[Steve Myers] Well, this is Epistles of Paul class. We left off last time studying the book of 1 Corinthians. We had moved into Chapter 12. Anyone remember the theme for Chapter 12? And then actually ongoing a little bit from there as well. But Chapter 12 is known as what chapter? Spiritual gifts. So we began to talk about spiritual gifts last time. We made a couple of important points as the Apostle Paul begins to discuss these gifts that are freely given. They're not gifts that we deserve, but God chooses to give them as He wills. He talked about the fact there are different types of gifts that God allots, that God endows us with. And certainly what we're beginning to see here is that the Corinthian church was a very gifted congregation.

Of course, we've also seen that they've had many challenges. One of the biggest challenges that they faced was division. Groups of people, they had divided up into different sects and groups, and they had taken sides on a number of different things. They even did the same thing when it came to these spiritual gifts that God had given. And so he begins to explain why did God give these gifts? What was the purpose of those gifts? And so he emphasizes that very point that it's for the profit of all. So verse 7 in 1 Corinthians 12 reminds us of that very fact.

1 Corinthians 12:7 "These gifts are given to the Church to profit all."

They're individual gifts, but God gives them in order to serve one another, in order to benefit everyone, is the point that he makes. And so as he talks about these gifts, he begins to break them down and talk about the different types of gifts that God gives. So as we get down to verse 8, he begins to get very specific about these gifts that God poured out upon His people. And of course, we also made the point that everyone has been given a spiritual gift. God gives them to everyone. Verse 7 reminds us of that. "The manifestation of the Spirit or the evidence that God has given these gifts," he says, "is given to each one for the profit of all." So each one of us have received a gift.

So as we go through this listing, and this is just a partial listing, he also lists these gifts in other sections of Scripture, and we'll refer to those in just a little bit here. But as we go through those, it would be good to think about these gifts that God gives in relationship to ourselves. What gift has God given to me? We all have at least one. Some have more than one. But what has God given to me? What has He bestowed upon me? So let's think about that as we go through these various spiritual gifts that God has given. So let's look at verse 8.

1 Corinthians 12:8 He begins by saying, "To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit."

Of course, he keeps saying that, through the Spirit. Why? Because they're spiritual gifts. They're spiritual gifts. And he starts out this section by the word of wisdom. Wisdom is the first one mentioned, and that is the word, in Greek, sophia. Sophia is the Greek word that's used here. And it can mean a practical wisdom, having a skill in dealing with different situations. It can even mean a wise management, that you manage things in a wise way. So the wisdom ties in in that regard. It can mean a sound judgment. it carries a connotation a little bit like having good sense or common sense, but it kind of takes it to another level that you have a deep knowledge. Your sophia is not just a knowing, but it's wisely understanding situations. And so that would kind of lead us to think of having insight, seeing above what would just be the surface of things. So getting a little bit deeper in that sense. And so really that sense of deeper understanding is what we begin to think of when we think of this gift of sophia, the gift of wisdom.

And so when you think of that practically, think about, okay, well, what would that look like? Well, someone with the word of wisdom would be able to look at a situation and judge it rightly. You know, they'd understand. And they'd not only look at a situation and judge it, but apply that wisdom, apply that gift, so they'd know, well, what do we do about this? What would be the best course of action? In this situation, what should be done? And so based on knowledge, based on experience and understanding, yeah, they would be able to apply that knowledge and wisdom in whatever circumstance might present itself. So you can kind of see how that's taking common sense to a whole nother level. It's recognizing that very thing, that someone that has this gift would definitely be a very practical person, one who has insight, one who deals with situations in a fair way. That wisdom certainly points to that, that boy, when there are individuals that can do that, do you think that would benefit a congregation? Would that help build people up?

Would that also maybe apply to rightly dividing the Word? Really having a depth of understanding of God's Word. Because it's not just, okay, I know stuff and I'm wise in certain ways, but wise in Scripture, wise in the ways of God. So I know how it applies in different, sometimes difficult situations. Yeah, a person that's like this can have kind of a clear spiritual insight. They can get right down to the heart of things. And so the things that an individual who God has given this word of wisdom as a spiritual gift to can exhibit it in those various ways. To rightly judge, to offer the right course of action that would benefit an individual, that would benefit a congregation. So you can kind of get a little bit of a feel why Paul may have begun with that particular spiritual gift. Insight and encouragement and excellence of fairness and the idea that rightly looking at the Word of God and then applying it all fit into that spiritual gift of the word of wisdom.

1 Corinthians 12:8 Of course, he goes on in verse 8 and says, “To another the word of knowledge.”

The word of knowledge. And of course, he also adds through the same Spirit. So by his Spirit, God pours out these spiritual gifts, these gifts that are undeserved, but God gives them because that's His will, because that's who He is. He wants to benefit us and the Church. And so this word of knowledge is the next one that's mentioned here. Of course, knowledge is the Greek word gnosis. Gnosis, the word of knowledge, that tends to cause us to think about knowing things. And if you know things, what does that say about your cognitive abilities? Well, you're pretty smart. You're intelligent, right? You're intelligent. So you know things. You have a general understanding. You can understand, and it can mean a general kind of a sense. It can mean knowing things mathematics. It can mean knowing scientific things. It can mean knowing all of these various things that we face in this world. We understand different concepts, different aspects, different things when it comes to being educated. Yeah, it can mean that.

But of course, what kind of gift is this? It's a spiritual gift. And a spiritual gift then associates with understanding the Word of God, understanding doctrine. Do you know God's Word? This word of wisdom seems to lead us that direction as well. And so when you think of gnosis, yes, it could encompass so many different things, practical things. Educational kinds of things. But don't forget the spiritual, biblical side of things as well to understand the perspective of Scripture. And so someone that would have this word of knowledge would have special insight into the Word of God. They've been given an understanding and a biblical knowledge that God bestowed upon them. So imagine what that would then manifest itself in. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one. Well, in this sense, the word of knowledge, well, when you know things, oftentimes you really want to know more. You know, people that are like that, they're just inquisitive. You know, they want to know more about things.

And so I think this particular gift, oftentimes people are inquisitive and they want to research things and they want to get into the Word and they want to reflect on the Word of God and they want to achieve better insight. And so an individual in this regard probably is pretty observant as well. So not just knowing things, but then that aspect of just digging all the deeper is something that becomes so important. Now, of course, a little bit later, Paul's going to say, okay, you could have all knowledge, but that's not the ultimate. That's not the ultimate. And I think that's important to keep in mind when we look at these various spiritual gifts. Well, that sounds pretty cool. That sounds like an awesome gift to have. Well, is that the be-all and end-all of everything spiritual? No, no. It's one of the gifts that God gives. So we keep that in mind as well.

Okay, going on to verse 9, he addresses another spiritual gift. And in verse 9.

1 Corinthians 12:9 He says, "To another faith by the same Spirit."

So faith is the Greek word pistis. Pistis is the word here for faith, most common word that is used for faith. And it has this idea of conviction. We talk about the faith, you know, the faith of Jesus Christ, having conviction, having belief, being absolutely certain of things. So this idea that you are zoned in on the reality of what truth is and what is right, and you are convicted of that. Perhaps you can think of examples that were given in the Bible when it comes to faith. Any particular chapter of the Bible come to mind that cites individuals who demonstrated special attributes of faith? Hebrews 11. That's right. Hebrews 11. Sometimes it's called the faith chapter where you have the examples of men and women who talk about or who demonstrate that idea of faith. And the interesting thing here, it's not just what we all have. We all should have faith. We all should have a confidence in God. We should all have a conviction that this is the truth. This is God's way. This is where I need to be. Yeah, we've all got to have that. I think God calls us and leads us to that and gives us all a measure of faith.

But this takes it up a notch that there's a sense of a miraculous kind of amplification of faith. That individuals that have this kind of extraordinary confidence, you might say, kind of an additional ability that they're just unwavering when it comes to their confidence in God and His way. They have an absolute belief that God is going to fulfill His promises and His blessings no matter what. They wouldn't be the individual who says, well, I wonder...I'm in this difficult situation, I wonder if God's going to be with me or He's going to help me or He's going to demonstrate His love. No, they recognize it. They know it. They're those individuals who are probably the ultimate optimist in that sense, spiritually speaking. They're those individuals who are positive and they're able to have that confidence in God's promises and then kind of help you and me and inspire us to have a level of confidence without God. And they're just willing to be those kinds of individuals to carry out God's will.

And even though there's stress and even though there's pressure or even though there's trials or there's difficulties, persecution, whatever it might be, obstacles, they're not going to waver. They're not going to waver. They're going to be set. And so they go forward in faith when sometimes the rest of us might just hesitate a little bit. And so what's the result? Well, you're reassured because of their example, because they're willing to step out. And so this individual certainly looks to God and trusts in God, puts their faith and confidence in God, and the fact they certainly have it just deep-seated within them that He is going to provide, and He would never leave us, He would never forsake us. And they would be able to demonstrate that and then encourage others in the challenges that they face as well. So a pretty amazing gift when you think about this magnification and amplification of faith.

All right, he goes on then and lists another spiritual gift here in verse 9.

1 Corinthians 12:9 He says, "To another, gifts of healings by the same Spirit."

So these are spiritual gifts that God pours out, and this one is the gift of healings. Interesting, it's a plural word, so it's not just healing, but healings, healings. And in this chapter, he's going to mention healings three times, three times. So it's not just once he mentions it. He uses this word over and over and over again. The word here is iama. Iama is the healings word, iama, and it can mean a cure, a cure or something that results from the process of healing. So those that can help in that process. I think there's also, of course, this sense of divine healing. Divine healing that is restoring people, okay, back to health. That would be part of it. Oftentimes, what do you think of when you think of getting back to health? Well, I've been sick and I need to get better. Right? You often think of that physically. But this would also include the mental side of things. The emotional side of things would also be included in this. Yes, it's a physical thing, but could also be mental and emotional restoration. And you talk about a special gift where people can help the things that you can't see. You know, you can't see emotional struggles. You can't see some of those difficulties.

And so here's an individual who has been gifted with a divine kind of healing, which really speaks to the fact that it goes beyond natural healing. You know, so if you, you know, accidentally fall down and scrape your knee, oh, your body's going to rejuvenate and it's going to heal on its own. That's just kind of a natural, normal kind of thing. God made our bodies to heal. But this, of course, as a spiritual gift, takes that healing to another level that actually seems in most cases to kind of bypass that natural kind of a healing, that normal kind of a healing. But ones that would be, you know, an amazing process that God has miraculously helped restore people through those who have this gift of healing.

You ever see any demonstrations of that in Scripture? Yeah, many times. Over and over. How many times did Christ heal people? Oh, He healed the blind man. How's that possible? Well, you talk about a gift of healing. Did the apostles? Yeah, absolutely. You know, when we look at those examples, those were powerful healings that were really unexplainable by any means. It just didn't naturally happen. No, by the power of God's Spirit, He healed these different individuals. And so certainly that gift was evident in the New Testament Church. It was dramatic, you might say. You look through Acts Chapter 5 and it lists some of those amazing healings by the apostles and done by their hands. And so it was definitely manifested in many individuals that served the Church and demonstrated that the apostles weren't just really cool guys that could do these fantastic healings. What did it indicate? The fact that they were God's apostles, that this was God's Church, and that by the power of Jesus Christ, they healed. It was evidence of the truth of what they were preaching and what Jesus Himself preached and taught and was evidence and a witness to the fact that He is Messiah. He was the Messiah. And so it certainly pointed the people who recognize these miracles in that direction.

And so I suppose today you could say, we don't see a lot of this gift particularly manifested. But at the same time, I think some of us have experienced miraculous healings in our life. Normally, in the Church, what do you do when you're sick? You don't go to a faith healer or anything like that. Some of the Christian world has taken this whole thing off in the wrong direction, right? No, we're told in James Chapter 5, you call on the elders and you ask to be anointed. And they take just a little bit of oil and put it on your forehead and lay hands on you and pray and pray. And there have been individuals who have been miraculously healed. No doubt about that. And so anointing the sick and praying for their healing is certainly the way that we're instructed to handle situations when we're ill, when we're not feeling well. That's a little bit different than this gift of healing. This would be an individual who has been given this particular gift.

And it's certainly one of those things that we recognize that may be not as prevalent or obvious today. But I think it's one of those gifts that, okay, as the 1st century kind of drew to a close, this gift wasn't as obvious. Maybe even God didn't give it as often, you know, as the times of the New Testament writings were coming to an end. But is it possible this will become more evident, that God will pour out this gift even more as we get closer to the time of the end? Possibly. It could be. It could be. And so interesting that kind of ties into the whole idea that God gives these gifts as He wills. It's what He desires. It's what He, you know, allots to us. And so God's the one in charge in giving these various gifts.

Okay, well let's go back to 1 Corinthians 12 here and we pick it up then in verse 10 as he continues this particular list here as he gives this next gift, a gift of working miracles.

1 Corinthians 12:10 So, "To another the working of miracles."

Now, different than the healings that he just talked about, this word for miracles is the word dunamis. Dunamis is the word in the Greek. Same base word that we get dynamite from, right? You can kind of see how that might be impacted, or a dynamo. And so you get this sense of power or powerful miracles is the implication here. So power and the ability to use this supernatural gift to do powerful things. So it's not just, wow, I'm really smart and I can do these things and it's amazing. No, that's not the kind of miracle he's talking. He's saying this is separate from healings. It's a different kind of a miracle. So you can zero in on supernatural events of other kinds other than healings. So what would that look like? Well, we're not really told much here. Doesn't really spell it out. We know there are times that God has worked amazing miracles, miraculous things. Here it's not really expressed exactly what this entails, but it's something that could not be done normally. It wouldn't be something that would just be a physical attribute or a natural kind of a thing in that regard.

He's going to talk a little bit later, this idea of working of miracles. That's a little bit later down the line that kind of ties in with this as well. Well, you think about this, we know there are going to be individuals that are going to do miraculous things, supernatural things. They're not normal types of things. And if we were to fast forward, maybe you could even hold your place here, we could look at an example that's coming down the line just in the probably not too distant future. If you look at Revelation 11. Revelation 11 describes the two witnesses. Right at the end, before Christ returns, we have these two individuals who stand for God and His way and they preach and they exhibit the power that God has given them. And if you look in verse 3.

Revelation 11:3-6 It says, "God gives power to His two witnesses. They'll prophesy." And then it also says in verse 5, "If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner." Anybody disagree that's a pretty miraculous, supernatural, powerful miracle? Yeah, I think so. In fact, it describes another right after this, verse 6. "These have the power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophesy. They have power over the waters to turn them to blood, to strike the earth with flesh."

Okay, so you get the idea here working through these events that are powerful, miraculous, supernatural things that just couldn't occur naturally. And so certainly these are examples of powerful workings that God gives. They're not doing it by their own power or their own authority. They're doing it because God has given them this gift, this spiritual gift of working of miracles, miraculous things. So we don't see much of that today, but you can see those individuals who were able to do supernatural things by the power of God would certainly bring a confidence to the Church. You know, when that time comes, do you think that, you know, God's people could take heart in the fact that God is working His plan? God is in charge. It doesn't matter what the false religious system is doing or the persecution that we're suffering because, look, God is certainly fulfilling His word. Yeah, so it certainly would bring a confidence and assurance to all of God's people. So you see that idea that, yes, they're given that gift, but it's going to profit all of us.

Okay, we'll head back to verse 10 in Chapter 12, 1 Corinthians 12. So he talks about the working of miracles and then next in verse 10.

1 Corinthians 12:10 He says, "To another, prophesy." Prophesy.

So some are given the spiritual gift of prophesy. There's also another listing of spiritual gifts, not only here in 1 Corinthians 12, but if we want to take a look back at the book of Romans for a minute, look at Romans 12. Romans 12, and if you notice in verse 6, we have some similar wording to what we've been reading in 1 Corinthians 12. Notice what it says.

Romans 12:6 He says, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let's use them."

Almost sounds like 1 Corinthians 12, doesn't it? That God has given a diversity of gifts. And so because He's given them, they're not earned. God freely distributes these things. He says we're supposed to use them. And here it mentions the word prophesy. "If prophesy, let's prophesy in proportion to our faith." And then he goes on and lists another number of gifts that God gives. And so prophesy certainly being one of those that's mentioned here in Romans 12, same word that he used in 1 Corinthians 12.

And in fact, it certainly looks like the prophesy word. I'll put it up on the top here. Whoop, losing the marker here. Prophetia is the word here that's used, prophetia, and that has a sense of, okay, being a prophet, but what does it look like? What does it look like to be a prophet or to have the gift of prophesy? Variations of this word can refer to prophets. In this sense, they are prophesying or the gift of prophesy. It can mean a number of different things, especially when you apply the application. What is the application of this? Well, prophets speak, that's for sure. Oftentimes, we have a tendency to think of prophets foretelling things, foretelling the future. You know, we have certainly many examples of that in Scripture. So, when we think of prophetia, it has a little bit different connotation than being a prophet. Prophets can foretell, and that's where we think of this idea of foretelling the future, you know, predicting things that as God gives them, they foretell.

But prophetia carries this idea of, let's see, forth-telling. Yeah, forth-telling. Not just foretelling, but forth telling. Well, what do I mean by that? That you speak God's Word in an inspired way. You forthtell the Word of God. You speak His Word. So in this idea of prophetia then, it carries more of a connotation of inspired speaking, inspired speaking, that you can speak the truth, you can speak the Word of God, and you in a sense are prophesying as you speak in not foretelling the future, but inspiring others. And what does that do then? When you think of those who are given this gift, and I can think of a number of individuals today, I believe, that have this special gift of prophesy because they are just inspirational and they encourage. You think about inspired speaking, it certainly points to that idea of strengthening and encouraging and comforting. And in fact, if you hold your place here, we could maybe have a little sneak peek ahead in 1 Corinthians 14, it even gives us a little bit of a definition here for having that gift of prophesy.

1 Corinthians 14:3 "He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation to comfort men."

Of course, that's people, mankind, men and women would certainly be the case here. So this idea of prophetia, having the gift of prophesy, most cases it's not talking about foretelling the future. It's not being a prophet in that sense or predicting what's going to happen. This is identified as someone who is inspiring and comforting and strengthening. And you can imagine how that helps the Church. You know, when you're comforting and encouraging, you're speaking edification, you're building people up. And so that idea certainly is one that is obvious today that there are those who have been given that gift.

Now, that's not to discount the fact that, you know, the time may come where there are those that have more of the foretelling gift as well. We know that is going to be evident. If we go back to the two witnesses, you could look up Revelation 11. It talks about them witnessing and, in a sense, foretelling, you know, predicting by God's Spirit what is going to be taking place. So that can certainly come down the line, but don't have much evidence of that type of the gift of prophesy today. But I think we certainly, maybe even each of us can individually think of those who are inspiring and encouraging and comforting and are a comfort to the brethren. Yeah, you don't have to be a minister to have the gift of prophesy, right? You don't have to be a minister. This could be to anyone. God gives to each one. So it's not just the ministry that edifies. It's not just the ministry that comforts and encourages and strengthens others. Certainly anyone that God chooses can have that gift and be a blessing to the congregation.

Okay, if you're not there yet, you could head back to 1 Corinthians 12, and here he gets into another spiritual gift. And this one also continuing in verse 10.

1 Corinthians 12:10 He says, "To another discerning of Spirits."

Discerning of spirits. It's an interesting word. My board's getting kind of full here. The discerning word is diacrisis. Diacrisis. We've talked about that crisis word before for judgment. Diacrisis. When you put those words together, it has an idea of kind of distinguishing that you can distinguish things, you can discriminate, not I'm discriminating against someone in that way, but this idea of discerning things or distinguishing things, discriminating between this and that, that idea of discerning what? Well, he says spirits. Spirits, that's the pneuma word, P-N-E-U-M-A, pneuma, discerning spirits. It is interesting if you look up this diacresis of spirits in the New Testament, almost always refers to demonic influence, evil influences. It kind of carries that connotation. And so most of the references throughout the New Testament lead us in that direction.

So it is interesting to consider that in relationship to 1 Corinthians 12 discerning, discerning of spirits as a spiritual gift. Evidently, this individual would be one that could kind of get right to the heart of the matter and determine, well, what's the source? Where is this coming from? Where is this bad attitude coming from? Well, is that under the influence of a spirit? You know, where's the nature of the disposition of this spirit? And this individual would be able to deal with it. I know we've seen examples throughout Scripture. Christ Himself, didn't He confront evil spirits? Yeah, no doubt. He could get right down to their intentions, get right down to their motivation and command them to leave. You know, Christ could do that very thing. Probably the ultimate example of how this gift would operate. Certainly if this gift was given to someone, that'd be pretty dramatic. It would be pretty obvious and, of course, miraculous as well.

So, you know, when you consider this kind of gift, I think it can entail that idea of discernment of, you know, evil connotations, evil spirits in that regard. I think it could also relate to just people's disposition, you know, their attitudes in that way. I have a feeling that, and maybe Paul had this example in mind in Acts 5. I think this is an example of this discerning of spirits that is probably a kind of a famous example. In Acts 5, we have the beginning of the New Testament Church and some interesting things are happening here in Chapter 5 where people are donating things to the Church to help God's people. And here we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira. And they sold some land and pretended like they gave everything to the Church. But they didn't. They didn't. They were faking it. They were evidently trying to look good in others' eyes. And so they appeared to be so magnanimous and so wonderful and so spiritual. But what was their motivation? What was the reality? Well, probably for most, they could have pulled it off. Wow. Aren't we great? We did this wonderful thing. And, you know, people admired them, you know, for that.

But you think Peter had this gift of discerning spirits? Yeah, verse 3, he says straight out.

Acts 5:3 "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own?"

Gets right to the heart of the matter. You were influenced by evil to do something that was unacceptable. You could have done whatever you wanted to do with the money. You didn't have to pretend like you were giving everything to the Church. You could have done what you wanted, but Peter got right down to the source and got right down to, I suppose, their human nature and exposed it for what it was. And so I think that ties in other things than just strictly evil spirits and discerning of those spirits, but our own thinking, our own human nature and getting to the heart of the matter and people's disposition. You can get right down to it. And, of course, yeah, would that have served the Church? Wow, what a powerful example. You don't want to mess around and misrepresent things because that's not going to fly in God's way. So they definitely get right down to the heart of the matter with that gift of discerning spirits. OK, if you want to go back to 1 Corinthians 12, next gift that's mentioned here.

1 Corinthians 12:10 He says, "To another different kinds of tongues. And to another interpretation of tongues."

So we'll deal with both of these together since they mention them one right after another and both are related to the idea of tongues. Tongues. Now, in the Greek, I've got a little space here, we'll put it right here, it's the Greek word glossa. Glossa is the word here used for tongue and it literally means, yeah, that thing right there, your tongue. That's literally what that word means. But when you think of it metaphorically, what are we talking about? Talking. Yeah. We're talking about language. Right? We're talking about language. That some are given a spiritual gift of language, of languages. And some are given a gift of interpreting languages, glossa, glossa. Or you could say interpretation or translation, those that can translate. And so this seems to be pointing to not just the ability to learn a new language. I mean, you know, I think some people are gifted that way. That's not necessarily listed as a spiritual gift. They've learned multiple languages. And I think some have more of a knack and a talent and ability to do that.

But when you think of spiritual gifts, this seems to lead us more to the idea that this is the ability to speak an accepted language, a human language that they didn't study, that they didn't particularly learn just to know. Or they took a class or they, you know, ordered a special program so they could. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be pointing to that. This seems to be having that ability without previously studying or learning it. And specifically here, it's for the purpose of teaching God's way, extending the truth of God. And it seems to reach those who can understand it. They can understand it as well. Probably the ultimate example you could think of, Acts 2. Acts 2, Pentecost, that very first Pentecost of the New Testament Church. Wow, they were speaking languages that were really dialects that others could understand. Others could understand. And of course, it's kind of interesting when you consider this because it really focuses on that fact of these are gifts that are practical gifts that all benefit the Church. And then, of course, in this regard, it's certainly preaching the gospel. It's preaching the truth. It's taking to heart, you know, the directives that Christ gave, that we go into all the world and some are given these special gifts so that others can understand. And then there are those who have the ability to interpret, interpret those languages. And so we have both sides.

Now, I think part of what Paul's also doing here is he's setting up some issues that Corinth has been dealing with that they were gifted and they had people who could speak these languages. Of course, it would have been pretty evident there. And why in Corinth? Well, remember the city itself. It's a seaport. There are people coming from all over the world, you know, as they're bringing their merchandise and they're trading and they're, you know, getting access to the Roman roads. You know, would this be an important gift that someone could speak in a language so that others could understand? Yeah, I think so. And so you can see the practicality of this. And some of those in the Corinthian church were certainly gifted in this regard. But it also reminds us that those languages need to be interpreted. There needs to be this idea of a translation. Otherwise, it's not going to help everybody. So that becomes important as well.

So we see these gifts that are mentioned here and emphasized that God gives them to all of the Church, and it's one of those things that we benefit the Church by utilizing these gifts. So when we come back to verse 11.

1 Corinthians 12:11 He says, "One and the same Spirit works all of these," all of these, "distributing each one individually as He will."

So by the power of God's spirit, God the Father and Jesus Christ will this. This is what They want. They want this and it's all the same. The same Spirit working in all of these things. And so a powerful example here that he uses to show that God's behind these things. It's not human understanding. It's not human wisdom. It's not human-inspired speaking. But it all comes from God and this is as He wants. Now, why emphasize that? Well, because remember, the Corinthians are picking and choosing. Well, I'm on this side. I'm of Paul, or I'm of Apollos, or I'm of Peter. So people, they were picking and choosing sides. And I'm sure that the same thing was happening when it came to these different gifts.

Well, which gift would you want? Well, some of them would say, "Well, I have the gift of prophesy and I'm so much better than those guys who only have that word of knowledge. Yeah, that's nothing." And so you could see how that would have probably played out in Corinth. That those individuals were comparing each other and then trying to say, well, mine's better than yours. And so Paul makes this point that, wait a second, this is the same Spirit of God working in all of these things. Don't think that one is better than another. Don't get carried away with somehow getting a big head because you've been given maybe more than one gift. And so you can kind of get the context of what he's really driving at here.

And then coming up next, he's going to give us an illustration of what this should look like and how the Church should utilize these gifts in order to accomplish what is God's will. What is God's will? Well, he's working all in all, and he's given these things to profit the Church, to profit all. And so coming up next, he's going to talk about an illustration to really drive that point home. So we'll pick it up there next time.