The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 4

1 Corinthians 14:20-33. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 28, 2026.

Today, we come to the end of our look at how the Holy Spirit empowers believers with spiritual gifts. 

Paul has been correcting the Corinthians over their over-fascination with speaking in tongues in their worship assemblies.  They had carried pagan understandings of spirituality into Christianity which caused them to be at odds with the work of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at the rest of chapter 14.

Application for the sake of unbelievers (v. 20-25)

Up to this point, Paul has been explaining how to apply his teaching for the sake of other believers.  He challenged them that tongues were good because through them a person edifies themselves (builds themselves up to be more like Jesus).  However, in the assembly of believers, the desire should be for gifts that are understandable.  If a person speaks in tongues, and it is not interpreted, then no one else will be edified.  This is good in your private devotions, but not within an assembly. 

A person may ask why it wouldn’t be fine for everyone to gather and edify themselves.  However, edifying yourself through the Holy Spirit is best on your own.  In Christian gatherings, it is the will of the Holy Spirit to work through us to minister to others and to work through others to minister to us.  This is God’s way, but we can also see how it keeps us from becoming myopic and insular.

Now, Paul deals with the situation from the standpoint that unbelievers may also be in the meeting.  What is the effect on unbelievers of everyone speaking in tongues without interpretation?

Paul first brings up the issue of spiritual immaturity.  He mentioned this back in chapter 13.  “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”  Verse 20 challenges them to stop being children spiritually and start being spiritually mature in this matter.  He continues the maturity language, “in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.”

This is similar to Paul’s statement in Romans 16:19, “Be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.”  Their wisdom was driving them to practices that were not good and were even evil.  Their actions were evil because they were at odds with the Holy Spirit’s good purpose, and it was causing harm to the gospel and people.

This is a thread throughout this first letter to the Corinthians.  Their wisdom led them to lift up one leader above others.  It led some of them to try and have “spiritual marriages” by refraining from sexual intercourse with one another.  This may sound spiritual, but Paul saw that the devil would use it to destroy them.  The Holy Spirit was not given to cause us to cease from having sex.  That will be our condition following the resurrection, but not now.  Their wisdom led them to these problems with the spiritual gifts as well.  All of this is childish thinking in regard to the legitimate spiritual gifts.

Paul then traces this issue of unknown languages back into the Scriptures (Old Testament).  He quotes from Isaiah 28:11-12.  Several things will become clear if we go back to that chapter and read it.

First of all, right before this section, God rebukes Israel for not listening to His instructions through the prophets (in a language they understand even).  Can God teach the children when the adults won’t listen (verse 9)?  Because they were not listening to His words through the prophets in their own language, He would now speak to them in a language they don’t understand by foreigners (especially Assyria and Babylon).

God is not presenting the foreign tongues as a solution to their lack of listening to His prophets.  As they hear the foreign tongues, they might “that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive (verse 13).”

The foreign tongues are connected to being cast out of the land due to sin.  It is connected to being far from God and His place of dwelling.  Yet, this connection goes back further than Isaiah.

Strange tongues originated at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.  Nimrod had led the people into a rebellion against God’s command to fill the earth and be fruitful.  They build a tower at Babel in order to connect to the fallen Elohim from before the flood.  God’s judgment upon the tower project was to confuse the language of the people.  This became the origin of nations.  They could not understand one another.  We are told that God then handed them over to the powers of the heavens and determined the boundaries of their dwelling places (Deut 4:19; Deut 32:8-9; Romans 1:23-24). Genesis 10 pictured around seventy different nations.  Again, the strange tongues surrounding you, i.e., not understanding the language of those speaking around you, is a sign of God’s judgment upon the nations.  They are being cast out as the humans who will dwell in His presence with a special relationship.  Instead, God then turns to call Abraham in order to make a new nation (Israel) who can serve Him.

The ministry of Jesus set off a cascade of events.  God was calling Israel to embrace Messiah and become a light to the nations.  However, as a nation, they refused.  Yet, a remnant believed.  Thus, we have an event where some who are unbelieving are under the judgment of God, but others who are believing are not under the judgment of God.  All of this is within Israel.  Outside of Israel, the nations who have been under the judgment of God for millennia are entering a new era of grace.  God’s intention is now to speak to them in a language they understand in order to call them to faith in Messiah Jesus.  Of course, they too have a choice to make in which some will not believe and a remnant will believe.

All of this is the backdrop to what Paul is trying to cause the Corinthians to understand.

All of this is important for Paul because he is building a case, or argument, for why we would want unbelievers to understand what the Spirit is saying.

He states in verse 22 that tongues are a sign to unbelievers (not to believers).  He does not mean they would be a sign that they could read and understand.  He means it in the sense we have described in Isaiah and Genesis.  God speaking in a language you do not understand has always been a sign of judgment.  You are not God’s target audience.  This has changed since Jesus.  God is now targeting all humanity with His message concerning Messiah Jesus.

Before you jump to the conclusion that tongues should never happen, let Paul’s argument sink in.  God’s purpose is for unbelievers to hear the Gospel.  If they come into a church service and only hear foreign tongues, then they will continue in unbelief because they haven’t heard the good news.  At least, they haven’t truly received an opportunity to believe.

All of this is in the context of a gathering of people.  Paul earlier made it clear that he spoke in tongues more than any of the Corinthians (vs. 18).  Yet, in a gathering, he would rather speak 5 words in an intelligible language than 10,000 words in a language people don’t understand.  Thus, it is clearly implied that he mainly spoke in tongues during private devotional times.  Paul’s argument against uninterpreted messages in tongues in Church gatherings cannot be used to disqualify uninterpreted tongues in private prayers.  There is no hint of a problem in the private devotional life of the Corinthians.

If you are perplexed as to what good praying in tongues would have for a believer, i.e., how does it edify me (vs. 4), I have spoken to this before now.  So, I will give a few points.  First, speaking in tongues is instigated by the Holy Spirit within us.  To recognize that and yield yourself to trust the Holy Spirit builds our faith in Him.  It isn’t important for you to understand all that the Spirit is praying through you because the fact that you are working with the Holy Spirit to speak to God in ways He can understand strengthens our confidence in His work in us.  Second, if I am used to speaking things that I don’t understand in languages I don’t understand, then it will be easier for me to speak the things I do understand in a language others will understand.  This strengthens our obedience to the Holy Spirit in real time.  In fact, when the Holy Spirit compels us to speak certain things in particular situations, we don’t always understand the wisdom and purpose behind them, even though we perfectly understand the words.  Trust in God is something we need to become better at doing.

If you are wondering about the speaking in languages at Pentecost, we can say that the messages were interpreted by the people outside of the group who understood what was being said.  However, Pentecost is a unique event (no other event like it).  The way that tongues happened on that day should not be turned into a pattern anymore than we should expect tongues of fire on our head or the sound of a mighty wind in our meetings.

In short, God is reversing the judgment of Babel through the work of Jesus Christ and His Church.  We need to seek for unbelievers to hear the message of the Spirit in a language they understand.

On the other hand, Paul tells us that prophecy is a sign to believers that God is still working with us and through us (vs. 22).  It is meant to spur us on in becoming like Jesus. 

Verse 23 introduces a hypothetical situation of a gathered church all speaking in tongues only.  There are two categories of people mentioned: “ungifted or unbelievers.”  There is no question what “unbelievers” means.  It is referring to those who have not put their faith in Jesus.  They may be open or hostile.  Regardless, they are not a part of the church yet.  The “ungifted” as the NASB translates is not as straightforward.  There are a variety of translations which all involve trying to interpret what Paul means.  The word essentially has the meaning of an unlearned or untaught person.  But, in what way is this meant?  “Ungifted” is interpreting it to mean those who don’t have a spiritual gift in order to interpret the tongue.   However, they may only be unlearned about what spiritual gifts are.  It is also possible that they are a category between believer and unbeliever.  They are not opposed to believing.  They are simply uninformed regarding the gospel.  Regardless of how we translate this term, we are still dealing with the same dynamics.  People who are not believers and not learned in the things of the Gospel will hear everyone speaking in tongues only.  They will then conclude that everyone is crazy.  The Corinthians will essentially put them in a “judged of God” position in which they don’t understand what is happening and continue down a path of being lost.

The problem with all of this is that God is no longer excluding the nations, unbelievers, the uninformed.  He is calling all men everywhere to hear the truth, repent of sin, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Their actions were actually contradicting God’s purpose.

Speaking in tongues alone will not save the lost.  It will only push them away further.  However, Paul states that prophecy (speaking in a language they understand) can convict them and lead them to repentance.  Of course, they can reject it and remain unbelievers.  However, they will no longer be uninformed regarding the message of Christ to them.

Ordering spiritual gifts in the assembly of believers (v. 26-33)

Starting in verse 26, Paul lays down some rules that will bring proper, godly order to their worship gatherings.  The first point is that the assembly of believers is for the purpose of ministering to one another with the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes.  Paul then states that all things in the service should be done for edification.  We could insert after edification, “for everyone.”

This is a point that many churches should take to heart.  Church is not about everyone gathering to get something from a couple of leaders.  Rather, Paul pictures everyone gathering with something to share with all the rest.  This doesn’t mean that everyone has vocal gifts.  However, every gift will be exercised in order to edify the rest of the group.  The average Christian in the West does not come to church with some way to minister to everyone else.

In fact, we must be careful that the way we do church doesn’t squelch God’s work and opportunities to do so through His people.  We can have an attitude that the leadership has the Holy Spirit, so nothing is needed from the lowly “receiving class.”  A tightly controlled service can quench the Spirit.  However, the Corinthians had the opposite problem.  Their lack of control was quenching the work that the Spirit was endeavoring to do.  We must find a balance between strong leadership that protects us from abuse and a leadership that is so lax that anything goes, i.e., the only thing that matters is that we look spiritual.

Paul gives us a good example of a leader who is calling the church back to cooperation with the Holy Spirit.

We should note that Paul’s conclusion is not that there should be no messages in tongues in the assembly, but that there should be a limit, two or three at the most.  Each of these messages in tongues should be done one at a time, and they should be interpreted.  He is not getting rid of tongues in the assembly.  His concern is not that an unbeliever would hear a message in tongues, only that it should be interpreted.

In all of this, let’s keep in mind that Paul is correcting a particular error in Corinth.  He did not teach them these things from the beginning because He believed they would exercise the spiritual gifts properly.  Is Paul saying that all churches in all generations should follow these same rules?  No, he is not.  However, all churches need to process the truths that Paul lays out.  We all need to work for the overall vision that Paul has for the use of spiritual gifts in our assemblies.  It is possible for a church to have more than three messages, if they are not making the error that the Corinthians did.

We should also notice that Paul does not refer to times within the worship service where people are praying, worshipping, in a private way.  It is often the case that people pray and even speak in tongues but to themselves.  They are not lifting their voices above the group so as to call attention to what they are saying. Yes, their neighbor could stop praying and listen in on their prayer.  Is it possible that praying in tongues, with your spirit, in such a way does not breach the issues Paul raises?  I think so.

Paul makes it clear that if you believe you have a message in tongues for the group, but you also know that there is no one there with the gift of interpretation, then you should not give the message.  You should keep it to yourself.  You should keep silent in the assembly (silent in relation to giving the message in tongues).  Instead, you should speak to himself and God.  I do not believe Paul is setting up an environment where we are all keeping an eye (an ear) on one another so that no one speaks in tongues in church at all.  Rather, we are ensuring that everything that is publicly addressed to the whole body conforms to Paul’s rule of intelligibility.  When tongues are interpreted, they fit this bill.

He then gives similar rules to prophecy, two or three at the most.  They should be done one at a time, and others should judge the prophecies whether they are from God or not.  He even challenges the prophets to work together.  If one prophet has been speaking for a while and God moves upon another prophet, the first prophet should stop and allow the second to speak.  In other words, jumping up first does not give you the public floor for the rest of the day.  Work together.

It is easy with such rules to protest.  “When the Spirit moves upon me, I have to move.  I must speak what the Spirit is stirring in me!”  Yet, Paul reminds them in verse 32 that the spirits of the prophets are “subject to the prophets.”  His point is that the Spirit does not take control of our body.  Rather, all spiritual gifts are a cooperation between the Spirit of God and the spirit of a person.  God moves upon us, but then we wisely and righteously minister that to others (unless He is only speaking to you).  Paul is not denying the source of their urge to prophesy and speak in tongues.  Rather, he challenges them to work with the overall purpose of the Holy Spirit when feeling the urge to use the vocal, spiritual gifts in the assembly.

The Holy Spirit can be strong and powerful, but you are still in control of yourself and expected to remember all that the Spirit has revealed in Scripture.  God doesn’t want to control you.  He wants you to speak out in faith as He works by His Spirit within you.  Yet, He wants you to respond wisely and in the knowledge of His ways.

You are not squelching the Holy Spirit to refrain from giving a message in tongues when no interpreters are present.  You simply understand that there is a proper timing.  You are waiting on the Lord for the proper timing and place.

The Corinthian problem is not our problem.  We are often afraid of things getting out of control.  We are tempted to make our services “safe” from the work of the Holy Spirit, even though we would never say that.  In truth, we are more likely to offend the Holy Spirit in order to avoid offending people.

Paul ends this instruction in verse 33 with a statement that God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.  Chaotic environments are not His doing.  They are the work of our enemy, and people who wittingly or unwittingly do his bidding.  People following their flesh can think that they are quite spiritual, whether they are in the error of a Corinthian style or they are in error by shutting down all spiritual gifts.

The Holy Spirit is here working to use us within the church.  We need to listen to Him in order to bring peace to such chaotic environments.  This starts first in each one’s own heart.  When peace rules in my heart, I can then minister the peace of God into my family, and then my church, and then my Republic or nation.

The spiritual gifts are a work of the Holy Spirit for today.  However, we must exercise them in keeping with His overall purpose of people being drawn to put their faith in Jesus.  May we be filled with the Holy Spirit and His mighty power in all that we do.

Gifts of the Spirit 4 audio

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 3

1 Corinthians 14:1-19.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 14, 2026.

Having explained in chapter thirteen the importance of love as a permanent foundation to everything that we do as followers of Jesus, Paul now turns back to the issue of spiritual gifts and the abuses happening within the Christian gatherings in Corinth.

Chapter twelve introduced Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts in general.  He ended that chapter with the instruction to zealously desire the greater gifts.  This statement in and of itself is not problematic to the Corinthians.  They would believe that they were seeking “the greater gifts.”  However, Paul is setting up why their fascination with speaking in tongues is a misunderstanding of what actually makes a spiritual gift greater than another.

This is why chapter thirteen may feel like it is disjointed.  Paul lays the groundwork of why love for God and others must direct our choices in the area of spiritual gifts before he comes back to spiritual gifts in chapter fourteen, where he explains why tongues is not the greater gift compared to prophecy.

Let’s look at our passage.

The need for intelligibility in the assembly of believers (v. 1-5)

Chapter fourteen narrows its focus to the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and prophesying because this is where the trouble was occurring in the Corinthian church.

His main concern is that speaking gifts that are exercised within the assembly of believers (i.e., during a church service) should be intelligible, understandable, to those gathered so that they can be spiritually edified.

We should not let our modern concept of church gatherings cloud our understanding of this.  A Christian gathering is not about the building.  It can be in a home, in a cave, or out in the jungle.  Regardless, when believers are gathered to worship God and encourage one another in the faith, the emphasis must be on the ability of people to understand the language of what is being said.

We should also note that Paul does not argue that the Corinthian believers do not have the Holy Spirit or that the gifts they are exercising are not legitimate.  Rather, his argument is that they are abusing them or using them in a way that is grievous to the Holy Spirit who is enabling them in their lives.

Paul opens up with tying chapter twelve and thirteen together with twin imperatives.  They are to pursue love while also zealously desiring spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy (rather than speak in tongues).

Please note that he uses the same verb, zealously desire, for spiritual gifts in chapter twelve and fourteen.  However, he chooses a different verb for love; pursue love.  This can be pictured as always chasing after something that is illusively out of grasp, but the better picture is that of a pathway or, even better, the person of Jesus Christ himself.  The love of Christ is always before us as an example and guide.  We must make that our aim and pursuit while exercising (or desiring) spiritual gifts.

Verse 1 also answers the question that Paul has set up at the end of chapter twelve.  What is the greater spiritual gift?  Prophecy is the greater gift within the assembly of believers.  You could also add any other word of wisdom, knowledge, etc. that is given in a language that the people understand.

In verse two Paul begins to describe some differences between speaking in tongues and prophesying.  A person who speaks in tongues speaks to God not man (v. 2).  No one understands him, and he speaks mysteries (i.e., no one understands what he is saying).  A person who speaks in tongues also edifies themselves (v. 4).  All of this can be changed if the message in tongues is interpreted for the people in attendance.  The interpretation would then be addressing the people (not God), and it would be understandable to them.  The message in tongues that is interpreted will also be able to edify the whole church.  At that point, speaking in tongues with interpretation would be functionally equivalent to prophecy.

Comparatively, a person who prophesies speaks to the people and they can understand them.  The prophecy is given to edify the whole body and not just the speaker.  Paul gives three examples of the way that prophecy can help the church: edification (build them up to be like Jesus), exhortation (whether commands or encouragements), and lastly consolation.  Paul sees these three aspects in the purpose of prophecy.

Analogies that argue for intelligibility (v. 6-12)

Verse six restates the problem in a personal way.  Paul again resorts to putting himself in the position that the Corinthian mindset would encourage.  “If I come to you speaking in tongues,” this implies if he only did this, like the Corinthians liked to do.  Paul asks how this would be able to benefit them.  It would only be profitable if he spoke a language that was intelligible, whether a revelation, knowledge, prophecy or teaching.

Thus, Paul is emphasizing that intelligibility allows for people to be built up in the faith and character of Christ.  The profit here is spiritual profit.

Paul then points to areas of life where the principle of intelligibility is necessary.  In verse seven, he speaks of a flute or a harp.  Music requires a distinction of tones in order to produce a pleasing sound as opposed to a raucous noise.

In verse 8, he moves to a bugle.  This was used in the military to quickly direct men.  Particular tunes were used to get men out of bed, or to warn of attack, etc.  If the bugler does not clearly blow the right notes, it would confuse the men and leave them open to danger.

In verses ten and eleven, Paul speaks of foreign languages around the world.  The message encoded in each language is real but is also inaccessible to a person who does not understand it.  I am a foreigner to them, and they are a foreigner to me.  The term “barbarian” was a Greek term that mimicked the sounds of a foreigner “bar bar bar” and became barbaros or barbarian in English.

If you were in a group that knew you did not speak a different language, but they kept speaking it among themselves, the result is that you would feel not only left out but also pushed out.  Paul makes the point that an unknown language makes you a foreigner to the speaker.  We will be isolated from one another and limited in our ability to work together or help one another.

Christians are to be a new people.  We don’t all necessarily have the same native language, but we speak a common language in order to accomplish the purpose of God with one another.

These examples all highlight the importance of intelligibility when it comes to the verbal spiritual gifts in church gatherings.

Paul ends this section in verse twelve by calling the Corinthians who are zealous of spiritual gifts also “to seek to abound for the edification of the church.”  In other words, they should exercise them for the greater purpose of God, building up believers to be more like Jesus.

They should not be zealous for a spiritual gift as a status symbol.  They should not settle for everyone edifying themselves (everyone for themselves) when they are gathered together.

The Corinthians may have imagined that everyone was being edified in the church when they were all speaking in tongues.  However, Paul will now move to explain the purpose of tongues versus the purpose of prophecy.

Application to the believing community (v. 13-19)

Paul now moves to describe how tongues and prophecy should be exercised within our gatherings.  The first application is that the person who speaks in tongues should pray for its interpretation.  He doesn’t make clear if this is before speaking or after speaking.  The main point is not to settle for continuing in tongues without interpreting the message.  The onus is put upon the person who believes they have a message in tongues to give.  We should leave room for churches to discover in trial and error just who in the may or may not have the spiritual gift of interpretation.  Regardless, it would eventually be clear whether someone is present that is used in that way by the Spirit.

In verse fourteen, Paul describes praying in tongues, which is addressed to God, as praying with your spirit.  This is placed next to the idea of praying with your mind, which is praying in a language you understand.

When you pray with your spirit, i.e., in tongues, your mind is “unfruitful” (there is no intellectual benefit) other than the knowledge that the Spirit of God is enabling your spirit to talk with God in an unknown language.

Verse 15 includes singing in this.  To sing with my spirit is to sing in tongues, and to sing with my mind is to sing in a language I understand.

Praying with your mind is important, and most people can understand this.  However, how does praying with your spirit build you up?  It teaches you how to trust the Holy Spirit and have confidence that God knows what your spirit is saying.  It gives you a comfort in knowing that the Holy Spirit is helping you to pray to the Father.

Some may refuse such things, declaring that they will only be edified through their mind.  This seems to be a short-sighted and selfish attitude.  God knows what we need.  Why would we shut off any help that He wants to provide?

In verse sixteen, Paul questions how someone can say, “Amen,” in the assembly to something that they do not understand.  They are called “the uninformed” (some versions have “ungifted,” but this seems to be more of an interpretation).  This could be a reference to non-believers, or it could be believers who are not taught in regard to spiritual gifts (or simply don’t have the gift of interpretation).  However, it seems most likely that this is a reference to those who are uninformed in the Gospel.  How will they hear the truth and believe (say amen) if it is not in a language they understand?

Paul may even be saying that you are turning your fellow Christians into those who are uninformed by the fact that they don’t know what you are saying.  The point is that they are left out of any meaningful interaction with what is being done.

Of course, Paul is not putting tongues down.  He says in verse eighteen that he speaks in tongues more than all of them.  However, he apparently does the lion’s share of his tongue speaking when he is by himself (in personal times of prayer).  Five intelligible words are worth more than 10,000 words in tongues that are unknown.

There is a modern contention among some that there should be no tongues at all in churches today.  Yet, the Bible tells us to desire spiritual gifts because it is God who desires to work them through us for the good of the body of Christ.  We should follow love and follow the Spirit because they are one and the same.

Second, we should not let fear cause us to shrink back from spiritual gifts.  We should trust God and exercise them properly for the benefit of all who are attending, not just for ourselves.

We will stop here today and pick up later.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit 3 audio

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 2

1 Corinthians 13. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

This chapter is most generally known as the Love Chapter, and it is true that it describes the love of Christ and how the Holy Spirit seeks to express it in our lives.

However, this chapter is specifically about how the love of Christ should impact our exercise of spiritual gifts.  Thus, it is a specific application of how the love of Christ impacts this area of our lives. 

We should even see that it is part of a corrective teaching that shows how the love of Christ can be used to redirect abusive activity in any area of our lives.

Chapter 12 ended with two notions.  First, Paul wanted the Corinthians to recognize that speaking in tongues is not the greater gift, as they thought.  Prophecy is a greater gift than it.  However, in order for them to understand why it is greater, they must understand the “more excellent way” of the love of Christ.

Let’s look at our passage.

The necessity of love with spiritual gifts (v. 1-3)

Paul starts with the spiritual gift that the Corinthians valued most, speaking in tongues.  He could make this same point by using them as the hypothetical person, but instead, Paul uses himself.  “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…”  This is to soften the hard statements that he is going to make.

Of course, all of our speech should spring forth from a heart full of God’s love.  It is a necessity for the disciple of Jesus.  However, Paul is correcting them on their use of spiritual gifts, especially speech that finds its origins in the Holy Spirit.

It is not clear whether Paul actually believes it is possible to speak in the language of angels.  There is some evidence from the period before Jesus that some Jews believed it was possible.  Regardless, the Corinthians certainly thought that they were speaking the language of angels, or of the heavenly beings.

I know that some people point to Acts chapter two.  They say that true speaking in tongues will always be a language from this earth, i.e., a human language.  However, the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a unique event.  The commencement of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks.  The feast pointed to the harvest that would come in from the Spirit-empowered activity of the people of God.

We should also note that many things that happened at that first outpouring were not repeated, for example: Fire separating into individual tongues over each of the believers, the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and the reversal of the judgment of confusing the language of the people in Genesis 11.  These things can happen again as God wills, but we do not see them mentioned again.

The Corinthians wanted to be super-spiritual, but their thinking was not biblical.  Paul throughout 1 Corinthians was correcting them on this.  In chapter seven, we find that some married couples were trying to live without having sexual relations with one another.  This may sound strange to us, but it was an attempt to live like the angels here on earth.  In their opinion, being spiritual meant trying to live less like mortals on earth and more like angels in heaven.  Paul challenged them on it.  Their attempt to be spiritual would set them up for temptation.  He told them that refraining from sex for a short period in order to focus on prayer (i.e., like fasting) was okay, but they should not extend the period too long.  If they loved one another, then they would demonstrate their spirituality by physical intimacy. 

In chapter eleven, we see that some of them were trying to live as if there are no longer differences between men and women.  Again, being like the angels (super-spiritual) would mean to throw off all gender roles.  Paul challenges the women to recognize cultural norms in their demeanor, especially within the context of Christian gatherings.

In chapter 12, we saw that they thought speaking in tongues was the greatest gift.  They believed that a spiritual person would be more likely to speak in an unintelligible language.  Yet, Paul is showing them that this is not true spirituality.  True spirituality asks what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do and does it.

Their rejection of a bodily resurrection in chapter fifteen was also sourced in this messed up view of spirituality.  A bodily resurrection seemed to be going in the wrong direction, toward the earth rather than heaven.  Yet, Paul shows them that the bodily resurrection of believers is dependent upon the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (who is the most spiritual of all humans). 

This brings us back to chapter 13. The key to Paul’s argument is picturing a spiritual gift being exercised without love for others.  We will deal with the clanging cymbal imagery at the end of this section.  “If I speak in the language of angels (the desire of the Corinthian Christians) but do not have love, then I am a clanging cymbal.”  He then does the same thing with two more spiritual gifts.  “If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love, I am nothing.”  “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” 

This last mention of the spiritual gift of faith that could even move mountains is an allusion to the words of Jesus in several different places.  In Matthew 17:20, Jesus spoke of casting out demons with faith the size of a mustard seed (i.e., it is not about a great amount, simply about believing).  In Luke 17:6, he spoke of dealing with unforgiveness in our own heart.  Of course, there it is not a mountain but a mulberry tree.  So, Paul is picturing a person who is the epitome of what Jesus is talking about.  Yet, without love, I am nothing!

As if that wasn’t enough, Paul adds two more things that are good in and of themselves and do not look like the previous spiritual gifts.  “If I give all my possessions to the poor…”  This reminds me of the rich young ruler who was challenged by Jesus to sell all his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and then follow him.  Even such a great act without love would be nothing.

Finally, Paul speaks of a person surrendering their body to be burned.  He may have in mind a person who is martyred for the cause of Christ.  Yet, if such was done without love, it would “profit me nothing. “ We can imagine doing something like that and finding out it didn’t benefit us at all.  What a shock.

All of these are intended to shock the Corinthians.  Paul describes things that they would see as spiritual in and of themselves: speaking in tongues, prophecy, the gift of faith, selling all of our possessions to feed the poor, and being martyred for Jesus.  Yet, Paul’s challenge to them is to point out the necessity of love in all our activity for Christ.  Without love, the one who speaks in tongues is a clanging cymbal.  God is not edified, and the people around them are not edified.  Without love, the one who gives prophecies and moves big things by their faith is nothing.  Without love, the one who feeds the poor and is martyred is not profited by it, i.e., they have not put any treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

These three phrases: a clanging cymbal, nothing, and profits me nothing, are all saying that there is no spiritual benefit in good acts alone.  To use Paul’s words in Galatians 5:6, what is beneficial is faith in God working through love.  If my activity is not born out of faith in God working through the love of Christ, then it does not benefit me.

The Christian must always emphasize Christ-like character before activity.  Notice that Paul does not argue that they do not have the Holy Spirit.  The presence of the Holy Spirit does not insulate us from error any more than the presence of God in the garden insulated Adam and Eve from temptation.  The Corinthians were grieving the Holy Spirit as they exercised spiritual gifts, all the time thinking they were super spiritual. 

How long can you do that and spiritually survive?  Paul doesn’t say.  Nevertheless, we must (it is a necessity!) have love in all that we do but especially in exercising spiritual gifts.

The character of love (v. 4-7)

Paul then moves to describe the true nature of Christ’s love.  The structure of this section has 2 positive descriptions followed by 7 negative descriptions.  There is then 1 transitional negative and positive description that is followed by four rapid positive descriptions.  This section is crafted into a poetic piece.

Let’s look at the first two positive descriptions.  Love is patient.  The word “patient” here has the idea of having a long fuse, a slow temper.  Love is also kind.  If patience is restraining myself from unleashing unloving things upon a person, then kindness is pouring out good things upon a person, whether they deserve it or not.  Kindness is an overlooked virtue. 

Next, we have the seven negative descriptions of what love is not.  Most of these are self-explanatory. 

Love is not jealous (or envious).  Love does not brag and is not arrogant (puffed up with pride, an inflated sense of self).  Love does not “act unbecomingly” (NASB).  This has the idea of something that is shameful or disgraceful.  Love is not self-seeking.  It is not provoked (i.e., provoked to the point of anger and wicked actions).  Love does not consider wrongs against it.  This is more than not writing down a list or keeping one in your head.  It has a deeper sense of not taking note of wrongs done against you.  I simply don’t think about it or dwell on it.

This can be seen as an eighth negative description, but it is balanced by the positive that it should be.  Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth (the truth of God’s love in Christ to save all people through our sacrifice to share it with them).  I would say that some in the Church are rejoicing in wicked things like abortion and trans-gendering our kids.  However, this is not love.  This is a self-seeking attempt to garner the acceptance of others at the expense of the truth of God.

Lastly, we have the four staccato statements that all include the phrase “in all things.”  The meaning works with some of the words, but others require a deeper understanding of what is meant by “in all things.

Love bears all things is the idea that it carries or puts up with all things.  Love does not quit carrying our brother though his sin is heavy.

Love believes all things.  This does not mean it believes anything that a person says to it.  The word believe is the same as having faith.  Love has faith in all things.  It never quits but always believes. 

Love hopes all things.  Again, “all things” is not about the object for which we hope.  Love never loses hope in any situation.  It is easy to give up on others especially when they sin against us.  Yet, love continues to hope for their salvation and sanctification.

Lastly, love endures all things.  This is another term for being patient.  It pictures a person remaining under a heavy load.  We may want to toss it off, but love compels us to stick in there, perseverance.

All of these things describe Jesus who is the very Image of the Father, and the pattern for our character and life.

The permanence of love beyond spiritual gifts (v. 8-13)

“Love never fails” looks at first like it is part of the previous description.  Thus, love is never defeated or fallen to the ground.  It is always victorious.

Yet, the following words add another meaning to the phrase.  Paul is telling us that love will never end nor will it fall away from our experience in the future.  This last description serves to transition to Paul’s last point about love versus spiritual gifts.

Love will never end, but spiritual gifts will come to an end (vs. 8).  A time will come when speaking in tongues will cease to be a thing that the Holy Spirit is working in God’s people.  A time will come when words of knowledge (Paul is talking about spiritual gifts here) will be done away.  The bigger truth in the area of spiritual gifts is that they are only for this present age, whereas love is for all ages.  A Christian must have love down first before going after spiritual gifts.

In verse nine, Paul brings up the idea that we presently know “in part” and prophesy “in part.”  This is connected to the idea that the Kingdom of God is now here, but not yet fully.  Thus, prophecy does not help us to know everything.  Rather, it gives us a part of the picture.  These gifts are necessary because we do not have full knowledge of everything that God is doing.  Yet, He gives us enough through the written Word, through mature believers, and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In verse ten, Paul sees that there is a day “when the perfect comes” in which these partial things will be done away, i.e., the spiritual gifts.  There are some Christians who try to make the case that the perfect is the New Testament written down for us.  They try to say that once the apostles wrote these books, then the spiritual gifts went away.  Anyone who tries to do them today is not actually operating by the help of the Holy Spirit.

I do not believe this is the proper interpretation of that phrase.  All gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit are pointed towards Christ, the perfect image of the Father.  Jesus is The Perfect who is coming back to this earth at some point in the future.  It is at the return of Jesus that spiritual gifts will be done away.  This is clear from the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  In chapter one verse seven he says, “you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He is not talking about the New Testament.  He is talking about the Second Coming of Jesus!

Thus, spiritual gifts are still operational today.  The Spirit is still wanting to work through believers in these various ways.  When Jesus comes, he will bring this “now but not yet fully” period of time to a close.  Then spiritual gifts will drop away like training wheels on the bike of a kid who has learned to ride.

Verse 11 picks up this imagery.  When Paul talks about putting away childish things when he became a man, he does not mean that as a pejorative.  The things of childhood are necessary.  They are childish only in that they are connected to that state of development.  Similarly, our mortal lives as followers of Jesus are our spiritual childhood.  Yes, we want to become as spiritually mature in our life as we can.  However, the bodily resurrection that Christ will bring about will be our entrance into adulthood.  We will truly be the adult sons of God at that point.  The things of our childhood (now) will be put aside (then).

In verse twelve, Paul not only changes the metaphor to looking into a mirror, but he also speaks of what we know.  Now I am looking into a mirror that is dim, but then I will look into the face of God.  We presently do not see God fully, but we will in the future.  We presently know God’s plan fully, but we will in the future.  We will know just as sure as we are fully known by God right now.

This brings us to the last verse.  In the present, spiritual gifts are given by God, but they must be exercised in love.  Paul pairs love with faith and hope.  He sees these three virtues as abiding in our lives throughout this mortal stage.  The believer needs faith in what God has done through Jesus, hope in what God has promised for those who believe in Jesus, and love for God and others.  We cannot walk this Christian walk without the three virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Yet, the greatest of these is love.  This can simply be a poetic flourish.  However, if we think about the future state of having glorified, heavenly bodies, and dwelling directly in the presence of God, we might ask ourselves what faith and hope will look like then.  Faith is a thing because we do not fully see God.  We must trust Him.  Hope is a thing because we do not have all that God has promised.  We must wait upon Him.  However, when we see Him and receive all that He has promised, faith and hope will dissolve back into the underlying queen of virtues, love.  We will love and be loved for all eternity!

Gifts of the Holy Spirit 2 audio

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit- 1

1 Corinthians 12:1-31.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 31, 2026.

We are going to look at how the Holy Spirit helps us through spiritual gifts within the Church.  Our passage today is not given to explain each spiritual gift and its function, like a how-to guide.  Rather, Paul is writing to correct errors and abuse within this area of spiritual gifts.  This chapter combats pagan thinking by giving us God’s thinking about spiritual gifts.  Proper understanding will go a long way to helping us correct abuse in this area.

It is common today to respond in two different ways.  One response is born out of fear.  It shuts down all spiritual gifts, whether declaring them invalid today or simply declaring that no one is doing it correctly.  Another response is to embrace them.  However, that embrace runs the risk of raising our subjective experience and desires above what the Holy Spirit is actually wanting to do through spiritual gifts.

Passages like this one are written to help us navigate this area in step with the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at our passage.

The contrast between Christians and the world (v. 1-3)

Paul begins by noting that they weren’t always Christians.  Most of them had a prior life of worshipping the Greek gods (this is Corinth, Greece). They had been led astray to these mute idols.  Because their religious understanding had been informed by paganism, they were not recognizing the difference of worshipping and serving the One True God.  They lacked understanding of the reason for spiritual gifts and how they should be exercised.  Their whole prior experience came from a world that was in rebellion to God and His ways.

This sets up a baseline contrast between the false religions and truth.  They had been led to these idols in a number of ways.  Some were simply born into it.  Others may have encountered human and (or) spiritual deception involving manifestations and signs.  The ancient world was filled with prophecy from these so-called gods.

In our culture today, most are born into materialism that does not worship literal idols.  However, materialism simply replaces the Creator God with something within creation, i.e., money, sex, power, humanity, or even self.

Those who are not following God are not led towards Jesus.  The spirit of this world, whether in materialism or false religion, points us away from Jesus.  However, the Holy Spirit always leads us towards Jesus, and him as the blessed Lord over all things.

Paul establishes this up front.  The spirits of this world lead us to a position that sees Jesus as cursed, something to avoid.  Those who exercise spiritual gifts in the Church must be led by the Holy Spirit and not the spirit of this age.  One is poison and the other is eternal life.

The reason for diversity of gifts within a unity (v. 4-11)

The Corinthian problem was a particular fascination with one of the spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues, i.e., an unknown language.  It was pushing out all of the other spiritual gifts and creating division among the believers.

Paul emphasizes that the diversity of gifts comes from the same Holy Spirit.  Yet, he also emphasizes that God Himself is a unity of plurality (e.g., the mention of “Spirit (v. 4) Lord (v. 5) and God [the Father] (v. 6).  We may not completely understand the nature of God, but we do know that there is a unity within plurality.  It is the unity within God that sends the Holy Spirit.  He manifests that unity of purpose in a variety of spiritual gifts, spiritual ministries, and spiritual workings.  These always manifest within or through an individual, but it is for the benefit of all (for the common good).  Paul then states that this is as He (the Holy Spirit) wills.  The emphasis is not on the individual being gifted or having a gift.  It is upon the Spirit manifesting through them as the Spirit of God wills.  Of course, individuals will have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  That cooperation needs to be not only in the exercise of the gift but also in the way it is exercised.

Our flesh can get in the way of the Holy Spirit in this area of spiritual gifts.  It can get in the way by blocking it, first in your own life, and then in the life of others.  However, our flesh can also get in the way by using spiritual gifts for our own desires and purpose.  The Corinthians appear to be guilty of both.  They are blocking the purpose of the Spirit and a multitude of spiritual gifts, while overly pursuing one gift for their own aggrandizement.

Paul gives a list of spiritual gifts: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.  This is clearly not exhaustive since we have other gifts listed elsewhere.  It is not even entirely clear that Paul is trying to say that a word of wisdom is a separate spiritual gift from a word of knowledge.  This list is couched in the language of an individual being given something from the Spirit of God, which is then shared with the Church.

Essentially, this diversity of expressions are coming from the same Holy Spirit who gives these individually as He wills.

The illustration of the human body (v. 12-26)

Paul uses a popular illustration of the human body to demonstrate how spiritual gifts are meant to operate in the Church.  The Church is pictured as a body of Christ.  This means that Christ is the One who operates the body.  Yet, each Christian is a part of this body.

A human body has many parts to it, but it incorporates one body and acts as a whole to accomplish what the mind of the body desires (hint: this is Jesus!).

It would be ludicrous to imagine body parts dividing over one another in envy or rejection, but this is precisely what makes Paul’s illustration so powerful.  In verse 15, he imagines a foot saying it is not a part of the body because it is not a hand.  Similarly, he imagines an ear saying it is not a part of the body because it is not an eye.  Whether this is out of a sense of inferiority or not, Paul emphasizes that, even if a foot and an ear were to say that they weren’t a part of a body, it would not thereby make it so.  In fact, a body implies a multitude of different body parts doing different things.  You can’t have a body that is only one big eye, one big hand, etc.  It is a body precisely because it has all of these different capabilities working together to accomplish the one thing purposed by the mind.

In the area of spiritual gifts, this is important.  If we were all the same or trying to be the same, we would be missing valuable and necessary spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit is trying to supply through us.

Paul gives a variation on this argument in verse 21.  He imagines an eye saying to the hand, “I have no need of you.”  Similarly, he imagines the head saying to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  In verses 22 and 23, he adds the ideas of weaker body parts and less honorable body parts.  Notice the idea of division here is driven by looking down on certain spiritual gifts and pushing them out.  Of course, there are individuals behind these spiritual gifts.  The pressure within the group was to conform to some irrational vision of what was intended by spiritual gifts.

God is the one who has placed you within the body of Christ just as He has willed.  He is also the one working by the Holy Spirit to express a variety of spiritual gifts.  In fact, it is ludicrous to imagine only one spiritual gift.  The same God of Creation who expressed His creative ability in a vast panoply of a variety of creatures, is the one who is behind the spiritual gifts.  It stands to reason that it must have variety if He is the one behind it.

Paul undercuts this tendency to uniformity by the Corinthians by pointing them back to the Spirit.  It is the Spirit who manifests these various spiritual gifts.  If we think some gift, or person, is more honorable, valuable, than another, it doesn’t matter.  Our estimations can be quite horrible at times, especially when we are not thinking biblically. 

Instead of dividing over the different spiritual gifts, we should work together for the common good that the Spirit intends.  Honor is not determined by the body part, but by God who has made it and given it a particular function.

Paul then adds to the argument.  If one body part suffers, all the body parts suffer with it.  If one body part is honored, the whole body rejoices with it.  In fact, the Spirit of God honored the apostles (Peter, John, Paul, etc.) with the power and position to establish the church in doctrine and in practice.  It would be foolish for modern day “apostles” to envy that position and try to improve on it or replace it with something better.  Instead of kicking against God’s function through these men, we must learn to let the Spirit work through us in a way that works together with the Spirit’s work in them.  When we honor them, we honor ourselves because we are all together the body of Christ on this earth!

Concluding statements (v. 27-31)

Though Paul has already given some connections from the illustration of a body to the reality of the body of Christ, the Church, he then brings home the illustration in some concluding statements.

We are all together the body of Christ and members of it.  Regardless, what you may think or feel, God has made a place and function for you.  By faith, we must embrace that place and seek that function (or those functions) that the Spirit wants to manifest through us while harmonizing with what the Spirit is manifesting through others.

Of course, all of this assumes that we are not letting the spirit of this world manifest in and through us. 

God has appointed various ministries (apostles, prophets, teachers) and various works of power (miracles, gifts of healings) and various other gifts (helps, administrations).  He ends the list with the spiritual gift that fixated the Corinthians, “various kinds of tongues.”

We do not all have the same ministry, and no one person has all of these ministries happening through them.  However, we all do have the ministry and gifts, that the Holy Spirit so desires.

Paul concludes with two statements that seem contradictory.  “Earnestly desire the greater gifts.”  This thought will be picked up again in chapter 14.  By desiring tongues alone, the Corinthians were displaying their ignorance about what makes a spiritual gift greater or not greater than another. 

Yet, the second statement declares that there is a more excellent way.  This segues to chapter 13 and a treatise on why love is the foundation to any exercise of spiritual gifts.  It is interesting that he does not call love a spiritual gift.  It is a way, the way of Jesus, that we are called to travel with the Holy Spirit and our fellow believers.

Why do we let spiritual gifts divide us?  It all comes down to ignorance of God’s purpose and refusal to be led by the Holy Spirit.  May God help us to work together with the Holy Spirit for the common good of the Body of Christ!

Gifts of the Spirit 1 audio