One spirit - multiple gifts

As you know we are studying the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the life in the spirit as part of a larger series on fundamental sermons of the word of God, doctrinal sermons.

And the last two Sundays we have had special guests, two Sundays ago we had Dr. Awilda Tejera who blessed us with a very beautiful demonstration of gifts, ministering to the people of God at the end of the two services and speak to us precisely about that life filled with the Holy Spirit.

Last Sunday we had our beautiful sisters Igna de Suarez and Susan Combs here, from Colombia, who also blessed us with beautiful teachings that have strengthened us.

But I want to return to the subject now because we still have a couple of sermons to go on it. And we have discussed many different texts and different aspects of the Spirit-filled life and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But I believe that the 3 great Chapters in the Bible that deal with this subject are: First Corinthians 12, 13 and 14. There is a treasure of powerful teachings that for me resolve any controversy that may exist about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The last time I picked up this passage I concentrated on the first two or three verses, where the Apostle Paul says that he doesn't want us to be ignorant about spiritual things, or spiritual gifts. And one thing that becomes clear, when one reads these three Chapters of First Corinthians, 12, 13 and 14, one realizes that the Apostle Paul is not only interested in teaching neutrally about the gifts, but he is also interested in correcting misunderstandings about the gifts. He is interested in rectifying bad practices that have been developing in the Corinthian church and probably in other churches. And if the Holy Spirit recorded this here, it is because he knew that these teachings would also be valid, and they certainly are, throughout all of history, and that is why they are recorded here.

Again, I do not see why the Holy Spirit would have recorded these truths if they were only for that little moment in history before the church produced the final Scriptures as some say that the gifts already ceased, cessationism is a school of theological thought that says that these gifts are no longer for this time. But I don't see that anywhere in Scripture, one assumes that from outside, not from within Scripture. Here clearly the Apostle Paul is writing, as well as the other topics that he deals with in First Corinthians that no one doubts that they were for all centuries, neither can we doubt that this topic of gifts is for the whole church throughout all time. and that God expects the gifts to be in manifestation until Christ comes.

How many can say amen to that? Amen. So, the Apostle Paul wrote, not only to alert us about the use of the gifts and tell us, these gifts, these things are important, they are necessary for the health and vitality of the church, for its effectiveness, but they have to be managed, for so to speak, they must be managed, they must be allowed to manifest within the framework of the order that God has established.

It's like, I've always said that if you're going to use some kind of energy, like electricity, for example, atomic energy, or even laser energy, a laser beam, you'd better develop proper ways to use it because otherwise it will gouge someone's eye out or burn someone else up or burn down a house or destroy a city. You have to develop ways to fit it in so that it does not destroy, positive things can also be negative if they are not used correctly. And many churches and ministries have been destroyed by the misuse of the gifts.

Inclusively, I think we have scandalized many people who are eager and curious about this aspect of the Christian life, because there are so many bad examples in the world of those who call themselves Pentecostals, charismatics, or who appreciate the gifts, that there are excesses and negligence that discredit and embarrass the use of the gifts, and then sober, wise, understanding, mature people see these horrifying and harmful and ugly manifestations, and they are scandalized. And the devil uses that to close their hearts so they don't get interested in looking for the gifts.

And that is why I believe that God is so insistent that we are going to enter into the use of the gifts according to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I have enjoyed these days seeing a very dear couple of mine and Meche, for many, many years. They attend an American church in a part of the outskirts of the city, beautiful people, well-educated people, both theologically educated, very, very developed professionals and elders in their church, a beautiful church here in Massachusetts, and very mature people in the spirit, already in his, let's say third age stage, so to speak, and many years in the Gospel.

I have known them, as I say, probably 15, 17 years probably and at this stage of their lives, after being very correct evangelicals, very theologically sound and sober and in their evangelical way of being, God is touching their lives regarding the Holy Spirit and the moving of the Holy Spirit. And it's beautiful to see that couple like a little bush that for the moment is receiving new nutrients and fresh water, beginning to flourish, and things that I now see in them, an enthusiasm, an expressiveness, a dynamism, a curiosity about a greater breadth. of the Christian life that fills me with joy.

And the wife told me yesterday, pastor, or she told me, Roberto, I don't know my husband, when I heard him speak, even speak to me with great enthusiasm about certain things that he is discovering and reading, and I rejoice in that, because so there are many people who have spiritual discernment, biblical knowledge, want to enter into the use of the gifts, but need to see an authentic, balanced, harmonious manifestation of the gifts.

How many understand what I'm talking about, right? Now, look, I think, let me say something, because those things must also be qualified even. Sometimes the gifts, sometimes they can manifest themselves in even grotesque and strange ways, but I believe that this is the exception, not the rule. I believe that there are moments in a church that there may be an inrush of God's power and there may be strange things: people falling on the floor, people trembling catatonically, or there may even be strange noises and strange manifestations, but... you have to have Be careful not to kill that off prematurely, but that should not be, in my opinion, the norm for a church through the weeks and weeks of the year. But once those things manifest, I believe that then God expects them to come in and fit into the word, into the order of God.

And there are churches that fall so in love with those spectacular and even rare things, that it almost becomes witchcraft, so, you know, every Sunday they want to party again, and they want to go back, and if It doesn't happen, they make it up because that's already superstition and that already feeds a cultural element of our cultures that have an appetite for the outstanding and the different. And I think there has to be a balance.

I don't like to stagnate or kill something simply because it's rare, but the word also speaks of judging, discerning, and that was, that's what the Apostle was talking about at the beginning, right? where it says that you have to judge the spirits.

“.... I let you know that no one who speaks by the spirit of God calls Jesus anathema and no one can call Jesus Lord if not by the Holy Spirit....”

You will remember that we talked about that, that not every spirit that manifests is from the Lord, you have to find a balance. So I am glad to see that. There are people who want, they want the manifestation of the Holy Spirit but they want to know how to handle it and the Apostle Paul writes these Chapters so that there is balance in the Christian life, so that the gifts are tempered by the fruit.

So, look, after he talks about taking care that the spirit that manifests is the right spirit of the Lord, then in verse 4, he goes on to another topic and says:

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“.... now, there are diversity of gifts but the spirit is the same....”

One is in the plural and the other is in the singular, diversity of gifts, plural, and the spirit is singular. And you're going to see that contrast continually in what follows.

“.... and there are diversities of ministries (plural), but the Lord (singular) who does all things is the same....”

So, third , there are diversity of operations but God who does all things in all is the same. He is balancing, a diversity of gifts, of ways in which the spirit manifests, but always a single spirit, a single entity manifesting its power, manifesting its energy.

Then he goes on to say: “...but to each one –there it is again, an implication of plurality, to each one-….the manifestation of the spirit is given for the benefit because to this – and he is using here also a form of the plural; to this, to that, to that, using an expression - .... but to this is given by the spirit for wisdom, to another word of knowledge according to the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit and to another gifts of healing by the same spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophesying, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers kinds of tongues and to another interpretation of tongues, but all these things are done by one and the same spirit, distributing to each one in particular as he wants....”

What a beautiful teaching. Notice, here's something on Paul's heart. First, remember, he's speaking to a congregation that just came out, many of them, and perhaps some still are, as they visit the Corinthian congregation, are into Greco-Roman paganism, where there are lots of different gods.

If you have studied, for example, the culture of India, there are thousands and thousands of gods in the Hindu religion, thousands of gods. Every so often a new god is invented, that is an industry, the invention of gods, and they do not see anything because for them it is simply manifestations in the reality of time and space. And that is pagan culture. The pagan culture, be it in Greece, in Rome, in Africa, in Latin America, in the Aztec and Mayan cultures and all these cultures, are each God has a specialty, has a way of moving, specializes in nature, in the sun, moon, rain, fertility, agriculture, war, sexuality. Each God is like he has a specialization, an interest, an energy and if you want to be treated in a certain area, you go to the department of the God that manages that area. You apply to that department of God. And that is the pagan mentality. The pagan mindset is a pluralistic mindset about deity.

So, Paul, among other things, wanted to correct that error from the beginning, he was saying, look, in the world of the Gospel you are going to see different supernatural manifestations, you are going to see different expressions of the deity of God But always remember, these are not different gods, it is one God, one spirit, the Holy Spirit.

Did you know that in the Christian world there have been small outbreaks of that pagan mentality, as if wanting to get out of the way? How do we know that, the saints, with all respect to our Catholic brothers, but in the Caribbean, Santeria has wreaked havoc. It is a mixture of witchcraft and Catholicism where each saint, behind many saints there is a deity and sometimes the saints have different specialties. There is a saint for lovers, there is a saint for the rain, a saint for travelers. Yes or no? Another saint for rejected women, for wives who have been betrayed, lots of things. It is a magical mentality that is always trying to sprout, if one is not careful, it always wants, like the grass, to come out and that is why the church always needs good teaching, to maintain the manifestations of the spirit in the correct form.

That's why Paul says, 'I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts,' because if you don't take care of yourself, the little devil when he comes to see you will trip a church and something will come out of there, which is pagan and nature and has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, with the Holy Spirit of God.

Brothers, in the Christian spiritual world, things are handled very differently from how they are handled in the pagan world, always remember that. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of order, beauty, harmony, blessing, there is not that terrible, destructive, gloomy, negative, ugly aspect that exists in the pagan world, where the gods can be gods of destruction, gods of death , gods of violence.

The spirit of God is a Holy Spirit, of order, peace and beauty. You do not control the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit controls you. Amen. You cannot get into a trance at the moment or ok then you are going to prophesy to someone. There are people who come like this, they come so that... brother, you have a word for me, as if this were a matter of you pressing a button and a word comes out and you read it to them. That is witchcraft, brothers, we have to be very careful with that. That is wanting to control one's spirit of God and that is what the pagan world does, that is witchcraft.

You go to the santera, to the fortune teller to read the letter or read the cup of coffee or whatever. You have to be careful with that, that's why when we get involved in the administration of gifts, the word of God has to be the guide, because this is the insulation that prevents electricity from carbonizing us. If you are going to use electricity, use it with rubber gloves, or with rubber boots or whatever, but be careful because otherwise you are going to have a scare, at least.

So, that's why here the... you have to study the word of the Lord. How were the gifts manifested? How have they been manifested through Scripture? God has a style, God has a way of doing things and if we understand God's style and get in tune with God's divine, holy personality we will be able to recognize his spirit when it is in manifestation. And when it's not in manifestation, you're going to hear like a strange little note, and you're not going to know why, if you're not a theologian, but you're going to know hmm, that's not from God, I don't like that.

So one of the things is that, that Paul wants to correct: there is only one God, there is only one entity, that entity is holy, it has a way of manifesting itself, there are not many different gods manifesting each one in one way, but it's the Holy Spirit. There are diversity of gifts but the spirit is the same.

Another thing, however, that Paul wanted to correct, very important, which is perhaps the most important thing for him, is the issue of divisions in the church. Do you know that many times when the gifts come to a church, instead of blessing, they are sometimes cursing? How sad that. There are many churches that as long as they remain traditionally evangelical, everything is fine, but the Holy Spirit enters, there is revival and when they come to see the church in rubble 3 years later, there was a scandal, there was a problem, there was a division, and there is rupture and that is why many pastors are afraid to let the gifts enter their church, because they know that many times when the gifts come, problems also come. And then each one considers himself a prophet and each one believes that he knows more than the pastor, and each little brother believes that he has the best gift and there are duels between prophets, many times and prophecy is used to throw stones at the pastor, to throw stones at him to the pastor's wife or such a deacon, or the hujieres or whatever.

And it's terrible. There is like an outbreak of division and a spirit of individualism and pride comes in and a number of things that are very destructive to a church. And I say that when one enters into the use of gifts from God and when a church opens up to the gifts, one of the things that the church has to insist on the most is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Not only the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the character, the word, the truth of God.

And Paul later develops it in First Corinthians 13, and Paul says, look, I don't care how many gifts you have, if you're a scoundrel, don't dress up because you're not going. That is what it says in First Corinthians 13:

“If I spoke human and angelic tongues and had all the gifts of the world, and if I did not have love, I am nothing, it is of no use to me..”

He knows that it is possible to have many gifts, a church to have great manifestations of gifts and not be an exemplary church, not be a church that pleases the Lord. Corinth was like that. There were, he says, all kinds of gifts, all kinds of manifestations, but there was immorality, divisions, partisanship, indiscipline, disobedience to one's word, they were suing each other, there was a terrible disorder.

And Paul said, no sir, that is not so, the gifts are simply a means, they are an instrument. When Christ comes and the new order of God comes, there will no longer be a need, not even for gifts, the only thing that will be needed is love, that is the only thing that will remain, tongues will go away, prophecies will no longer be necessary because everything will already be fulfilled. We will not have to live by faith because faith will not be necessary because we will already be seeing God himself. But the only thing that will remain is the love that is the main fruit of the Holy Spirit.

So, the church of Christ has to insert the gifts into the foundation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. So, Paul is preparing the ground for what will later be the second part of his meditation in First Corinthians 12, where he talks about how we are complementary. A church has a diversity of things, of characters, of nationalities, of races, different socioeconomic levels, and all of these things must complement each other.

How beautiful, brothers, when I look here at this church right now, I see blondes and I see black hair and I even see dyed hair and I see straight hair, and I also see non-straight hair, and I see all kinds of colors in the skin, from very dark to very white, I see different sizes, different body structures. I see indigenous bodies, I see Anglo-European bodies, I see everything, different ages, different socio-economic levels, different levels of education, different nationalities.

Brothers, it's a tremendous ethnic medley here and I thank the Lord, I rejoice in it. Give the Lord a round of applause, that is our great gift as a church, there is everything. Glory to the Lord.

Brothers, God forbid us from wanting to be a middle class or upper middle class church or a church of only whites or blacks, a church of Hispanics only, the Lord rebukes, or of only one nationality, only Guatemalan or Dominican or Caribbean or Central American. God wants a church that reflects the diversity that he is capable of manifesting but also maintains unity, both, because that is the theme that Paul wants to develop: unity within diversity or diversity within unity, as whatever you want to see.

Paul is saying, God is a rich God, he is a varied God, he is a God who loves creativity and diversity, but he is one God who is creating and we have to be like him in the way we relate to our diversity.

I encourage you, brothers, in the name of Jesus to celebrate people who are different from you. And I encourage you, and I encourage myself to always look for the person who does not look like me and who I do not know and who does not have the same sense of humor or eat the same food as me, nor is he from the same culture. , or is of the same education. The Lord wants you and me to mingle.

You know what the solution to the racial problem in the United States is, I dare say, when blacks and whites, Asians start to marry, the problem is solved immediately, you know, because God created the races, And I create each race, I create with their genius, with a special gift, something, a different culture and then God wanted all of that to come in and make a sancocho with all those things together. And how delicious is a sancocho, right? what time is it? 11 o'clock, but in me... what happens is that my stomach hasn't gotten used to the change in clock yet, it's telling me, it's time, no. I'm thinking of cassava, yams, plantains, guineítos...

The Lord likes diversity, the Lord likes to manifest his anointing in different ways, look how creativity has manifested itself, How many different types of birds are there in the world? Thousands and thousands and thousands of birds and not content with having created a diversity of birds, God programmed them so that they could even adjust to the environment, even develop new types of feathers and colors and things to... and God is a dynamic God. Divine creation is always in motion.

Right now in your body there are cells that are dying, others are being born, there are a lot of processes going on, your blood is rushing through your system, your brain is sending sparks everywhere, some a little more than others, but there is a lot going on. There is movement, there is dynamism.

That chair that seems calm and passive is an explosive world if you see it with the eyes of a nuclear physicist, it is in total movement, creation is dynamic. The spirit of God is a completely creative spirit, it never rests, it is always moving, because God is infinitely creative and yet we human beings are always looking for rest, looking for predictability, routine, system, order and we want to put God in a box, we want to be all the same, all well behaved, all cut from the same cloth.

And God says, no, I want creativity, I want the black to mix with the white, the Central American with the Caribbean and the rich with the poor, the well-educated with the ignorant, and let everyone learn from each other. The rich can learn from the poor their contact with pain and lack and suffering. And the poor learn from the rich his discipline, which has led him to have money and his ability to move things, to invest. The educated can learn their spontaneity and other things from the ignorant, and the ignorant can learn their system from the educated.

God wants that... and in that he rejoices because it is God living through us, do you understand? The different gifts of God intersecting, the life of the Lord in manifestation. I believe that this is why God created man and creation: it is for him to enjoy this spectacle that he has created and to see himself reflected in creation, its diversity, its beauty, its richness. And when we adopt that spirit of the Father, we glorify him.

So, God wants us to mingle like that and respect each other, value each other and learn from each other in the spirit of Jesus Christ, to have tolerance in the church, Let there be love, let there be patience, let there be affirmation of one another, let there be respect for what is different, and in all of this, the fruit of the spirit is manifested.

And that is what then allows the explosive and violent gifts of the Holy Spirit to have a correct cause, a correct framework to function without being destructive, because you know what? Someone has said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

If a person does not have the fruit of the spirit when the gift comes, they become a proud, oppressive person, ignorant of the needs of others, they do not appreciate the weaknesses of others, they become a superficial person and when he comes to see, that attitude destroys him or the church in which the gift is being manifested. I see that continuously, little brothers, that what interests you is the manifestation of your gift.

Ok, the spirit is talking to me, and it's doing something with me that the visitors or whoever there will do, because the spirit is talking to me now and it's touching me and it's doing something to me . Even if I'm in a show and being a scandal to others.

There is an individualism that has no esprit de corps. That is what God is doing with me, the others, well, they can manage as they can. That is not an attitude of Christ. The attitude of Christ is an attitude of service. If God is manifesting in me, how can I do it without stagnating the gift so that it is a blessing?

Because, do you see what it says here? That the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one, for what? For profit. The gifts are given for the benefit of the church and for the benefit of the people, that's all. There are people whose gifts are manifested and one wonders, well, what was the benefit of the bow falling off because it moved a lot and fell off and this and that and he does it every Sunday? Where is the benefit, where is the edification, where is the change, where is the message that is being given to the congregation, where is the knowledge that is being added to the church, where is the edification that that same person is experiencing in your life, in your character, in your walk, in your finances, in your marital, family relationships, where is the benefit?

That's what you always have to wonder about. Ok, the church, very good, there was a great service, there were great demonstrations, people fell to the ground, there was anointing, shouting, everything, but how did the church change? How did the church progress, how did the individual progress? What manifestation of God's creative, uplifting power was there? Because otherwise, what good is it, brothers? What for, God doesn't just create shows, he doesn't need that.

The gifts are given so that there is edification, so that there is greater enthusiasm, encouragement in the church, new teaching. Those are the things. So it is important that the diversity of the manifestations are always conditioned by a concept of the body, that is what Paul wants to emphasize in this case, in the consciousness of the body.

Yes, we don't have a conscience, and I think I'm going to leave it there because there is a lot of material. I'm going to invite the musicians to come by, we're going to continue on that later. We have not even gone into the different gifts, each of them, what they are.

But brothers, what Paul is saying and the Holy Spirit is saying, Lion of Judah Congregation Church, if you are going to get into the use of the gifts, first make sure you have a foundation of mutual appreciation, mutual respect, proper biblical foundations, appreciation of the diversity of ways the one God manifests himself, Christlike character, order in the body of God, submitting to one another, being mindful of others and not just yourself in the moment of the manifestation, and that what God wants is that all these things go for the benefit and growth and edification of the church, for the edification of the body of Jesus Christ.

As Ephesians says, Chapter 4, it says that all these things are given, these gifts, prophets, teachers, etc. for the edification of the body of Christ, to raise up the body of Christ, that is the life of the spirit.

The Lord wants, brothers, that our life as a church, which is a charismatic Pentecostal church, reflects the beauty of the body of Christ. Amen. May it reflect that beauty, that order, that mutual appreciation, those qualities of service, of serving one another. Glory to the Lord. Amen.

Let's stand up for a moment. We are going to ask the Lord to bless us in this meditation that we have offered to the Lord, and we are going to make a vow this morning of unity as the body of Christ, to be a kind and loving church, no matter how many gifts we have, how much God give us, if we are not a church that reflects the character of Jesus, meek, humble, simple, with a generous heart, tolerant of others, forgiving, patient, respectful of what God has given to others.

Each person here is precious before the Lord, each person is a manifestation of the gift of God, always remember that, even if you are dressed in a little shirt that you can almost see through it, because of how worn it is has been, that person has the life of God within him and therefore he is like a prince who is next to you, a princess. You have to love her, respect her, value her and see the gift of God in her and feel privileged to be part of that community. This community is a blessed community, blessed by God.

There are so many beautiful things here, the gifts of God are manifested here and we have to appreciate that greatly, we have a treasure here, brothers, if you don't realize that, and we have to celebrate that. That diversity has to be celebrated because that is also the gift of God. The gifts are not only prophecy, tongues, discerning of tongues, there are many different gifts that Paul mentions and each one of you is a gift from God for the edification of the body of Jesus Christ. There is something special in you that God has placed. We're going to celebrate that this morning.

Father, thank you. We love you Lord, we do not humble ourselves before your diversity and your unity, your incredible creativity, Father, and you have created us different too. Each one manifesting your life in a mysterious way, Father, and today this congregation celebrates the diversity that you have created, Lord, but we are all united in one faith, one Lord, one baptism, one spirit and we proclaim that, Lord We will never get out of there, not a single word, Father.

We embrace your word this morning as the foundation and framework of our faith and our beliefs and our practice and we ask you to manifest yourself, Lord, freely. We want to see your spirit manifested supernaturally, we want to see, yes, Lord, your gifts, your prophecies, your healings, your miracles, we want to see everything, Father. We do not want to impede either and if in any way we have violated what you want this morning in the preaching, correct us, Father, we are even open to correction because we want you to be everything in everything, to be our Teacher, our instructor.

Bless your people today, Lord, and thank you for allowing us to meditate on your word, in the mighty name Jesus. And the people of God say: Amen.

God bless you, my brothers, the grace of the Lord be with you. Amen and amen.