June 16, 2005

• The kids are pretty much done with school now, except for a few regent’s exams, so my time on the computer has been significantly cut down. Here is Tuesday’s Bible study.

  
  

  Pastor Don was talking about how many people mis-represent
  1 Corinthians 13:8 to imply that the gifts of healing and prophesy died with the apostles. In order to do that, they need to take that part of the verse out of context.

  
  

  Chapter 13 can be nick-named the LOVE chapter, and the whole chapter is about love, perfect love, agape love. The kind of love that God has for us (and one Bible teacher taught that you could substitute the word God for the word love and this chapter would make sense).

  
  

  Love is a power based on faith, and true love never gives up. Faith walketh by love.

  
  

  If we love a person in the flesh, there is often failure in the relationship. Failure in communication, in actions, for we are not perfect and we cannot in the flesh love in the perfect way that God can love us.

  
  

  1 Corinthians 1:8 “Love never fails. But whether there are prophesies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.”

  
  

  Pastor Don then took the clauses of the above verse and put them next to perfect love. And he said that prophesies made in the flesh will fail compared to perfect love. That in the flesh that sometimes the motive behind making the prophesy may not be love, it could be to get a point across, to look very spiritual, because one is expected to make a prophesy. These kind of prophesies that are made in the flesh will fail.

  
  

  Some prophesies are given in love, but not necessarily result in love. For example when the angel told Lot to get out because he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot was reluctant to leave and Lot’s wife, looked back instead of following the angel’s instructions.

  
  

  In the eternal presence of God, once we are in heaven, prophesies will fail because once we are in heaven, all prophesies will be completed, and we won’t need to prophesy anymore, for we will know all things clearly.

  
  

  Tongues will cease when we are in heaven, because why would we need a tongue? Communication will be instantaneous, we will have the Mind of Christ, and all things will have been made clear to us.

  
  

  1 Cor. 14:2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

  
  

  While we are in our fleshly bodies, we speak in tongues and speak to God, once we are in Heaven, we will be face to face to God, and all mysteries will be made clear. We will not have to speak in mysteries to confound the evil one, we will be speaking mind to mind.

  
  

  1 Cor. 14:14 For if I pray in  a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For indeed you give thanks well, but the other is not edified. I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, then ten thousand words in a tongue.

  
  

  Paul did pray in tongues more than others, but in the appropriate place, in the Church he did not pray overmuch in tongues, but rather prayed with his understanding. There is a place for both tongues and for speaking with understanding, but both are part of our prayer life.

  
  

  In heaven we have no separation between the sprit and the physical, and when we are in heaven we will all be changed, corruption will put on the incorruptible. So we will then not need tongues in heaven, but on earth, there are times when we do need tongues.

  
  

  When we pray in tongues we are edifying our spirit, and often praying what we are not certain we need to be praying for. But in heaven we will have all knowledge, and then tongues will vanish away. We will have the ability to instantly gather knowledge, have the answers to all our questions answered.

  
  

  1 Cor. 13:9-10 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

  
  

  The Bible is perfect. It is the perfect word of God spoken to an imperfect vessel. But, just as we look at various translations of the Bible, it is not the EXACT words of God, which were spoken to the Spirits of the vessels who wrote the Bible, but it is the Word of God we have, that has lasted through the ages. But we really don’t know what language God spoke the Bible to the people who wrote them.

  
  

  When you think a thought, you have a whole idea. When you try to put the words of that idea down on paper, you cannot fully put down the complete words.

  
  

  The Word of God is perfect, as God spoke it. But often when we take the perfect word of God, we interpret it in many different ways.

  
  

  There is a difference between the Rhema word and the written word.

  
  

  (Heather’s addition, this is not to say that we do not fully accept the Bible as the Word of God, for our church is a Bible-based church, but we do have to realize that people do mis-interpret what they read in the Bible, and draw wrong conclusions.)

  
  

  Some will use verse 10 to say that Christ came down to earth, and he was perfect, so therefore because he came down, the need for healing and prophesies were done. But Christ, whenever people wanted to worship him, would always tell them to worship the father who was perfect, not himself. He did not accept worship until after the work of the cross. A careful reading of the Bible will show that not all of the prophesies have been fulfilled, and the Perfect Christ will not return until in Revelation, when He comes to rule and reign. So until the perfect has come, we still have need of prophesies, tongues, healings, for we are in an imperfect world.

  
  

  Paul said that we see in a mirror darkly, but then face to face. Right now in our fleshly bodies we do not see as clearly as we will in our heavenly bodies. When Christ comes in the flesh again, that which is in part will be done away, and not all prophesy is completed until Christ come again.

  
  

  Many theologians and thinkers think we don’t need the gifts of the spirit anymore because we have the Word of God, and we can use our intellect to solve the problems, and the knowledge of the Word of God is enough.  It is childish to think that God left man on the earth and he can handle things without God and without his gifts of the sprit.

  
  

  It would be like a child in a cowboy suit with a cap gun, fighting a battle in a crack house. WE can’t function on the basis of intellect in a supernatural world.

  
  

  If we believe that the gifts of the spirit ended after the last apostle died, then that would be about AD 100 (which would be the longest period of time John would have been alive), then how do you account for some of the passages in a book called A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs.

  
  

  Pastor Don read a lot of passages from this book from 210 (Totulian -not sure how to spell) and Cyprian in 250, who talked about healing, deliverance and the usage of the gifts of the spirit to command sickness, demons and devils out of people.

  
  

  The Apostolic Constitution of 390 speaks about how even unordained people could cast out demons in the name of Christ.

  
  

  It is our fault that the healing and casting out of demons stopped. Our job is to put the Word of God to the test and use what God gave us.

  
  

  As Christians we are not making use of the gifts God gave us, and we should not let false teachings deter us from doing what Christ gave us to do.

  
  

  
  Hope you enjoy this study, if there are errors, it is my notetaking. I got there a bit late, due to a meeting (I seem to be stuck going to the adult leader’s meetings of groups) and was a bit frazzled.

  
  

  Heather

  • 11:39 am
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