“For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” It sounds
as though there is only part of a gift available. Many
people have sought to argue that prophecy was never like
that in the Old Testament. The prophet said, “Thus says
the Lord,” and it was thus. The false prophet was put to
death. Well, it may sound remarkably naïve to make the
comment, but we are no longer in the Old Testament. We
are in the New Covenant of the slain Lamb of God and
people of the resurrection life, into which rebel sinners,
unchurched, unskilled, and even uncouth are born again as
“new born babes,” a phrase which Paul chooses to use in 1
Corinthians 3 concerning the Christian church who were
undeniably gifted and yet getting it wrong. He says in 1
Corinthians 14 verse 31, “You can all prophesy, in turn, so
that everyone might be instructed.” No stoning, just
correction in the way in which prophesy should be
administered.
Of course Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee and scholar, would
know better than any of us today that this could never have
happened under the oversight of the Sanhedrin. Obviously
Paul, the Christian apostle to the gentiles who were once
far off but were, in the New Covenant, brought near by the
blood of the cross, was expecting something different.
Jesus had already pioneered this with uneducated
fishermen, a thief for a treasurer and a whole strange bunch
of people who, quite frankly, might be politely asked to
leave most of our Sunday services. On one occasion in
Matthew’s gospel, chapter 7 verse 36, Jesus attended the
house of Simon the Pharisee and was reclined, eating his
meal when a sinful woman burst in. She didn’t seek
permission, was obviously a known hooker, and wailed and
wept so much that her tears fell down onto Jesus feet.
There she washed his feet, drying them with her hair. How
embarrassing! Then she broke open a bottle of perfume –
maybe not the expensive nard which the sister of Martha
used, but perhaps the cheap scent she used to freshen up
after work. Simon was incensed. Jesus, however, loved
her. We don’t know who this woman was, but I think it
may have been Mary Magdalene, who when she went to
the empty tomb, realised that the one stood before her was
Jesus as he spoke her name. In Revelation chapter 1 verse
5, John speaks of the one who has loved us and washed us
from our sins in His own blood and made us to be kings
and priests to serve His God and Father. To Him be glory
and power for ever and ever, amen.
God has obviously put extraordinary things into the grasp
of ordinary people. With the new birth, comes entry into
the kingdom of the Son of God, but we arrive as babies not
adults. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father
of lights, in whom there is no shadow of turning, according
to James chapter 1 verse 17. The gift is not in part, but is
perfect ( teleios), for the recipient who is not, in order that
the Father of light, (phos), illumination or manifestation,
might manifest himself amongst His people and bring them
in love from their imperfection to His perfection, although
there are different manifestations from the Father in every
believer.
Paul, knowing how we are joined in Jesus to become the
body of which Jesus spoke and for whom He prayed,
continues to use the metaphorical body to illustrate what he
is saying. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 12 and following,
describes how the body, though one, is made of several
parts. Each part is given equality in importance, because,
whatever its function, it is equally a part of the same body.
“The body is a unit and though it is made up of
many parts, they form one body. So it is with
Christ.”
One body, many parts, baptised by one Spirit into
membership of His body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves
or free, all given of the one Spirit to drink. To make a body
you need different parts. We may consider some parts
more vital to us than another. God begins with equal
importance and Paul expounds this. In order that the body
is seen to be equal he begins to say that less honourable
parts should be given more honour so that there is no
recognisable difference in importance in the different parts
of the body. Of course there are different personalities and
ministries but none is more important than another.
Because God has no favourites, he will treat with favour
those who lack it, in order that no one is favoured overall.
He wants us to be one in Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 12 verse 25, Paul says that there should be
no division, but that each part should have equal concern
for each other. Some have said that gifts are divisive. It
seems that Paul is saying that gifts don’t divide, but that
division is in the heart of man, and this is the very thing
which God needs to deal with if the church is going to
grow, so he asks that we love and regard every one as
equal, bound together by love. The difficulty which we
have in achieving unity and growth within the body of
believers doesn’t arise from the manifestation of different
gifts but from our lack of love towards one another.
God gives gifts which are good and perfect to be operated
in the powerful, brooding love of the Holy Spirit, who, at
the beginning of creation, hovered above the chaos of the
unformed earth until the Word, who was in the beginning,
spoke light (manifestation) into being and by His Word
formed all things. In the Word all things are made, and in
that revelation of the Holy Spirit, (the good and perfect
gifts, from the Father of lights), chaos is brought to nought
and the order of God’s new creation is brought about. We
need this love work of the Holy Spirit to bring order into
the chaos of our churches and relationships so that we can
operate effectively in God’s gifts, not allowing division to
limit our growth and destroy the effectiveness of our
witness to the unbeliever.
In 1 Corinthians 12 verse 27, Paul tells us that, “We are the
body of Christ and members of it in part.” This could seem
to imply that our membership of the body is partial or
incomplete, but the literal translation says “members in
particular”, which gives a different accent to what he is
saying. In the Greek we read two phrases, (en melos), and
(ek merous). These phrases are both on occasions
translated “in part”, but they have different meanings.
Imagine a fruit cake. If someone gives you a slice, you
have a part of it that is a representation of the whole thing,
containing a portion of all the ingredients that make up the
complete cake. By the same token, each separate
ingredient is also a part of the cake, even though each one
is completely different from the other. With one ingredient
missing, the whole cake would not be complete. Now,
when Paul speaks about the body, he is saying that we are
each a portion of the whole body, representative of
everything which God has recreated us to be in Christ like a
slice of the cake. He is also saying that we are a limb or an
organ – a particular part of the body, like an ingredient in
the cake. It is too easy to apply only the second
interpretation here (that of being a limb or an organ with
only one purpose), and miss the other implication that we
are also a representative section, or slice of the body.
Paul goes on to speak of the parts in this way: “God has
appointed some to be apostles, some prophets, some
teachers, some workers of miracles and those having gifts
of ….” etc. The parts are people, not gifts. They are gifted
people, but the ‘in part’ refers to the people who operate in
the gift, not the gift itself, because in God and in his gift
there is no division, and no variation or shadow of turning,
and as we have seen, the phrase ‘in part’ when applied to
the people, need not necessarily mean division or
separation or a partial membership of the body. So, in fact,
neither the people nor the gift is divided or incomplete.
It is slightly strange that both Greek phrases are translated
“in part” since in Greek the word “ek” (of “ek merous”) is
much more reasonably translated alone as “from”, or “out
of” rather than “in”. So that from one part we have
prophecy, from another part we have tongues. If there is no
division of the gift, then it is perfectly reasonable to say
that “from parts”, not “in part”, we have a manifestation of
a gift, so that our current experiences of the gifts are not
actually partial, but instead, coming from part of the whole
gift. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 16, we discover that,
“From the Head, the whole body joined and held
together, by every supporting ligament, grows and
builds itself up in love as each part, (merous), does
its work.”
Towards what? “Until we have unity of faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, becoming the mature, full
stature of perfection in Jesus.”
In 1 Corinthians 13 verse 9, it says that, “We know in part
and we prophesy in part,” (ek merous – from part). Of
course we prophesy from the place of our imperfection, but
we also prophesy from that part of the body which is gifted.
Later Paul deals with this, in chapter 14 verse 29, where it
appears that the totality of the gift is distributed, (in chapter
12, “severally as He wills”). He clearly expected that there
would be a number of prophets. After all, he started in
Antioch where there were several prophets – this is new
covenant life, not the fading glory of the old. He exhorts
that, “Two or three prophets should speak.” Where do you
find two or three prophets in a Jewish congregation before
the time of Jesus? He then says, “The others should weigh
carefully what is said.” The others? How many prophets
might there be in one fellowship? Back at the time of
Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2 verse 17, Peter said, “This was
prophesied by the prophet Joel.” We can uphold the Old
Testament as our test for the New, knowing that one of
those testable Old Testament prophets has spoken this:
“In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all
flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions and your old men
dream dreams. Even upon my servants will I pour
out my Spirit and they will prophesy.”
Does he really mean all his servants? That’s what the
tested Old Testament prophet says. Does he intend that in
the Church all can prophesy, bringing their part to the
congregation of the reborn ones so that they might all grow
and be built towards that perfection which is in Christ
Jesus? That’s what he says.
Paul also says that “We know in part.” It’s true that if we
could somehow network our minds, we would probably
know more together than we do apart. The Lord though,
does not want a better sum of our human understanding,
but the transformed, renewed, submitted mind of Christ.
Remember Ephesians 3 – we can, in the love of God, have
a knowledge which is beyond knowledge (epignosis). We
can see that we are of part – we clearly have not yet
achieved the mind of Christ – but there seems to be a
solution here in the love-bound ministry of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. Maybe this is the more excellent way of which
Paul speaks, not limited or partial, but beyond measure,
beyond limit.
Jesus said, in John chapter 14 verse 12, “I tell you the
truth.” When Jesus says that, Christians need not debate
what he says.
“Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have
been doing. He will do even greater things because
I go to my Father.”
Yes, that’s what he said. Some Christians, mostly those
who do not believe that gifts are for today, but also some
who perhaps seek to apologise for the weakness of the
Churches’ representation, have said that this refers to
“more things” (as in a greater number), because there are
more Christians. Jesus actually said “anyone”, and “he
will do . . . greater things.” Jesus was expecting a Church
of power because He was going to the Father. He speaks of
pouring out the Holy Spirit and prays that we will become
one, but is He only speaking of this?
Again Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, in chapter one, speaks
the incredible. Yet if we can grasp it by faith it is
amazing. I paraphrase so that you can see what I believe
Paul is saying. Verse 17 – I keep asking the Father of
lights, of all Spiritual revelation, to give you the wisdom
which sees the purpose of God from its beginning to its end
so that your knowledge of Him may not be limited but
expanded in the mind of Christ. I pray that the Father of
lights, of revelation, of manifestation, might Illuminate
your Spiritual sight, opening your eyes to see with all of
that wisdom and knowledge, the eternal abiding hope
which I have invested in your life and how rich and
glorious an investment that is becoming in you and all
those who believe. There has never previously been
anything like this in the whole history of mankind, because
previously, the Father had never exerted such power, such
love, such compassion, as that which He exerted when He
raised His beloved Son, slain for the wickedness of men,
from the deepest depth of hell to the highest height and
Glory of heaven. There he now reigns eternally over every
power, still working in you that same power, and He has
become head of the fragmented disjointed body, that in
Him we might become the bride, the glory of the Almighty
God. Therefore, since He is appointed Head over
everything concerning the Church, His body will be filled
with everything of Him in every way possible.
“Greater things” means more things, yes, but something
new is at work, never available whilst Jesus walked the
earth because it had not been seen. We can call it
“Resurrection Power”.
In James chapter 3 verse 13, the wisdom for which Paul
earnestly prays on behalf of the Corinthians, comes with
humility, in doing good deeds. This spiritual quality is
active not passive. Wisdom produces practical humility.
Paul then goes on to say that,
“selfish ambition, envy, disorderly conduct is of
the devil, but” (verse 17) “the wisdom which
comes from heaven is first of all pure then peace
loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and
good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peace makers
who sow in peace will raise a harvest of
righteousness.”
This is the growth that God wants: a mature, righteous
harvest; a bride without the spot of youth or the wrinkle of
old age, but mature, vibrant and radiant in His love. James
says that this wisdom is impartial, without partiality or
uncertainty or ambiguity. This was the very gift which
Paul knew the Corinthians needed to be manifest in their
partial body, in order for the love of God to be released – a
gift which would not be self seeking, which would take
down the walls of division by its pure, gentle, humble
impartiality, and which would not be self seeking or rude.
This was the dynamic which was needed by those whom
God was maturing in love. Walls could go. Two could
become one in love. That which was “in part”, could
become whole. The most excellent way.