As
Paul the apostle continued to share with the church members in
Corinth about the “vocal spiritual
gifts”, he
declared, “if
I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaks
a barbarian, and he that speaks shall
be a barbarian unto me”,
and in chapter fourteen and verse twelve
of First Corinthians, Paul shared how the church members “are
zealous of spiritual gifts”, where
we read:
Even
so you, forasmuch as you are zealous of spiritual gifts,
seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church.
The
verse begins, “Even
so you, forasmuch as you are zealous of spiritual gifts,
...”. Paul
began with the words, “even so you”
or “also,
indeed and in this manner”, “forasmuch
as” or
“when, since, seeing that and because” “you
are zealous”
which refers to “the church members burning with zeal, eagerly
desirous of and vehemently contending” “of
spiritual gifts”
or “that which belongs to the Divine Spirit of God”. Paul noted
the “zeal” of the Corinthian church members for “spirituals”.
The
verse continues, “... seek
that you may excel to the edifying of the church.”
Paul
continued with the word, “seek”
which means
“looking for, aiming at, requiring, craving and demanding” “that
you may excel”
or “that the church members exist or be at hand in abundance and
abounding in a thing” “to the
edifying”
which means “the act of building up and promoting another's growth
in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness and holiness” “of
the church”
or “toward the assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a
religious meeting”. Paul's exhortation was to employ the “spiritual
gifts” so
as to “build up” people within the church.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we see how he acknowledged the
church members' “passion” for the “spiritual” things,
and he desired that they use them to “build one” another up.
Jesus Christ wants His church to flourish and grow in faith and
unity, and He provided “spiritual gifts” to accomplish it.
As we continue to discover more about these “vocal spiritual
gifts”, let us allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth
concerning them and “edify” all believers within the
church.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “let
him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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