1 Timothy 4:11-14

B3 More pastoral advice.

C1 Paul is speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so all these words are not suggestions, they are required.

C2 Pass along and teach these things.

D1 The Greek word commanding is παραγγέλλω paraggellō. It means to transmit as pass on/pass along a message. Mainly, it is the message of this letter and/or specifically verses 1-10.

D2 A very important message indeed. It is the message of salvation. It is the message of God’s kingdom teachings as God’s rules, worldview, lifestyle, etc.

D3 Whatever we teach and emphasize MUST be believed and lived by us. We cannot be someone who teaches one thing but lives differently. God will judge the hypocrite.

D4 God’s method: 2 Timothy 2:25 NLT Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth.

C3 All Christians need to be an example.

D1 Jesus is our example. He is also the one we are to imitate.

D2 John 13:14-15 GNB  I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you.

D3 1 Peter 2:21 GNB It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps.

D4 We are to be examples to the unsaved in these things: in word, behavior, love, attitude, faith, and purity.

C4 Let no one despise your young age. It is not age that matters but maturity. See Pickering in his notes: As a professor of mine once said, "Your youth is not the problem; it's the immaturity that goes with it."

C5 Consistently apply yourself in reading [of Scripture], exhortation, and to teaching.

D1 Publicly and privately.

E1 We need spiritual food (Scripture), encouragement and motivation (exhortation), and to teach others.

E2 We need to read, think about what we read (the Bible term of meditate, that is, thinking through and deeply), teach what we read, and live what we read.

F1 Joshua 1:8 GW Never stop reciting these teachings. You must think about them night and day so that you will faithfully do everything written in them. Only then will you prosper and succeed.

F2 Psalms 1:2 ESV but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

F3 See also Psalm 19, Psalm 119, and Proverbs 1:1-7.

D2 We are to encourage and motivate others to do the same.

D3 We teach by speaking, doing, correcting, etc.

C6 We receive gifts from the Holy Spirit.

D1 All believers have a gift.

E1 The gift is given so we can serve God faithfully and be successful at it.

E2 The gift is given so we can be joyful and content in exercising that gift.

D2 We must develop this gift by the exercises from verse 13.

D3 God has delegated this to us.

D4 Let us be faithful.

D5 It is possible to neglect our gift. God knows.

C7 Questions

D1 Just based on this Scripture, what are some ways to attain spiritual maturity?

D2 What is the importance of being an example (pleasing to God) in everything we do?

D3 We all have a gift to serve God. Serve God when you see a need and can fulfill it. Why do some not serve God, use the gift God has given, and meet a need if we are able?

1 & 2 Corinthians Teaching Outline Part A

B1 Basic Issue is Church Problems

B2 Basic outline

C1 1-4 Divisions in the church

C2 5-6 Moral Issues

C3 7-8 Questions About Marriage and Offerings Made to Idols

C4 9-10 It is right for a Christian worker to receive financial help

C5 11 Women and the Lord’s Supper

C6 12-14 Spiritual Gifts

C7 15-16 Resurrection and Final Teachings

B3 1-4 Divisions in the church

C1 We are not to follow certain teachers. There are many big name teachers with incredibly large followings.

D1 2 Peter 2:1 LEB But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction.

D2 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 BSB And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

C2 We need to beware.

D1 Acts 17:11 NRSV These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.

D2 1 John 4:1 GNB My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere.

D3 Revelation 2:2 NRSV I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false.

C3 We are followers of Jesus Christ.

C4 Big name teachers can be wrong. We are human. If we blindly follow them in their erroneous teaching, we will be held accountable, just as they will be held accountable by God for false teaching.

C5 We are responsible to read and study the Bible. If you don’t know how, consider this source as a start.

C6 All brothers and sisters in Christ (believers) have the same Holy Spirit.

C7 Teachers are important, but we must test them. They are resources, not infallible.

B4 5-6 Moral Issues

C1 A man married his step-mother. (1 Corinthians was written ~55 CE).

C2 The Jerusalem Council (~49 CE) decided before: Acts 15:19-20 EMTV Therefore I judge that we must not cause trouble for those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles; 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

C3 The church must deal with this sin by excommunicating these 2 people. It is not a time to rejoice but to be sorrowful. God still has rules for His people. Paul’s decision is consistent with Old Testament teaching: Leviticus 18:8 GW Never have sexual intercourse with your stepmother. She is related to you through your father.

C4 A little sin leads to big sin. One time occurrence of sin leads to many occurrences.

B5 7-8 Questions About Marriage and Offerings Made to Idols

C1 Due to the persecution of the day, Paul recommends not to marry. Nevertheless, marriage is honorable and blessed by God. If you want to marry, marry.

C2 Sex is good and blessed in marriage (God’s plan). Both must enjoy pleasure.

C3 Husbands must submit to their wives just as wives to husbands: I Corinthians 7:4 GW A wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but his wife does.

C4 Divorce is not God’s plan, but He understands the sinful nature of humans, so there are allowances. Conditions for Divorce

C5 Circumcision is not a condition needed for salvation, to live a godly Christian life, or to be considered by God to be a mature, superior Christian.

C6 Personally, I understand this passage to teach that if we are aware that food or other things have been dedicated and undergone rituals of a false religion, then we are not to use them. Not using them to provide a testimony and a protection to those who would consider using them sin. If we are not aware of any dedication or rituals, then we don’t ask questions.

D1 I Corinthians 8:6-9 GW But for us, "There is only one God, the Father. Everything came from him, and we live for him. There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. Everything came into being through him, and we live because of him." But not everyone knows this. Some people are so used to worshiping false gods that they believe they are eating food offered to a false god. So they feel guilty because their conscience is weak. Food will not affect our relationship with God. We are no worse off if we eat that food and no better off if we don't. But be careful that by using your freedom you don't somehow make a believer who is weak in faith fall into sin.

D2 I Corinthians 8:12-13 GW When you sin against other believers in this way and harm their weak consciences, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if eating food offered to false gods causes other believers to lose their faith, I will never eat that kind of food so that I won't make other believers lose their faith.

B6 9-10 It is right for a Christian worker to receive financial help

C1 It is right for a Christian worker to receive financial help

C2 Paul give the reason we do not eat food dedicated and/or blessed by ritual of a false god. I Corinthians 10:18-21 GW Look at the people of Israel from a human point of view. Don't those who eat the sacrifices share what is on the altar? Do I mean that an offering made to a false god is anything, or that a false god itself is anything? Hardly! What I am saying is that these sacrifices which people make are made to demons and not to God. I don't want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the Lord's cup and the cup of demons. You cannot participate at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons.

B7 11 Women and the Lord’s Supper

C1 The first part of the chapter deals with proper attitudes in prayer.

C2 The second part concerning the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper

D1 Is worship of God.

D2 Is a corporate gathering of fellowship with God.

D3 Is a time to leave personal opinions and focus on worshiping together.

D4 Is a time to remember the great blessing of salvation made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

B8 12-14 Spiritual Gifts

C1 God gives spiritual gifts for service to Him. This is towards the brothers and sisters, then as a witness to those who do not believe.

C2 People may have the same gift, but in different quantity and area of service.

C3 God’s gifts are different than natural gifts.

C4 Love is a choice. Love is seen in its actions in public AND in private.

C5 The proper use of gifts in the church service.

B8 15-16 Resurrection and Final Teachings

C1 The importance of remaining steadfast and faithful in belief and life.

C2 A theological summary of salvation. I Corinthians 15:3-4 MKJV For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

C3 Truths about the resurrection

D1 It will happen, because it was promised and Jesus was resurrected.

D2 All people are resurrected. Some to eternal life (because of their faith in Jesus), and some to eternal death (because they refused to believe). Daniel 12:2 NIV Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

D3 Is proof that death will one day be destroyed, because Yeshua, the Messiah, is victor over all.

D4 The resurrected body of believers is different than our present body.

D5 Show us the importance of being faithful and steadfast always even to death. I Corinthians 15:58 MKJV So that, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not without fruit in the Lord.

C4 Freely given offerings are God’s plan to meet the needs of believers and congregational needs. The tithe is for Israel. The OT tithe is more or less a tax for Israelites. A couple of thoughts about giving and tithe here. (Note, I am no fan of Mr. MacArthur (his doctorate is honorary, not earned) but his comments are appropriate).

C5 Final notes and greetings

Believers Serving One Another

Ephesians 4:11-16 Mace It is he then that made some, apostles: some, prophets: some, evangelists: and others, pastors, and teachers: 12 thus fitly qualifying his servants for their respective offices, in order to build up the body of Christ: 13 till being united in a perfect belief, and acknowledgment of the son of God, we grow up to that full state of maturity required by Christ: 14 that we should be no longer children, fluctuating, and carried about with every empty doctrine, by men vers'd in sleight and the crafty arts of deceit: 15 but being sincere in mutual love, may be entirely united to Christ, who is the head: 16 from which the whole body fitly framed, and compacted by the entire adherence and contribution of every part performing its respective function, increases and improves itself by the mutual concern of the parts.

We learn

B1 There is no teaching on 2 classes of church workers—priests and laity

C1 We are brothers and sisters.

D1 Matthew 23:8 CSB But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.

D2 Galatians 6:10 Williams So then whenever we have an opportunity, let us practice doing good to everybody, but especially to the members of the family of faith.

C2 Each brother and each sister has a gift given by God for a purpose. There might be different measures and different affects but each has a gift from God.

D1 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NIV There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

D2 1 Corinthians 12:12 NIV Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

D3 Romans 12:4-5 NIV For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

D4 1 Corinthians 12:13-14 NIV For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body--whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

C3 The one standing before the congregation is only a human who is exercising the gift God gave.

C4 There are fakes who are only naturally gifted with intellect, theology, philosophy, etc.

C5 God’s gift to us has spiritual fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 NLT But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

C6 We need to use that gift. 1 Peter 4:10 NLT God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

C7 We need to be faithful to use it. 1 Peter 4:10 NIV Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

B2 Our motive for using gifts is to edify the brothers and sisters and to glorify God.

B3 Using our gifts properly will help all of us stay faithful to the end instead of vacillating from one belief to another.

Gifted to Serve

Theme: Spiritual Gifts

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)

Know: Paul instructed the Corinthians that the Spirit gives each believer spiritual gifts to be used for God’s glory and the building of His kingdom.

Think: I have the great privilege of using the spiritual gifts God has given me to help build His kingdom.

Do: Use my spiritual gifts to serve the Lord and His church.

Notes and questions:

B1 Introductory questions

C1 What is the difference between a natural talent (gift) and a spiritual one?

C2 If someone has a natural talent, can that be used by God as a spiritual gift?

C3 Have you thought about what spiritual gift God has given you?

B2 1 Corinthians 12:1-11,

C1 What are spiritual things? The word gifts is added by the translators. Since the topic is gifts (verse 4), it is reasonable to consider gifts is the noun for the adjective.

C2 The gift is not what is important. What is important is the giver, the servant, the servant’s faith, and the servant’s fruit.

D1 The giver is the Holy Spirit.

D2 The servant is the church, that is, believers. We serve God. The gift is to serve the church (believers). Our gift is not for our benefit, for it is for the church.

D3 Faith is very important to God. We must believe. We must use the gift. God expects us to be good stewards.

D4 The fruit is the using, and whatever results come from it.

C3 The gifts themselves are broad categories. Under teaching, for example, this could happen in many different settings, countries, and topics.

C4 Are the gifts something we deserve, something we earn, or God’s grace?

C5 1 Corinthians 12:2-3 shows a contrast between false gods (idols) and the Spirit of God. They have left those false things and now they are new. Before conversion, they may have been in a trance and said and done things under the influence of a demon. Now, they are new. They are no longer in passivity but actively serving God.

C5 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 is best understood by various translations. Consider:

D1 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 GW  There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.  5  There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served.  6  There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.

D2 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 GNB  There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.  5  There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.  6  There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.

D3 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NLT There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

D4 Who is the giver? Whom do we serve? Who is the one who produces the results?

C6 1 Corinthians 12:7,

D1 For whom do we use these gifts?

D2 Who has these gifts?

D3 So, do you have a gift?

C7 1 Corinthians 12:8-10,

D1 Wisdom

E1 Acts 6:10 NKJV And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

E2 Acts 7:10 NKJV And delivered him (Joseph) out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

E3 Discuss wisdom

D2 Knowledge

E1 Ephesians 3:3-4 NKJV  How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,  4  by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ).

E2 1 Corinthians 13:8 NKJV  Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

E3 Discuss knowledge

D3 Faith

E1 Hebrews 11:11 NKJV  By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

E2 Hebrews 11:29 NKJV  By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

E3 Discuss faith

D4 Gifts of healing

E1 Acts 19:11-12 NKJV  Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,  12  so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

E2 Matthew 10:1 NKJV  And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

E3 Discuss gifts of healing

D5 Working of miracles

E1 Galatians 3:5 NKJV  Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

E2 Hebrews 2:4 NKJV  God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

E3 Discuss working of miracles

D6 Prophecy

E1 Acts 11:28 NKJV  Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.

E2 Acts 21:10-11 NKJV  And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  11  When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

E3 Ephesians 3:3-5 NKJV  How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,  4  by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),  5  which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets.

E4 1 Corinthians 12:29 NKJV  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

E5 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 GW  Now suppose you speak what God has revealed. When unbelievers or outsiders come in you will show them where they are wrong and convince them that they are sinners.  25  The secrets in their hearts will become known, and in this way they will quickly bow with their faces touching the ground, worship God, and confess that God is truly among you.

E6 Discuss prophecy

D7 Discerning of spirits

E1 1 John 4:1 NKJV  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

E2 1 Timothy 4:1 NKJV  Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

E3 Discuss discerning of spirits

D8 Languages (tongues)

E1 Acts 2:4-6 GNB  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.  5  There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world.  6  When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages.

E2 1 Corinthians 14:22-23 GW  So the gift of speaking in other languages is a sign for unbelievers, not for believers. The gift of speaking what God had revealed is a sign for believers, not for unbelievers.  23  Suppose the whole congregation gathers in the same place and you speak in other languages. When outsiders or unbelievers come in, won't they say that you're out of your mind?

E3 Discuss (unknown) languages

C8 1 Corinthians 12:11 GNB  But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.

B3 1 Corinthians 12:12-31,

C1 1 Corinthians 12:12-13: Does God give these gifts based on a person’s status in society?

C2 1 Corinthians 12:14-27,

D1 Which is more important—the heart or the eye?

D2 Which is more important—the nose or the kidneys?

D3 Are all our body parts important?

D4 Are any not needed?

D5 If I smash my finger with a hammer, is that less pain than a migraine?

D6 Do all have importance?

D7 Do all Christians have importance?

D8 Someone with the gift of teaching may be world renown, while another may be known only to a few. Which one is more important to God?

D9 All of us have a gift from the Holy Spirit to serve the church (believers). Each of us is needed.

D10 You are important to the church.

C3 1 Corinthians 12:28-31,

D1 1 Corinthians 12:28-31 GNB  In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.  29  They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles  30  or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said.  31  Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts. Best of all, however, is the following way.

D2 Who has more authority in the church?

D3 Who is more important to God?

B4 What happens to the church, if you do not use your gift?

B5 How can we glorify God this week?

B6 Next week:

C1 Love: The Greatest of All

C2 Theme: The excellence of love

C3 Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13