Concerning Spirituals

S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN


Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 1 cor 12:1


The Father, in his mercy, has anointed an apostle, the apostle Paul and he has inspired him to inform us about the manifestations and operations of the Spirit, I’d at least honour the Father and listen to these instructions rather than hide behind some creed or doctrine.

There is nothing royal or honourable about ignorance. I encourage you to read the whole of the chapter very often, this will walk you out of a place of ignorance into a place where you are more calm about the things of the Spirit.

The apostle Peter tells us that grace and peace is multiplied through knowledge [2 Peter 1:4]. That is profound. If I wanted more grace or peace in any area of life I simply measure out more knowledge in that area. In this context it is the knowledge of God’s word. In other words confusion is a product of lack of knowledge. I do not experience peace in any matter, even scriptural matters, beyond the degree of information that I have on the subject. If the road is “hard” it simply means that I need more information. It is not so much that you need more power. The grace and peace of God is multiplied to you as you fellowship with the knowledge of God. Someone says, “I am weary of all this talk about spiritual things, it is so confusing” well, if the truth were told spiritual things are not confusing. It is your grasp of spiritual things that needs updating from the word of God.

You cannot afford to embrace the philosophies, theories and fanciful arguments of men where God has given us a revelation. I am weary only because I haven’t measured out more peace to myself through knowledge. Well, lets measure out some knowledge from the word then so we have more peace in this area.

You could conceive of the whole of 1 cor 12 as you would a modern book. You’d have the table of contents; this is provided in verse 4 through 6.

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

In simple terms then, it is a threefold discussion. It is a teaching on gifts, administrations and operations. In other words I can read that first verse, as “Now concerning the gifts, the administrations and the operations I would not have you ignorant”

If you follow closely the way the verses are structured, the following facts emerge: The Spirit is in charge of the gifts. The Lord Jesus is in charge of the administrations or what you recognise as offices or callings. The Father is in charge of the workings.

When it says the same God worketh all in all what does he mean by the expression “all in all”? You recognise that prior to what he said about God working all in all he has developed two concepts – the gifts and the administrations. He is saying that the Father works all [the gifts] into all [the offices or administrations]. So the Father takes the gifts of the Spirit and the call upon your life and forms what is called an operation.

The “operations” is one clear way of understanding why two called Evangelists end up being so different in ministry. The way the Father blends the gifts into an office is unique for each case. When I try to “copy” what I see in someone else my focus is no longer on the Father’s workings through me, but the things that are manifest in some other fellow’s life. Man, because he is a spirit in God’s class cannot function as a copy. The father wants to do some “workings” through you. There is a cooperation involving the trinity in bringing this to pass. Your part is to submit to these wonderful workings.

So, what have we seen thus far? There are gifts of the Spirit, administrations of the Lord Jesus and the operations of the Father. If one just embraces the administrations of the Lord Jesus and shies away from the gifts of the Spirit or the Father’s operation he is stopping short of God’s plan. In fact it is an aberration. The gifts and the administrations go hand in hand. The Father works with both, not just one or the other. There is a room that you stand in, a place of calling that is yours in Christ Jesus. It is your job to yield yourself over to the Lord of this “administration”. This is the discovery of God’s plan for your life or what is called in some quarters “purpose”.

There is no such thing as purpose standing alone by itself. We have just seen that there is a threefold chord so to speak, of which “purpose” is one. You will have to understand that God only works by his anointing. There is nothing that God has made you a steward over that is meant to be carried out in human might or abilities. The administration belongs to Jesus; it was given to you so that you might be a steward of it for you are a member of the body of Christ. In order for these administrations to function according to God’s design it can only be carried out in the energy of the Spirit – this definitely involves the gifts of the Spirit. I must lend myself over to the pursuit of the full thought of God.

Do not stop at the discovery of purpose alone. Purpose pursued in the energy of flesh is like abortion. You recall the fact that the Lord Jesus in his earth walk. He did not begin ministry until he was anointed of the Spirit at age 30. You can be sure that he knew what he was called to do, but he also realised that holiness, skills or maturity is not a substitute for the anointing of the Spirit. The anointing of God made available in your life through the ministry of the Spirit is the only way that God’s plan can be effected in God’s own way.

You notice that the Father doesn’t work all my “good” ideas into the administration. He works the things of the Spirit into the administrations. You see the Spirit will walk you into the corridors of divine power as you yield. Every believer has a flow in the gifts of the Spirit necessary and required for the full operation of the administrations.

As you pray in the Spirit, you will be handed over to the mighty currents of this divine power.

...... to be continued