Monthly Archives: April 2023

1 Corinthians 12- The Body of Christ Part 2

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If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. 1 Corinthians 12:15-20

We continue to look at Pauls teaching on how the Church is the Body of Christ. As Paul taught earlier, we are all One Body (Church) by the Holy Spirit and we all have been given gifts as the Holy Spirit wishes. There are many different gifts and many different callings to Christians, but together we are One Body of Christ. When we put all these gifts and talents together, we are an unstoppable force for the Kingdom of God. Sadly many Christians neglect each other, and we don’t get to see all the potential that can happen with a united Body of Christ

Paul uses the illustration of a physical human body for us to understand our roles as Christians within the Church. If the foot shall say because I am not the hand, I am not of the body (Church), don’t we see alot of this today in the Church. Well your a Catholic, your not part of the Body of Christ, well your a Baptist, your not part of the body of Christ. We like to pretend we are the Holy Spirit and we can determine who is saved and who is not, focus on our mission as disciples of Christ and let the Holy Spirit do his work!

Now I know comparing roles and denominations is not an accurate portrayal, I was just trying to demonstrate the point, we divide and discriminate within the body of Christ, just because we don’t know or understand a brother or sister. The Church is a diverse family with many different talents and experiences. However we are all united through Jesus Christ, our Lord and God

As Paul is teaching here, one Christian may have a different gift or calling, where another has another totally different gift or talent, that doesn’t mean one is greater than the other, or one doesn’t belong to the Body. The foot is a valuable part in itself as is the hand is a valuable part, if they were removed from the Body, it would make a noticeable difference. The Body is more strengthened with a strong hand and a strong foot, with all the parts working together , the parts can compliment and empower each other

Not everyone is going to be called to be a Pastor, not everyone is going to be called to be a Sunday School teacher, however every role and part of the Body of Christ is important, nobody is greater than the Head of the Church, which is Jesus Christ! Amen!

1 Corinthians 12- The Body of Christ Part 1

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For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

It’s no secret there is alot of division within Christianity, if you don’t believe me, spend some time on your favorite social media app and ask a general question about Christianity. I see Christians spend more time arguing with each other than evangelizing to the unsaved. And some may believe they are doing the right thing or have zeal for God, but it’s complete disobedience to Christ and quenching of the Holy Spirit

The Apostle Paul says here “For as the body (the Church) is one, and has many Members (Christians) There is only One Church, the Body of Christ. There are not multiple denominations , this is a completely man-made idea. The fact that Christians can’t even tolerate each other enough to worship together, has to grieve the Holy Spirit. You confess to be part of the body of Christ, yet you reject parts of the Body of Christ, this is not Biblical. To me demonstrates the heart condition of many professing Christians

As a Born Again believer we belong to the Body of Jesus Christ, it’s not an organization membership. This is not a political movement, your soul was bought by the blood of The Lamb. You are not your own anymore, you were bought with a price. Yet we want to inject our power and authority into the Body of Christ. If you want to know why your “Church” is spiritually dead, it’s because of disobedience. The Holy Spirit has left most Church buildings already, because the reality is most of the people didn’t want the Holy Spirit there

Paul goes on to say “For by One Spirit (Holy Spirit) We are all baptized into One Body (Church)” I see black Churches, I see white Churches, I see Hispanic Churches, I even see Chinese Churches today, none of this is Biblical. Paul goes on to say it doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Gentiles (nationality) we are all One through Jesus Christ!

But we as Christians , segregate ourselves into different groups and call ourselves different names, so it can be more pleasurable to worship? This is blasphemy, the Church model we are using was not God’s design, and you wonder why it’s failing? And now today the modern Church has gotten so far away from the Word of God, most of the Churches are not even recognizable anymore, a den of thieves!

What denomination are you? You are either Born Again or dead in Sin, Amen!

1 Corinthians 12- Gifts of The Holy Spirit Part 2

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for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will 1 Corinthians 12:8-11

We talked about earlier in my previous post, that every Born Again believer has the Holy Spirit living inside of them and the Holy Spirit has given each of us a gift. These gifts and purposes can vary depending on what your calling is from God. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are to Glorify God and to expand Christs Kingdom, not for us to puff ourselves up

The Apostle Paul here lists some of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to believers, Wisdom, Knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation. Notice what Paul says here “Dividing to every man severally as He will” If someone has the gift of prophecy, don’t get annoyed or jealous with their ministry, God has chosen to appoint them this gift, we are not the Holy Spirit, we can’t give people the gifts of the Holy Spirit, only God can appoint these gifts

With that said, don’t be jealous of a brother or sister who has a gift that you desire. Scripture tells us that speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit,  I can tell you I have never spoke in tongues in my life. Should I be concerned or jealous of those who do speak in tongues? No I’m not concerned at all, it’s God’s plan on what gifts he wants to administer to whom. Now I know there are Christians who are going to argue this gift has ceased, I don’t find any scriptural support for that, therefore I will believe what the Bible is saying here. While there will be others who will fake speaking in tongues to demonstrate they have some kind of spiritual authority. I would warn you, this is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit is the only one who distributes these gifts, I would advise you to not mock God

We need to stay Kingdom focused, stop worrying about who has what gift or who doesn’t have a specific gift, we are the body of Christ, together with these gifts we have the power and authority to overcome evil. This is why Satan wants to keep the Church divided, separating these gifts weakens the Church, but united together with the gifts of Holy Spirit, the Church becomes unstoppable, the same power that rose Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11)

If you are a Born Again Christian, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit, unite with your brothers and sisters in Christ and build Gods Kingdom, Amen!

1 Corinthians 12- Gifts of The Holy Spirit Part 1

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Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

The gifts of the Holy Spirit is unfortunately another debated topic in Christianity. I think part of the reason is there are many Christians who have abused the Holy Spirit, while there are others that have neglected the Holy Spirit. You will find out when you talk to various Christians, there is a broad spectrum of everyone’s understanding of the Holy Spirit

As we looked over in my previous post about Jesus Is Lord, the Apostle Paul states “Nobody can say Jesus Is Lord without the Holy Spirit” , so if you are Born Again in Christ, it’s because of the Holy Spirit. For a Christian to say the works of the Holy Spirit have ceased, they would have to deny their own salvation. You can’t be saved without the Holy Spirit, you can’t be regenerated without the Holy Spirit, you can’t even know Jesus Christ without the Holy Spirit

With all this said, if you are Born Again in Christ, you have a gift of the Holy Spirit. You may not know what that gift is or maybe you quench the Holy Spirit and don’t use it, but I can guarantee you have been given a gift. The Apostle Paul says “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man (everyone)” There are many different gifts of the Holy Spirit, not just speaking in tongues or prophecy, having the Fear of The Lord is a gift of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11) 

We take alot of things for granted in our salvation, we have this attitude or mentality that we just naturally know Christ or have knowledge of God. You don’t have anything without the Holy Spirit. You are like the Dry Bones in the valley of the book of Ezekiel, you have zero knowledge or hope, it’s only the breath of God that can bring you back to life. 

I want you to just notice the Triune language Paul uses in this teaching, “the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God” People who deny the Trinity and say Jesus and the Apostles never taught this, have clearly missed the references throughout the New Testament. Without the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working in unison in your life, your not going to be saved, it’s the same with the gifts, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all working in unison to provide you these gifts.

Paul emphasizes “there are diversities of gifts, administration, and operations of the Spirit” The Body of Christ is One but we are all different, we all have different testimonies, different backgrounds, different experiences, and we all are going to have different gifts and different ministries. Let’s stop trying to compare ourselves to each other and work together for the Kingdom of God, Amen!

1 Corinthians 12- Jesus Is Lord

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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. 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

Recently with the Asbury Revivals going on, there was alot of discussion as to whether these were true revivals or not? Many Christians called these other Christians “fake” because they didn’t approve or like the way they were worshiping or conducting a service. Not to get off topic, but there is no Biblical commands how to conduct a revival, this can only be led by the Holy Spirit, which we seem to want to put inside a box

Anyway, the root of all these arguments and discussions comes down to one thing, are these people really saved or not? Now I’m certainly not going to try and play God and pretend I know who really is Born Again or not, in fact I believe there are true saved Christians in every denomination or sect, a true remnant of God, however that is not up to me to determine who is saved or not.

However Jesus did give us some criteria we can use to determine the authenticity of someone’s faith in Matthew 7. Jesus said “You should know them by their fruits “ (Matthew 7:16) What fruit is Christ talking about? Of coure the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5) The Apostle Paul said this “ 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23[g]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law “

If we claim to be a Christian (a follower of Christ) then we should behave like a Christian. If someone claims to be Born Again and they are engaging in sinful and evil practices, then its logical we have to question the authenticity of their conversion. Now does that mean we should go around judging who is a true Christian or not, no that’s not our job, but we can have spiritual discernment of the Holy Spirit to know who to fellowship with or even follow

Now going back to our scriptures today , Paul makes a statement “Nobody can say Jesus Is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” Interesting, another sign of discernment for us. If someone is declaring Jesus Is Lord, that is by the Holy Spirit. That is a sign of spiritual fruit, this person might still be working on their sanctification and might not be where you are at, but to truly declare Jesus Is Lord sets us apart from the world

So going back to the Asbury Revivals, among other things, Christians will complain about this specific denomination or this group because they don’t do A, B, and C, all I want to know is do they truly declare Jesus Is Lord? Do they affirm the death and resurrection of Christ? Let Jesus gather his sheep, and let the Holy Spirit do his work, Jesus Christ is Lord, Amen!