1 Corinthians 12:1
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
In order to build up a strong church, we must first re-establish the concept of spiritual gifts. Just like a computer, a church needs hardware as well as software. The physical church is like the hardware, and brothers and sisters working together is like the software. If we want to be strong, not only do we need to build up a strong organization, but we also need to collaborate with our gifts. A.W. Tozer once said that the greatest tragedy of church today is the loss of spiritual gifts. Why did we lose our spiritual gifts? According to Paul in this passage, the first reason is that we don't understand work of the Spirit.
In verse 1, Paul says that "I do not want you to be ignorant." The problem of church back then was not the gifts themselves, but rather the fact they didn't know how to exercise the gifts. It led to misunderstanding and eventually misuse, then it produces unnecessary fear. For example, people are fearful when they see others slain in the Spirit, but it's nothing new at all. Back in 1703, during the meetings led by John Wesley, Spirit filled people and many could not stand in prayer and fell on the floor. From 1703 to 1758, God used meetings of Jonathan Edward to have many slain in the Spirit. From 1792 to 1875, in the meetings hosted by Charles Finney, people witness work of the Holy Spirit, they couldn't remain standing and they experienced God's presence and healing. What's important is whether one is slain in the Spirit or now, but rather what the Holy Spirit did in your heart.
We must learn to view these phenomenon calmly. Some people were slain, filled by the Holy Spirit and their lives took a 180 degree turn. Some hear others speaking in tongue and were nervous about it, but it was described as one of the many gifts established in the church by God in 1 Corinthians 12:28-31. In fact, speaking in tongue is one of the smallest gifts, so there's no reason to be nervous about it; if you have it, praise the Lord; if you don't, praise the Lord as well. It's a gift, which is granted by Holy Spirit by its own will. In summary, let's treat the gifts calmly. Often we cannot enjoy the grace of the Holy Spirit because we did not receive the right teaching. May God help us, let us seek guidance from the truth on the Holy Spirit, so that the church may be blessed by God under the true teaching on the Holy Spirit.
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, we thank you because you've granted us Holy Spirit so that we may experience how true you are. May the Lord open our eyes, let us understand your truth, and let us enter the truth. May the Lord's promise come upon us with your Word and the Holy Spirit. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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