I am sure that you have seen a paralyzed person. At one time, perhaps, that person had a very active lifestyle. That seemingly healthy person was once moving and acting out his/her life with ease and enjoyed life. Once you see this immobile, not responding, lifeless body now, you can hardly believe it is true. Bodies are supposed to be moving. Bodies are supposed to be healthy, strong and yet, here is that one who is none of those expected realities. The eyes, perhaps, tear up, the body shakes a little…but that person is frozen in time and space. Not that they don’t want to move: THEY cannot move. Jesus dealt with such people.
And we look at them and say, “What a waste!” “How sad!” “Glad it isn’t me!” “What a tragedy!”
Paul has that same response when he looked at the Church that was gathering in Corinth. What a tragedy! They had it all and now they are paralyzed…not functioning, not as the Lord would have them. Because of sin and the lack of personal good judgment, the Fellowship was sick, paralyzed and some were dead or dying.
This Church who had it all was in trouble with the man who was connected with the Mother Church in Jerusalem. Paul was writing to them and expressing a number of things he WANTED them to work on. To set right. To clean up their act and get this Walk of Faith RIGHT.
What was the problem? Why did this happen? Why is the paralyzed situation present?
Somehow, the answer lies in the fact that communication had broken down from the Head to the rest of the Body. Some damage had happened. Maybe not terminal, not necessarily cut off but damaged!
Some of the people there were working REALLY hard to make up for those who were not working well or at all.
After a while, the strain and the stress of that dysfunction began to take its toll. A really healthy body cannot continue like that: something will break down. Something will stop. When one part of the Body is overworked because the other parts are not working in unity with the whole, there is a major breakdown and it stops being a healthy body.
Such was the case in Corinth. There was a disconnect. As we have spoken in the past, we NEED to be connected to the Vine, that is, to Christ Jesus. And in that connective-ness, we find our purpose and our strength. Unbroken communication with the Head is critical. NOT ONLY ARE WE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE HEAD, WE MUST BE OBEDIENT TO THE HEAD AS WELL.
So, Paul says: I don’t want you to be ignorant, my Brothers, about Spiritual Gifts. Was this done in ridicule or condescension? Maybe!
WISDOM is the divinely enabled unique ability to know the mind of the Holy Spirit, coupled with a respectful awe of God, in such a way as to receive insight into how knowledge and spiritual truth may be practically and effectively applied to meet a need in a specific situation arising in the Body of Believers.
Another way to say this is that this Gift, given by God Himself to a person, has the ability to discern appropriate principles from God’s Word for complex situations. –The Spiritual ability to synthesize, or manufacture the capacity to design and has a love of study.
Should this be one of your gifts, you would be great as a consultant: advising on foundational issues, directions and designs for a ministry. A poor fit would be for you to the one to detail and implement and lead the work. Hard times ahead for one who has this gift and leads.
You would need a broad understanding of a Biblical Worldview. You should have an openness to be in contact with many people, being exposed to their thinking and new ideas. You should cultivate friendships with decision makers.
You can see a person who has this gift in Paul of Tarsus.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Let's look at a word study on Wisdom: Job 28:28; Proverbs 1:7; 15:33; Ps 51:6; Daniel 2:23; Isaiah 11:2 & Col 2:3; Col 1:9~12, 18~25.
1 Cor 2:13; (-) Rom 1:21~23.
Col 1:28, Jeremiah 9:23~24; Col 3:16.
What is the response of the people in Matt 23:34? They wanted them dead. They would not have them 'speak' to their lives and bring the change God wanted them to experience.
Now, for Knowledge:
KNOWLEDGE is the divinely enabled special ability to bring Truth to the Body of Christ through biblical insight by mastering God's revealed Word in Scripture, so as to organize information for teaching and practical use, by discovering, accumulating, analyzing, and clarifying information and ideas that are important to the growth and well-being of the Body of Christ.
Or, sometimes spoken of as the Gift of the Word of Knowledge, this gift has the capacity to seek out, remember and make effective use of a variety of information on a number of various subjects. Those in the Body who have this gift commonly display rational ability and have objective thinking. They would enjoy gathering of new information, doing research and sharing this information with others. Those using this Gift rightly would bring Unity to the Church!
You would tend to work better with those who have the gift of apostolic gifts when on a team. You would enjoy written reports or a verbal project. Most likely, you would enjoy sorting through a wide variety of information and ideas. AVOID being the lead person with primary responsibilities to lead or carry out the plan you have helped to devise.
You will need to be careful to know how to use this information and know the limitations of the materials plus the benefits of the acquired knowledge. Case in point is found in 1 Cor 8:1!
1 Cor 8:1 (Amplified Bible) NOW ABOUT food offered to idols: of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters. Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature].
Word study on Knowledge: Isa 5:12, 11:2 & Col 2:3; Rom 11:33; For a powerful verse—2 Peter 1:2~11; Proverbs 8:10.Here is what happens when there is no knowledge or that it is rejected:
Hosea 4:6; 6:6.
Jeremiah 3:15; Malachi 2:7; Ephesians 4:11~13.
As the Word says later on, and we will be looking at this soon enough, even if we have wisdom and knowledge but have not LOVE, it is worthless...
But in all things … put on love.
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April 5th is Palm Sunday. We will be taking a short vacation from Gifts and look at the entry of Jesus just days before His Death in Jerusalem. Please be ready to study God's Word together.Service starts at 10:30 and we will be having the Lord's Table. This is a time for Believers to remember the Lord's Death on the Cross. It is a good time to look into your own life and examine your heart. Ask the Lord for a fresh heart and repent of your evil and turn to Him. He is waiting for you. He is waiting because He loves you very much.
April 12th is Resurrection Sunday. Come to Kokukoen Station by 7:30 for a Sunrise Service. Brother Ken and Pastor Stan will be sharing a Resurrection Devotional. There will be songs and Scripture as well. A good way to enjoy this most wonderful day.
He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
During the morning service, we are Baptizing three young people. They will be sharing their story before they enter the Baptism Water.
Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. You only get wet in the water. There is no special 'power' in the act...just showing the world that you want to be identified with Christ. The Worship time will start at 10:30.
Parking is close at a Pay-to-Park lot just one block from ICCS. Please do not use the parking lots of local businesses. Even if you buy food at them, you would be better off parking in a pay lot.
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The following series comes from a study of the Scriptures and with the guidance from a workbook put out in 1994 called "NETWORK". "The Right People... In the Right Places... For the Right Reasons." by Bruce Bugbee, Don Cousins and Bill Hybels. Zondervan Publishing House/Willow Creek Resources. Also, items were taken from Kay Arther's Spiritual Gifts Precept Bible Study. At times, the material is straight from these text. They have been written really well, so why change it? I have altered some of the material to fit our needs. I do hope this series will help us reach the places God has for each of us as we seek to please our Father with the gifts He has given to us. God blessing to you as you read and live out this expression of your Christian Walk of Faith.
