Godly Social Order - Corinthians

Spiritual Gifts

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Sociology

Lesson: 31-49

Genre: Lecture

Track: 31

Dictation Name: RR274J18a

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto Thy name, oh Most High. To show forth Thy loving kindness in the morning and Thy faithfulness every night. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God we give thanks unto Thee that our times are in Thy hands. Thou hast made us, Thou has ordained all things that take place and Thou hast a purpose for us in and through everything. Give us grace to take all things from Thy hand, to know that Thy hand is upon us always for good and Thou hast created us, ordained us, and called us. To serve Thee and to fulfill Thy purposes. All glory be to Thee oh God. We give thanks unto Thee for all our blessings, for all our trials and our tribulations, for all our joys and for all our sorrows, knowing that Thy eternal purpose for us governs all Thy ways. Teach us always in all things to be grateful. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is First Corinthians 12:1-11. First Corinthians 12.

“1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

 2Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

 3Wherefore 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.

 4Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

 5And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

 6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

 9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

 10To 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:

 11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

 12For 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.”

Because of the Charismatic movement of the Post-World War Two era, especially after about 1970, much disagreement exists concerning the meaning of speaking in tongues. The issues has become a very lively and important one.

Some hold that the verses in Acts 2:3-11 refers to the actual languages of the day whereas First Corinthians 12:1-22 have simply ecstatic utterances in mind. Now: is this true? This hardly stands up to close examination because if the Corinthian experience was morally ecstatic, if it was without any relationship to actual languages, if it were goslethania, as it is called, then how could anyone know, as verse three indicates that the speaker was blessing or cursing Jesus Christ. Speaking of the spirit of God involved meaning. However ecstatic, the words meant something, always, and therefore could be understand or interpreted. Something not possible if it were only a mindless babble of ecstatic sounds. These are, Paul says, in verse one gifts of the spirit, the Holy Spirit. Now: in Colossians 1:19 the experience of being filled with the spirit means with the knowledge of His will and His wisdom and spiritual understanding. The Holy Spirit does not suppress the mind but brings it into its own. The Holy Spirit cannot be associated therefore with mindless utterances. Paul’s purpose is to counter ignorance of the Holy Spirit. It is this rather than the associating the spirit with ignorance. Paul is emphatic: the spirit is not mindless but purposeful in all that He does. As gentiles they were carried away with these dumb idols as paganism so led them.

Paganism meant an irrational acceptance of and subservience to mindless experiences. To speak in the Spirit is to speak intelligently; it is to know that Jesus is the Lord. Whereas to call Jesus Christ accursed is not to speak in the Spirit obviously. The Holy Spirit leads the believer to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and to speak means to understand, if we so speak in the spirit. We then understand who Jesus Christ is and the meaning of His coming, His atonement, and therefore the meaning of His kingdom. Now there are diversities of gifts but the same spirit, Paul says in verse four. Similarly however differing the various administrations or services it is the same Lord, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, always the trinity. However the services of each member of the Trinity may differ, it is the same God which worketh in all, Paul tells us in verse six. The Trinity cannot be wrongly divided and to assume that the gifts are in conflict or separate the responses of the redeemed is to twist the Bible. However the immediate operation of the Spirit may seem to differ from those of the Father and the Son. Paul says it is the same God which is in all. The same God which worketh.

Now: Paul is here solidly Trinitarian. He is tritheist…no not at all. He is not saying there are three gods that are separate; he is not a tritheist but Trinitarian, one God in Three Persons. While in the economy of the Trinity a particular service is expressed by one or another member of the Trinity, at all times all three members are totally involved. Now the Holy Spirit does not differ from the Father and the Son. It is one God in Three Persons. In Collisions 19 the experience of being filled with the Spirit means, we are told, with the knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now that’s what it means to be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not suppress the mind; it brings the mind into its own. Paul’s purpose is to counter ignorance of the Holy Spirit rather than associate the spirit with ignorance. To see the Spirit associated with mindless utterances is to see it as something pagan. As gentiles they were carried away, Paul says, with these dumb idols as paganism so led them. Paganism meant an irrational acceptance of and subservience to mindless experience. To speak in the spirit is to speak intelligently, to know that Jesus is the Lord, whereas to call Jesus Christ accursed is not to speak in the spirit, obviously. The Holy Spirit leads the believers to proclaim that Jesus is the Lord. And so to speak means to understand who Jesus Christ is and the meaning of His coming, His atonement and therefore of His kingdom. This is all important. We can only understand the Bible if we see the Holy Spirit as expressing the wisdom of God. Let us pray.

Almighty God our Heavenly Father we give thanks unto Thee for this Thy word. Teach us to hear and to obey. To know that Thy truth is ever clear and simple to those who would believe. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? As you can see from what we’ve just dealt with, when Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit his thinking is very, very different from that of people today whether they be charismatic or not. He associates it with the wisdom of God. So that when we are filled with the Spirit we are filled with understanding. Let us conclude with prayer.

Almighty God our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that by Thy grace and mercy Thou hast summoned us to be Thy people, to believe Thy word, to give ourselves to Thee and to Thy Spirit. To manifest Thy truth, Thy wisdom, Thy grace, Thy mercy, Thy piece. Grant us this we beseech Thee. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.