The Apostle Paul introduces chapter twelve of I Corinthians with the admonition that we should not be ignorant of spiritual things. Although most translations use the word “gifts” in this sentence, that term is in italics indicating that it is not part of the original Greek text. Actually, Paul wants us to learn about more spiritual realities than just the gifts. In I Corinthians 12:7, Paul speaks of manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The use of this term makes us keenly aware that he is not talking about human ability, but divine ability operating in these functions. The verses leading up to this passage suggest that the manifestations can be subdivided into three categories.
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. (I Corinthians 12:4-7)
Gifts are given by the Holy Spirit. (I Corinthians 12:4) Administrations are given by Jesus, the Lord. (I Corinthians 12:5) Operations come from God. (I Corinthians 12:6) Paul goes on to list the specific functions within each category. These listings may not be all- inclusive in that we see other lists in other portions of scripture that seem to complete or augment the items enumerated here. The gifts of the Spirit are listed in I Corinthians 12:8-10. These are the supernatural abilities that we have already mentioned in other contexts. From Ephesians 4:11, we can understand that Jesus is in charge of placing individual believers into positions so that they can minister with the supernatural gifts that the Holy Spirit has placed inside of them. These individuals are identified as the administrations of the Lord in Paul’s listing in I Corinthians 12:28-30. This list is certainly not exhaustive as we can readily see evangelists, pastors (Ephesians 4:11), deacons (I Timothy 3:8), and elders (Titus 1:5) are missing from the list – not to mention the fact that every believer is also endued with these spiritual gifts (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:7, 12:11-20; Ephesians 4:16). The operations of God as discussed in I Corinthians 13:13 are faith, hope, and love; however, this list would unquestionably include all the qualities listed as the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Even though these characteristics are defined as the fruit of the spirit, it is most likely that Paul’s intention was that we would see them as the fruit that comes out of our human spirit rather than a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Remembering what we have already learned about the lack of capitalization in the Greek New Testament and the fact that this fruit is directly contrasted with the works of the flesh (not the works of the devil), it seems logical that Paul had in mind the godly characteristic of a Christian’s inner regenerated man. Correlating this thought with the words of Jesus that the Father is the husbandman who cultivates our lives to maximize our fruit production (John 15:1-2), we can readily see how the Father is recognized as the member of the divine Godhead with the authority over the operations – or motivations – through which the ministers whom Jesus has appointed manifest the supernatural abilities that the Holy Spirit has dispersed to them. The emphasis of chapter thirteen is that each work done must be motivated by love – the very manifestation of the personality of God the Father Himself who is the personification of love. (I John 4:8)
Jesus had preannounced all this in the last discourse He had with His disciples after the Last Supper. He promised them that they would do supernatural things — even things that exceeded His own miracles – and that the key would be the indwelling of the full Trinity in their lives with love as the determining factor to having this presence of God in them.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:12-27)
This promise of divine help was actualized in the lives of the first disciples. In addition to the numerous examples we could cite from the accounts recorded in Acts, at least two scriptures specifically say that God actively did His part:
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20)
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:4)
In fact, the reality of divine involvement is so preeminent that some authors have made the clever play on words, based on the fact that the prefix “co” means “with,” that Jesus left us with a commission — not just a mission — because He was determined to be part of the team. As a matter of fact, this is exactly what Jesus was intending when He invited us to be yoked together with Him in His yoke. (Matthew 11:29-30) What an unbeatable team!
In truth, we do better to say that we are on God’s team rather than suggesting that He is on our team. Paul clarified the order of significance of team members in I Corinthians 3:9 when he wrote, For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. In Philippians 2:13, he made it crystal clear that any motivation and any ability to function was not from our side, but totally from God’s provision, For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. In Romans 15:18, he spoke of what Christ had accomplished through him, and it was in Galatians 2:20 that he spelled out the same truth with unequivocal clarity when he penned the words, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
In fact, God is much more interested in seeing us fulfill our mission than any of us as His team members are. He often takes the initiative to “get the ball in play” and then turns to His team members to bring in the score. The story of Cornelius in Acts chapter ten and the story of Saul of Tarsus in Acts chapter nine are great examples of this truth. Notice how Cornelius had a divine encounter and was given a message to go to Simon the tanner’s house to look for a man named Simon Peter – even before Peter was made aware that he was a player in this particular game. The same thing happened to Ananias when God had pre-committed him to go on what seemed like a suicide mission to find Saul of Tarsus even before he was asked to join the match. Current history is also filled with similar stories.
The first personal experience of this nature happened when I was a college student in the 1970s, during the hippie revolution when “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” was the mantra for the day. I picked up hitchhiker near the campus. She only needed a lift for a few blocks, but that short ride put her on the most exciting journey of her life. When she got into my car, she made a comment about the “God loves you” decal on my dashboard. As I began to tell her about the plan of salvation, she shared her story. As an atheist, she had rejected everything anyone had ever shared with her about God or the need for her soul to be saved. However, while experimenting with LSD, she had remained “high” while all the others who were “tripping” with her had come “down.” In her drug-induced state, the only explanation she could imagine was that she was dead while all the others were still alive. When she did eventually come “down,” she said that something inside of her cried out, “Thank God, I’m alive.” At that moment, she knew that she must have a soul and that there must be a God. That divine encounter had prepared her for the conversation I was to share with her that day.
The first time I encountered one of these divine “handoffs” in which a person who was totally unfamiliar with the Christian faith had a preparatory visitation occurred in India. When I walked into a Christian bookstore, the clerk pointed my attention to a picture of Jesus that hung in the front window and said that he wanted to tell me about what had just happened. A Hindu man had come into the store a few days before asking if he could meet the man in the picture. When the shopkeeper explained that it was a painting of a man who lived many years ago, the customer was perplexed, saying that he had seen the man in his dreams several nights in a row and that he knew he needed to meet him. When he saw the painting, he understood that his quest for this mystery man had finally been fruitful. The store clerk, of course, led this hungry soul to salvation.
The most dramatic story I have encountered came from the remote mountains of Nepal where one of my friends was doing door-to-door evangelism. One man he met in a very isolated mountain village had been having visions of the various Hindu gods. In fact, he had filled numerous volumes with handwritten narratives of all the stories and revelations he had received about these deities. Then one night, he had a vision in which he was directed that he would be given a revelation about a more powerful deity if he would destroy all the journals he had written about the lesser deities. When he burned the other logbooks, he began to have visions and dreams about another god that he had never learned about before. He wrote the stories and revelations about this new god, but didn’t have a name for him – until my friend came to his hut and introduced him to Jesus and showed him that the same stories he was recording had already been written down almost two thousand years before!
A little old lady from our church in Indiana traveled into the hinterlands of the Philippines to share the gospel in the unreached villages. In one of these villages, she met a very elderly man who had lived far beyond the normal life expectancy of the people in his area. When Aunty Ruth shared the message of Jesus with the old man, he readily responded with the words, “So that’s His name!” He explained that he already knew about this true God through dreams and visions, but had never had an opportunity to know who He was. Only a few days after Aunty introduced him to Jesus, the old man passed away.
Andrew Wommack, the president of the Bible college where I teach, tells the story of introducing himself to a receptionist at a business he was visiting. When she asked what business he was in, Andrew responded that he was a minister. Her next question was, “For whom?” When Andrew replied that he was a minister for Jesus Christ, she immediately interrupted, “Well, then you’re the man!” Of course, he questioned her, “What man?” She answered by telling her story. As a Buddhist, she had been going through her religious rituals the night before but felt as if what she was doing was in vain. So she simply prayed, “God, I know that You are real, but I’m not sure who You are. Please show Yourself to me.” Instantly, a ball of light invaded her room and a voice spoke to her, “Tomorrow, I’ll send a man to tell you who I am.” God personally took the divine initiative to reach this woman, but He left the job of scoring the point to one of His ministers. God was working with Andrew Wommack just as He did with the early disciples. (Mark 16:20)
Today, there are incredible stories like the ones I’ve just shared, mostly coming from nations behind the Quran Curtain where Muslim men and women are having supernatural dreams and visions that initiate their quest for the One True God. Because I had heard so many stories about these divine visitations, I decided to investigate a little and asked the audience when I was ministering in the country of Niger – which is almost one hundred percent Islamic – if any of them had had such supernatural dreams and visions. To my surprise almost one fourth of the congregation raised their hands!
God truly is taking the initiative. (John 14:6) He is even more adamant about the Great Commission than we are (II Peter 3:9), but He always passes the ball to His human team members to score the point. Knowing that God is the primary player on the team does take some of the pressure off of us because we realize that we don’t have to do it on our own. At the same time, we still need to be vigilant to make our move when the ball is served into our court.
It is teamwork that makes the dream work. Notice that every time the Great Commission was given, Jesus was speaking to the whole group of His disciples. Additionally, it seems almost symbolic that we have to hear from each of the evangelists in order to understand this point; they are working together as a team to give us this truth. First Corinthians chapter twelve makes it unequivocally clear that these promises from God are not for individuals alone, but for the Body of Christ as a whole. If we want to fulfill God’s plan in our lives and in the world, we must learn to work together as the church universal – as our Holy Spirit “quarterback” calls the moves.
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 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. 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. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (I Corinthians 12:11-27)
