Spiritual Gifts and Personal Responsibility I Corinthians 14:1 preached @ Hawkwood Baptist Church by Shafer Parker, Jr. April 29, 2018 I Cor. 14:1 Pursue Love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. (HCSB) Intro. Remember those days of old when we were going through I Corinthians passage by passage? But then last fall we got sidetracked at the end of I Corinthians 13 by a series of sermons on the Reformation I m not apologizing; we were only celebrating the 500 th anniversary of the greatest revival the Christian world has ever experienced, and when you think of the precious truths that were restored by the Reformation (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria) then you can t say it was wrong to leave I Corinthians for a little while. After that it was Christmas, and then one thing led to another, and here we are some seven months later and we re finally beginning again where we left off with I Corinthians at the end of last Summer. But starting today, we re back in I Corinthians, with only three chapters left to go. That s why I thought we d focus on one verse today because it really is a kind of hinge, connecting the main themes of chapters 12 and 13 to the new theme of chapter 14. So let s spend some time looking back this morning to get our heads back into I Corinthians. But remember, we re doing more than mere Bible study here. The verbs in this verse are in the imperative mood. That means this verse is a command to all Christians. And since this is the Word of God, then these are the commands of God. For the Christian, pursuing love isn t optional; neither is the command to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. More on that in a minute. Spiritual Gifts But right now, if you look back a page or two you will see that Paul first takes up the subject of spiritual gifts in chapter 12. Paul is determined to show the Corinthian Christians how disciples take full advantage of the Spirit s presence and power so as to dedicate their lives to the glory of God. In four statements he reminds them of a fundamental principle; spiritual gifts come from God, which means they are activated and empowered for serving others, and all for God s glory alone. 1. All spiritual gifts come from the one source, the Holy Spirit; thus any gift you have must be used in ways that recognize and honour their source. I Cor. 12:4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 2. It is the Lord Jesus Himself Who determines the application and use of the spiritual gift He gave you in the first place. Spiritual gifts are never about you.
I Cor. 12:5 T here are different ministries, but the same Lord. 3. In all the myriad ways that ministry takes place, the activation, the impact and the effect of the gifts you have are all dependent upon God. I Cor. 12:6 And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. 4. Spiritual gifts are given to Christians to be used in serving others. I Cor. 12:7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial (to others). for the common good (ESV) as a special way of serving others. (CEV) Desire the greater gifts Now in today s text Paul teaches us to desire spiritual gifts, but back in 12:31 he tells us to desire the greater gifts, and he doesn t hesitate to tell us what he means. Listen to 12:28. I Cor. 12: 28 And God has placed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, managing, various kinds of languages. Do you see it? In line with what Paul is saying in today s text, throughout this whole discussion on spiritual gifts, Paul affirms two compatible truths: (1) God is sovereign; the Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to believers as He sees fit; He knows what best fits you and your circumstances. But (2) at the same time you can have a direct influence on the gifts you receive. It is up to you to desire the best gifts (KJV), or the greater gifts (Weymouth), or the higher gifts (ESV), or the most helpful gifts (NLT). Pursue Love When Paul says pursue love we don t have to wonder what he means because he just spent the whole of chapter 13 describing to us what love is not, then telling us what love is, and finally letting us in on the revelation that love is one of only three things that are permanently relevant in all times and places. There will come a time when prophecy, languages (tongues) and knowledge will cease. But love never ends. In fact, the only three eternal verities are faith, hope and love, and of the these, the greatest is love. So, as Paul makes clear, if you don t have love, all the spiritual gifts in the world count for nothing. In fact, Paul says in 13:2 that if you don t minister your gifts with love it s not that you have nothing, rather you are nothing. Application As I ve already said, Paul wrote I Corinthians for the purpose of deepening the Corinthians discipleship. They were already disciples, but they were not good disciples. They were not growing disciples. Instead, they were immature and shallow disciples, self-centred disciples, ineffective disciples, angry disciples, and immoral disciples, and yet, in spite of all that they were still prideful and self-satisfied disciples. That s why he spent the entire 13 th chapter exhorting them to learn the true meaning of love as the most important step they could take toward Christian maturity. And even though we know this verse as the first verse of chapter 14, this is how he finishes his thought.
I Cor. 14:1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. Disciples have three responsibilities 1. You are responsible before God to pursue love as if your life depends upon it. 2. You are responsible before God to pour yourself into the gifts God gives you. 3. You are responsible to prophecy with all the strength God gives you. Let s take these one at a time. 1. As a disciple you are responsible before God to pursue love as if you life depends upon it. a. Love is defined in chapter 13. Not love Something (Beatles) Something in the way she moves / Attracts me like no other lover / Something in the way she woos me / I don't want to leave her now. How Sweet It Is (James Taylor) I needed the shelter of someone's arms / And there you were / I needed someone to understand my ups and downs / And there you were. This isn t love. It s attraction, desire and dependency; it may even be gratitude for blessings received, but it is not love. I m not saying attraction and desire don t feel good. They do. And the feeling may very well be mutual, but it isn t love in the truest sense of the world. That s why Paul s word in chapter 13 are so powerful. True love I Cor. 13:4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Please don t fail to note that love as God defines it is not about what others do for us, but rather about what we can do for others. When we know and practice the love of God, it s never about how we are treated, but always how we are to treat others. The love of God takes no thought of self, but rather is selfless. God s love b. This kind of love is only found in Christ, and in those who come to know Christ. I John 4:9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (NLT)
Cross love c. The highest love is expressed through a cross. (Don t you dare say God s love lacks passion or feeling.) Rom. 5:8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! 9 Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! Our love I John 4: 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us. But back to today s text: I Cor. 14:1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. 2. As a disciple you are responsible before God to pour yourself into the gifts God gives you. a. Hear it again; the command is to desire spiritual gifts. We are commanded to want them. The implied command is that we are to want them in order to use them in God s service, and that in our use of God s spiritual gifts we are to be unstoppable under all circumstances. b. Along with spiritual gifts comes a vision for service. Don t be disobedient to the Heavenly vision (Acts 26:19). Paul was so obedient to the vision God gave him that later he could say, I worked more than any of [the other apostles], yet not I, but God s grace that was with me. (Remember, these are spiritual gifts we have. If we give ourselves to His service, He will pour Himself abundantly through us.) c. Have you ever gone to God in prayer and asked Him to bless you with a spiritual gift that you could then give back to Him in service? Have you ever asked God to give you the best gifts prophecy, teaching, and so on? Have you ever sought opportunities to exercise a spiritual gift? Paul wrote to the Romans that he was longing to see them, specifically for the purpose of imparting to them some spiritual gift to strengthen you (Rom.1:11). Have you ever thought about your spiritual gifts in this way? That they are given to make you a blessing to others? 3. As a disciple you are responsible to prophecy with all the strength God gives you. a. The best definition of prophecy is the gift of speaking what God has revealed. That definition can refer to either of two things. i. The supernatural gift of being enabled to speak God s words for Him, like the Old Testament prophets or the 16 prophets mentioned in the New Testament. ii. Prophecy can also mean taking words God has already spoken (Scripture) and applying them directly to issues you are facing, issues your friends are facing, your
church is facing, your community is facing. This is the more ordinary sense of the word, and I believe this is the gift of prophecy we are to desire. b. This brings us to the central activity in making disciples speaking the word of God. i. The Bible has many words to describe what Paul means by prophesying: preaching, evangelizing, teaching, exhorting, proclaiming, encouraging, admonishing, instructing, reminding, rebuking, etc. ii. All Christians are to be engaged in all these forms of prophesying as God s means for each of us to help all of us become disciples of Jesus Christ. (14:1 is to all believers) iii. In the New Testament the word of God is spoken by many people in many venues. It is spoken in letters, private homes (small groups), synagogues, marketplaces, in conversations, in chariots, in prisons, and so on. iv. It is no exaggeration to say that the strength of a church can best be measured by the readiness of every member to speak God s words to one another in an ongoing pursuit of Christian discipleship (learning and knowing Christ). Close with two verses of Scripture Acts 8:1 A severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.... 4 So those who were scattered went on their way preaching (evangelizing) the message of good news. This is exactly what Paul meant by prophecy. Part of it anyway. Preaching the word so people can hear and become disciples of Christ themselves. What do you think? Has it occurred to you that the greatest love you can show someone is to tell them how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Are you a disciple? Can you use God s Word to make disciples? If not, what do you need to do to get yourself ready? Surely, by now you understand on the basis of I Cor. 14:1 that this is your responsibility before God.