alistair Begg found out when he debated R.C. Sproul. R.C. got him. So don't give in on that point. instead stress the fact that the new covenant is symbolized by the sign of the cup and then you will find a logical consistent application because this sacrament is only open to those who are able to examine themselves and an infant is not able to examine himself. It's only someone who is able to acknowledge the truth of the cross and the lordship of Christ. In other words, it's somebody who exhibits the signs of membership in the new covenant, which are simply these, that the days are coming when I will make a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, as Jeremiah said, and this is the covenant that I'll make with them. I'll put my law in their minds, write it on their hearts, and I will be their God. They shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they all shall know me. These from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. The sign of all that is the cup of the Lord's Supper and this is why it is a blessing to take it because it reminds us of our new life in Christ and the forgiveness of sins and the fact that we know the Lord. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. There is no scripture that says we have to take it every Sunday. There's an indication of a pattern in the book of Acts that perhaps they did But that doesn't mean churches should read this verse as if it says, this do as seldom as you drink it in remembrance of me. It is a practice that we have freedom of conscience about, and most of us here at Dayspring have found that we really appreciate the fact that it calls us to remembrance every Sunday, and it causes us to examine ourselves, causes us to keep short accounts with God, And then as verse 26 says, it does something else. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. His death is always proclaimed every Lord's day when the Lord's supper is taken. OK, let me stop. Any questions or comments about this part of the text? Yes, Sarah. circumcision pointed toward. Baptism points back to that new heart and is a pledge of membership in the new covenant. It's a pledge of a good conscience before God. But the very fact that this scripture says that the cup is the new covenant is the ultimate answer. Baptism was the covenant sign for the Jew because it was applied to those who were born, and it was as much of an ethnic sign as it was a religious sign. But in the New Testament, it's those who are born again who receive the sign of the covenant, and only the born again can examine themselves to take the cup. There has to be an outward sign. It isn't that interesting by the way to contrast verses 24 and 25 where Jesus says this is my body and then he says this cup is the new covenant in my blood. One of the reasons for looking at that is that it helps us to not take the phrase this is the wrong way. When Jesus uses analogies concerning himself, they are meant to be taken not literally, but spiritually. When he says I am the door, for example, when he says, I am the light. In just the same way, he says, this is my body. But if you will look down at verse 28, what Paul says you're eating is bread. He says, let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. So clearly, what our Lord meant is whatever he meant when he used these words in the presence of the original apostles because when he used these words in the presence of the original apostles he was speaking from his flesh and blood body. He was using his body to talk and hand out the bread and cup and therefore there was no way that they could have ever thought that the bread and cup meant his literal body. Let's get a word from our favorite ex-priest. Richard, do you have any comment on these verses tonight? Well, I could give a 90-minute lecture on some of them, which I don't want to, you know, but no, except that animesis there means like in remembrance and participation with what took place. It ties up with 1 Corinthians 13 in fellowship with him. It's not simply memorial. It's not simply a memorial and furthermore we learned back in chapter 10 that this is the opposite of having fellowship with demons. in First Corinthians 10.20 talks about how Paul doesn't want the Corinthians to have fellowship with demons and he says you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. The implication here is that the coming to the Lord's table is a fellowship with the Lord as being the opposite of fellowship with demons. Yes, Larry. The modern Lutheran formula, as I understand it, is in Catholicism, there's a change. In Lutheranism, there is no change. But in both, there's a real presence. In other words, the body and blood of Jesus is present. But in Catholicism, the elements change in the body and blood of Jesus. In Lutheranism, they don't change. But the body and blood of Jesus is added to them at the time The distribution. It's with them. Yes. With the accidents. Yes. The bread and the cup are called the accidents. Yes, Richard. Besides that, there is a very strong reform position of Calvin, of John Owen, such as Manta, that there is a real spiritual presence, which has nothing to do with physical presence, which Luther held, and which the Catholics held. And I think it's a very strong biblical argument for a real presence. And so you really do respect the body of the Lord spiritually and prepare spiritually to commune with the Lord. Yeah. And the key word there is at the end of verse 24, me. In other words, you're communing with Jesus, but you're not communing with his body, communing with his blood. What you're doing is communing with the one who gave his body and his blood, the one whose death is accomplished, who is risen from the dead, and who is Lord over this sacrament. So it's the real presence of Christ in that way, not in either the Catholic or the Lutheran ways. Is that Dave or who? No, it's Michael. Part of my life. Let's look at 27 to the end. Lariat asked about this and this does disturb people and cause them to have questions. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And at just this point, we don't know what that unworthy manner is. Paul will tell us in just a moment. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. So we learn we're supposed to examine ourselves in some way. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Well, that can explain, if you go down that far, how it is that you would eat and drink in an unworthy manner. We're never worthy to take communion, never will be. We take communion because we're not worthy. We take communion because Christ loved us and gave himself for us, and it is only by his death that we are reconciled to God. So one of the things we're supposed to do is never think that we're worthy of communion, but we're also never supposed to treat it lightly. We're never supposed to treat it as just the ritual that we do at church or the thing we do at day spring about between 12.35 and 12.45 or 11.35 and 11.45 on Sunday morning. We're never to take it in a complacent way because what Paul wants the Corinthians to focus on is the Lord's body in verse 29. They drink judgment to themselves, not discerning the Lord's body. And body in verse 29 means what it did in verse 27. A person being guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. The bread remains bread, the cup remains a cup, but somehow in that you're supposed to discern the Lord's body, meaning that you're supposed to discern that the sacrifice of Jesus is what this stands for. And they weren't doing that at Corinth. They were simply having a fellowship meal with whatever enjoyments that brought about, and they did not have their attention focused on the meaning behind the sacrament. Here Paul is saying you must examine yourselves and make sure that you are discerning the meaning behind it. And I've had times when I've been about to take communion and all of a sudden I've caught myself and I've thought I've been thinking about other things. I haven't even thought about what this stands for. I haven't even taken a moment to reflect on the meaning of this. I've just been daydreaming or absent-minded or reading something in my Bible, and I haven't even contemplated what I'm about to do. And what we are about to do is proclaim our union with Christ and our appreciation and thanksgiving for his death for us and that has also got to awaken us to how we deserved to die instead of Jesus dying for us and therefore part of the examination is I think that we should confess our sins and be sure that we are not drinking the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons that we are not double-minded in our faith, and that we have repented for the things that we've done that sent Jesus to the cross. If we don't do that, you can get sick or die, according to verse 30. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Now that is serious. Communion can kill you. by not examining yourself and not taking it as you should with the cross in view. Paul says this, for if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. Meaning that we should judge ourselves in advance. We should judge ourselves in advance of the communion. We should ask ourselves, Have we repented of our sins? Are we discerning ourselves? Are we seeing what we're like? Are we seeing that we're sinners? And then we take it and Paul says in verse 32, when we are judged, meaning judged by the Lord, we're chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. So what he's actually saying there is that the Lord applies discipline and communion. That if we are judged by the Lord, it isn't something that will cause us to lose our salvation. It is a chastening by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world, but it is a sin that is worthy of chastening. Yeah. eating and drinking in an unworthy manner is to, okay let me illustrate this from a few years ago. Barbara and I decided that we would ask some of our relatives to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us and we were turned down. They told us no because they wanted to stay home and be able to watch football all day. Okay. Now, they were going to eat turkey and dressing, we were going to eat turkey and dressing. They ate pecan pie, we ate pecan pie. We might have even watched a little TV, and they watched TV. But the difference was going to be When we came to the meal that day, we were going to thank the Lord not only for that meal, but for everything else he had done for us in the past year. And we were going to have a real giving of thanks over that meal. But the relatives who wouldn't come were going to eat their meal on TV trays, give no thanks at all, and eat the same kind of food. They were eating and drinking unworthily. That's right. So the point is that with communion, that's what you are being called upon to do. Paul says, don't eat it like a fellowship meal and don't eat it like the routine that you do now where you get the bread and the tray passed to you and you just eat it with no thought. To do that is to invite chastening. So you're saying it came from your attitude. That's it. Beautifully expressed. Yes, Chris. I think he really confessed to the Lord. you're a saved sinner, but there may be some... Oh yes, yes. Well I think so too, and I think that, you know, the very words of institution that are read week by week and the very act of prayer and examination ought to bring those sins to remembrance and and we should repent of them because they were the cause of this sacrifice. Another thing, too, that I think is good, if you have something against your brother, to reconcile with your brother before you take communion. Cross-referencing this with the Sermon on the Mount, so that you, your brother. But in any event, the primary way that you eat and drink unworthily is to commit the sin of the Corinthians and to not judge what this stands for. And so there's a good solution. Paul says in verse 33, therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. In other words, you may come together only to get chastened and receive sickness and possible death. So stop the disunity of this and eat at home. and then you have this tantalizing statement at the end of verse 34, and the rest I will set in order when I come. He's obviously got something else to teach them about communion, and of course we all have questions about the Lord's Supper, but the issues he's going to deal with were not important enough to write to them about, so we don't know what they were. Any other final comments? The statements in there talking about the discipline and the chastening, there's a lot of people who seem to think that the unworthiness here is people should be examining themselves to see if they're really believers. And yet, the whole passage seems to indicate that this kind of judgment only takes place with believers. It's not. I mean, certainly if unbelievers were in danger of sickness or death when they came and took of the Lord's table, then the liberal churches would be empty in a few years. I think that it, first of all, has to be seen as something that is for believers. And I kind of wonder if we are really approaching the seriousness of what was going on in Corinth. Because we don't see, as far as I know, we don't see a lot of people sick and dying after communion. It sounds to me like what they're doing is something very serious. I mean, it's like, you know, the people in the front row are taking the whole cup, drinking and getting drunk. And I mean, things we wouldn't even imagine. But anyway, that's the impression I get from reading the passage. Well, it was a very serious travesty of communion that was going on there. And Paul sets it in order by simply taking you back to the foundation. And I think just to give a final comment on verse 34, that this shows the wisdom of Paul, because he has other things to set in order when he comes, but if you get the foundation right, if you get the foundational doctrine and understanding of a thing right, then a lot of things will take care of themselves. A lot of, you know, nuts and bolts about things will just kind of fall into place. Going into chapter 12, he says, now concerning spiritual matters, gifts is not there in the verse. Concerning pneumaticon, spiritual things pertaining to the spirit. And this would be things and practices and people. It says, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. This is an interesting way to begin, and it's really perplexed commentators. because he's got a therefore after that strange second verse. Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. What does he mean by verse two when he says, remember your enslaved past? You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols however you were led. You were in bondage to dumb idols who couldn't hear your prayers and they couldn't answer you if you called on them. They were completely unavailable to you as real gods. So there are two ideas here. One is that the Corinthians. could not be expected to understand spiritual matters such as the exercise of gifts because of the fact that they were ignorant and worshiping dumb idols. But the second point is that the idols were dumb and they never answered anything and what Paul is trying to get across to the Corinthians is now you have gone from a relationship with nothing to a relationship with the living God. you have had a relationship that was a non-relationship because there wasn't anything to have a relationship with. But now you have gone to a relationship with the living God and there are going to be many spiritual activities and practices that will impact your life. Yes, Grady? I was going to say the word that sticks out to me in this verse is the word lead. Three, he says, therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed or anathema. And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. What's the significance of this? Well, at very least, he's saying that the Holy Spirit is active even in our confession of faith in Jesus as Lord and that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed. Now commentators have have asked, you know, well, was there an example of this that Paul was concerned about? And some have suggested maybe a Jew or a Jewish Christian had talked about Jesus becoming a curse for us and gotten that garbled in some way. Others have speculated, well, perhaps someone speaking in tongues who had an interpretation following called Jesus accursed and therefore it proved that that tongue was not from God. And certainly I had an experience of a woman speaking in tongues in my presence where I commanded her to interpret her tongue and she began to praise Satan. So this kind of thing can happen. But we just don't know. We just don't have enough information other than to suggest that what Paul is doing is reminding us of the role of the Holy Spirit in all things. And the role of the Holy Spirit that Jesus said he would fulfill was that he will testify of me. When the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me, and that's John 15, 26, and John 16, 14, of course, says, he will glorify me for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. So what Paul is saying here is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. is the lordship of Christ, that Jesus is exalted and you now have a relationship with the living God and there are spiritual gifts available for you. Yes, Grady. Well, what I do see in this is when John did the same thing in his first epistle, every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you've heard was coming and is now already in the world. It can easily turn into an exaltation of self. Verse four, now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. Here Paul uses the word gifts. And it is the word from which we get charismatic, charismaton, the grace gifts, gifts of his grace. He says, there are diversions of gifts, but the same spirit. Again, these Corinthians have managed to find another source of division. If there is any way to divide, this church will do it. And so the division-prone Corinthians now need to be told that it's the same spirit, a unifying spirit, a spirit that does minister diversities of gifts, but it is the same. He's got to stress the same spirit and the one body of Christ in this section. Notice the end of verse four, the same spirit. Then notice verse five, there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. Notice verse six, and there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. There's a reference to the Trinity here, which I find fascinating. It is the same spirit, that gives the gifts and the gifts manifest themselves in ministries. They are works of service. Verse 5, that is the one of the hallmarks of this section on gifts of the spirit, that all of the gifts are basically intended to build up in some way. They're intended to build up the body and minister to others. And then there are differences or diversities of activities And that is the word for working. Differences of service is related to the word for deacon. Differences of activities is different workings, but the same God. And Paul says, it's he who works all in all. He works all things in all those in the church. Now this list that he's going to give is just an incomplete list. Those of you who know about other passages with lists of gifts know that there are lists in Romans 12, 3-8 and Ephesians 4, 7-12. and 1 Peter 4, 10, and 11. And if you count up all the different gifts that are mentioned in these different listings, there are some 20 gifts of the Spirit that are listed in scripture. And this list starts off with nine, and then some more are added to the list, I think making a total of 13 in this particular chapter. He says in verse six, there are diversities of, I'm sorry, verse seven, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. In other words, each has a gift. He's to use it for the benefit and the profit of others in the church. And so the first gift is wisdom. Verse 8, for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit. When Paul says the word of wisdom, that probably means the utterance of wisdom. It doesn't necessarily have to mean that. It can simply mean knowing wisdom in a certain situation, but the chances are excellent that it means the ability to speak about wisdom in a circumstance that calls for it. Anybody have any idea what Paul may mean here? When you think about wisdom, what is that exactly? Is it knowledge? No. That's the beginning of it. That's the beginning of it. It's knowledge applied. It is the application of knowledge. The passage that Chris was quoting was of course Proverbs chapter 9 And in Proverbs 9.10, it says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. If you look just above that at Proverbs 9.6, it says, forsake foolishness and live and go in the way of understanding. And that is essentially what wisdom is, forsaking foolishness and going in the way of understanding. It is applying the knowledge that you have applying God's word rightly in a situation. It is what Solomon asked for when he became king. He needed to know how to rule the vast nation of Israel, and that's what he asked for. It's given to us in Christ, we've already been told in this epistle, who is our wisdom And it is a gift that is to be highly cherished. Most of us can think of very painful times when we wished we had had it, or we wished we had asked for it. But there's a great promise about it in scripture, about getting wisdom. And what is that? You can ask for it. You are free to ask for it, according to James 1.5. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God. And the great thing about asking wisdom from God is that God doesn't react like impatient big brothers or unkind parents or grouchy bosses when you ask them for wisdom. Because you can ask a parent, a big brother, or a boss for wisdom, and he'll say, what kind of a nincompoop are you? How stupid can you be? You don't know how to do that? Look, it's so simple. I can't believe you're asking me that. I always feel like the village idiot for asking such a person such a thing. But it says in the Bible, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach. God's not going to call you a dunce for asking him for wisdom. and it will be given to him. So that's the first gift. The second is the word of knowledge through the same spirit. Anybody got any ideas as to what that might be? It's a gift, and it is for the common good, and it's a gift of the spirit. And what do you seriously think it might be? I think that that is an excellent example of it, just insight into things both scriptural and spiritual. I'm also not actually opposed to the idea that it is a word of knowledge given to you by the Lord to meet an immediate situation. That's, I think that a lot of those things are hit and miss and I think that, you know, one needs to be careful, but there have been instances that I've known of, even instances in my own life where all of a sudden I just knew something about a situation that seemed to be given to me from the Lord, and it seemed to be confirmed. Yes, Dave? Well, I can understand that, but we do this in counseling situations, where it was for the benefit of someone else. It was not for the benefit of me. But we are to test all things, hold fast that which is good, and One of the things as we go through this list, and you can already see the difficulty, is we're not quite sure what all these things are, but we're pretty adamant we know what they're not. And this is what we've got to be careful about because what the passage says in a couple of different places is that each one has a spiritual gift and it's for the profit of others. Verse 7, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. Verse 11, but one in the same spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually as he wills. Now, any other comments on knowledge? Yes, Dave. you have to wait on an overall kind of test after a pattern has emerged because the overall test is really going to be the Lordship of Christ back in verse 3. And so the question is going to be Are these words really, you know, for the edification of the church and do they testify ultimately that Jesus as he's presented in scripture is Lord? Yeah, great. And also, I see there's something of a middle ground. Something to know about as a resource, especially if you'd like to read something very consistent, arguing for the cessation of the sign gifts. This writer is a Reformed Baptist and he has written an outstanding book. I don't agree with him at all points, but he has argued his case pretty well. His name is Victor Budgen, B-U-D-J-E-N, G-E-N, B-U-D-J-E-N, and he is a Reformed Baptist from England. Since he is convinced that knowledge has ceased, with the coming of the New Testament canon, it was interesting to read his definition of knowledge. Because, you know, you gotta come up with something that has ceased. So his definition of knowledge he got from John Wesley. which is an extraordinary ability to understand and explain the Old Testament types and prophecies. Isn't that interesting? So his analogy is that James explained Amos 9, for example, at the Council of Jerusalem. And that knowledge, that insight into the Old Testament is confined to the New Testament writers and has passed away with the coming of the canon. I just mention that because there are a lot of different definitions. MacArthur says grasping the meaning of God's truth is the definition of knowledge. And so, you know, It's hard, but this is, I think, a special knowledge that is for the good of all, but it's a definite spiritual gift, meaning that it's probably something you didn't have before you became a Christian. Let's wrestle with another one. To another faith by the same spirit, verse nine. What's that? Again, is ask yourself, is this a ministry for the whole? Is it a ministry for others? That has to be the first test, because is it for the profit of others? If it's just something that you know so that you can say, well, God sure is blessing me in a particular way. then that could easily, of course, divert you away from your dependence on the Lord. But if it's something that you are using to help and aid other Christians in the body of Christ... your original observation that in verse 2 of 1st Corinthians 13 you have an application of faith, of the gift of faith, a faith that can move mountains and so this is not saving faith, it's not the faith that every believer has when he trusts in Jesus as Lord and it is not therefore that faith in its persevering form that we're going to continue to press on to know the Lord no matter what happens. It's not that kind of faith that we all possess. It is a particular gift of faith given to some believers, and it's a faith that can move mountains. So it's a faith that someone is given in a particular situation where they are led by the Lord to have trust and believe in spite of virtually all hope and all circumstances. Yes, Dave. The word says that God has given you a promising situation. A number of years ago, there was a lady in our church who hadn't come for several Sundays, and finally I went to see her and she said, well, I've already filed for divorce. And she told me why, and the situation just seemed to be absolutely impossible and insurmountable. And it wasn't without some justification. But I said, well, let me do one thing for you over the next few weeks. Let me pray for faith for you. Let me just do that. Is that okay? She cried and said yes. Well, eventually she dropped the divorce. I believe God gave her the gift of faith to see that he would bring her through that difficult situation. But that's what it occurred to me that she needed. She needed faith in a hopeless situation to persevere when no one would have blamed her for divorcing her husband. Yes, Brad? same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills. There is a popular idea that once God gives you a gift, you've got it for life. But in actual fact, there are some of these gifts that by the nature of the gift, and we will see in just a moment, that the nature of the gift will mean that it absolutely cannot operate infallibly 100% of the time forever, and you still have God as sovereign. And so what I'm suggesting in saying that the gift of faith is given is that I believe that this passage is teaching that these gifts are given as needed or as God chooses. And therefore, because I have the gift of faith in one particular situation, I may not be able to have that same gift in another situation. But it's a lot like wisdom. On the one hand, there's a specific gift of wisdom that is mentioned here. And on the other hand, we can ask for it. And then here, there's a gift of faith that's given. On the other hand, we can ask for it. We can do like the disciples and say, Lord, increase our faith. So I don't think that the two ideas are really incompatible, Brad. I think that when Jesus gives us a teaching that demands a great deal of faith, that probably one of the first things we should do is ask for the gift of faith to be able to honor that teaching. Yes, brother. Well, actually there are about three passages, but the main one is one that we might have gotten to tonight. But it's 1 Corinthians 13, eight. Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. And the opinions about that range from all three have, two out of three haven't, all three have not, one has, the other two haven't, and one has and the other two have for now but will be restored in the millennium. So those are the different choices that you have about that passage. But anyway, that... Okay, that's part of my ministry. Anyway, it's 1 Corinthians 13a. Okay, let's go to faith and go now to verse 9b. To another, gifts of healings by the same Spirit. Verse 10, to another, the working of miracles. The two need to go together, I think. They're very similar in nature. To another, gifts of healings by the same Spirit. And notice all the plurals, gifts of healings. And to another, the workings of miracles. First thing is that Let me just tell you the kinds of things that commentators will tell you, just to save you time and trouble. First of all, what the commentators will tell you is that there were four great ages of miracles, or four great epochs, when miracles and healings were done. And does anybody happen to know the four? Elijah, Jesus, and the apostles. In other words, when the law was given, when the prophets first began their ministry, when Jesus came and when the church was formed, those four areas were attended by signs and wonders and miracles. And so that is the first thing you learn when you read any notes about verse 9b and 10a. The second thing you will learn is that it's okay for Christians to pray for the sick. That according to James chapter five, and he's sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church, let them anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray for him. You will also learn that Paul was not able to heal in all situations, even though Peter and Paul and Philip caused healings to, or affected healings in the book of Acts. But Paul left Trophimus sick, you remember. And those are the things you'll learn from the commentators. Have you learned anything yet to help you with verse 9 and 10? It reinforces the idea that you don't have the phenomena of a person who's able to dispense healing in every situation. There's not envisioned here a healing ministry where someone sets up a tent or comes to town for a week and is going to heal people. There are gifts of healings and these gifts are distributed to each one individually as he wills. But I think what you do have to come to terms with is this. It appears, of course, we can take the position that this has ceased. We can take this out of the list and say it's ceased. But first of all, this isn't really mentioned here as the sign of an apostle, is it? In other words, yes, the apostles' ministries were attended by healings and signs and wonders. But this is in a list of gifts bestowed by the sovereign spirit in the church. And you have two related sorts of gifts here, the working of miracles and the gifts of healing. And it seems to be a category that is not covered A, either by the apostles authenticating their ministry with signs and wonders, or B, going to the elders of the church and calling on them. For example, I as an elder of the church, along with others, have anointed people with oil in the name of the Lord and prayed for them many, many times, and we have seen many people healed here at Dayspring. And yet I would never tell you that I had the gifts of healings, or the gift of healing. So what do we make of this? Yes, they're true, but the question still remains, if we think the gifts have ceased, what was a gift of healing like in Corinth? Paul wasn't there. Paul was just going along in heresy after heresy, division after division, and Paul wasn't there, but there were gifts of healings there. Yes, Dave? The fact that the Spirit was there to do those healings proved that it was an apostolic church that he had found. Yes, he was an apostle found on that, and these other people that were coming in, they had to really think about it. Where did they get the spirit from? How did they begin? Because they had these healings and all these manifestations. He was talking about in the start of Corinthians he says that I thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which has given you that in everything you were enriched in him in all speech and knowledge and even as a testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you. So that you're not lacking any gift. See, it was his testimony of Christ as a true apostle of the revelation of Jesus Christ that confirmed these gifts that were given to them. And that was confirmation that he was sent by Jesus Christ. Okay, all right. And so the point is that you have a secondary person in the church, not necessarily an apostle, because there are not the apostles present when Paul is writing this letter, but someone who might have the gift of healing on a particular occasion. Someone else might have the gift of working a miracle on another occasion. Yes, Michael. I'd just like to say one more thing. Yeah, and the question is, what do we do with this? Do we simply say, well, because the church was established by Paul, that this was going on in the church and went on in the church until such time as the New Testament canon was completed? And then healing ceased in Corinth. And I mean, what do we do? That is the question that we have to consider. Or is there the possibility that someone can be temporarily, momentarily gifted by the Spirit with the faith and the ability to pray for someone and they be healed? Or that a miracle can still be done? Because once you establish that, yes, there were clusters of authenticating miracles around the ministries of the apostles, and that's exactly the point of the writer to the Hebrews when he says, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. And then you can say, yes, healing is for today. And if anybody desires healing, they should call for the elders of the church. So between those two ideas, we have here a gift of the spirit in a church that has to be recognized and regulated. Yes, Dan, precisely. Yes, Lee, a question. And see, another question that I have that is like unto it, and that is that if the so-called revelatory gifts, of tongues and interpretations, that's assumed that they're revelatory, and prophecy, and we'll just take those three, tongues, interpretation, tongues, and prophecy. If those revelatory gifts were being poured out and they were the substitute for the canon not yet being complete. If they were God's measure at that time before the canon was complete, we've got to read 1 Corinthians and say, boy, they didn't do a lot of good. You know, it's the same kind of argument as we don't find, we don't have any record of any of the prophecies, the tongue messages or anything from this particular time. So I understand what you're saying. We've got to just puzzle over some of these things. And as far as the cessation or non-cessation of the gifts, of course, the cessationist is going to say the gifts died out. Oh, there were things that cropped up that looked like them, but they really weren't. They were counterfeits. And then, of course, the non-cessationist says, see those things that cropped up? That was them. You know, so it's a real problem to argue it from history. Yes, Michael? I would just say one more thing. The understanding of sound doctrine is not there. If anything, it's just so, it's like the difference between night and day. And this is one of the biggest problems with the whole movement, that it can ultimately lead you away from Christ. Ultimately lead you away from the gospel. by the fact that it is the Spirit who is exalted, it's the gifts that are uppermost. This is why, as you read this list of gifts, notice all of the references to God, all the references to the Spirit of God, the Lord, how the spirit gives the gifts, how he's sovereign over the gifts. That's the main lesson. And it's the main lesson for these puffed up Corinthians. Because they were absolutely thrilled over the fact that they came behind in no gift. They were happy. with exercising these gifts. But the apostle is going to not only stress that it's the same spirit that works through all of these things and he does it sovereignly, but then he's also going to talk about their various places in the body of Christ and how there's no room for boasting or pride whatsoever. One of the biggest weaknesses I have seen in both the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, and they're kind of brother and sister and yet they're significantly different, is that there is absolutely no knowledge of a sovereign God who can use adversity, who can work through sickness, who doesn't want everybody healed. and who can work everything together for good. Anyway, it is the sovereignty of God that is behind all of this that we have to bow to, and especially with those two gifts, the gifts of healing and the working of miracles. To another prophecy, verse 10, part A. Now, the big question is defining prophecy. And it is one of the most crucial issues for the study of 1 Corinthians. As a matter of fact, there was a groundbreaking book that was written a number of years ago as a doctor's dissertation by Wayne Grudem called The Gift of Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14. And I learned to my dismay this week that I'd lent it to somebody and I've got to get it back from him. But this whole question of prophecy in this particular book and the New Testament in general is very, very crucial. Let's turn over first of all to Deuteronomy 18. Deuteronomy 18, verse 20. And the Lord is speaking to Moses. He says, but the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him. And of course, it says in verse 20, he deserves to die. He shall die. So false prophets deserve to die in the Old Testament. And you get to the New Testament and you see a strange phenomena. First of all, you see an outpouring of the Spirit in Joel prophecy, which was quoted by Peter in Acts 2. And he says, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. You get over here to 1 Corinthians 11, which we looked at a month ago, And it says in verse 5, but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. Now in the very same epistle that a woman is contemplating as prophesying, Paul will later say, let your women keep silent in the churches, for they're not permitted to speak. But they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And then, when we get to 1 Corinthians 14, we're going to see that in 1 Corinthians 14, 29, it says, let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. Let the others in the congregation, and the word is actually sift, or examine. So it's not judge and see if he's a false prophet, it's sift through the prophecy. See? And then it says in verse 30, if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. It envisions a case where a prophet might start, somebody else might start, and the first prophet might shut up and never say anything again. So what we are embarking on is a look at prophecy with apparently a different meaning than that of an Old Testament prophet or a different authority. Because in the Old Testament, the prophet said, thus saith the Lord, and if he was false, he was executed. But when you come to the New Testament, you don't find either the church at Corinth or the Charismatics in general killing prophets or Paul recommending it. When you, instead, here's what you find. In the book of Matthew, Matthew 11, 13, you see Jesus saying something very interesting about John the Baptist. Matthew 11, 13. He says, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you're willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. John did no miracles. But he went in the spirit and power of Elijah. And according to this verse, he's the last of the Old Testament prophets. For all the prophets and the law prophesied and told John. But who's got the infallible authority in the New Testament? Well, I'll show you. First Corinthians 14, verse 37. Paul will say, if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Actually, I think that's a little better in the Nestle text or the NIV, NASB. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So what Paul is saying here is the buck stops with the apostles. The book stops with the ones on whom Jesus breathed and said, so send I you. The ones on whom Jesus said, go ye therefore in all the world, preach the gospel, teaching them all things whatsoever I've commanded you. And the one to whom Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus. And he told him, I'll deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. I say all this by way of just preparing you for the studying that we'll do next month because what Paul is saying here is that one of these gifts is the gift of prophecy. But it's not prophecy as we know it from the Old Testament. It's prophecy as it's practiced in the New Testament. And the definition of it is in First Corinthians 14, three. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. And it says a woman's not supposed to do that with her head uncovered, but she's not supposed to teach men either. So it's gotta be something different from being a pastor, being a teacher, teaching in the church officially. He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. This is the gift of prophecy that's mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10a. To another, discerning of spirits. To another, different kinds of tongues. different kinds of, let me just mention about discerning different, the discerning of spirits. That is a really vital ministry, but it's one of the loneliest in the world. Do you know why? Do you know why it's lonely to be someone gifted with the discerning of spirits? Because you can tell when someone has come to steal, kill and destroy, and the rest of the Christians can't. And it's lonely having that kind of knowledge. If you look with me now at the last two, it says different kinds of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues. Now let's see, I've got questions. Okay. Tongue, you know, I'm convinced that maybe a lot of confusion about tongues would have been prevented if all the translations since 1611 did not continue to use King James terminology. Because the word is languages. That's the word. Every time you read tongue, you can substitute the word language. Every time you read tongues, you can substitute the word languages. They were spoken at Pentecost, and they were unknown to the speaker. Okay. I've already said something controversial, by the way, in case you didn't know. This is something that cessationists argue among themselves, and it is whether or not the speaker knew what he was speaking. But they were unknown to the speaker. Is that this gift? Some say, well, yes, it's the same as the gift on the day of Pentecost. It's tongues that are known, recognizable human languages. Others say, no, no, it's ecstatic utterance. It's some sort of ecstatic utterance because if it was a specific kind of language, it wouldn't have required the interpretation. But it must be an ecstatic utterance to require another gift of interpretation. The problem with that word, interpretation, is that it's the normal Greek word for translation. The translation of languages. And then we're told over in 1 Corinthians 14 that the speaker in the languages should pray for this gift too. And then, of course, it's a gift that's gonna cease. We know that from 1 Corinthians 13. The question is, has it already? Okay, we have hands going up. Michael, conclude tonight. Verse 11. But one and the same spirit works all these things. distributing to each one individually as he wills. So one of the things that you can definitely say is that at the time that all of these gifts were in full flower, or if you believe that they are still available today, it is always the living God, the one who says Jesus is Lord, that is behind them, and they're not meant for personal pride, they're not meant for personal aggrandizement, they're not meant to call attention to oneself. They are meant for the profit of all and they are distributed sovereignly so that when these gifts are dispensed, our glory should be to God and not to men. And so I'm afraid that's as far as we can get for this month, but that's pretty far, actually, when you think about the fact that we have gone down the lift of the gifts of the Spirit, and we have done, I think, an extremely important thing. I have a plaque in my study that says this. We have said, yes, Lord. We have said, yes, Lord. We obviously don't want anything counterfeit, and we don't want anything false, we don't want anything to lead us away from Jesus, we don't want anything satanic or demonic, but we do want whatever the Sovereign Spirit is pleased to give us. And we will say yes, Lord, to that. Dear kind Father, thank you so much for this night and we thank you for your word. As we wrestle with these things, Lord Jesus Help us to keep you before us so that we are like David and we always see the Lord before our face. Dear Father, there are so many red herrings and side issues, and it is so easy for the flesh to intrude and men to be exalted. And we know this is why these words were written and preserved for us, so that we would not take our eyes off of you. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have loved us with an everlasting love, that you have saved us, that you have reconciled us to God. And tonight, Heavenly Father, we