1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Meaning and Commentary - Bible Study Tools Do all work miracles? Therefore, it is wrong to seek to receive the same kind of an experience that someone else receives. 12:12-31 Just as the body is one, although it has many members, and just as all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. It was one of those, truths that were kept secret in the Old Testament, but now revealed not so much a thing difficult to comprehend when stated, as a thing not revealed before. . The plural with the neuter noun is to be explained from the distributive sense (Khner, a [2005] Xen. Shake the resurrection and Christianity goes. This we find in 1 Corinthians 11:1-34; but it is here Christ, because it becomes a question of grace. We must be content though we are lower and less than others. The members of the natural body are made to have a care and concern for each other, to prevent a schism in it. The church at Corinth had soon failed most gravely far and wide. This has caused many to seek the gift of tongues, or to fake the gift of tongues, often only to assure ones self or others that they are indeed filled with the Holy Spirit. Man is no more capable of fathoming the depths of divine things than a brute can comprehend the works of human wit or science. So should the members of Christ's body behave towards their fellow-members: instead of despising them, or reproaching them, for their infirmities, they should endeavour to cover and conceal them, and put the best face upon them that they can. Shall it hereupon disown relation to the body? Because of that his function is twofold. All (every) scripture is given by inspiration of God;" but all is not His revelation. There is not only the direct but the indirect allusion when the heart is filled with an object; and the indirect is a yet stronger witness of the place it holds than the direct. If the Church is to be a healthy body, we need the work that everyone can do. Those who have eternal life prove it by godliness; those who have it not prove the lack of it by indifference to holiness, and lack of that love which is of God. But men are apt to value most those which make a showy appearance. Whenever a person boasts, you will in general find. The question is not in the least raised whether the guilty person was a saint or not; still less does he allow that which one so often and painfully heard pleaded in extenuation, "Oh, but he [or she] is a dear Christian." All this they thought the fruit of indiscretion and avoidable. Which of you, my brethren, would have thought of classing a railer with an adulterer? And Elijah heard, "Jezebel is after you," and he took off running. II. Therefore tongues miracles, healings, the use of outward powers, are largely dwelt on here. Some of the Jews were following the Hellenistic culture. This was the more shameful, considering the brightness of the truth vouchsafed to them, and the striking manifestation of divine power in their midst. The need for varieties of spiritual gifts 12:4-31. Here their consciences needed to be roused. You just . The foot and ear are less useful, perhaps, than the hand and eye; but because one is not a hand, and the other an eye, shall they say, therefore, that they do not belong to the body? Verse 23 teaches that we should bestow honor upon those members whom we may consider to be inferior to us. I was just making up an example because the Lido is a plush area, I named Lido, and white Cadillacs is an epidemic for these guys." If applied to the church, it means, if one of its members should be favored with extraordinary endowments; or be raised to a station of honor and influence above his brethren. The apostle sets aside the whole basis of the argument as false; and we must never hear reasoning which overthrows what God has ordained. All the members rejoice with it - That is, in the body, all the other members partake of the benefit and honor. The word suffer here refers to disease, or sickness. Or your legs, each of them had separate desires of where they wanted to go? He refuses to be conformed to our patterns and to our mindsets. If one is poor, the others should aid him, and supply his needs; if one is persecuted and opposed for righteousness' sake, the others should sympathize with him, and make common cause with him. So the apostle shows that all his knowledge of the truth, far from making him careless, prompted him to yet greater earnestness, and to daily denial of himself. But the cross is more than this. It is true also that not only we feel an interest in the part that is affected, but that disease in any one part tends to diffuse itself through, and to affect the whole frame. God has said it, He has promised it; I put my faith in the Word and the promise of God, and establish it there. Note, Christian sympathy is a great branch of Christian duty. It is of the greatest interest to examine the list of special gifts which Paul gives, because from it we learn much about the character and work of the early Church. He is always spoken of doing something good with someone else. Is it not a remarkable style of speech and feeling? All real understanding for the Christian is the fruit of faith. If the hands, the feet, the heart, the lungs, the brain be in a healthy condition, the advantage is felt by all the members, and all derive advantage from it. Sometimes the person so moved could interpret his own outpourings, but usually it required someone else who had the gift of interpretation. They imagined the true way to be spiritual was to make much of the spirit of man. There could be four ways in which this terrible phrase might arise. He was free to serve Christ, and time was short: what had such an one to do with heathen temples? The Lord give us His own spirit of obeying the Father. But this is ruinous in divine things, which are entirely outside sense and reason. Our place is to bow and believe. There is not the slightest doubt that gifts of healing did exist in the early Church; Paul would never have cited them unless they were real. 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 Kjv If applied to the church, it means, if one of its members should be favored with extraordinary endowments; or be raised to a station of honor and influence above his brethren. You are the body of Christ and each of you is a member of it. No doubt assumption would produce disorder; but weakness simply (where it leads souls, as it should, to spread out their need before the Lord) brings in the gracious action of the Holy Ghost, and the unfailing care of Him who loves His saints and the assembly. The members referred to in verse 23 that we think to be "less honorable" (atimos) and "uncomely" (askemon) are the members that have "less esteem" (Thayer 83-2-820) and are "indecent (or) unseemly" in comparison to other body parts. As He intended the limbs of the physical body to work together, He also expects members of the church to work together. If one member be sound and healthy, the benefit extends to all. To deal with the matter they owed to the Lord Jesus. But no amount of gift, in few or many, can of itself produce holy spiritual order. It is to give up the distinctive power and place that belongs to us; for does not Christianity show us man judged, condemned, and set aside? Thus, from first to last, it is a process begun, carried on, and completed by the Holy Ghost. It doesn't really matter if I am there or not." Hilch. I said, "I really don't. Accordingly, in this chapter he proceeds to supplement the application of the doctrine of the cross to the state of the Corinthians by bringing in the Holy Ghost; for this again supposes the incapacity of man in divine things. I was going on describing the scenario. Nothing, however, is better fitted to promote harmony than this community of interest, when every one feels that, by the prosperity of others, he is proportionally enriched, and, by their penury, impoverished. GOD'S DIFFERING GIFTS ( 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 ). Are all prophets? God kept saying, "I am going to give you a son, Abraham," the older he got. You are all important. 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. [Note: Robertson and Plummer, p. The Corinthians were under the influence of the world. 26 And whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it; or (one) member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. "You were talking about me last night, talking about my home here on Lido and my white Cadillac." The word "suffer" here refers to disease, or sickness. He recalls to them the Holy Spirit's dwelling in them. And then when the child is born I will be the midwife and I will take the child from her womb and it will be like my child and it will be your son. For instance, the apostle himself comes before us in ministry with his especial gift and position in the church. What if your hand had a different idea than your arm of what it wanted to do? Commentary on the First Ep. It was not so at Corinth. All things are lawful for me, but not all . (iv) Paul speaks of what the Revised Standard Version calls administrators (kuberneseis, G2941) . On this I must just say a few words in order to develop its force. . " Then James, with a word of wisdom, said, "I suggest let's just write to them and tell them, keep themselves from fornication and things that were offered to idols, things that were strangled; if they do that they do well. Or one member be honoured - If applied to the body, this means, if one member or part be regarded and treated with special care; be deemed honorable; or be in a sound, healthy, and vigorous condition. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Time is short. This in both its parts is exactly as it should be; and faith sees and receives it in Christ's cross. All his members are dear to him. 2 You know that n when you were pagans o you were led astray to p mute idols, however you were led. The fact is, church discipline supposes and goes on the ground that those on whom it is exercised are Christians; but when it is a question of discipline, it is not the season for the display of Christian affection. In their boasted liberty, and because they knew an idol was nothing, they considered that they might go anywhere, and do what they pleased. If you set up for exceeding candour, the next thing we may well dread to hear is that you have played very false. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. In all things pertaining to religion and to their mutual welfare, they should feel that they have a common cause, and regard it as a privilege to aid one another. I accept it." Theirs was rather the display of conscious strength; but at the same time they lacked the fear of God, and the sense of responsibility in the use of what God had given them. And so I am waiting upon God and say, "Oh Lord, I want to receive more of Your Spirit," and then I wait for this warm glow to start in the top of my head, and nothing happens. There must be a distinction of members in the body: Were the whole body eye, where were the hearing? 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that . 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? It is Jesus who in grace has undergone the judgment of God, and brought in the full delivering power of God for the souls that believe. Immediately after he alludes to the schisms that were then at work among them, and calls on them to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment; informing them of the tidings which had reached him through the house of Chloe, that there were contentions among them, some saying, "I am of Paul," others "I am of Apollos;" some, "I am of Cephas," and others "I am of Christ himself." If you have made that confession, it is because the work of the Holy Spirit within your life. But then, as he shows, there was not only this great source of blessing in Christ, but there is the power that works in us. All believers, without distinction, are introduced into and united in that body through the baptism of the Spirit. Taanith. So, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; and if one member is glorified all the members share its joy. 1 Corinthians 12. So I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 12:2-3 ). to another prophecy ( 1 Corinthians 12:10 ); Which is really speaking forth the truth of God through the anointing of the Spirit. Acts 18 gives us considerable detail about Paul's work in Corinth during that time. Nor is there a member of the body of Christ but may and ought to be useful to his fellow-members, and at some times, and in some cases, is needful to them. Whatever might be the providential arrangements outside in the world, he is looking at the assembly of God here on earth; and it is the assembly as a whole, the Corinthian assembly being, as every true assembly is, a kind, of representative, of the church universally. On the face of the case we have the working of liberty and responsibility in their mutual relations; and the apostle Paul is the very one to tell us that Apollos's will was not to go as he himself wished at this time. You see, men of faith can have lapses of faith, and if you have the gift of faith, it doesn't mean it is going to operate all the time. It is important that our faith be established in the Word, because it doesn't change, my feelings do. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles [Baptist or Presbyterians], whether we be bond or free; we have been all made to drink into one Spirit. Far from denying, he owns that their insinuation was true he had only brought before them elementary truths. Men. Mark, they must put away. In view of this we can and should honestly rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Or one member be honoured - If applied to the body, this means, if one member or part be regarded and treated with special care; be deemed honorable; or be in a sound, healthy, and vigorous condition. He points out that Christ is the image and the glory of God, and that the man stands in an analogous place as connected with and distinguished from the woman. But now are they many members, yet but one body. So people are looking for some kind of a feeling rather than just taking the Word of God at face value. And who should gainsay his pleasure? 5. It was unto His name that they were baptized; it was He that had been crucified. Now you know that you were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as you were led. It was a sin against Him. "All are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. All the members of the body are useful and necessary to each other. Disorder is never the result of weakness alone. There are many different types of gifts, but there is just one Spirit, the same Spirit. It is good that in our time we have once again learned to treat man as a whole. Such was the spirit and the faith of the apostle. I can't tell you where I received it, or how, but it was just there.The word of knowledge was probably exercised by Peter when this fellow Simon was seeking to buy the power that whosoever laid his hands on they might receive also the gift of the Holy Spirit. Miracles and tongues were liked, because these made themselves of importance. 1. But may the word itself, and every part of it, sink into our souls and be our joy, that we may not only take the precious truth of such an epistle as the Romans for the peace and joy of our hearts in believing individually, but also may understand our place by faith as of God's assembly on earth, and with thankful praise as those that call on the name of the Lord ours as well as theirs as those that find ourselves practically in need of such exhortations. Almost certainly he refers to exorcisms. They had abused power to self-exaltation; they were now turning liberty to license. The demand of the persecutors always was, "Say, 'Caesar is Lord (kurios, G2962) .'" If they were free from evil, let them act consistently. by-Verse Bible Commentary. What happened was this--at a church service someone would fall into an ecstasy and pour out a torrent of unintelligible sounds in no known language. But in a situation that arises the Lord just gives that word of wisdom that is satisfying to everybody.The second that he lists here or speaks about is. Their thoughts were fleshly, not of God. A beautiful experience. Peter didn't say, "It is my faith, my great faith. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Next Paul lists wonderful deeds of power. The latter part of the chapter takes up not the relative place of the man and the woman, but the supper of the Lord, and so the saints gathered together. It is hard to share in the successes, failures, joys and sorrows of fellow Christians if we do not know much about them. There are differences of administrations ( 1 Corinthians 12:5 ). Out of this fertile root of evil has the clergy grown. So they came to the church in Jerusalem and there was a big division over this. He puts it on the ground of their being prospered in any degree, and connects it with the special day of Christian enjoyment, when they gather together for the communion of saints. "Pour on more, pour on more." To this day we find among the ruins of these temples votive tablets and inscriptions commemorating healings; and no one goes to the trouble and expense of erecting an inscription for nothing. They backbit. Thus it was at Corinth. Surely all have not the power to do wonderful things? "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? For these last few verses, this morning's sermon is an exposition of this latter portion, and so I would refer you to this morning's sermon to it for the exposition to this portion from verse 1 Corinthians 12:28 on. In Jesus' name. 262.]. But he does not forget His authority: "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of demons." He could lead about a sister-wife like another; he had foregone this for the Lord's sake. I don't know why I said it. 1. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. They were not in a condition to bear more. Their authority was not confined to one place; they had no settled and localized ministry; their writ ran through the whole Church. He wished that they did indeed reign that he might reign with them (that the blessed time might really arrive). 1 Corinthians 12:23 Commentaries: and those members of the body which Instead, in being joined together in love and charity with one another, every one of them should bestow to the profit of all that which he has received, according as his ministry requires. It had two harbours. One and the same Spirit produces all these effects, sharing them out individually to each man, as the Spirit wishes. 15:1-58 is taken up in confirming and explaining the great doctrine of the resurrection. That's what he said; he is a crude guy. or one member be honoured; by being set in the highest place, and employed to the greatest usefulness, or by being most richly and beautifully clothed and adorned: all the members rejoice with it; as sharing in the honour, Or benefit of it: so if one member of the church of Christ is honoured with an high office, with great gifts, with a large measure of grace, spiritual light, knowledge, and experience, with great discoveries of the love of God, with the presence of Christ, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, or with the good things of this life, and an heart to make use of them for the interest of religion, the other members rejoice at it; for so it becomes the saints to rejoice with them that rejoice, and be glad, both at the temporal and spiritual prosperity of each other: and upon the whole it is clear, that the meanest have no reason to be discouraged, nor the highest and greatest to be proud and elated. There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all ( 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 ). Literally, we have to be the body of Christ, hands to do his work, feet to run upon his errands, a voice to speak for him. It is a supremely essential work. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. What a glorious change would result when not the unlettered poor only, but the great and the noble, the wise and the Prudent, were all joined in the confession of Jesus! How his heart would rejoice in that day with them! One member is suffering, the whole body suffers. 22, 11, 12. Read full chapter 1 Corinthians 11 In a sense, I guess God has made me a mouth, but if the whole body were a mouth, what a mess it would be. You probably will have to cry louder to wake him up, or it could be that he is off on a vacation, that would be a shame. The calm going on in the service of Christ, the endurance of this spirit or that, as no more than the idle wind, was no doubt exceedingly unpleasant to such as were wise in their own conceit, and valued the criticism they freely bestowed on the different servants of the Lord. In the end of the chapter a very important principle is laid down. They were making them the counters of a game they were playing in this world. And how does the apostle meet this new feature? We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." Instead of rivalry and a me first attitude in the church (compare James 4:1-3), Christians are to be continually and anxiously concerned about fellow church members. And then, as he made his circuit through the temple, people said, "Isn't that the lame man who has been at the gate for many years?" Was this to be slighted? They yearned after the fire of Peter and the rhetoric of Apollos. These Corinthians had an uncommonly good opinion of themselves, and so they must be told plainly the reason why he does not open out these deep things. They had forgotten this, and were in a sense trafficking with these powers of the Spirit of God. "Upon the, first day of the week let every one of you lay by in store as he has been prospered, that there be no gatherings when I come." resurrection of the dead. An ordinary meal, or any such act expressive even in natural things of fellowship with the person thus dishonouring the Lord, is forbidden. The person who cannot see beyond his or her own organization, the person who cannot see beyond his or her congregation, worse still, the person who cannot see beyond his or her own family circle, has not even begun to grasp the real unity of the Church. It isn't a toy for me to play with; it is for the profit of the whole body of Christ. If one member be sound and healthy, the benefit extends to all. & 106. The evil was in the saints themselves, who indulged in their old zeal of the schools, and allowed their natural partiality to work. It is through the faith of Him that this man has perfect soundness in the presence of you all" ( Acts 3:6-16 ). And then that wicked queen Jezebel came back and she heard what Elijah did, and she said, "God help me if I don't have that guy's head by tomorrow afternoon." This is the part accordingly that he was led in the wisdom of God to put forward. Christian affection is most excellent; as brethren we should love even to laying down life for each other; as it is also very right that we should own the work God has wrought, above all what He has wrought in grace. It might be founded on Scriptures comparatively few, but it was a fundamental truth of the Old Testament, as the apostle Paul lets us hear in his controversy with the Jews in the Acts of the Apostles. The faith should never be in the feelings that I receive, because I may not have any feelings at all that I can describe. Because it happens so naturally. They are all as such held responsible, according to the grace and holiness and glory of Christ, for the sin done in their midst, of which they are cognisant. Power in the sense in which we are now speaking of it that is, power in the form of gift is far from being the deepest need or the gravest desideratum of the saints. 12:12-26. So Paul and Barnabas gathered these guys together and, "We'll go right on down to Jerusalem. So God appointed in the Church some, in the first place, as apostles; in the second place, prophets; in the third place, teachers; then the power to work wonders; then special gifts of healings; the ability to help; the ability to administer; different kinds of tongues. It is one individual organism made up of many different parts that serve a wide variety of functions. And Plato: "As in the body, when but a finger is hurt, the whole frame, drawn towards the soul and forming one realm under the ruling power therein, feels the hurt and sympathizes all together with the part affected" ("Republic," v., 462). Love is the only thing which can bind the Church into a perfect unity; and Paul goes on to sing his hymn to love.
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