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1 & 2 Corinthians

Leave a Comment / Published Academic Articles / Christopher Peppler

I wrote this as a chapter in the book ‘A Student’s Guide to New Testament’ published by SATS Press in 2019.

While 1 and 2 Corinthians are presented as two separate letters in the New Testament it is convenient to deal with them together in an overview of this nature; the two letters were written to the same local church within a fairly short period of time, and in addition to this it is possible that they are both compilations of several letters.

Almost all scholars agree that Paul is the author of these letters. Both the external and internal evidence is overwhelmingly strong (Morris, 2000). There is, however, some debate concerning when they were written, with estimations as early as AD 53 and as late as AD 57. The general opinion is that 1 Corinthians was written from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8) in AD 54, and 2 Corinthians a year later, probably from Philippi (Belleville, 1996). Paul therefore appears to have pastored the Corinthian church for between 18 months and three and a half years.

Some commentators argue for a unifying theme holding 1 Corinthians together which several suggest is an extended appeal for unity. Others believe the theme to be the idea that Paul is countering the infiltration of secular values (Johnson, 2004). However, Thiselton contends that there is a lot more to these letters than correction of problems arising from factions, discord and worldliness (Thiselton, 2000).

These letters open a window into the life of a first century local church. The Corinthian church had its problems and challenges, as do churches in our day, but it was full of spiritual vitality. Paul had to counsel moderation in the application of spiritual manifestations whereas if he had been writing to many of today’s churches he might have had to admonish them for quenching the Spirit.

The letters also provide fascinating insights into Paul’s temperament and personal challenges. In some places his own feelings of hurt, anger and frustration come through so clearly (2 Cor 10-11) that they beg a productive debate on just how God chose to inspire the writing of the scriptures. More than this though, the letters speak right to the heart of current church life. The problems and possibilities are cloaked in the culture of that time, yet the underlying issues and principles remain pressingly important today.

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Just what are the 9 Spiritual Gifts?

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

Most Christians know that 1 Corinthians chapter 12 contains a list of Holy Spirit manifestations, but just what are the 9 spiritual gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Here is the passage in question: ‘Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines’.

However, we don’t find definitions of these manifestations anywhere in the Bible. So what exactly are they? Let’s take just the first two as examples – the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge.

Definitions of the Gifts

When I was a new believer, my pastor taught that the gift of knowledge consisted of supernaturally given knowledge that the recipient would not normally have – information imparted directly by the Holy Spirit. He then linked the gift of Wisdom to Knowledge and defined it as a realisation, imparted by the Holy Spirit as to how to apply the gift of knowledge. But how did my teachers, and I come to this understanding?

Other teachers have different understandings of these gifts. For instance, one of my favourite theologians, the late J. Rodman Williams, states that ‘a word of wisdom is in some way an explication of the mystery of God that centres in Jesus Christ.’ He defines a word of knowledge as ‘an inspired word of teaching or instruction that occurs within the context of the gathered community’. Dr Wayne Grudem moves even further away from a directly supernatural understanding when he writes that a word of wisdom is simply ‘the ability to speak a wise word in various situations’. He describes a word of knowledge as ‘the ability to speak with knowledge about a situation’.

So, who is closer to the truth and how do we know for ourselves? I explore this question in my soon to be released book ‘The 9 Spiritual Gifts & How to Find your Ministry’, but I will tell you more about that just before it’s released… watch this space!

The importance of the matter

It is important for us to understand what the spiritual gifts are, because:

This affects how we appreciate them. Are they manifestations of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of a believer and therefore directly supernatural in origin and presentation? Or are they expressions of our human giftedness, leading, and experience enhanced perhaps by the gracious help of the Holy Spirit?
It affects how we respond to them. Do we act only when the Holy Spirit directly motivates us to do so, or do we operate in the gifts as a normal part of our Christian life and ministry?

And to make matters worse …

If it wasn’t confusing enough, we also have to contend with the occult counterfeits of the Spiritual Gifts.

Paul starts his discussion of what he calls ‘spiritual matters’ with the words; ‘About matters of the spirit: brothers, I do not want you to be unaware. You know how, when you were pagans, you were led to dumb idols—being led astray’. (1 Corinthians 12:1-2)

This seems a strange and enigmatic way of introducing the subject, unless one realises that many of the Christians in Corinth had been saved out of occult pagan teachings and practices. These occult phenomenon included things such as spiritual healing, prophecy, and tongues. Paul tells them, and us, not to be ignorant of this fact and thus become confused by the pagan counterfeits of the Gifts.

However, there are three things that I pick up in his warning that help me identify the nature of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 12:3 by identifying the key differentiator between true and counterfeit gifts – True gifts centre on Jesus and give Him glory.
He writes of ‘speaking by the Spirit of God’ and this points to supernatural utterances rather than normal purely human interactions.
Paul is concerned that believers might mistake the counterfeit for the real and this must surely mean that the real and the counterfeit appear to be very similar. In the occult world, both then and now, the ‘gifts’ are seen as direct manifestations of the ‘gods’.

Still to come

In my next post I want to deal briefly with the correlation between ‘anointing’ of the Spirit and the ‘gifts’ of the Spirit. I also intend to write about the correlation between manifestations of the Holy Spirit and ministries in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual manifestations are usually a feature of church revivals, so, in the meantime, why don’t you read my FREE book ‘The 12 Key Aspects of Revival’ – just click on the picture below or copy and paste the following link to your browser – https://truthistheword.com/revival-book-complimentary-access/

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What Kind of Church would Jesus Attend?

7 Comments / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog, Sermons / Christopher Peppler

TopImageWhatChurch

My daughter suggested I write about the kind of church Jesus would attend. I have been thinking about it and I think it is something all Christians, and especially church leaders, need to consider. Attend is a rather formal word that evokes thoughts of annual general meetings and other formal business-like occasions, but it is an appropriate word that simply means ‘be present’.

So what kind of church would Jesus attend? Well, I doubt very much if He would be interested in denominational labels or self-descriptors like Baptist, or Charismatic, or the like. I doubt too that any particular ethnic mix would especially appeal to Him, or the style and volume of the music, or the pulpit skills of the Pastor. Perhaps He would only attend an on-fire group of passionate disciples… what do you think?

Well, here is a shocker – Revelation 3:14-22 pictures Jesus trying to attend the lukewarm church of Laodicea. He wrote to this church; “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). So, it seems that the Lord Jesus is prepared to attend any church that would welcome him. But, and there is always a ‘but’, it seems that if they did not repent and welcome Him, then He was going to close them down (Revelation 2:5). So, perhaps a better way of framing the question would be; ‘what kind of church would Jesus be happy to attend regularly?’

This is a vitally important question because God designed ‘church’ to be the localised ‘body of Christ’, His temple and the place of His presence. If the Lord Jesus is not present in a church then how can we even call it a church? Club, mutual help organisation, religious school perhaps, but not a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).

The focus of my thoughts

A local church is more than just its Sunday worship service. During the week, it has other types of meetings, and it has structures, processes, outreaches, social works, and so on. However, its primary corporate expression is its weekly worship service. So, I have limited my thoughts and remarks, at this stage, to the presence of God in a church service.

This word, ‘presence’, is key. Thousands of years ago, Jacob encountered God in a visionary dream, and his account of this life-changing experience ends with the words; “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it… How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16-17). Then he named the place Bethel, set up a stone memorial, and made the vow that “this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house…” (Genesis 28:22). In a sense, Bethel was the prototype church, the house of God and gate of heaven… the place of the presence of God.

In later years, the temple in Jerusalem became the place of God’s presence and the Jewish scholars of that time regarded it as the location where Heaven and Earth came together. Then, just 40 years before this temple was destroyed by the Romans, the Lord Jesus Christ made the startling declaration to Nathanael that he would see “heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). Nathanael and the disciples would have understood this to be a clear reference to Jacob’s vision of some 1,800 years earlier. So, when Jesus lived in Palestine Heaven touched Earth, and in our day the corporate gathering of every true church is this interface… the place of the presence of Jesus.

Therefore, in this article, and in further articles in this series I will initially limit myself to the manifest presence of God in our corporate church meetings.

Sensing the presence of God

How do we know if ‘the Lord is in the house’? What are the indicators of His presence? I have identified nine, but I do not claim that this a comprehensive list. As I ponder on each of them, I realise that they are both indicators of and responses to God’s presence among His people. When The Lord is tangibly present in a church meeting, we respond in significant ways and our responses are both to His sensed presence as well as being evidence of His presence.

The nine indicators/responses are:

Reverent and adoring worship
Passionate prayer
Serious attention to biblical preaching
An attitude of faith
Ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit
Anointed leadership
Expressions of love
An impartation of life and wholeness
A desire to share the presence of God with others

So, my plan is to take each of these in turn and consider how we would recognise the presence of God in a church service by observing and participating in worship, prayer, and so on.

I am looking forward to this series and I hope you are too.

Late in December 2013 I preached a sermon entitled ‘The sense of His presence’, and here it is if you would like to listen:

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TruthTalks (Sermons): Agabus – A New Testament Prophet

Leave a Comment / Home Bulletin, Podcast, Sermons, TruthTalks / Christopher Peppler

In this sermon, delivered at the Lonehill Village Church on Sunday 24th June 2018, I spotlight prophecy in the book of Acts and then extend the subject into the church of our day.

Although by no means a comprehensive Bible study, this message includes insights from Paul’s treatment of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14.

You can listen to the sermon here:

You can download the sermon notes HERE.

Please subscribe if you would like your podcatcher to notify you when we publish a new TruthTalk and, as always, feel free to make comments and suggestions.

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Comparisons are odious

1 Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

We have all heard the expression ‘comparisons are odious’, but it is not the act of comparing that stinks, but what we actually compare.

The phrase itself comes from the early 15th century but it was Shakespeare who popularised it when he adopted and modified it as ‘comparisons are odorous’ in his play ‘Much ado about nothing’. However, we all compare different things and usually find it a productive exercise. If I want to buy a new car, computer, or guitar, then I will go to a lot of trouble researching and comparing the different available options. Companies compare their products and processes with competitive offerings to see where they can improve. Descriptions of Best Practice often include benchmarks to assist practitioners to compare what they do against the best in the field. These types of comparisons are not odious.

The problem comes when we try to compare who we are, and not what we do, against others. Now this can be odious. If we compare ourselves with someone who we regard as ‘inferior’ then we could be setting ourselves up for a superiority complex, or condescending attitude, and those are odorous conditions. If we compare ourselves to someone ‘superior’ then we run the risk of experiencing feelings of worthlessness, anger, or even despair.

Paul wrote; ‘We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise’ (2 Corinthians 10:12).

In order to avoid these noxious attitudes, we have to separate our awareness of who we are from a self-evaluation of what we do. I am not what I can or cannot do; I am uniquely who I am. I can learn to do more or less or something different, but who I am is… well ‘who I am’. When I was still in pastoral ministry people, usually those leaving the church, sometimes told me that they appreciated my teachings. This used to irritate me a little because I am not simply a knowledge base or a competent teacher. So, I have tried to make a habit of saying to people I want to affirm, “I appreciate you” or “I value you”.

When I retired a few years ago, I had to recognise another aspect of this vital distinction. Church leaders, more than any other types of leaders, tend to merge their sense of identity with that of the church they pastor. When I retired, this identity conflation was no longer supportable (not that it ever was supportable). Who was I now? How was I valued? What was I living for? All very silly in hindsight, but anyone who has retired will understand. But my identity has never been ‘pastor’ but ‘child of God’.

‘How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’ (1 John 3:1)

Another very unhealthy and unhelpful form of comparison concerns neither what we do, nor who we are, but what we receive. Here is a typical example:

You have been working for years for the same boss and have always given your very best. The volume of work gets too much for one person (Mainly, you think, because you have been doing so well) and so your manager hires someone else to work alongside you. You have no problem with this until you notice that the newbie talks a good talk but slacks off whenever the boss is not around. This annoys you, but annoyance escalates to anger, offence, de-motivation, and emotional pain when you learn that little-miss/mr-last-in is earning more than you earn.

Fortunately, the Lord Jesus had something to say about this sort of situation. Matthew 20:1-15 records His parable of the landowner who hires workers throughout the day but pays them all the same although some work the whole day and others just one hour. The ones he hired first complained, and this is what the boss-man said; “Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

Jesus ended his parable with the words, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”… so we trust that the last-in-first-out principle of stock clearance will apply to the newbie in my example. But, even if it doesn’t, just remember that ‘each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another’ (Romans 14:12-13). Hmmm.

Let me end with a somewhat fatuous home-grown proverb:

‘He who compares himself to another is as unwise as another who compares himself to him’ Huh?

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