Just over 30 years ago, the charismatic movement was beginning to have an impact on the Baptist churches in England. People were coming into a new and dynamic experience of the Holy Spirit. For many people their faith took on a new reality. Their relationship with God became more real and intimate. But along with it all came controversy. I remember especially the controversy between Christians over the claims of God’s miraculous intervention through miracles of healing, over prophecies that were delivered in Christian gatherings, and especially over the gift of tongues.

Of course it had all happened before. There have many instances in church history of the Holy Spirit moving powerfully and believers receiving the gift of tongues. And these moves of the Holy Spirit have virtually always been surrounded with controversy. People, and particularly church authorities and leaders have found these occurrences difficult; perhaps because they felt their leadership being threatened, perhaps because they were encountering things beyond their own experience. If we want to understand it biblically, if we want apostolic teaching on the Holy Spirit and his gifts, then the place to help us understand is 1 Corinthians. In chapter 12 Paul begins to deal with the subject.

It seems that in their letter the Corinthians had asked a question about the gifts of the Spirit, perhaps specifically about speaking in tongues. Paul deals with the matter at length; in fact three chapters are taken up with the whole subject of spiritual gifts and their use. Paul starts off with the words, ‘now about Spiritual gifts.’ The scholars tell us that a better translation might be ‘now about spiritual people.’

We know from earlier on in the letter that the church at Corinth was sadly divided into rival groups. It could be that one of these groups was made up of people who regarded the gift of tongues as being a mark of superiority. It could be that these were the ‘spiritual people’ that Paul is now referring to. He does not want them to remain in ignorance.

He begins with a warning. Supernatural signs and gifts can be signs from God, but supernatural signs can also lead people astray. What Christians do not always remember is that there are such things as false prophets. Jesus warned of it in Matthew 24 v 24; ‘false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles’. Paul simply reminds the Corinthians of the pagan religions around them in which some of them had been involved.

There were supernatural phenomena in those pagan religions, the result of the demonic spiritual forces that led people astray into idolatrous worship. Paul just reminds the Corinthians of that to warn them that the gifts of tongues or prophecy could also occur as a result of demonic activity. One example we have of that is where a slave girl who has an evil spirit, which enables her to prophesy, followed Paul and Silas around when they are at Philippi. Paul actually casts that demon out of her.

Right next door to us here in Southend in the spiritualist church there will be spiritual phenomena that are not of the Holy Spirit. We have to be discerning when we encounter spiritual gifts. If they are of the Holy Spirit, then they will glorify and exalt Jesus. They will be in accordance with the scripture. Even the gift of tongues also has its equivalent in pagan religion. Paul warns the Corinthians ‘be careful, be discerning. Do not be led astray by just any form of spiritual phenomena that you come across.’ It is still a valid warning to Christians today.

Then Paul goes on to affirm that the gifts of the Spirit are given to Christians to unify the church. ‘Different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit; different kinds of service but the same Lord; different kinds of working but the same God.’ But the gifts of the Spirit were not unifying the church at Corinth. What was happening, and it still happens today, was that their spiritual gifts were becoming a matter of personal pride and a cause for jealousy.

When people encounter God, when they experience spiritual things there is a tendency to become elated. We can feel that we are at the centre of the universe. There is a need to beware of that. The Corinthians were immature and unaware of that danger. They really thought of the church as an arena for showing off their spiritual gifts. ‘No’ says Paul, ‘your gifts are not given to you to show off, they are given for the common good. They are given for you to use to help and encourage each other.

And you don’t all have the same gifts. God gives different gifts to different people, to use in different ways. One is given the message of wisdom, another the message of knowledge. They are different. Another is given a special gift of faith. Now all Christians have faith but some people God gives a special gift of it. One man who had this gift was Stephen; the bible says of him that he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit.

To others God gives gifts of healing. Not to boost their ego, but to bless and help others. God gives to some miraculous powers. Sometimes we have problems in the church that seem impossible to solve by human means, but if they are problems God wants us to solve then he can supply the means to solve them by the gift of miraculous powers.

Others are given the gift of prophecy, the ability to speak a message from God to guide, encourage or enlighten the church. Others have the gift to discern between spirits. We have already said that there are other spirits than the Holy Spirit, and God gives to some the ability to discern if a prophecy or a message is of the Holy Spirit or not. God gives this gift to enable the church to reject what is of the evil one. Sometimes in church people may bring messages that are not of demonic origin, but neither are they of the Holy Spirit. That is because they are simply of the spirit of the individuals that bring them.

It is not always easy to tell what is of the Lord and what is born of our own inmost longings. A person with the gift of discernment can help us to know. What is of the Lord, and what is of us.

Then there is the gift of tongues that enables a person to speak in a language they have never learned. The gift can be used in praise, or prayer or prophecy. Tongues are also a supernatural sign or the Holy Spirit’s presence, but as we said before, it can be counterfeited. Lastly there is the gift of interpretation of tongues. Paul teaches later that the gift of tongues should only be used in worship, if someone with the gift of interpretation is present to interpret what is said in tongues. Tongues are a gift that should not be used to show off, but to build others up in their faith.

Although we have different gifts, yet we are united, because our gifts all come from the one and same Holy Spirit. Paul goes on to remind the Corinthians what is true for all of us. We were all baptized by, or with, or in one Spirit. There is only one Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that was at work in creation, the Holy Spirit, which is part of that great and wonderful mystery that we call the Holy Trinity, is the Holy Spirit that we received through repentance, baptism and commitment to Christ.

Some people put great emphasis on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe that what matters is the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If you want something biblical to call the experience of the Holy Spirit, Paul uses a helpful phrase here. He talks of the experience of the Holy Spirit in verse 13 by saying ‘we were all given the one Spirit to drink.’ That’s a good phrase. It links up with the words of Jesus regarding the Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel where Jesus says ‘If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink’ We are all given to drink of the one Spirit. No matter what our age or background, we share the same realities.

Once again Paul uses the illustration of the human body to illustrate how as a church we should relate to one another. Each of us with our different gifts is like a different part of the one body. Each one of us has a part to play. It would be ridiculous for the foot to say because I am not a hand I am not part of the body. But sometimes people can feel like that about their place in church. Human being have this capacity for longing to be different from what they actually are. Now there is a sense in which we do need to be different, there are things about us all that need to change. But in the sense we are talking here, God knows us as we are. He loves and accepts us as we are, and he has given us gifts that we can use to play our part in the life of the church.

Just because we can’t all play the piano it doesn’t mean that we are not needed in church or cannot be part of the church. God has put us all here in his church with our different gifts. All our gifts are need. Together we have to be willing to use our gifts, and for those of us in leadership we have to be willing to allow and encourage everyone to use their gifts for building up the church.

We have to remember we need each other. Sometimes we have a tendency to forget that. We can slide into the arrogance of thinking that our part is the only one that really counts. But the truth is we need and depend on everyone to play his or her part, and we should remember and affirm that. In fact it is often the low profile tasks that are so vital to the life of the church. Just because some parts of our body are hidden doesn’t mean that they are unnecessary. It’s the opposite. Our vital organs may be hidden but they are absolutely vital. And for a body to function well it needs to be in harmony with itself.

The same is true for the church; we need to at peace with each other. We need to be in sympathy when one of our members suffers. We can rejoice together in each other’s successes. We can’t all do everything, but we can play our part by using the gifts God has given us.

And there is also scope for change and progress. Paul tells the Corinthians ‘eagerly desire the greater gifts.’ What does he mean? It seems the problem at Corinth was that everyone wanted to speak in tongues. One of the problems with people, particularly immature people is that they all clamour for the most glamorous place or task. When children play cricket, everyone wants to be in bat. The key to real progress, the secret to success is for people to learn and develop the skills needed to enable the team to perform better, to enable the body to function more effectively.

Paul says eagerly desire the greater gifts. In verse 28 he has put the gifts in order. Apostles, prophets, teachers. The greater gifts are those that communicate the gospel, that teach  the scripture. There is not always a clamour to be house group leaders, or Sunday school teachers, but these are the gift that spread the good new, that nurture people in the faith and build up the church. These are the higher gifts that Paul encourages all the Corinthians to seek. But above all, there is another gift that we are told to seek. We shall think about that gift next week. That gift is love.

Eagerly desire the greater gifts; taking the gospel to others, bringing God’s wisdom to God’s people, teaching the ways of Jesus. But above all allowing God’s gift of love to envelop us, and flow through us to others.

Amen.

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