The Apostle Paul was compelled to write a letter, which he did what he said with boasting, he talked like a fool. But he did it in order that the people at Corinth would believe in him and would not think that he was a fanatic or false teacher. He said he was nobody but he did have to talk.
I am to talk about the gifts of the Spirit. If you were scared, you would not do that. Because there are two sides. You would be afraid if you got out of one side, you would get the others against you; and if you got out of the other, you would get the first ones against you. I guess it is the Irish in me, but I do not mind that at all. I do not care who is against me as long as God is on my side.
1 Corinthians 12: “Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles carried away with these dumb idols even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit dividing to every man severally as He will. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
Then follows an explaining of the body of Christ and making it parallel between the members of our bodies; hands, and feet, and eyes, and so on.
And on over in 1 Corinthians 12: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, in the body, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?”
The answer of course is no. It is a rhetorical question.
Then in the book of Ephesians, the 4th chapte: “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he lead captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”
Twelth of Romans: “For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy, or ministry let us wait on our ministering or he that teacheth, on teaching. Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth, with diligence he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Here is the body of Christ and Paul draws a parallel. Paul was a great illustrator; he broke things down for us so we could get them. He said that the church was a body, that Christ was the head and that the true Christian is a member of that body; and all true Christians are part of the body, are members, are organs of that body. You will have a body beautifully equipped; nothing perhaps in the whole wide world is as beautifully made as the human body. The Holy Spirit said to David, “we are fearfully and wonderfully made.” The hands, the eyes, the ears, the sense of smell, the sense of taste, the sense of touch and all feet and hands all working together.
The Holy Spirit is to the church what your spirit is to that body which God has given you. Each member recapitulates the local church. Paul in three epistles researched this. He uses the body-member relationship three times in Romans, First Corinthians and Ephesians. And he says that each local church recapitulates the entire church.
When the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all in one place. But that was the last time the whole church could all get in one place. Never been possible since. And the whole church cannot get in one place now for the reason that we are scattered all over the whole world; and I suppose that about 75percent of the church or 85percent of the church is already dead and in heaven. Therefore, it is impossible for them all to get together. So that if we had to have the whole church, from Paul and the apostles down to the newest convert saved tonight in a Rescue Mission; if we had to have them all together and in one place, you could not have a church at all. So that each local church recapitulates the entire church so that the church is not torn or divided; each local church group has all the functions of the whole group.
Just as the Province of Ontario is a living organic part of the whole federal government of Canada and just as my state of Pennsylvania is a living throbbing part of whole union of states, so each local church is not a political part, as the illustration would indicate but a living organic part of the whole Church of Christ. You see, I am a little bit Anglican; they go in a big way for the communion of saints. Well, brethren, so do I. I do not believe in communicating with the saints above but I believe in the communion with the saints. I believe that we are members of the whole body of Christ in heaven and in earth and just as a family.
Take our own family, my wife’s family and mine. Seven of them, now multiplied sixteen more. Well they are all over the United States and California, to Maine and from Florida to Illinois, and yet they are all members of that same family. And we are the ancestors, and they have our name and appearance and look, and they all act the same and rest. Now the dear church of God is scattered all over the world and in heaven, but they are all descendants of the great God who, by the Holy Ghost and the word, caused them to be born into this family.
Therefore, the church is not divided. When we sing that old song, “We are not divided all one body we,” people smile and say how about your 600 denominations. You cannot scare me, brother, so do not try it. We are not divided, “all one body we.” That is just as true as I am not divided.
I have never had anything cut out yet. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and looking to God that nobody will ever get at me with a butcher knife. But up to now, I am all in one piece. I have not been taken apart. Nothing has been cut off and thrown out for the cats; I am all here. Consequently, the body of Christ is all one body, all one body we. We can sing it and let the people make fun of us if they will; keep on singing it for it’s true. You are not divided. The whole church, everybody that is born into the family of God, is born into a living organic union, and there we are and there is nothing the devil can do about it.
Now, each local group I say has all the functions of the whole group; just as each man has all of his faculties and organs, members, and the members are designed, each for a function. As the eye is designed to see, the ear to hear, the hand to do work, the foot carry around, the stomach to digest your food and so on. So we are designed to cooperate and act in concert.
I remember once reading a great article in Harper’s Magazine. I let it get away from me, and I cannot be sorrier about anything of that sort as I am about this. It explained what brought on old age. It was not the lose of strength in any organ of the body, but that the organs of the body cease to cooperate and went off on their own. That is what brought on old age and what made people die of old age; it was the failure of the organs of the body to cooperate. They got independent, went off and started their own tabernacle. When a fellow gets about sixty-five you know, his stomach says: I do not believe in pastors and official boards local churches, and I am going to go off on my own. So he goes off on his own and next thing you know, he has cancer of the stomach; and so it is with other members of the body. If they would all function together, you would stay young forever. But after a while, they break off and start out on their own and then you have trouble.
So it is with the church. When we are together and have a sense of unity and fellowship; and all work together, cooperate with each other, and act in concert, all for each and each for all; and all take direction from the head, and then you will have the perfect church. We have never had that on earth yet after the very early times; probably will not have it again, but each local church can sum it up. I use the word recapitulate. I thought some young fellow would not know what I meant; and I will say, we can all sum it up in ourselves so that anything that God can do through all of His church, He can do through the local crowd, local group, local church.
Now what these various functions are, are these: They are the abilities to work and are called gifts. And He said having these gifts differ for you according to grace. “Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, covet earnestly the best gift. When He ascended up on high, He gave gifts.” So the gifts when lodged in the body of Christ in the local church are the ability to do. What is your stomach? Your stomach is a gift from God. What is the purpose of it? Not to hold your trousers up; it is not for that. You put a belt around. It is there for a purpose. It has a function there. What is your liver for? What is your eye for? They are all there for a purpose. They have a function, something to do; and if they do it right and all the others cooperate, you will be a healthy strong person.
So here, we have these gifts in the church. Paul, in his carefully thought out and carefully God inspired writings, explained these gifts were there to get things done. They are there for a purpose. Just as in baseball; now Paul used sports to illustrate, and I will use sports to illustrate, so do not say I am not spiritual. I have no ambition to be more spiritual that the Apostle Paul. I do not know anything about hockey so I will take baseball. You know that on a team of nine men, there is mostly more, but they are spares. Nine main men; there’s the batter, the fellow to catch the ball, the fellow to pitch the ball, there’s a fellow in the center field to catch it if the fellow who’s batting hits it, and there’s the fellow on first base, second base; they all have their function. Everybody knows what he is supposed to do. And as long as he does that and does it skillfully, it would be a hard team to beat.
Whenever they get a star who doesn’t care whether the teams wins or not provided we can shine, then you don’t have a good team.
Paul says that these gifts are in the body. Mostly we say that there are nine of them. That is because 1 Corinthians, in the opening verses, lists nine; but you know that I have counted at least eighteen. Maybe there could be some that overlap and that they use synonyms, in which case, maybe it could be reduced to fifteen. But let me follow in the scriptures closely now. I am not using my imagination, I am staying by the word of God. Let me name the organs of the divine body which are named by Paul in the passages which I read.
First there is the gift of the apostle or an ambassador or messenger; then there’s a gift that makes a prophet, then there’s the gift that makes a teacher, then there’s the gift that makes an exhorter; then there is the gift that makes the ruler, that would be someone the old Presbyterian’s call the ruling elder; then there’s the gift of wisdom, gift of knowledge, gift of faith; gift of healing, gift of miracles; gift of tongues, gift of interpretations, gift of discernment; gift of helps, gift of mercy showing, the gift of government; the gift of giving, liberality, and the gift of the evangelist. Now there you have it. Those are the gifts, which are in the body. Now, if you cared to do it, and wanted to go into it, you could start and name the organs of the body, just as I have named eighteen organs of the body of Christ. Eighteen things, which enable the Holy Spirit to work. As long as you have the body members, the life within you can find its way out. If you are a musician, your hands are nothing. They don’t know anything at all; there they are, cut them off and they’re completely dead. But as long as your hands are obedient to the head you might be able to play the piano, or something else if you like it. Just as long as your eye takes orders from the head, your eye will be all right. As long as your feet take orders from your head, you will not be hit when you cross the street. Just as long as the members of your body work and take orders from the head, you will be all right.
And just as long as the Church of Christ recognizes the Lord as being the head of the church, and the Christians and members in particular and these members are gifted with abilities to do, then we will have a revived and blessed church. But you see there are two mistakes that have been made, and I will talk about those two mistakes a little bit later, about these gifts of the Spirit.
Now the Spirit working through these gifts and through these gifted members does the work of the church. For if these gifts are not present, are not recognized or denied, the church is thrown back upon getting the work done. If you did not have any hands, then you would have to do the best you could without any hands. I have seen men afflicted without any hands. If you did not have any eyes, you would have to do the best you could without eyes. If you had no feet, you would have to crawl around as best you could with out feet. Therefore, if we deny or refuse to recognize that there are members and that there are gifts in those members, then we are thrown back upon humanism.
And here is what we have today, and we have an awful lot of it. We are thrown back upon talent, just talent; that is a good theatrical word but we are thrown back upon it. Let me solemnly tell you, ladies and gentlemen, the Holy Ghost never works with mere talent. Do not be mistaken by the parable of Jesus with the word talent; there it meant a sum of money. It had no reference of whether you could sing or imitate or whatever the theatrical people do.
Or we are thrown back on psychology. I am somewhat amused and downright disgusted with some of my ministerial brethren of the cloth, who are so busy studying psychology in order that they may know how to handle their congregations. How silly can you get? When you have a Bible and a mouth, and the Holy Ghost, why do you have to study psychology? It just so happens that when I was a young fellow in my twenties, I was a great student of psychology. I studied Watson, Jennings and particularly Freud, who was the pappy of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. I learned all the terms and all of that so I know about it. I am not dumb about psychology, but there is no use to bring psychology to the pulpit when you have the Holy Ghost. If you have the gift of the Spirit, you do not need to study Freud. You can study him all right; I do not say do not study him, but do not bring him into the pulpit with you. Just the same as you can have an automobile or a radio or a camera, but do not bring it into the pulpit. Get up and trust God.
Another technique is business methods. I get amused somewhat and hurt a little about the brethren and their business methods; trying to carry on the work of God after the fashion of the American business man. So we carry on as they do in Madison Avenue or Wall Street. It will not work brethren, just as sure as you let it, it will not work. It is all artificial limbs, it will not work.
Then political techniques and sales methods: That is what we are up against; we got that in church now. We are going to have to restudy this whole business in place of the Holy Spirit in the church, in order that the church can operate again.
If the life goes out of a man’s body, he is said to be a corpse. He is what they call the remains. It is sad, but almost humorously sad, that a man can walk around strong, fine man with shining eyes and vibrant voice; a living man, and then he dies, and we say the remains can be seen at such and such funeral home. The remains, all that remains of the man, and the least part about him, is what you can see there in the funeral home. But the living man is gone. You have only the body left and the body is the remains.
So it is in the Church of Christ. It is literally true that some churches are dead; the Holy Ghost is gone out of them and all you have left is the remains. You have the potential there of the church, but you do not have the church. Because just as you have in a dead man, you have the potential of a living man, but you do not have the living man. He cannot talk, he cannot taste, he cannot touch, he can not feel, he cannot smell, he cannot hear, he cannot see because he is dead. The soul has gone out of the man, and when the Holy Spirit is not present in the church, you have to get along after the methods of business or politics or psychology or something else. Not too much can be said, my friend, about the necessity of the Holy Ghost in the church, not too much.
Now, we can get off down the back alley and be fanatical about it, but you cannot say too much about it if you say stay with the scripture. For without the Spirit there can be nothing done for eternity. Well, then somebody would say, “Mr. Tozer, then if that’s true, then here is where you have to pray, because some of my dear friends would stomp out and prove how spiritual they are by never coming back.”
Why is it that we do not cast our lot in with the tongues movement because they believe this? Well now, I have known and studied these dear brethren. I’ve preached to them for a long, long time and I’ve studied them; and I know them pretty well, and I’m very sympathetic with them; and I love them, and in all love and charity, I’d like to say they are some good sweet Christians among them. And I happen to know some dear, beloved, sweet Christians that are in this movement. Also, there are some churches that are very sane, beautiful, godly and good, but a number of things that I want to name have characterized the movement itself.
I do not want to hurt anybody’s feelings; and if you think this is not true, then you can call me up, come to see me, bring your proof. If it’s true, and as Christians and members of the body of Christ, we’ve all got to smile and say thank God for the truth no matter whether it hurts or not. The movement itself has done this. It has magnified one single gift above all others and that one gift, as Paul said, was the least. Now, that does not cause me to have great confidence in the movement that would do that. Then there is an unscriptural exhibition of that gift, which incidentally began in the United States about 1904.