Sermon26-11 1Cor12-14 Guide

1 Cor 12-14 theme verse 1 Cor 13:13

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this sixth Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at that the Kingdom of God is the kingdom of love that is expressed in the sacrifice and service for one another so that when we live and act in God’s will, we can be happy. Yet, this week, through 1 Corinthians chapter 12 through 14, as this principle of love is the same for our ministry, we would like to look at how this love take a role in our ministry together.

1)    First to summarize today’s text of the first Corinthians 12-14,

Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus and sent through Timothy to resolve the problem of the gifts of the Holy Spirit especially in chapters 12 - 14,

after he heard there arose lots of problems in the Corinthian church, such as the problem that the Corinthians associated with immoral or wicked people, or idolaters, the division between followers of Paul, of Apollos, of Peter, and even of Christ, including various issues regarding marriage (7:1-40), eating meat offered to idols (8:1-11:1), women's attire during worship (11:2-16), conflicts during the Lord's Supper (11:17-34), spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40), the resurrection (15:1-58), etc.

2)    I mean, to the Corinthian believers who, based on the dualistic Greek philosophy that the spirit is good and the flesh is evil, believed that speaking in tongues was proof that their spirit had already achieved the salvation so that they were either living dissolute lives or practicing asceticism and looked down on those who did not receive the gift of speaking in tongues,

Paul said that the reason why God distributes the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the ministries of the Lord to each people, is:

to equip His people,

to make them serve,

and to build up the church, the body of Christ, for the glory of God.

Yet, just as the body is one but has many members, the Holy Spirit distributes various gifts to each person so that as our body has hands and feet, eyes, ears, and a nose, etc., and there are strong members and also weak members, members that are highly valued and also those that are not, and members that are beautiful, yet those that are not, and members that are glorious, yet those that are not, similarly, the various gifts have different roles, abilities, and glory.

However, he said that God distributes these gifts so that there is no lack among them, and the entire church functions in harmony.

3)    But even though God added value to those seemingly less important members, ensuring there would be no division within the body and that all the members would care for one another, the members of the Corinthian church were fighting among themselves, arguing about which spiritual gift was superior and looking down on those with different gifts.

And especially in chapter 14, Paul gave an example with the gifts of speaking in tongues, gifts of interpretation, and prophecy.

I mean, in a culture influenced by the dualism of 1st-century Greek philosophy, where people sought spiritual salvation by shedding their imperfect physical bodies through wisdom, and where speaking wisely in public was very well recognized,

to those who spoke in tongues, understanding it as speaking God's spiritual secrets, considered themselves to have achieved complete spiritual salvation and looked down on those who could not speak in tongues, in response, Paul says that the gifts given by God are meant for serving one another.

So that the "greater gifts" do not mean higher spiritual status with one's own honor, but rather the gifts that serve the benefit of others and build up the community more.

And he continued to say that even if speaking in tongues involves speaking God's spiritual secrets, yet if neither the speaker nor others understand it, or even if it is our spirit praying, our minds will neither bear fruit, nor it will benefit the church So that Paul exhorted them to desire the gifts of interpreting tongues or prophecy, which can build up the church.

And even Paul instructed that if someone speaks in tongues, it should be done by two or at most three people, in turn, with one person interpreting and If there is no interpreter, they should remain silent in the church and speak only to themselves and to God. And also he instructed that those who prophesy should speak two or three at a time, with others discerning, and that they should speak in turn.

4)    And then he continued to say, "I will show you the most excellent way."

Here, the Greek word translated as "the most excellent way" is in the singular form, indicating that it does not refer to the plural "greater gifts" in the first part of verse 31.

Furthermore, interpreting "love" as the greatest gift is not a good interpretation, because if love were only a gift, it would imply that those who haven't received the gift of love don't need to love.

However, love is something that all Christians have to do, regardless of whether they have received that specific gift, so we can know that this interpretation is incorrect.

Therefore, it is clear that the "most excellent way" is love, not as a gift, which is the subject of chapter 13.

This is further confirmed in chapter 14, verse 1, saying, ”Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy."

The reasons why Paul calls "love" the most excellent way are explained in 13:1-3, I mean,

first, love makes our gifts meaningful.

Second, love is our identity.

And third, only ministry done with love brings us true benefit.

5)    And also according to verses 13:4-7, for love can control spiritual gifts, I mean, the power.

What this means is that: Love enables us to be patient and long-suffering, and to be gentle instead of violent.

Furthermore, love prevents us from being envious, boastful, proud, or rude, and it helps us to abandon selfishness and seek the benefit of the one we love.

And it allows us to be patient and not easily angered, and to reject evil and injustice, and to rejoice in what is good and true.

And also because of love, we can accept all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.

6)    Therefore, when we minister in love,

we can pursue and serve for the common good, and care for one another.

That's why Paul said in Colossians 3:14, "Above all these things put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

7)    And also that’s why 2 Timothy 1:17 said that "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Here, the word translated as "spirit" ("pneuma") can be translated as either "mind" or "Holy Spirit." So, if it is translated as "mind," it means that God, through the Holy Spirit, has given us a mind of "power," "love," and "self-control." Yet, if it is translated as ”the Holy Spirit," it can mean that God gives us the ”power" through the gifts of the Holy Spirit along with the fruits of the Spirit, namely "love" and "self-control."

Anyhow I think both interpretations convey a similar meaning and this triad shows that the power exercised by church leaders must be constrained by love (cf. Eph 4:15) and self-control.

8)    In this way, love is not only something we should pursue in all our relationships, but also the foundation and purpose of all our ministries, as it acts as a lubricant and binding agent that unites diverse gifts, offices, and ministries. Therefore, I pray that in this new year, we may all love one another and minister in love, so that we may all fulfill God's will, advancing God's kingdom on this earth for the glory to God.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that God distributed us the gifts of the Holy Spirit, yet we have to control them in love and self-control. So, after reflecting our life and ministry and whether our gifts are controlled by love and self-control, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, we became to know that love should be pursued in all our relationships but also love is the foundation and end of our ministries as it serves to unite all our gifts, offices and ministries as lubricants and bonding agent. So after reflecting whether we live in that love and also minister in love, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.