1 Corinthians - Chapter 12 (Week 21) – Leader Guide

Last week we looked at the remainder of the Gift of

Gift of the Spirit (Manifestations – “hand touching”) c.f. Mat 9:1-8

 1 Corinthians 12-14 –- Spirituals (of the Spirit) – Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Gifts of Healing,
Working of Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning Spirits, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues (Vs. 28
adds helps and governments)

Vs 4-6

 Different Gifts (charis) > Same Spirit

 Different Ministries (diakonia) > Same Lord
 Different Working (energema)> Same God who works (same words there)

Vs 7 – Key verse – To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good:

 Who: everyone
 What: manifestation of the Spirit which are the gifts
 Why: the common good, not personal gain (minor exceptions, but even then it is for
common – c.f. chapter 14:4)

The division word: “another” – allos means another of the same kind, eteros means another of a
different kind. The gifts are broken up into 2 x 5 x 2

First group – word of Wisdom and word of Knowledge (Direction Gifts)

It is not wisdom and knowledge, but a message of wisdom and message of knowledge

 Message of wisdom is an insight into the plan of God (guidance for what to do in a situation)
 Message of knowledge is an insight into the current situation

Exodus 7:14, 15 / 1 Sam 16:7 / Acts 9:10-16 / Acts 10:19-20 / John 4:1-26 esp. 17

Exodus 7:14 and 15

(14) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go [Information: a message of
knowledge].
(15) Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand
the staff that was changed into a snake [Direction: a message of wisdom].

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height [Direction: a message of wisdom], for I have
rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at
the heart” [Information: a message of knowledge].

Acts 10:19 and 20

(19) While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you [Information: a
message of knowledge].
(20) So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them [Direction: a message of wisdom], for I have sent them
[Information].”
Examples: revelation of sin in a person’s life, that a person fits in a particular role in the church, Where
God is leading the church

 James says, “If you lack wisdom, ask”

 People perish for a lack of knowledge – Hosea 4:6

Group 2: Trust Gifts

 Faith – the key to the other gifts. Not saving faith, but a supernatural faith that enables water to
come from a rock or a man to walk on water. It can be given to any believer at any point for a
particular purpose – but to compare this supernatural faith with the progression and levels of
faith in a believer, we will look at that.
o Progression of Faith:
 Hearing (Romans 10:17) – Heard that planes fly
 Believing (Romans 3:22) – Believe that planes fly
 Receiving (Mark 4:16) – Hope to one day fly in a plane
 Obeying (2 John 1:6) and it demonstrates love – crosses from belief to love (Heb
11:8) – purchase a plane ticket
 Knowing (John 4:42) – Get on the plane
 Trusting (Acts 14:23) – Do it after a plane just crashed
o Levels of Faith: These aren’t labels more than circumstantial conditions (e.g. Peter
probably walked in all of them)
 Weak faith (Romans 4:9; 14:1)
 Lacking faith (1 Thess 3:10)
 Little Faith (Matt 16:8; 14:31)
 Seed Faith (Matt 17:20)
 Increasing Faith (2 Cor 10:15)
 Exceedingly Growing Faith (2 Thess 1:3)
 Rich Faith (James 2:5)
 Strong Faith (Romans 4:20)
 Great Faith (Luke 7:9; Matt 8:10; 15:28)
 Perfect Faith (James 2:22)
 Gifts of healing-
o how many methods did Jesus use to heal? (touched, spit, spoke, made mud,
commanded to bathe, hem of garment, acknowledged the faith in the requestor
o How many ways do scriptures tell us that we can heal? Prayer of faith, prayer of
righteous, prayer and fasting, lay hands on, elders pray, Prayer for one another (James
5:14-16), Prayer in agreement (Mat 18:18-20), Receiving through your own prayer (Mark
11:24), Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15)
 Working of miracles (energema dunamis) – same word as lord’s prayer Mat 6:13, literally,
“working of power”
o This is not the time to pray, but the time to act. (Ex 14:15-16)
o This gift is the fulfillment of Acts 1:8, more than just “miracles”, but supernatural power
  Prophecy
o Fortelling: Mat 13:14 (fortelling of Jesus)
o Do not despise prophecying (1 The 5:20)
o Forthtelling: Other gifts spoken over people through prophecy: 1 Tim 4:14
o Everyone should do it (1 Cor 14:2,3, 24)
 Discerning of spirits – it is not natural discernment, but works with the gift of knowledge and
wisdom

Every Christian will encounter demons, whether he recognizes them or not. What a great blessing and comfort to know that God
has equipped each of us to deal with any demon that comes against us. Ephesians 6:12, which says we wrestle with demonic
powers, is written to every Christian. Jesus was the first person to regularly and effectively use the power of God to recognize
and cast out demons (Matt. 8:16, 9:33, 10:1, etc.), and it is primarily from his example that we learn about discerning of spirits.
He taught his disciples about the spiritual battle, and commanded them to cast out demons also (Matt. 10:8; Luke 10:17).

Through the manifestation of discerning of spirits Peter accurately discerned that Satan filled the heart of Ananias (Acts 5:3), and
Paul knew that Elymas was a child of the Devil (Acts 13:10). Via discerning of spirits Paul knew that the slave who was mocking
them was not just a disgruntled pagan, but someone under the influence of a demon, and he also knew the proper time to cast it
out, after having put up with her mocking “many days” (Acts 16:16-18).

You don’t just start casting out demons unless you have this gift in full operation

Initial gifts

o Different kinds of tongues (Kinds = “family, kinds, grouping”) tongues = languages

o Language #1 – human language (Only specifically mentioned in Acts 2:4)
o Language #2 – angelic language (1 Cor 13:1)
o Usage #1 – praying in the spirit (which build up your faith) Jude 20, 1 Cor 14:14)
o Usage #2 – spiritually giving thanks (praise) to God 1 Cor 14:16-17, speaking the
wonderful works of God (Acts 2:11) c.f. acts 10:46
o Usage #3 – edifying one’s own self (1 Cor 14:4), only approved method of edifying one’s
self
o Usage #4 – edifying the church only if used in conjunction with interpretation 1 Cor 14
o Usage #5 – speaking to God (1 Cor 14:2)
o Usage #6 – singing in the spirit (1 Cor 14:15-16)
o Usage #7 – sign for unbelievers (1 Cor 14:22)
o
o Paul says, every Christian should do it (1 Cor 14:4), though prophecy is even better
o The key to chapter 14 is verse 19 – it is about what you do in the church versus on your
own.
o Interpretation
o Of the spiritual gift, best used in a church gathering
o Of actual human languages

http://www.scribd.com/Jeff_Lee_6841
1 Corinthians - Chapter 12 (Week 20) – Handout
Vs 7 – Key: “The Manifestation of the Spirit is given for the Common Good”
Allos (Another of the same kind) and Eteros (Another of a Different kind) separate the 9 spirituals into
three groups – 2 /5 /2

Spirituals:
 First Grouping: Direction Spirituals
Exodus 7:14, 15 / 1 Sam 16:7 / Acts 9:10-16 / Acts 10:19-20 / John 4:1-26 esp. 17
o Word of Knowledge (not knowledge itself) – but an insight into the current situation
o Word of Wisdom (not wisdom itself) – but an insight into the plan of God

 Second Grouping:
o F

o Progression of Faith:
 (Romans 10:17) – ______________________________________________
 (Romans 3:22) – _______________________________________________
 (Mark 4:16) – _________________________________________________
 (2 John 1:6) - __________________________________________________
 (John 4:42) – __________________________________________________
 (Acts 14:23) – _________________________________________________
o Levels of Faith
 (Romans 4:9; 14:1)_____________________________________________
 (1 Thess 3:10)_________________________________________________
 (Matt 16:8; 14:31)______________________________________________
 (Matt 17:20)__________________________________________________
 (2 Cor 10:15)__________________________________________________
 (2 Thess 1:3)__________________________________________________
 (James 2:5)___________________________________________________
 (Romans 4:20)_________________________________________________
 (Luke 7:9; Matt 8:10; 15:28)______________________________________
 (James 2:22)__________________________________________________

o Gifts of

o Working of
 o P

o D

 Third Grouping:
o T

o I

Some group the gifts

- Wisdom, knowledge, Faith
- Miracles, Healings, Discerning Spirits
- Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues

Audio: http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8584
Notes: http://www.scribd.com/Jeff_Lee_6841
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracles_of_Jesus
http://encouragingbiblequotes.com/verseshealinga.html
http://www.jimfeeney.org/giftsofholyspirit.html
http://bible.org/seriespage/spiritual-gifts-1-corinthians-121-11
http://bible.org/article/gifts-spirit
http://www.theholyspirit.com/HolySpiritBaptism.asp