The Strand Study Bible

I CORINTHIANS “MINI” SERIES The Doctrine Of Spiritual Gifts

19,22,23,26,27, 39 & Acts 10:46 & 19:6) 3. Heterglossos - used only one time in the New Testament (I Cor 14:21)

According to Isaiah 28:11, heterglossos deals with the many different old, known, established, earthly foreign languages that were assembled together back in 721 B.C. when the Assyrians came out of Assyria and attacked Israel. NOTE – Hebraisti is the Greek word for the English word “ Hebrew .” This word is used six times in the New Testament. Hebraisti is translated “ Hebrew ” three times (Jn 19:13,17, 20) and “ Hebrew tongue ” three times (Jn 5:2 & Rev 9:11 & 16:16). In all six cases, its meaning is clearly understood to be an old, known, established, earthly language (Hebrew)! Again, the key to understanding “tongues” is the use of the Greek words “ new ” and “ tongues .” According to I Corinthians 14:22 & Mark 16:15-20, the sign gift “tongues” was for unbelievers, not believers. “Tongues” was used for the sole purpose of confirming the Gospel to unbelieving Jews (I Cor 1:22 & Acts 2:22). According to Rom 12:6-8 & I Cor 12:8-10, the speaking gifts can be broken down into six different categories: 1. Prophecy - The ability to proclaim God’s truths without apology (Rom 12:6 & I Cor12:10). 2. Teaching - The ability to instruct, clarify, communicate, and validate God’s truths in such a way that others can understand it (Rom 12:7). 3. Exhortation - The ability to encourage, stimulate, and motivate the people of God to live God’s truths (Rom 12:8). 4. Wisdom - The ability to apply God’s truths to men’s lives (I Cor 12:8 & Dan 1:17 & I Ki 3:9-11). 5. Knowledge - The ability to grasp God’s truths and thus make the message understandable (I Cor 12:8 & Dan 1:17). 6. Tongues - The ability to learn a foreign language easily so as to proclaim God’s truths to others (I Cor 12:10, 28-30 & 14:1-28). NOTE – A speaking gift is just that - it is for speaking and communicating God’s truths to men! For example, concerning the speaking gift of prophecy : * Prophets often need to express their thoughts (Mt 19:27 - Peter). * Prophets need to publicly speak out against wrong and take strong stands. (Acts 4:18-20 - Peter) * Prophets tend to make quick judgments and are impulsive in action (Mt 16:21-23 - Peter) * Prophets often sense when things are not what they appear, and react harshly to dishonesty (Acts 5:1-10 - Peter) * Prophets often confront their own friends in a painful manner (Mt 26:33 - Peter) * Prophets are willing to suffer for what is right (Acts 5:28-33 - Peter). * Prophets can be very persuasive in defining right and wrong (Gal 2:11-13 - Peter) * Prophets are often open about the personal faults and failures of others (Mt 18:21 - Peter) * Prophets give open loyalty and total commitment to what they are doing (Mt 26:47-52 - Peter). Each one of these characteristics concerning the gift of prophecy are good. Nevertheless, Christians with this gift can bemisunderstood if the following three attributes are not present when administering this gift. They are: 1. Love and compassion (Jude 20-23 & I Cor 13:1-3) 2. Tact (Lk 9:51-56 & I Cor 13:4) 3. Without hypocrisy (Jn 15:1-2 & I Cor 13:5-7 & Mt 7:1-5) The key to a prophet using his/her gift of prophecy properly is learning to witness for Christ. According to Jude 20-23 & Luke 9:51-56 & John 15:1,2, a Christian who learns to be a good witness for his Savior will learn to have love and compassion, tact, and a life that cannot be criticized . A Christian with the gift of prophecy who fails to be a witness for Christ will cause misunderstandings to occur within the body of Christ concerning his gift. For example: * Prophets who fail to be a witness for Christ can appear to have a pride about themselves. * Prophets who fail to be a witness for Christ can appear to be harsh when in fact they are just being frank. * Prophets who fail to be a witness for Christ can appear to love groups more than individuals. * Prophets who fail to be a witness for Christ can appear to be more interested in the external (or, outside of a person) than the internal. * Prophets who fail to be a witness for Christ can appear to be more interested in speaking than listening.

Lesson #7. The six speaking gifts (Rom 12:6-8 & I Cor 12:8-10)

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