Paul continues his topic of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:2: “You know that you were Gentiles (unbelievers), carried away unto these dumb idols, even as you were led“.
In this context, ‘dumb’ doesn’t mean stupid any more than ‘ignorant’ does. The dictionary definition of the word ‘dumb’ means unable to speak. These Christians at Corinth had previously been unbelievers, taught by their parents, their neighbors, and their spiritual leaders, to pursue these ‘dumb’ idols that could not speak.
They were carried away by the superstition of the previous religion, but never heard from the God who Created them. There was no relationship with their gods. They didn’t know how to hear from God, so they continued to live in the ‘ignorance’ of their ‘dumb’ gods.
Paul is setting up an argument for the benefit of spiritual gifts in the life of the church. We have now found a connection with the real God, who speaks loud and clear to us through these spiritual gifts. Let’s not be ignorant and expect that our God is, likewise, unable to speak. If we want to hear from God today, it happens through these spiritual gifts He is about to unfold.
I love the way the King James Version poetically teaches us about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Listen to Paul’s introduction in verse 1: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant“.
I’d like to invest the next several days doing a little teaching on spiritual gifts. The first truth I need to emphasize is that we are not to be ignorant! Ignorant doesn’t mean ‘stupid’, but unknowing. The trouble with most mainline denominational Christians is ignorance. And the trouble with many Pentecostal and charismatic believers is also ignorance.
Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities endowed by the Holy Spirit to believers who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God brings us the mind of God. People of the world talk about extra-sensory perception (ESP) that lets someone sense something not known to the mind. It is a counterfeit for real spiritual gifts that reveal God’s mind to us.
Open your mind to spiritual things and you step into His power. These gifts are real and they really work in today’s world.
Tags: ignorance, spiritual gifts
After Abram’s big blunder in Egypt which we talked about yesterday, Abram went back home: “And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 13:3-4.
It appears a spiritual pattern that when we mess up, we have to go back where we started and begin again. Abram went back to his starting point, back to the altar, and renewed his commitment.
When identifying the failure of the church in Ephesus, Jesus wrote, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love. Remember therefore from whence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works” (Revelation 2:4-5a).
When we’ve messed up, we have to go back where we left the Jesus Trail and start there over again. Don’t just give up as a failure, get back in the game, start at the beginning and get right with God. Do what worked at first and grow from there. Egypt never satisfies once you’ve tasted the Promised Land.
Tags: beginnings, refresh
We hear much about how men are to be a spiritual covering for their wives. But, read what Abram did when he traveled down to Egypt to escape famine in his own land: “And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, ‘Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see you, that they shall say, ‘This is his wife’: and they will kill me, but they will save you alive. Say, I pray, you are my sister: that it may be well with me for your sake; and my soul shall live because of you” (Genesis 12:11-13).
So much for chivalry in the Old Testament. Abram had just asked his wife to lie for him so he could live. The result was that Sarai was taken into the Pharaoh’s harem. Only God’s intervention delivered her from from being violated.
What do you think of a man that would jeopardize his wife’s well-being like this? How do you think Abram and Sarai’s relationship grew (or was hindered) by this incident?
Tags: deceit, marriage
Genesis 12:7: “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, ‘Unto your seed will I give this land’: and there built he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.”
But in verse 10 we read, “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.”
We learn from this that sometimes God leads us into a place where there is troubles. It didn’t mean Abram missed God’s direction, or that God made a mistake, or that God had abandoned him. But all victories come through trials and difficulties. We are descendants of Adam and Eve. Its a fallen world.
God’s promise to give the land to Abram’s descendants, even though he had none yet, stood firm. Abram was walking by sight, not by faith. Faith requires patience. We must wait for God’s perfect timing and not give up in the times of famine.
Tags: famine, patience, tests
After Noah safely survived the flood, God gave a promise that He would never bring that kind of judgment on the planet again. And He gave Noah a “token” of that promise by setting a rainbow in the skies. “I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between Me and the earth” (Genesis 11:13).
When Moses needed some token of God’s promise, God turned his staff into a serpent and back again. The staff as a tool for God was the token.
I believe God will give each of us a token of any promise He gives. When Anita and I were first engaged, we attended a prayer meeting at a home in Waterloo. We were sitting on the hearth as the group of perhaps twenty people began to prayer in our prayer languages. About a sentence or two into that prayer Anita and I looked at each other and smiled. We had been praying the same prayer, word-for-word, in the same language. That has never happened since, and I’ve never heard of it happening with anyone else. Yet, I believe this was a token to us that He has placed us together and would work a common anointing upon us in our ministry over the years.
What token has the Lord given you of a promise He has given? How has this token encouraged you?
The Psalms are an amazing collection of praise verses, mostly penned by David, some by one of his worship leaders. David wrote these Psalms at various times in his life: some while he was in great need while hiding from King Saul, his rebellious son, Absalom, or others; and some after he was declared King and living in wealth.
But the most enlightening thing is the prophetic perspective we have of the coming Messiah, who was called “the Son of David”, in that he was a type, or foreshadow of Jesus. Take Psalm 31, for example. Consider the verse: “In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust…Deliver Me in Thy righteousness” (v. 1). Or, “For Thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Thy name’s sake lead me, deliver me” (v. 3).
But, listen carefully what David wrote in verse 5: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit”. Sound familiar? This was the very phrase Jesus used when giving up His life on the cross in Luke 23:46.
Have you ever made this simple surrender prayer for yourself? Put your life in God’s hands, and watch what He can do.