1 Corinthians; Chapter 12, Holy Spirit, Body of Christ, Unity

The Unified Body of Christ is powered by the Holy Spirit.

1. It takes the Holy Spirit
[1Cr 12:1 ESV] Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.
[1Cr 12:2 ESV] You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.
[1Cr 12:3 ESV] Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.

2. Gifts are for Service to be ACTIVE.
[1Cr 12:4 ESV] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
[1Cr 12:5 ESV] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
[1Cr 12:6 ESV] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

3. Your Gift is for the COMMON GOOD. It’s not for you
[1Cr 12:7 ESV] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

What is your SHAPE?
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experiences

The right perspective of the supernatural. No one can say “Jesus is Lord”, except in the Holy Spirit.
That is our base line. That is the evidence of super natural intervention.
That is the phenomenal. The Miraculous.

A warning from Jesus.
[Mat 7:21 ESV] "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
[Mat 7:22 ESV] On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
[Mat 7:23 ESV] And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Are you truly bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit & Jesus?
[Luk 6:43 ESV] "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,
[Luk 6:44 ESV] for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
[Luk 6:45 ESV] The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
[Luk 6:46 ESV] "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?
[Luk 6:47 ESV] Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
[Luk 6:48 ESV] he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
[Luk 6:49 ESV] But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."


4. Most of you are already empowered to do most of these.
[1Cr 12:8 ESV] For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
[1Cr 12:9 ESV] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
[1Cr 12:10 ESV] to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
[1Cr 12:11 ESV] All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

The Body of Christ. Many members, one body. We need each other.
** do not forsake meeting together**

[1Cr 12:12 ESV] For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
[1Cr 12:13 ESV] For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
[1Cr 12:14 ESV] For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
[1Cr 12:15 ESV] If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.
[1Cr 12:16 ESV] And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.
[1Cr 12:17 ESV] If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
[1Cr 12:18 ESV] But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
[1Cr 12:19 ESV] If all were a single member, where would the body be?
[1Cr 12:20 ESV] As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
[1Cr 12:21 ESV] The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
[1Cr 12:22 ESV] On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
[1Cr 12:23 ESV] and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
[1Cr 12:24 ESV] which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,
[1Cr 12:25 ESV] that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
[1Cr 12:26 ESV] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
[1Cr 12:27 ESV] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Roll Call. Know your gifts and put them to work.

[1Cr 12:28 ESV] And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
[1Cr 12:29 ESV] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
[1Cr 12:30 ESV] Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
[1Cr 12:31 ESV] But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.