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And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.

 G ood morning. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. Some think that the ordering is the importance of each to the church; I.e. apostles are the most important etc.; but I think there is another possibility - that it is the order in which they need to appear in the formation of a church. In other words, apostles are the first in order to lay a foundation, then the prophets are needed to build up the body and to point out those who are in leadership in the church, then teachers to instruct, etc. These too are gifts to the church; but they are people and not “things“. And just like “not everyone has the same gift of the Spirit“, not everyone has the same ministry. Just like the gifts, it would be useless to have a church full of apostles and nothing else. As I have said before, you see too many people saying “I am apostle so and so, or I am prophet...
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But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no divisions in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

  Good morning. One part of the body cannot say to another “I have no need of you“. On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no divisions in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers/is honored, all the members suffer/rejoice with it. What affects one of us, affects all of us, whether it’s something good or something bad. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. We are to work together for the best of each individual, so that the entire body may have what is necessary. Father go with the reader and his/her family and meet all...
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For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; and to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues

  Good morning. And now we have the nine gifts of the Spirit. Some people group them in groups of three, saying that each threesome has a type of relationship. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit (notice they both say word; it doesn’t mean all knowledge and all wisdom for all time); and to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing(s) by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. They pretty much take care of any possible situation that might come up in a meeting, though it does not have to be in a meeting. They can take place anytime, anywhere. You hear various interpretations of exactly what each one means. The one I take issue with is the interpretation of what it means by “faith”. The interpretation that I...
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Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

  Good morning. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Remember that we are talking about spiritual gifts. These are not things that you go to school to learn how to do, though through the years you learn how to better make use of them. The individual does not get to choose which one(s) that he or she receives – it is decided by the Holy Spirit. Not everyone has the same gifts; that would be useless in many cases. However in a particular meeting, there may be several that normally operate in the same gifts. Also in a meeting there may not be anyone who normally operates in a certain gift, but that is the gift that is most needed at that time. Then the Holy Spirit may choose a person or persons to operate in that gift for that particular situation. ...
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If we judge ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world

  Good morning. Finishing Paul’s commentary about communion: but if we judge ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. Now concerning spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be unaware. (FYI the word “gifts“ is in italics, which means it’s not really in the Greek text; it was placed there by the translators to help us understand what it meant. It literally says “spirituals”, which would not make any sense to us.) Paul starting this section with “now concerning…“ Suggests that they had written to him asking about these. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb (as in mute) idols, however you were led. Corinth was a place full of idols. Many of the people there who became Christians had been worshipers of idols. While we do not have people in America today led astray by physical idols, many Americans are led astray by other types of idols. Therefore ...
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He took the cup also after supper, saying, “this cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

  Good morning. Continuing: in the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “this cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me“. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. It is through His death that we have our salvation. It is through communion we remember it. If we did not have communion on a regular basis, we would tend to only think about ourselves and our lives. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. Remember that Paul had just been talking about them eating and even getting drunk when they came together as a church. It was very possible they then would not take communion seriously. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge ...
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For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks and said, “this is My body which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.

  Good morning. Remember that Paul just said that there were divisions among them. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper; for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. It sounds like they were having the old fashion dinner on the ground; but instead of after the service, it sounds like it was before it got started. They were more interested in eating and socializing than they were in remembering the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus through communion. For I received from the Lord (from the detail which follows, it sounds like it was during one of the times when Jesus appeared to Paul) that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when ...
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