337 - SHOULD YOU EXPECT A MIRACLE?
March 11, 1973
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
I Corinthians 12: 1 - 3 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 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.
Paul starts a brand new topic here—the most important topic in all of I Corinthians. The main problem in the assembly was the abuse of the gift of speaking in tongues.
1/ Background
The difference between ignorance or stupidity. Stupidity means that you could know but you won’t because it is too much trouble to find out. Ignorance means not having material so you can learn. Stupidity hinders the believer’s relationship with God. There are some things we should know before we start this study.
1/ The possession of spiritual gifts does not mean spirituality.
2/ Not received by praying through or any other experience of like manner. I was
just reading a Pentecostal magazine in which they tell how they receive the gift of
speaking in tongues. Praying through to the point where they receive the gift.
Nonsense! This gift is received at the time of salvation. It would be well if we
understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a pre-salvation
ministry to the human race. It is conviction or convincing the sinner concerning
his sin and Jesus Christ as his payment for sin.
a/ Then there is a ministry at the point of salvation. And at the time that this book was written and the nine (9) sign gifts were in operation, it was a five-fold ministry.
1/ Regeneration
2/ Baptism
3/ Indwelling
4/ Sealing
5/ The giving of a spiritual gift.
Then there is a post-salvation ministry which we will not consider at this time.
2/ We must understand what Paul is saying in Verses 1, 2 They are called spiritual gifts, BECAUSE THEY ARE FREELY GIVEN.
3/ Verse 2 I like the way Paul writes in this verse, and he goes back to the time when they were unbelievers. When he first contacted them, and he says, you were Gentiles, and if you study the Greek, you will find, he is saying you can’t help that you were born Gentiles. That was not under your control. Then he says, carried away with dumb idols, and this they could help. They just followed the Greek culture and worshiped idols. And in this they were not ignorant but stupid. Here was a statue of APHRODITE, and it was a statue of a woman. And here was a statue of APOLLO and it was a statue of a man. And here was a statue of MOST NOBLE ZEUS.
4/ CARRIED AWAY—TO BE LED INTO SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO HURT YOU. It was their own volition. They could have helped this. What he is saying is that they are stupid twice—Stupid in unbelief. They didn’t understand the spiritual gifts and abused them.
5/ The word, unto, in the Greek is PROSS, plus the accusative, and it means face to face. This, of course, meant that demon activity was in their life.
I Corinthians 10: 20. But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
They were led away face to face with idols, by demons. And they were dumb idols. They had no brains, no life, made of a chunk of gold or silver or stone. And they called them gods. But there was no excuse. For they were just as stupid as they could be to worship that which did not have a brain—no life. The idols were dumb because they couldn’t speak. But they were stupid because they called them gods and worshipped them as gods.
Can you picture what Paul is saying? There you are face to face with a chunk of stone called Apollo and you worship that chunk of stone as if it were god. What could you call that but stupidity? They had the wherewithal to know better—they had a brain. And in verse 1 They should have known better on these spiritual gifts. They were all wrapped up in speaking in tongues when Paul says that this was the least of all the spiritual gifts. And they had to be straightened out on the matter.
I Corinthians 14: 38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
As Paul concludes this section, he says, now I have taught you, you should know better, but if you willfully neglect knowledge, and carry on with this exaltation of tongues, you must remain stupid, for I have done my best. So they have been stupid twice, and both times without excuse.
6/ Ye were led, means to lead astray. Led astray by demons.
7/ Verse 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.
Here he talks about the relationship they should have with the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit no one calls Jesus Christ accursed. SPEAKING is a present active principle and it means no one under the control of the Holy Spirit will ever call Jesus Christ accursed. Rather, he will call Him, Lord. Of course this means to be filled with the Spirit. A carnal believer, not under the control or filled by the Spirit, can call Jesus Christ accursed as he gets out of fellowship with the Lord. Peter is an example of this when he cursed and swore.
8/ We must see that we must have Christ as our Saviour and Lord. Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We have eternal life in Jesus Christ. And this goes in connection with Romans 10: 9, 10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
And then Romans 14: 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Here we see Christ died and was resurrected that He might be Lord. Then Verse 11 every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Philippians 2: 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
9/ I wonder if you have noticed how many times in I Corinthians Paul speaks of Jesus as Lord. If you would take the time and trouble to go through I Corinthians and count the number of times Paul calls Jesus Christ, Lord, you would find it a least (62) times. I was not very careful in this, but did it very rapidly. But in the Holy Spirit’s ministry, Jesus Christ is Lord. Why have I belabored this point? Have you ever noticed how the people who love these gifts. Keep calling our Lord, Jesus?
10/ The Greek word KURIUS is a word for deity. You must confess that Jesus Christ is deity.
The Christians could not serve in the Roman army, not because they were pacifists, but because they would have to take an oath and say that Caesar is Kurius, or Kyrios. Some history professors state that the reason the Roman Empire fell was because the Christians were pacifists and would not be part of the Roman army, but this is wrong.
11/ These folks when they thought they were speaking in tongues said that Jesus Christ was accursed, or else just called Him Jesus. He is Lord, and we have to see this.
12/ The next thing we need to see is that under the control of the Holy Spirit we do not glorify ourselves but we glorify the Lord, and was the problem they had at Corinth.
I Corinthians 14: 4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesied edifieth the church.
These folks who spoke in these tongues and should not, edified themselves. This showed again that it was a misuse, or a misunderstanding of the spiritual gifts.
13/ Judges 4: 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takes shall not be for thine honor; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Here Deborah said to Barak, I will go with you, but the journey shall not be for thy glory. In other words God is to get the glory, and when the Spirit controls, God always get the glory.
14/ I Corinthians 13: 8 Charity never faith: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
The only thing that will remain is love. The nine spiritual gifts were to pass away and have passed away.
AMEN
Ref: KULP - 03/11/1973 / 337 - SHOULD YOU EXPECT A MIRACLE? / May 31, 2020
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