Introduction to The Spirit & His Gifts

Transcript

GR 1342
01-28-07
Introduction to the Spirit and His Gifts
I Corinthians 12:1-3
Gil Rugh

It's our practice at Indian Hills to go through different books of the Bible, start at the beginning and work through verse by verse, line by line, word by word to find out what God has said and see it in its context. And we're studying I Corinthians, Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. And we have come to chapter 12. We took a little break from our study after chapter 11, but we're going back to I Corinthians now, and the 12th chapter. And every portion of the Word of God is precious and important. But certain sections have a special significance to us as the church. And I Corinthians 12-14 is such a section. All three of these chapters are devoted to the subject of the spiritual gifts that God has bestowed upon the church, the local church, the people of the local church, so that they might function in a manner that is honoring to Him. We come to an area that has been the cause of much controversy among Christians. There is much disagreement over the subject of the gifts of the Spirit. Are all the gifts for us today? How are the gifts to be used? Are certain gifts required of every believer and an evidence of the Spirit's ministry? And so on. What we want to be careful of, as always, and this is true of all of us, whatever our position is on the gifts, is that we come to the scriptures, seeking to find out what God has said and ready to adjust to what God says. I have to be careful because I have certain ideas, I have things that perhaps I have experienced, and the danger is I begin to adjust the Word of God to fit other criteria.

The modern day charismatic movement, we have usually distinguished. The Pentecostal movement began back at the beginning of the 1900s. Modern day neo-Pentecostal movement, which we often refer to as the charismatic movement, began around 1960. And that has had a great impact in Protestant and Roman Catholic churches alike. And much of it centers on this very issue of the gifts of the Spirit. I trust as we move through this section of God's Word, we'll do it carefully and we want to have everything that God has for us. I remember a time several years ago, closing myself in my study and saying, Lord, I have to be sure that I don't miss anything that you have provided that would make my ministry greater in its testimony for you. Now I have to be careful I don't close myself to things in the Word that God has that would make me a more effective servant of His. By the same token, I don't want to open myself up to things just because other people think they would be good ideas. But the Word of God has to be our guide and our authority.

We talk about the gifts, we're talking about the gifts of the Spirit. So the Spirit of God becomes key to our understanding as we talk about His ministry in giving, providing gifts to the church, giving gifts to individuals to enable them to function as part of the body of Christ. I want to do a little bit of review on the ministry of the Holy Spirit because it's important to understand. It will be review for some, for some of you it may be new. I hope it will impress on your mind, as it has mine again, there is no greater time to live for the Lord and serve Him than this very day. The privileges given to us as members of the church of Jesus Christ are greater than have been given to any of the Old Testament saints. I would not change places with Abraham or David or Moses. God has given us unique and special blessings and we dare not take them for granted.

I want to look a little bit at the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You understand there is one God eternally existing in three persons, that's the trinity. One God, three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not one God manifesting Himself in three ways. Sometimes we use the example of a man who may be a husband, a father and a welder at work, or something like that. No, that's one person doing three different things at different times, perhaps. God is three distinct persons—Father, Son, Spirit. But not three distinct Gods, one God and three persons. As God you would expect that all three persons were together through eternity and for us we come to the beginning with the creation and we find Father, Son and Spirit all involved and part of that work of creation.

Back up to I Corinthians 8, a passage we've already considered together. Verse 5, the contrast is among the peoples of the world, they have all kinds of gods. But for us, verse 6,"There is but one God the Father from whom are all things and we exist for Him. And one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we exist through Him. So you have that emphasis that God the Father is the source of all things, the one from whom creation began and was carried out through the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead.

Back up to John 1. And John begins his gospel by saying, "In the beginning was the Word". The Word, as you are aware, refers to Jesus Christ as the context makes clear. He was already present at the beginning. "The Word was with God and the Word was God". Grammatically that's as clear a statement of the deity of Christ as you could have. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. So you see again, you have God the Father and God the Son, God the Father carrying out creation through God the Son. There is one person of the Godhead missing at this point, not mentioned, and that is the Holy Spirit. Why is He not spoken of?

Well, let's go back to the beginning, Genesis 1. That's where the reference comes to when we read in the beginning was the Word. Literally, in the beginning the Word already was, perfect tense. Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void and darkness was over the face of the deep". Now note this, "And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water". So here you see the third person of the triune God, an active part of the creation, the Spirit of God moving over the surface of the water. It seems that God the Father being the source, creating through God the Son and the active agent in carrying it out is the One here hovering over the waters, God the Holy Spirit. So He is part of the work of creation, the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit always work in harmony, distinct persons and always working according to the order of the Godhead. And here you have the Holy Spirit who was part of the creating work of God.

Now we could go through the Old Testament if we had time, and it's not our purpose at this juncture, to look at the various references to the Holy Spirit. Turn over to Genesis 6. In Genesis 6 the creation, because of sin, has been in rebellion against God and the corruption gets worse and worse. And so we read in verse 3 that God is preparing to bring the judgment of the flood on the earth. God says in Genesis 6:3, "Then the Lord said, my Spirit shall not strive with man forever". There you see what the Holy Spirit has been doing. He's been striving with man, He is the one, if you will, who has been restraining man, who has been dealing with mankind. So even though there is not a lot of discussion about the Holy Spirit, His ministry has been going on. You might want to compare this for your own study down the road, just an aside. II Thessalonians 2:6-7, we are told that in the coming days in anticipation and preparation for the coming cataclysmic judgment on the world again. First you had the flood and then you have a coming 7-year period. We are told that the Holy Spirit, the restrainer, will be removed, taken out of the way for preparation for the coming judgment. So a similar event that occurs in Genesis 6.

One of the main things the Holy Spirit did through Old Testament history was He inspired people to be God's spokesmen. He directed them so that they spoke the word of God and then wrote the word of God. Let me just read you a verse, II Peter 1:21, we are told in Old Testament times men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So we have the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi and it is a record of different men being used as God's spokesmen. In I Peter 1:10-12 we are told that the Old Testament prophets had the Spirit of Christ speaking in them. So we can have II Timothy 3:16-17 that tells us that all scripture is God-breathed and profitable. It's a ministry of the Holy Spirit, He was part of the work of God in creation, part of the work of God in dealing with sinful humanity, part of the work of God in bringing the revelation of the living God to mankind like speaking in and through individuals selected by God.

But as we come to the New Testament and the ministry of Christ we are promised a new and greater ministry of the Holy Spirit. Turn back to John 7. We are promised that as a result of the death, burial and resurrection and ascension of Christ, His return to heaven, there will be a new and greater ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world and in the lives of God's people, a greater ministry than has ever occurred before. John 7:38, Jesus is speaking, "He who believes in me as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified". You see there is going to be a fullness of the Spirit's ministry. It's compared to rivers of living water, a ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people. It's for those who believe in Christ. He who believes in Me, verse 38. The Spirit, verse 39, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. And then you'll note that statement, the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. This is a ministry of the Holy Spirit that is dependent on the glorification of Christ, which involves His death on the cross, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension back to heaven to His Father. As a result there will be a new fuller ministry of the Holy Spirit than has ever been received. The Holy Spirit has been present in the world, we saw that from Genesis 1, His action in Genesis 6, and His work of inspiring men. And we could have looked at many other incidences through the Old Testament. But now Jesus says as a result of His glorification, there will be a fuller and greater ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who believe in Christ than has taken place in previous days.

Turn over to John 14. Now we are in the last night before the crucifixion. Jesus is spending this last evening, began with a meal with His disciples and following this evening and His instruction to them and His prayer to the Father in John 17, He will be betrayed and crucified. In John 14:16, "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, another Comforter, a paraclete, one who comes alongside to give you comfort, to give you help, one who will be your infinite friend. That He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth". Now the disciples have experienced the Spirit's ministry. Look at the last part of verse 17, "You know Him because He abides with you and will be in you". So I am going to give you the Holy Spirit to be a unique Helper and Comforter. You already know the Spirit, you've had experience with the Spirit, He's been with you. But there is going to be another step, if you will, you're going to move to greater intimacy in your relationship with the Spirit, because then He will be in you. Down in verse 26, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit. That word ought to grip our hearts and minds as one who is the Helper, the paraclete, the one who comes alongside to be with us and in us. He is there to provide for us in every way. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name. So here you have all three persons of the triune God. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you". Where does the peace come from? The list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace". He is the One who comes to fill us, to be a river of living water, to bring the peace of Almighty God into our hearts and minds and to provide for us everything necessary for life and godliness.

Turn over to John 15:26, "When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father". You'll note this connection, I will send Him from the Father, and it indicates that it will be after I am glorified, after I return to the Father, I will send the Holy Spirit to you. He is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. He will testify about Me. That's why you don't hear as much from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes you hear people say, we ought to have more emphasis on the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit's ministry is to direct attention to Jesus Christ.

Look down in John 16:7, "But I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you". You'll note that Jesus tells His disciples, it will be greater for you to have the Holy Spirit come indwell you than it is to have Me present walking with you on the earth. We often think, wouldn't it have been wonderful to have walked with Christ when He walked this earth. That would have been a great honor, but you know what? It is not as great a privilege as it is to have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us. Isn't that what Jesus said? It is to your advantage that I go away, because if I don't go away, the Helper won't come. The Holy Spirit won't come in that unique role that He now has. That's why I say you and I are the greatest blessed people, since the death of Christ and His ascension to heaven. I admire Old Testament saints, it's great to see how God used them. I wouldn't change places with any of them. We have a unique position of intimacy with the living God that comes as a result of the finished work of Christ. When the Holy Spirit comes, verse 8, "He will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment". Think about that verse. You'll note that the Old Testament has no evangelistic outreach. There is no evangelistic program to reach the world in the Old Testament. When Israel came to Canaan it wasn't to evangelize those lost pagans, it was to bring judgment on them and destroy them. The Holy Spirit wasn't carrying on the ministry of convicting of sin, righteousness and judgment. God's work of salvation was contained in the nation Israel. That doesn't mean there was never a Gentile saved, in the gracious plan of God there was. But basically there is no outreach. You have other nations mentioned, but there is no evangelistic outreach. Well what about Jonah? He went to Ninevah. But Jonah knew what the issue of Ninevah was, it wasn't primarily the evangelization of Ninevah of Assyria. It was part of God's program to delay His judgment on Israel by having Ninevah repent and delay His judgment of them. Jonah knew it, and he told God, I knew this was what would happen. They would repent and then you wouldn't judge them. You know why he wanted it to happen? Who was going to come down and conquer the Northern Kingdom and carry them into captivity? Assyria. What is the capital of Assyria? Ninevah. Where did Jonah go? Ninevah. Why didn't he want to go? He didn't want them to repent. There was no evangelistic outreach in the Old Testament.

I remember my Hebrew professor in seminary, this goes back a long time, but I still remember it. Standing in our Hebrew class and we were studying the books of Moses, anybody who thinks we find an evangelism program in the Old Testament really hasn't read the Old Testament. It's not there. But now we have an evangelism program. The Holy Spirit has come to convict the world, He has a unique ministry now to the world as well as to believers.

Down in verse 12, "I have many more things to say to you, you cannot bear them now, but when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth and He will disclose to you what is to come". Note verse 14, "He will glorify Me". You see the purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to draw attention and focus all the attention on Himself, His ministry is to focus attention on Christ and exalt Him. Doesn't mean we don't study the Holy Spirit and we don't see much of His ministry as we move through chapters 12-14. But the primary focus will be on Jesus Christ. And that's God's plan. Even the Father focuses attention on the Son so that all who honor the Son will honor the Father. When you honor the Son you honor the Father. The Spirit's ministry is to glorify the Son and exalt Him. He is the central person of the trinity, involved in the revelation God has given. So the Holy Spirit comes.

Come over to Acts 1. Jesus is preparing for His ascension to the Father, meeting with His disciples for the last time on earth here. He's been crucified, He's been buried, He's been raised from the dead, He's been ministering to them. Now He's going to ascend to the Father, He won't be coming back to earth to minister to them. So verse 5, "For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now". Verse 8, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses". In other words they'll have to testify to the world about Christ and the Spirit through them will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Because the Holy Spirit will be the power in and through them, using the truth because He is the Spirit of truth. He'll bring about God's work in the world. It is yet future. Christ ascends to the Father, and in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit comes. So the church begins in Acts 2 and this mighty, unique, awesome work of the Holy Spirit through the world, this awesome work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a child of God now takes place for the first time.

Turn over to Ephesians 4. Now Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. He has gone and been a witness of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit has convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment. And a number at Ephesus have turned in faith to Christ, and now he writes instructing them. He tells them to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called in verse 4, and he talks about the unity verse 3, that has been produced by the Spirit in the bond of peace. That's why factions and divisions within a local church are always an act of rebellion against the Spirit of God, because He is the one producing peace and those fracturing that peace in the local congregation are fighting against the Spirit. We have to be diligent to preserve the unity that the Spirit has produced. He talks about that unity and the oneness of the body, then come to verse 7. "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift". Grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. God has given each of us a gift in His grace, and that's why we talk about the charismatic gifts. Charis is the Greek word for grace. The gifts are given on the basis of God's grace.

When did this happen? When in grace did Christ give gifts? Verse 8, therefore it says, when He ascended on high. When did the ascension take place? Read Acts 1, we didn't read all of it. When He ascended in the clouds, when he ascended on high He led captive a host of captives, referring to the devil and the demons who have been defeated and conquered, brought under judgment. And He gave gifts to men. Verse 11, "and He gave some apostles, some prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers". We'll talk about these individual gifts and more when we get further into I Corinthians 12. So you see He gave gifts, but first you have this parenthetical instruction in verses 9-10. "Now this expression, He ascended, what does it mean except that He had also descended? The One who was enthroned in glory left the realms of glory, came from His Father to the earth, not just to the earth, but He was buried. He descended into the lower parts of the earth", that's a reference to His burial. What is the message of the gospel? When we get to I Corinthians 15, "Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, He was buried, He was raised, He was seen. He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all heaven so that He might fill all things."

Philippians 2, "Jesus Christ humbled Himself and became obedient, took the form of a servant, He emptied Himself, no longer independently used His attributes as deity. He became a man, took the form of a servant. And He became obedient, even unto death, even the death of the cross. The result of that death, He was buried. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
That's what we're told here. He descended from heaven to earth, and not just to earth but He suffered and died and was buried, and then He ascended to the Father. What happened as a result of His ascension? Verse 8, "When He ascended on high He gave gifts to men". And so He goes on to talk about the gifts of the Spirit, the result of the glorification of Christ, His finished work on the cross, His return to the Father.

With that come back to I Corinthians 12. The next time I do this, in 40-50 years we may just do one study on the Holy Spirit, then we'll come to I Corinthians. Verses 1-3 is the introduction, so we can highlight this. It lays the foundation, some of which we've done when we talked about the Spirit. It's going to prepare the way, and the preparation for the way is to draw the contrast in what you were before Christ and what you are after Christ; what you were living your life before the Spirit of God intervened and you trusted Christ. And then we're going to talk about the gifts of the Spirit. The focus of this is Jesus Christ because the work of the Spirit, according to verse 13, is to place you into the body of Christ, of which He is the head. And we can function as His people together in this place in a manner that honors Him.

This is not the only place spiritual gifts are talked about in the Bible, but it is the key place. Chapters 12-14 will deal with spiritual gifts. The love chapter is about spiritual gifts and how they are to be exercised. We saw Ephesians 4 talks about spiritual gifts and Romans 12 talks about spiritual gifts. Peter makes a limited reference to spiritual gifts in his first letter, but here is the fullest development, and we'll check some of these other passages as we move through in coming days in our study.

It starts out, "Now concerning spiritual gifts". That seems simple, and it is. But you ought to understand the word he used translated spiritual gifts here is not the normal word he will use through the rest of these chapters. The normal word that we think of with spiritual gifts and the word that will be used most often in these chapters is the word charisma or charismata. We get charismatic from it. The word charis is the Greek work for grace. So charisma or charismatic gifts are gifts of God's grace, bestowed by grace, not earned, not worked for, not merited. It's not well if you're a faithful Christian God will give you this gift. No, they are charisma, they are given on the basis of grace. That will be emphasized as we move into the chapter. But the word that he uses here is the word pneumaticon. Pneumatic, we have a........ You know I'm not very handy but I think I've heard about a pneumatic drill. I think that's a drill driven by air. If it's not, don't tell me. Marilyn was defrosting a little refrigerator we have the other day so I told her I'd help her. It wasn't defrosting fast enough. How do you defrost? I don't know, I went and got a hammer and a screwdriver and I'm pounding away at the ice and all of a sudden psssssshhhhhhh. All over this stuff comes blowing out. So I just told Marilyn, well I fixed it. I don't think we want this refrigerator anymore anyway, so let's just go get another one. Somehow when I was pounding away I pounded into the freon in the freezer and gave it release that it so desperately wanted.

At any rate this is the word pneumaticon, the pneuma, the Spirit. That's the word for Spirit. So where in charisma or charismatic the emphasis is on God's grace, here the emphasis is on God's Spirit. So when we talk about the pneumaticon, we're emphasizing the spiritual in this. Now concerning spiritual gifts, spiritual things. The spiritual things he's talking about are the gifts down in verse 4, now there are a variety of gifts. Then he'll start talking about them using the word that emphasizes grace. You understand these grace gifts come as a result of the Spirit's presence and ministry in the life of a believer. And since they are pneumaticon, the ministry of the Spirit and a result of His presence in the life, unbelievers do not have these. They are unique because they are a demonstration of His presence.

"Concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware". The letter to the Corinthians has been a hard letter. There are a number of things that had to be corrected in the Corinthians' lives. He is now going to address the subject of spiritual gifts. This is another thing that they have inquired to Paul about. When he says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, that indicates this is another thing that you asked me about.

Go back to chapter 7 verse 1,"Now concerning the things about which you wrote". Chapter 16 tells us that three men have come from the church at Corinth and they brought letters from the church at Corinth asking Paul, who was at Ephesus, about the matters they needed clarification on. Understand, they didn't have New Testaments to refer to. So you have this new church that's about 5-6 years old in the Lord that Paul established, they're trying to sort out certain things. And so they ask certain questions in chapter 7. Now concerning things about which you wrote. The first one was about marriage and sex in marriage. Then down in chapter 7 verse 25, now concerning. And that expression, now concerning indicates another thing you asked for specifics—virgins, those who aren't married. What is their role, what does God have to say about them. Chapter 8 verse 1, "Now concerning things sacrificed to idols". So if you will, the Corinthians are driving the agenda here under the direction of the Spirit of God. So Paul is responding to the issues the Corinthians had raised.

So when you get to chapter 12 and you read, "Now concerning spiritual gifts", this is another area that the Corinthians have asked about. I don't want you to be unaware. And Paul uses this expression a number of times in his letter. I don't want you to be unaware, I don't want you to be ignorant, I don't want you to be without knowledge of this. And he uses this expression when he wants to give them fuller information. Not that they don't know anything about spiritual gifts, they do, they've written asking about them, but they need clarification. And their big problem is going to be on the subject of tongues. So for them to understand the proper use of tongues and what God intends with tongues, they have to put this in the context of what God intends with spiritual gifts. So that will be about chapter 12, spiritual gifts generally. Then you have to understand that love is to be a controlling factor in all that we do as God's people. That will be chapter 13. Then chapter 14 we can focus on tongues in particular and compare it to the gift of prophecy so that we understand how God intends that gift to be used.

When he uses this expression, I do not want you to be ignorant, I do not want you to be unaware, he always uses the warm expression brethren, like you have here. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. If you chase this expression down the half a dozen or so times Paul uses it, he always uses brethren. I'm speaking to you as fellow members of the family of Christ. So even though I have some harsh things to say, some corrective things to say, this is family business and I'm speaking to you as those I love as fellow believers in Christ.

Verse 2, Paul is fond of drawing a contrast to remind us of what we were like before God in grace saved us and what it is like now. "You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols", however you were led. You know when you were pagan, ethne, we get the word ethnic from it. And it's a word that means Gentiles or nations. In the Bible we deal with the Jews, the Gentiles and the church. We have a book in Sound Words that uses that title. We have another writer who has written a trilogy, one on Israel, one on the nations and one on the church. Those are the three divisions—Israel as the nation God has chosen for Himself; the church as the body of Christ, the bride of Christ in this particular period of time; and then you have the nations, the people generally. In this context the translation pagans is fitting because he's talking about when you weren't because they never were part of Israel, remember this is a Greek city and they weren't part of the nation Israel. And before you became believers and followers of Christ, you were pagans, you were just a nation alienated from God, separated from the covenants that God made with the nation Israel. You were led astray to mute idols.

So in your life as a pagan, separated from God, you were led astray to the mute idols, mute, speechless. It's the word voice with no on the front. The idols with no voice, speechless, mute. However you are led. I mean, whatever direction they went, they all went to the same place—idols. And it doesn't mean just that the idols couldn't speak, this summarizes the fact these idols are lifeless. We don't have time, there are a number of passages, but we'll go to one, Psalm 115. Here you see the contrast between the living God and the idols of the nations. The psalm begins, "Not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory". We ought to remember that. Not to us, the glory is not for us, it's for Him. Not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory. People come to church and say, I'm looking for what I can get out of it. Well, you look to give glory to God. We go to worship, we do what? Give glory to God. But to your name give glory because of your lovingkindness, because of your truth. Why should the nations say, where now is their God? But our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, they cannot speak, they are mute. So you can summarize it. But look at the rest if you want to elaborate. They have mouths but they cannot speak, they have eyes but they cannot see, ears but they cannot hear, noses but they cannot smell, hands but they cannot feel, feet but they cannot walk. They can't make a sound with their throat. They are nothing, they can't do anything. They can't help you in any way. So you see you were led astray to mute, speechless idols. They are idols that are useless, they are worthless, they can't do anything to help you. Here you are going after these gods and you have nothing. Same as the gods people make up, the gods that people create. I want to tell you my god is like this, my god wouldn't do this, my god does that, this is what my god likes. They're worshiping an idol, they've made him up. He can do nothing. They do it to give themselves false comfort, false hope. They are nothing. Read Jeremiah 10 when you get a chance. Jeremiah is mocking the idols that men make and then you have to nail it down so it doesn't fall over. A lot of help you're going to get from this god. It will fall over and break into pieces if you don't nail him down. He's a worthless god, he's a useless god. We shouldn't make fun of other people's religion. Have you ever read the Old Testament? I mean, those gods do nothing, and those who worship those gods are fools. Romans 1 says they worship in the emptiness of their minds. It's utter foolishness, pathetic stupidity. And that's what we were like. You say, we never had any idols in our home. You know you just don't have to have an idol that you formed out of stone or wood. The gods that we create, they become the idols that we worship. Protestants, Catholics as well as the Hindus. I watched a program some time ago on one of the channels and it was on the rat gods in India, you know a temple to rats. And they're the gods and people come and sit there so the rats can run over them and the people feed them. These are their gods. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. And they're supposed to do something to help someone? They're rats, they run out to get the grain that you give them. They can do nothing to help you. Nor can the Protestants sitting in the church they are so comfortable with that does not hear the truth that the Spirit of truth has given, does not submit himself to the Christ who is Lord of all. He's there in the idol of his mind, worshiping the god that he has created. And there is no help with that god, they can do nothing.

So that's what we were. Come back to I Corinthians 12. "You were led astray to the worthless idols". Led astray, it's emphasized twice here, the way this is worded here. They were led astray by constraint. Word used of taking prisoners away in the book of Mark. And they are under the influence of the devil, of their own sin nature, of their own sinful desires. We have to go to another passage, Ephesians 2. You know we sometimes wonder, what's wrong with the world. We sometimes get the idea if we're good enough people, if we're nice enough people, if we tone down the truth that they find so offensive they're going to love us, they're going to like us and we'll all get along. You have to understand the contrast is overwhelmingly great, the chasm is unbridgeable. It took the work of the Son of God on the cross and the Spirit of God bringing that work to our hearts to save us. Look at Ephesians 2:1, "You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked". And note that, here we are, dead people walking around, the walking dead. You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked, that's where you lived, as a spiritually dead person in the realm of sin. According to the course of this world. Now note this, "according to the prince of the power of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience". They are being led to idols. Why do people flock to false religion, false teaching? They're walking according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we all, too, formerly lived, in the lust of our flesh. Our own sinful desires led us. Indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Never forget what you were. We begin to forget that when we begin to think sin isn't so bad, sinners aren't so bad, we just need to clean them up, we just need to help them. And then they'll want to be like us. Forget it. They're dead and they like where they are because they are the living dead, physically alive and spiritually dead, controlled by Satan, controlled by their sin. Delighted to pursue their idols.

"But God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved". Those great verses, verse 8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God". Only God in the provision of His Son and the work of His Spirit to apply that provision to a heart can bring life to the dead. That's what we were. Paul says to the Corinthians, that's what you were.

Come back to I Corinthians 12. You know when you were pagans you were led astray to the mute idols wherever you were led. People can come and sit in this building, sit in this auditorium, sit here and hear the Word, and nothing happens. They're like stone, nothing penetrates, nothing happens. They're dead. It's like if you went to the mortuary and brought in a corpse and set it up here and then you preach and teach and nothing happens. You say, well they're dead, nothing is going to happen. You bring your unsaved friends, you say I think they were offended. If we hadn't done this, they wouldn't have been offended. Forget it, they're dead. It will take a dramatic intervention of the Spirit of God with the truth of God to bring life to that corpse. Their spiritual death is every bit as real, and more serious than their physical death. You were led astray wherever you were led, to the dumb idols, speechless idols, worthless idols.

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is accursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. And there are some things I'll have to let go on this verse, we'll look at it as we introduce the next section in our next study. Let me say, the basic contrast being drawn in verse 3 is between believer and unbeliever. That's the contrast. When you were pagans you were led astray to the mute idols. Now I want to tell you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is accursed. That's talking about the unbeliever. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. That is the person who has been made new, made alive by the Spirit of God. So the contrast is between the believer and the unbeliever, and the dividing line is your attitude toward Jesus Christ. You know if you don't believe that He is the Lord of all, the Son of God who descended from heaven and walked this earth, suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, buried, was raised and ascended to the Father, and there is no hope but for you to trust Him, commit yourself to Him, submit to Him as the sovereign Lord, then you believe He is accursed. There is no middle ground. Jesus said he who is not with Me is against Me.

So we're not talking about here that some people were standing up and declaring Jesus is accursed. We're talking about people who refuse to acknowledge that He is Lord. The only alternative then, you believe He is accursed. Oh no, I just don't have an opinion right now. There is no such person. Jesus said if you are not with Me you are against Me, if you don't submit to Me as Lord, you declare Me accursed. Basically what it comes down to. Let's face it, everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed, the New Testament says that. And you don't understand the purpose of the curse, or you would bow before Him. So you're left with just Him being cursed, period. He is accursed, anathema. Sometimes you cringe, don't you? You'll hear somebody say something, Jesus was just a Jew whose plan didn't work out. And His group of followers weren't able to realize what they hoped He would do, and He ended up crucified and buried. So they made up a story that He got raised so they could try to salvage something. You almost want to step back, waiting for lightning to come from heaven, and say, how did they get by with this blasphemy? Jesus said that’s what they think. He is cursed. So everybody says that openly. That person sitting in that nice Protestant church, that nice Catholic church, that nice religious church, but has not submitted to the truth of God, submitted to Jesus Christ as Lord and trusting Him alone is declaring that Christ is accursed.

He's laying the foundation, then, on that basis then we can talk about the various gifts. You understand it's all about your relationship to Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus said this about the Spirit, didn't He? Talked this about the Spirit, that those who believed in Him were to receive. And those who have experienced the ministry of the Holy Spirit in convicting of sin, righteousness and judgment and have believed in Him and now have the Spirit flowing through them like a river of living water. They know that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's the basic foundation, foundational declaration. I referred to Philippians 2 earlier, that God has highly exalted Christ. Why? That every knee should bow and every tongue should declare that Jesus is Lord. Lord is the great title for Christ. The title Lord is used some 700 times in the New Testament, the title Savior is only used about 10 times. That's 70:1 ratio. For every one time that Jesus Christ is called Savior you would have the reference to Lord 70 times. Now that might be a little expanded because some of those references to Lord may be in a little different context. But 700 references use of the word Lord, about 10 references to Savior. Now He is the Savior, I'm not minimizing that. You understand you just can't mouth about, I trusted Christ. We'll have to leave the evidence of that, though, to our next study.

Where are you? Do you think Jesus Christ is accursed or has the Spirit of God opened your eyes to see He's Lord? I'm not asking how long you've been coming to this church, how many sermons you've heard. What is your attitude toward Jesus Christ? Is He Lord? Not, oh I just mouth it. Remember the demons can say that, and some of this is misunderstood. You hear somebody say, I knew there was a demon in that person and so I told them to say, Jesus is Lord. They couldn't say it so I knew it was a demon. You understand the demons can say it. Mark 1, what did the demons say when they saw Christ on earth? "We know who you are, the holy one of God". The problem? They can't bow before Him as Lord and submit to Him. That's the issue. Those that the Spirit of God has worked in, has enlightened by the Spirit, drawn by the Spirit and now indwelt by the Spirit have no problem with recognizing that Jesus is Lord and submitting to Him as such. Otherwise why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things which I tell you? That becomes the issue and the evidence. What have you done for Jesus Christ?

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the richness of your Word. Lord, we've but scratched the surface of the marvelous truth that the Spirit of truth has revealed. We are in awe to consider that we are privileged through faith in your Son to have a relationship of intimacy with you, with your Son, with your Spirit that was not possible before your Son completed the work of redemption. Lord, we praise you for such salvation, praise you that when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, you in mercy and grace opened our blinded eyes to see and believe in the One who loved us and died for us. Lord, I pray for any who are sitting here dead in trespasses and sins. May this be a day when the Spirit graciously opens their eyes, they turn from their sin and cast themselves on your mercy, gladly trusting Christ and submit to Him as the One who is Lord of all. We pray in Christ's name, amen.