Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20070701.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
VII. Overcoming Sinful Dishonor And Disorder
D. Discerning The Spirits In Their Confession Of Christ
(1 Corinthians 12:1-3)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Ralph Peter's June 25, 2007 article, "Faith's civil wars" in USA TODAY claims globalization and the Internet are so pressing differing cultures together, masses of people are unsure what to believe. Such instability has always left man open to embracing questionable beliefs:

(1) In the 7th century, upon encountering Jews and Christians, Muhammad longed for his people to abandon idols. (Dave Hunt, The Berean Call, Feb. 2000, p. 3) Islam's hadith claims that in his unrest, he began to have visions that he later used to start Islam, but that he did not first think they were from God's angel! Indeed, the hadith claims Muhammad planned to commit suicide to find rest from them! (Robert Spencer, The Truth About Muhammad, 2006, p. 41-42, citing Ibn Sa'd, Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir, vol. I, p. 227; op. cit., Spencer, citing Ibn Ishaq, p. 106; op. cit., Spencer, citing Bukhari, vol. 9, bk. 91, no. 4953). The hadith adds he felt he might be demon possessed or had seen a demonic vision! (Ibid., Spencer, citing Ibn Ishaq, loc. cit.)

(2) Joseph Smith, Mormonism's author, held that when he was so unsure what Church to join that he entered the woods to pray for God's wisdom, the angel Moroni gave him God's truth on gold plates. (Salem Kirbhan, Mormonism, p. 17-18). Yet, the testimonies of his neighbors countered Smith's credibility and that of his new beliefs: they held he often dug for buried treasure using the occult practice of "looking in a magic stone called a peepstone,'" and Smith used peepstones to translate the gold plates versus God's opposition to such divination in Deuteronomy 18:10 (cf. Roy B. Zuck, Th. D., Letter to a Mormon Elder , a tract by Book Fellowship, North Syracuse, N. Y.)

(3) Yet, in our era of globalization where many are unsure what is truth, we are urged to support the questionable beliefs of these men:

(a) Helen Herndon in the Christian Research Journal, 25:1, claims "Allah" is God's generic name, so Christians should say, "Allah be praised!'" with Muslims. (The Berean Call, 4/2003, p. 4)

(b) A local talk show host has repeatedly criticized Christians for not supporting a Mormon presidential candidate as "he is a man of faith", implying Mormonism is as credible as is Christianity!

So, we ask, "In our era of globalization and the Internet that fuels uncertainty about what CONSTITUTES God's TRUTH, HOW can WE DISCERN God's TRUTH from what is FALSE ?!"

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Today when globalization and the Internet push together differing cultures with varying beliefs, leaving many unsure of what is God's truth, how are we to discern His truth with any certainty?!"
  1. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-2, the Apostle Paul prefaced the start of his teaching on spiritual gifts with a revelation about the need for his Corinthian believing readers to DISCERN TRUE from FALSE SPIRITS behind ALL teachers, Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 532f:
    1. Though the English translations have Paul at 1 Cor. 12:1a introducing the chapter by referring to "spiritual gifts," he did not write the actual word for "spiritual gifts" which is charismaton (as in verse 4), but "spiritual things," or pneumatikon, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 605.
    2. Then, he referred to the pre-salvation days of his readers when they were misled unto worshiping idols, 1 Corinthians 12:2.
    3. Accordingly, in view of their pagan heritage and how it had once left them vulnerable to being spiritually deceived, and possibly still left them concerned about being deceived, Paul did not want his readers to be ignorant of "spiritual things" regarding true and false ministries:
      1. In their pre-salvation days, Paul's readers had been misled in many ways by false teachers to end up worshiping idols, 1 Cor. 12:2: the words hos an ['agesthe 'apagomenoi] ("howsoever you might [be led astray]") show that, prior to their salvation, Paul's readers had "followed every teacher but the end was always idolworship," F. W. Grosheide, 1 Corinthians, NICNT, 1980, p. 279-280.
      2. Thus, the Corinthian believers were either still vulnerable to deception, or were concerned about being vulnerable to it, or they were still vulnerable to false teachers, Ibid., Bib. Kno. Com., N. T.
      3. Paul accordingly wrote to inform his formerly pagan readers about discerning true from false spiritual ministries!
  2. Paul thus provided a TEST on DISCERNING FALSE from GOD'S TRUE SPIRITS that are BEHIND ALL TEACHERS, 1 Cor. 12:3:
    1. Paul claimed that no one who speaks spirit-related ideas by means of the Holy Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed!" (1 Corinthians 12:3a)
    2. Also, Paul claimed that no one is even able (dunatai) to say, "Jesus is (the) Lord" except by means of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:3b. By the term, "Lord" in such a context, Paul meant Jesus as the Creator God, cf. Colossians 2:9; Ibid., U. B. S. Greek New Testament.
    3. This test along with Scripture passages elsewhere reveal one can test a teacher's salvation status and empowering spirit that is behind his spiritual teachings to discern whether he is from God (as follows):
      1. Once a party believes in Christ as his Savior, he is indwelt forever from that moment forward by God the Holy Spirit, Eph. 1:13-14.
      2. Indeed, if one does not have the Spirit, he is not saved, Rom. 8:9b!
      3. The Holy Spirit always honors and glorifies Christ, John 16:13-14.
      4. Applying each of these truths, we know that (a) one who asserts spirit-related ideas is of God providing he glorifies Jesus and confesses Him as God, or that (b) one is unsaved if he either curses Christ or fails to be able to confess Jesus is the Creator God!
  3. However, 1 Corinthians 12:3 allows ROOM for ERRANT WORDS by TRUE CHRISTIANS, so we add FURTHER clarifications from SCRIPTURE on TESTING ALL TEACHINGS by all teachers:
    1. God has several subjective means of testing for His true teachings:
      1. True and false teachers are in time exposed by their "fruits", their works and the effects of their lives, Matt. 7:15-20; 1 Tim. 5:24-25.
      2. God wants us to discern error through staying with what God has previously let us be taught and also become convinced was true, and that were taught to us by godly men, 2 Timothy 3:13-14.
      3. The indwelling Holy Spirit also provides a subjective signal on the degree of credibility of what a believer hears, a signal in his human spirit [that can be objectively verified by Scripture], 1 Jn. 2:20, 27.
    2. However, subjective experience can deceive due to sin in men (cf. Deuteronomy 13:1-4 with 1 Timothy 4:1-2), so God has an objective and thus sure test for truth -- His written Word:
      1. Isaiah 8:19-20 claims Scripture is the starting point of God's light.
      2. Jesus told his hearers to test His acts and works in view of the Old Testament to verify His identity as Messiah and God, John 5:39.
      3. Jesus exampled the right way to interpret Scripture in Mark 12:18-27 -- to use the normal, litero-grammatico-historical method.
      4. Thus, those who teach accurately are Biblical, and we can discern this fact by checking written Scripture in its normal meaning like the Bereans did in evaluating Paul's teaching, cf. Acts 17:10-11.
Lesson Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior from sin to be saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; Romans 8:9. (2) Then, may we TEST the spirits of ALL TEACHERS using 1 Corinthians 12:3, and (3) heed Scripture's subjective and objective guidelines on TRUE TEACHINGS by godly teachers.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

In our introduction, we raised questions about the credibility of Muhammad and Islam along with Joseph Smith and Mormonism, but we can use 1 Corinthians 12:3 to test both men and their religions:

(1) Concerning Muhammad and his Islamic faith, Islam claims Jesus was not God (Quran 3:59, 62; 4:171 as cited in Dave Hunt, "Islam and the Gospel," The Berean Call, April, 1999, p. 1-2), but a prophet of Allah who "was superseded by Muhammad's teachings and ministry." (Gary L. Wall, "A catalogue of cults: Where they stand on the deity of Christ," Moody Monthly, July-August 1979).

However, 1 Corinthians 12:3 states that any man who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit as God's messenger describes Jesus as God, not as a mere prophet who is superseded by a later mortal prophet. So, Islam is NOT from God, and Muhammad is NOT a prophet of God!

(2) Concerning Joseph Smith and his Mormon beliefs, Mormonism claims Jesus is "one of many gods . . . and men can be just like him" (Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine as cited in Wall, Ibid.)

Yet, Paul as a Hebrew saw God is ONE (Deut. 6:4; Jn. 10:30), so Paul's 1 Corinthians 12:3 claim that Jesus is "Lord" meant He is part of the one Triune God versus the Mormon idea! Mormonism is NOT of God, and Joseph Smith is NOT God's herald!

(3) Now, one may counter these conclusions by questioning the authenticity of the 1 Corinthians 12:3 claim.

However, we have a verifiable witness that upholds the claim of 1 Corinthians 12:3: the Isaiah scroll that was found with the Dead Sea Scrolls and dated 150 years before Christ by paleographers, is very close to the Masoretic text in the Hebrew Bible. (Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament (1975), p. 76-77; Zond. Pict. Ency. of the Bible, vol. Three, p. 321) That scroll predicts Messiah would be born as God incarnate (Isaiah 9:6-7), would die as God's atonement and would rise again to justify those who trust in Him (Isa. 52:13-53:12). Jesus even challenged His critics to test His credibility by such Scriptures in John 5:39. Thus, Paul's 1 Corinthians 12:3 claim that Jesus is God is verified by earlier Bible prophecy.

By GOD'S WRITTEN SCRIPTURE, we KNOW for SURE the CERTAINTY the IDENTITY of God's truths. May we USE it and DEPEND upon it in our era of uncertainty regarding beliefs!