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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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DIFFICULTIES IN CHURCH WORSHIP (CH 11-14): THE USE AND ABUSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS (CH. 12-14) 1Co 13:8b
(1/11/12) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. INTRODUCTION A. Paul subject of discussion was spiritual
gifts and the Love chapter is found between two chapters (12, 14) dealing
with this gifts. B. It was love that the Corinthians lacked in
their use of spiritual gifts as well as every other area of their lives. For
this reason they were involved in major quarrels, selfishness, and jealously. II. SUPERIORITY OF LOVE OVER SPIRITUAL GIFTS
(1-3) III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTRIBUTE OF LOVE (4-8a) IV. LASTING QUALITY OF LOVE OVER SPIRITUAL GIFTS
(8b-13) A. [1Co 13:8b] - To show that the Love
Chapter (1Co 13:4-8a) was part of Paul’s discussion on spiritual gifts, he
continued with the discussion of the gift of prophecy, knowledge, and
tongues. 1. The gift of prophecy has been defined as,
“the spiritual gift with the ability
to receive divine revelation for the purpose of fore-telling and
forth-telling God’s truth (1Co 13:10; Act 11:28; 2Pe 1:20-21 cp. Deu 18:20).”Fore-telling implies the telling of future events and truth.
Forth-telling implies the telling of known truths necessary for the
edification of God’s people. Fore-telling was limited to the first century
until the completion of the Scriptures. At that point, fore-telling was no
longer needed, but forth-telling, whether through the gift of prophecy,
teaching, or pastor/teacher was especially needed. Though Paul’s use of
prophecy included the idea of fore-telling, he argued that emphasis was upon
forth-telling throughout this section (i.e the direct). 2. (Ch. 13-14; the same would be true for
the gift of knowledge which Paul also makes mentions (1Co 13:8; 14:6). a) Only the ability to forth-tell is
profitable to the church (1Co 14:6). b) Only the ability to forth-tell gives
understanding (1Co 14:8), meaning (1Co 14:11), and edification (1Co 14:12). c) Only the ability to forth-tell is
profitable to the believers (1Co 14:22). d) Only the ability to forth-tell can bring
conviction and submission to God (1Co 14:24-25). 3. Paul continues to argue for the necessity
of love stating that spiritual gifts will be done away, particularly when the
church is in heaven, is perfected, and no longer needs edification. He refers
to three gifts to prove his point, namely, prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. a) The Greek word katarge,ō is used to show the removal of these gifts. Katarge,ō in its basic meaning is “idle, inactive, or set aside.” It can
refer to rendering inoperative (Luk 13:7; Rom 3:31; 6:6; Heb 2:14), removal
(1Co 2:6; 1Co 6:13; 1Co 13:10; 1Co 15:26), or abolish (1Co 15:26; 2Th 2:8;
2Ti 1:10). b) Prophecy and knowledge will be removed and
abolished when the church enters the eternal state. There will be no need for
the church to be perfected because they will be holy and complete in heaven
(1Jo 3:2; Rev 21 & 22). Though we will probably grow in knowledge in
heaven, we will have a complete knowledge (cp. 1Co 13:9-12), but will not
have the omniscience of God. c) Yet note the difference between the gift
of prophecy (and knowledge) and the gift of tongues. Prophecy and knowledge
will be abolished when “the perfect” brings it to an end. This is verified by
the fact that the two usages of katarge,ō (“done away”) are both future passives. The idea is that
something or someone other than themselves will cause them to be removed at a
future time (See discussion on 1Co 13:9-12 for further detail). However,
tongues will “cease” on their own. “Cease” is the
Greek word pau,ō and means to “stop, leave off, fizzle out” and because it is a
future middle, will stop of “itself.” In other words, the gift of tongues
will cease or fizzle out when it is no longer needed in the preceding
dispensations. Prophecy and knowledge will continue to be needed in this
dispensation but not the future. Tongues have already ceased around the turn
of the first century, being no longer needed (See discussion on 1Co 12:10). B. [1Co 13:9] - Paul explains the abolishing
of prophecy and knowledge to show that love lasts eternally. But this next
section of Scripture has its interpretive difficulties. What or who, labeled
as “the perfect” will cause prophecy and knowledge to be done away? 1. For the present, all believers have
partial (me,ros - a portion but not the whole) “knowledge” (present indicative of ginōskō
- intelligent comprehension, understand) of God’s truth. Though God’s
truth is given to us in the His Word, believers are growing in the
understanding of the truth beyond the dogma clearly explained by the apostles
in the Scriptures. 2. The obstacles to a complete understanding
of God’s truth are a lack of our diligence to study and the fact that God has
not revealed everything to us. But make no mistake; God has revealed to us
everything we need for life and godliness in this life (2Pe 1:3). Yet there
are things that God has not revealed (Deu 29:29) especially in regard to all
the details of future things. C. [1Co 13:10] - Yet that partial knowledge
will be “done away” (same word and parsing as the knowledge of vs. 8)
and become complete knowledge at some point in a new dispensation. 1. The timeframe is described as the indefinite
future “when” (hotan) the “perfect” comes ([whenever it] “might
come” - aorist subjunctive of erchomai). Identifying the “perfect” will
help determine the “when.” 2. The identification of “the perfect” (to
te,leion, construction used only here) has left the church with various
interpretations. Some of the major interpretations of “the perfect” are: 1)
The Completion of Scripture, 2) The Second Coming of Christ, 3) Christ
Himself, and 4) The Eternal State a) The Completion of Scripture (1) While we see the completion of Scripture as
a perfect revelation of God’s truth with transitory merit in regard to some
gifts, the Corinthians would not have understood this concept. (2) The aspect of those gifts which proclaim
and teach (“forth-tell”) God’s Word are vitally necessary for today and have
not been “done away.” (3) In addition, prophecy will also be active
in the future and in the Millennium (Rev 11:3; Joel 2:28; Act 2:17). (4) Paul also uses the phrase, “face to face”
(1Co 13:12) to identify a timeframe for the future yet to come. b) The Second Coming of Christ (1) Though Argument A4 could apply to the
Rapture or Second Coming, Argument A3 would eliminate the possibility of this
view because prophecy will be exercised. (2) Paul makes it clear that when the gifts end
they will end permanently (i.e. “done away”). (3) The Millennium, after the Second Coming,
will be characterized by teachers, knowledge, and those who will hear the
words of the book (Isa 11:9; 29:18; 32:3-4). c) Christ Himself (1) The Greek adjective to te,leion (neuter, singular, nominative in
contrast to, ho te,leios) is a neuter and eliminates the
possibility of referring to a person. (2) Christ is the preeminent person because of
His person and work, the major figure in the Rapture and Second Coming, and
even the central focus in the eternal state, but Paul apparently was
referring to something else when he penned “the perfect.” d) The Eternal State (1) This view sees “the perfect” as “the
perfect state” or “the complete state” as opposed to our present incomplete
state. Thus it would refer to the eternal state in heaven. Though the saints
will be perfect, the neuter precludes it meaning specifically the saints. (2) It refers to a perfect and complete state
when prophecy and knowledge of God’s truth and everything else is a perfect
and complete state. (3) It is in the eternal state that believers
will “fully know” and come “face to face” with God (Rev 19:11-13; 22:4) that
follows the Millennium. (4) This view fits all the criteria and
supports the point that love will last for all eternity while spiritual gifts
will not because they will no longer be needed. V. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Love being an attribute of God is eternal.
It will be displayed in eternity along with all His other attributes
(holiness, righteousness, mercy etc.). God’s love is described as an
everlasting love for His people (Jer 31:3). Therefore, both His love and truth
(Word) are established on earth and in heaven (Psa 119:89). B. Even though spiritual gifts will be set
aside and removed in the eternal state, they are necessary for today.
However, spiritual gifts are rendered inoperative today when believers are
not motivated to use them by love (1Co 13:1-3). |
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