The Gifts of the Body, Part 3

Selected Scriptures

  
     Let's bow in the word of prayer.  Father, we thank you tonight for amazing grace, for the simple message of that song.  And oh Lord, how great it is to know that we haven't even begun to experience what You've prepared for us.  For all eternity will live and bask in the glory of full grace.  Thank you, Lord, for all that You mean to us.  And Lord, as we look at the Word tonight, may we speak as one who speaks the oracles of God.  May our hearts be sensitive and may we be lead by the Spirit of God.  May He be our teacher.  We pray in Christ's name.  Amen.
 
1 Corinthians Chapter 12, tonight's message is the third message in the subject of the gifts of the body.  We are in a series, a series which has not been planned, but which has just kept happening week by week, one of those unplanned things that obviously the Lord had planned all along.  We are in the third message on the gifts of the body.
 
We talked about the body of Christ, the witness of the body, and the gifts of the body.  We've been studying the body of Christ and how it is to function in unity and in love.  And those are the two key words to understanding the body of Christ.  In unity and in love.  And that if it functions in unity and love it will be built up.  It will be matured.  It will be edifying.  And by the body of Christ, we mean all Christians loving and serving one another are built up.  And when we are built up into that kind of oneness and that kind of love, then our witness to the world will be effective.  That's what Jesus meant when He said, "I pray that they may be one that the world may know that the Father has sent me." 
 
Our witness depends upon unity and love.  Now, in order for the body to be built up that it might witness, God has given the body certain things.  First of all, He has given certain gifted men, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.  He has also not only given certain gifted men, but He has given certain grace gifts or spiritual gifts to every one of the believers.
 
And we've been talking about these gifts and through these gifts to every believer, the Holy Spirit manifests Himself to the whole body.  Now, if you're getting in on the tail end, I would encourage you to get the tapes and the sheets that we've been passing out in past weeks so you know where we are because this is an absolutely critical subject.
 
Now, we've been talking then about the gifts through which the Spirit ministers to the body.  So God has given two things to the body of Christ, gifted men, specially called to be apostles, prophets, they were foundational ministries and have ceased.  Then followed by evangelists, teacher, and preacher.  Not only gifted men, but gifts and each of the believers have certain gifts by which they minister to the other believers to bring a full maturity to the entire body. 
 
Now, we have been studying these gifts and we've also been studying the principles by which the gifts function.  We have seen clearly how these gifts compliment each other and how they result in a body that is edifying.  We have also seen that each of these gifts was complete and full in Christ Himself.  And that we as a body are to be the continuation of the life of Christ so that God has given us every basic gift that Christ Himself had in order that we might be fully the continuation of the life of Christ.
 
Now, for a healthy oneness then, which means a healthy witness, for a real unity of love, for a real positive ministry, we must then minister our gifts to one another that we might be built up.  If we do not minister the body is maimed, the body is crippled, some members are not functioning and the others have to compensate and the whole body of Christ limps along.  And incidentally, that's exactly what the case is now.
 
And as a result of a maimed, crippled, disjointed, disconnected body, we stand amidst the ruins of a broken testimony in the world.  The world cannot see our testimony because our unity is the criterion and our love.  And since unity and love isn't obvious in the body of Christ, the world has not the correct standards by which to judge us.
 
Now, we have tried in previous messages then, consequently to say three things.  Number one, the body needs to be one and to love.  Number two, gifts make it so.  Number three, find your gift and use it.  That's basically what we've been saying.  In order for the body to function, there has to be unity in love, gifts make unity and love possible, find your gift, discover it by prayer and the filling of the Holy Spirit and use your gift.
 
When all of us operate our gifts in the energy of the Spirit, then we build up each other to full maturity the whole body becomes mature and our witness and testimony is powerful.  Now specifically, we have begun to enumerate the gifts that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and also in Romans 12.
 
Last time we talked about the permanent gifts.  We said there are two categories of gifts, permanent and temporary.  The permanent gifts were to build up the body and still are to build up the body.  The temporary gifts were to confirm the word of the apostles and prophets and have ceased with the ceasing of apostles and prophets. 
 
Now since last week we covered all of the permanent gifts that leaves for us to cover tonight the temporary gifts which were not designed for the edification of the body as we shall see, but they were designed for confirming the testimony of the apostles and prophets that indeed and in fact they were declaring the Word of God.
 
Now, there are four of these gifts listed in scripture.  They have no continuing role in the body.  The existed for the apostolic era and were designed for unbelievers, not believers in order that unbelievers might be convinced by these miracles that indeed the Word of God was being spoken by the mouths of the apostles and the prophets of the early church.
 
The point is obvious.  If you had a whole lot of people speaking and no standard to judge them, nobody would know what to believe and so along with the truth speakers, along with the true apostles, and true prophets, there were certain miracles in order that people might be convinced that they, in fact, did speak the very word of God.
 
Now, I want to review this concept with you for just a moment and if you will look at...look at Mark Chapter 16.  That's the last Chapter in the book of Mark, and I'm not going to go into a critical study of whether this belongs.  Let's assume that it does.  And incidentally, there is new evidence on...in the basis of two new theses that have just been written with new manuscript evidence that the last part of Mark does belong in the text.  In case you don't know it didn't used to belong or some people didn't think it did, don't worry about it.  That's the problem for others.
 
But we notice in verse 17 and he says talking here to the 11 disciples.  He says, "In these signs shall follow those who believe in my name shall I cast out demons, speak with new tongues, take up serpents, if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt.  They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." 
 
Now, there you have some miracles that are going to attend the initial preaching of the apostles and the people who respond to the apostles in that initial phase of the church are going to see miracles happen.  Now you come down to verse 19, "So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them," that is to the 11, "He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God."  That's the ascension.
 
Verse 20, "And they went forth," that's the early apostles, "and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following.  Miracles then accompanied the apostles for the purpose of confirming," what, "the word."  That's what they were for.
 
Now look at 2  Corinthians Chapter 12 and verse 12.  It says this, now here's a very important verse.  "Truly the signs of an apostle."  Now notice signs are specifically belonging to apostles.  "The signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, wonders, and mighty deeds."  Dudamis, dynamite deeds.
 
Now, you'll notice there that signs belong to whom?  Apostles.  Signs of an apostle.  That is a specific designation for miracles.  One other verse Hebrews Chapter 2.  Hebrews Chapter 2 and verse 3, Hebrews 2:3 says this, now this again is very important.
 
"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation," now listen to what happens after that, "which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord."  Wasn't the message of salvation initially spoken by Christ himself?  Of course it was.  "And was confirmed unto us by them that heard him."  And who would that be?  Apostles, "God also bearing them witness."  Who does them refer to?  The apostles.  "Both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and," here's the key, "gifts of the Holy Spirit.
 
Now there you have it friends, apostles did miracles to confirm the word.  The miracles actually belong to apostles and here it says certain gifts of the Spirit were for the apostles.  Now when you come to 1 Corinthians 12, and you see the miraculous gifts, you know then that those are the gifts spoken as the signs and wonders and mighty deeds that belong to the apostles for the purpose of confirming the word and establishing it's veracity in the minds of people who had no other standard.
 
And you see this is in effect what Nicodemus meant when he came to Jesus and said, "I know you come from God because no man can," what, "do the things you do except God be with him."  In other words, the signs and miracles in Christ's life attested to the fact that he was speaking from God.  Same thing was true of the early apostles.  They had no other standard.  There was no written word of God.  There was not yet the accumulated standard of the New Testament, so signs became the confirmation of the word.
 
They were to ratify or establish the truth.  Now in the early church this was a necessary adjunct to the preaching and teaching of the apostles and the early prophets.  And incidentally these gifts were evidently often passed on from the apostles to other prophets of the early church by the laying on of hands.  There is no indication anywhere in the New Testament that anybody had these gifts other than by the laying on of hands of the apostles.
 
So it was a direct ministry geared to the apostles and initial prophets of the early church.  Warfield, one of the most brilliant, biblical scholars who ever lived says this.  "These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the church.  Their function thus confined them to distinctly the apostolic church and they necessarily passed away with it."
 
Now certain passages specifically associate these miraculous gifts of the Spirit with the work of apostles.  And I'll give you a couple of illustrations.  One is in the 14^th Chapter of Acts.  Don't look it up, just write it down.  Acts 14, verse 3.  In Acts 14:3, "A long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord who gave testimony under the word of His grace."  Now here are some prophets and they're speaking the word of the Lord.  Now here's the key, "and the Lord gave testimony unto the word of His grace."  What was the Lord then doing?  Confirming the word, right?
 
How did He give testimony?  He granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.  You see?  In other words, the way that the Lord attested to the veracity of their word was by granting them signs and wonders.  Now these words incidentally describe the activity of Paul and Barnabas when they went to the city of Icononium during Paul's first missionary journey and at that point signs and wonders were granted to them as apostles and prophets to proclaim the truth of God and have it verified.  God literally verified by giving them the ability to do miracles.
 
There's one other verse that tells us the same thing and that's Roman 15:15.  Again, I'll just read it to you.  "Nevertheless brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God.  That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  I have therefore that of which I may glory in Jesus Christ and those things which pertained to God.  For I will not dare