First Corinthians 12 Part 7 Working Of Miracles & Discerning Of Spirits
Purpose and function of spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 4:11-16 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Paul is wrapping up his introduction to the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit.
I thought it would be good to look at this paragraph from his letter to the church at Ephesus.
All spiritual gifts given by God's Spirit are to be used for the work of the ministry.
The work of the ministry is very important and has a wide variety of applications in each local church.
Some gifts facilitate preaching, teaching, prayer time, and Bible study within each local church.
The work of the ministry also includes visiting those who sick or shut in, and caring for widows.
Some work of ministry is very practical like setting up tables and chairs before a service followed by putting them away after the service.
Some ministry is behind the scenes like helping to clean the church, helping with maintenance, or helping by taking meals to those who are in need.
Some work of the ministry involves having compassion for others, and demonstrating hospitality to others in the church.
These are only a few examples of how the gifts of the Spirit prepare Christians for shouldering the work of the ministry.
Gifts of the Spirit also serve a vital purpose of helping each Christian grow in their faith and walk with the Lord, so that make progress toward spiritual maturity.
Each of these wonderful gifts must edify each local church as a body.
Gifts of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues & interpretation.
1 Corinthians 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
First in this verse is working of miracles. As “healings” are miracles, this work refers to miracles of special power.
This would include miracles such as raising the dead or reversing the effects of a poisonous bite.
God did many special miracles for Christ's apostles.
Act 19:11-12 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
Luke wrote the book of Acts and he was an eyewitness to all that happened. God was the source of the special miracles done by Paul. It was the power of God and the purpose of God in making miracles occur.
One such special miracle is that people brought articles of clothing to the sick that came in contact with Paul's body. They were healed of their disease.
Evil spirits were cast out of people through this means.
People were raised from the dead.
Act 20:7-10 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. 8 And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. 9 And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. 10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
Paul preached a long sermon during most of the Lord's day and well into the evening.
Luke lets us know that in the warm evening many oil lamps were burning in the upper chamber were the church met.
A certain young man was seated in a window and he became very drowsy to the point he fell fast asleep.
He then fell three floors to his death, but Paul rushed down to him and by God's power he raised Eutychus from the dead.
Paul was bitten by poisonous snake but it did not harm him.
Act 28:1-6 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
Paul was later shipwrecked and landed on the island of Malta. The people of the island were kind and helped the survivors of the wreck.
It was during the cooler rainy season so Paul and others were gathering firewood for warmth.
Paul picked up one branch and a snake that was on it bit him.
The natives knew that it was a venomous snake and thought that Paul was a criminal because he was bitten.
The apostle shook off the snake into the fire. The natives of Malta watched Paul closely for signs of immanent death but he did not have any ill effects from the poisonous bite.
This is another special miracle God did for Paul (See also Mark 16:18).
The gift of prophecy was needed until the scriptures were completed.
Acts 11:27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: 30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Here is an example of prophets in the early church foretelling of an event taking place in the near future. This special prophecy was from God to forewarn the churches so that all believers could prepare.
In this specific case, they foretold that a great dearth or famine would happen with a worldwide impact.
Christians in churches planted by the apostles and missionaries determined to send aid to the poorer saints at Jerusalem and in Judea.
Every man would contribute funds to assist them according to their individual ability to do so.
Acts 21:10-16 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. 15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. 16 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
The prophet named Agabus came down from Jerusalem to where Paul and his companions were staying.
He had a message from the Holy Ghost for the apostle Paul and it was accompanied by a sign.
Agabus took the girdle or belt from Paul's outer garment and tied up his own hands and feet.
His message to Paul was that the hateful religious leaders at Jerusalem would bind the man who owned that belt, meaning they would capture Paul.
God was showing his apostle that the Jews would reject him and immediately seek to kill Paul.
The record tells us that they did indeed violently assault Paul and only an intervention by Romans soldiers spared his life (See Acts 20:27-36).
The gift of prophecy refers to short term revelation from God that will impact the church in some way.
Thus, Christians people are warned about impending persecution or famines so that they prepare their family for it.
The church is warned so that the church as a body can respond to whatever issue is raised by a prophet.
Discerning of spirits was needed due to false teaching and demonic activity.
When it comes to the gift of discerning spirits, every born-again believer has a certain amount of discernment, which increases as the believer matures in the Spirit.
In Hebrews 5:13-14 we read that a believer who has matured beyond using the milk of the Word as a babe in Christ is able to discern both good and evil.
The maturing believer is empowered by the Spirit of God through the Scriptures to tell the difference between good and evil.
1 Corinthians 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
We will examine the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues in our next post.
The gift of prophecy lasted until the canon of scripture was completed and several early church fathers speak of it.
The gift of miracles administered by the apostles lasted until they all fell asleep in Christ.
Does God still work miracles today? I certainly believe He does, but not like He did during the early church age.
It is a profound miracle when a sinner hears the gospel pf Christ preached and is converted to Christ.
It is a miracle that Jesus Christ is our eternal high priest ever interceding for us, and we can come boldly to the throne of grace to receive aid from our Father.
It is a miracle when God helps us to walk in newness of life by seeking His honor and glory first.
Most of us have experienced many near misses and close calls in this life, where a tragedy could have occurred if we had been in a certain place moments earlier or moments later.
We may not always remember to thank God for sparing us, but these certainly qualify as miracles.
Let us praise God for His grace and goodness poured out on us.
Bob
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