The Common Good

Series on I Corinthians

VI Meeting for Worship

C Ability in Worship, Text: 12:1-11

Title: The Common Good

Introduction

As Paul continues his teaching on worship in I Corinthians 11-14, he now focuses on spiritual gifts in the body of Christ. The church of the twentieth century has often erred either by ignoring the gifts of the Holy Spirit altogether or by exalting the gifts above everything else. This all or nothing approach leads to a spiritual elitism when the gifts are unduly exalted, and undermines the unity of the Church when they are ignored. God’s gifts are given to unite the Church. In Corinth we see pride, a divisive spirit, and a lack of love. When we go to a ball game we expect to see the players work together. When we go to a concert we expect to see the orchestra play together. Pitchers, quarterbacks and conductors, like pastors, may get more press, but it is the body of Christ which is important. Christians are often likened to an army. We sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and read, “Put on the whole armor of God.” Imagine Christ reviewing the troops, who are supposed to be fresh and ready for battle. But some have fairly recent wounds, nicks in their armor, arms in slings, casts, etc. He asks, “What’s the matter here? Why are they wounded already?” “Oh, they’ve been fighting in the barracks again.” Later in this section, Paul will teach us that love is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes all the others work. As he begins he anticipates this by teaching us about the place of spiritual gifts in the whole picture. No matter what we do for the Lord we have before us a common goal, a common God, a common good.

I A Common Goal

Have you ever felt like other Christians were looking down on you? I’ll bet you have. Once i was in North Philadelphia evangelizing. A man came up to me and asked if i had spoken in tongues. I said, “no.” He dismissed me as irrelevant. Nothing i had to communicate from the Bible was of any interest to him because i had not spoken in tongues. The way he hurt me, many Christians have been hurt over and over again. This is the path to perfectionism and Paul is talking about it in verses 1-3, Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you 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. Charles Wesley wrote some of his hymns to promote his brother John’s doctrine of entire sanctification. The second verse of his “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” asks God to “Take away our bent to sinning.” If you look in Trinity Hymnal you will see that the editors changed this to “take away the love of sinning.” The bent or tendency never goes away. At the time this was too much for Calvinist Augustus Toplady. In a magazine of which he was editor, Toplady wrote an article in refutation, detailing a picture of man’s potential for sinning. He arrived at the mathematical conclusion that a man of eighty is guilty of many millions of sins, a debt he can never hope to pay but for which he need not despair because of the sufficiency of Christ. He closed the article with an original poem. “A Living and Dying Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the World.” This poem, now one of the most beloved hymns of all time, and know under the title, “Rock of Ages,” was born out of party spirit. To begin with Paul says, once you were blind and now you see. Regardless of what gifts you have or don’t have, or somebody else has, No one speaking by the Holy Spirit calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say He is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. In other words you don’t need to speak in tongues or work miracles to be a Christian, or to show you have the Spirit of God. You have to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ. This is our common goal. From the least to the greatest we all served dumb idols and by God’s grace we who believe now call Jesus Lord. By the same token, if a man doesn’t have Jesus as Lord no matter what miracles he does or what signs he shows, he is not saved. Did not Jesus say, Many will come and say we cast out demons in your name, and prophesied and have done wonderful works and i will say depart from me, i never knew you. He also said to his disciples in Luke 10:20, Rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you but that your names are written down in heaven.

II A Common God

Not only do we have the same goal but all gifts whether ordinary or extraordinary, whether simple or spectacular, come from the same triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Spirit distributes the gifts as He wills, no credit to us. We are totally dependent on the Spirit of God for whatever gifts we have. Paul reminds us of this in verses 4-6, There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Likewise the Son of God, the exalted head of the Church calls different people to different ministries. These calls to service are according to His will and are no credit to us. Furthermore, says Paul, God the Father works in different ways. It is the Father by way of eminence who works all things in all: in his government of the Church and the world, God does as he pleases. The Spirit gives, the Son calls, the Father works and they do it sovereignly without asking us. Many people who exalt the gifts too much often end up with a Jesus only or a Holy Spirit only religion, and misrepresent the trinity. But C.S. Lewis wrote of the trinity, “That it is either the most farcical doctrine invented by the early disciples or the most profound and thrilling mystery revealed by the Creator Himself, giving us a grand intimation of reality.” Lewis writes, “A good many people nowadays say, ‘I believe in a God, but not in a personal God.’ They feel that the mysterious something which is behind all other things must be more than a person. Now the Christians quite agree. But the Christians are the only people who offer any idea of what a being that is beyond personality could be like. All the other people, though they say that God is beyond personality, really think of Him as something impersonal: that is, as something less than personal. If you are looking for something super-personal, something more than a person, then it isn’t a question of choosing between the Christian idea and the other ideas. The Christian idea is the only one on the market.” So when it comes to spiritual gifts, talents, abilities what have we that we did not receive from the Trinity? As Paul says in verse 11, All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. To God alone be the glory for what we have including a Lord and Savior whom we did not deserve. Therefore consider the common good, says Paul.

III A Common Good

Verses 7-11 state it plainly, Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. The only reason we have any gifts at all is for others, that is, for the common good. The Puritan, Thomas Brooks wrote “Labour mightily for a healing spirit. Away with all discriminating names and whatever may hinder the applying of balm to heal your wounds…Discord and division become no Christian. For wolves to worry the lambs is no wonder, but for one lamb to worry another, this is unnatural and monstrous.” Paul lists several gifts here. we should notice that there are gifts listed here that had a special use in the Church of the first century. The apostolic church was a wonderful church but it was in its infancy. It had no complete Bible. It was new and it was small. There was a need for confirmation. There was a need for information. Both needs were met by the signs of the Spirit. We are mistaken if we try to copy this particular list of gifts. It was the exercise of these gifts that was prominent in Corinth and which by the way was the source of the problem. With such extraordinary gifts comes the temptation to think we are special. Others think this too. Today good Bible teachers tend to be revered and adored. What would it be like if they were walking around doing miracles. We must not lose sight of the purpose of such gifts. They are for the body. They help no one without the Word of God. Rich dives in hell saw Lazarus in heaven and beseeched that Lazarus would be sent to warn his five brothers. Now that would be a miracle, but God said it won’t make any difference. If they don’t believe Moses and the prophets, they will not believe such a sign. Everything is for the body of Christ. The burden of the Apostle is not to discredit the gifts. He regards them as vital. The argument he is beginning to develop here will become increasingly clear. A mature church is governed by love and humility. It focuses on the mercy of God, and the sovereignty of God and not on the accomplishments of men.

Conclusion

When we come to the table of the Lord we are reminded that we have a Savior who was gifted as no other. He had the Spirit without measure; he was called as no other, for He said as the Father sent me, so send i you; he worked the works of God in perfect harmony with the Father, so that now all power in heaven and earth is his. This Savior humbled Himself to death on the cross. This Savior laid aside his prerogatives, refused to be proud, and thought of the body of Christ first. It is this humility which we are to learn.