This week's study is on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Here is the direct link for this study:

http://www.ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/06b/less07nkjv.html

The Sabbath Afternoon section of this week's study says, "No one individual in the church should expect to receive all the gifts of the Spirit. Neither should all the members expect to receive the same and identical gift or gifts."

One specific gift came to mind when I read this part, which is presented in Thursday's study quoted below:

Quote:

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"The gift of tongues, as prophecy and miracles, has a counterfeit. The original gift on the day of Pentecost consisted of perfectly spoken human languages. Uttering sounds that cannot be identified with any human language is not a perversion of but a counterfeit of the genuine."—Handbook of SDA Theology, vol. 12, p. 619.

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This counterfeit use is sadly the case in some denominations of the Christian church.

From Sabbath's lesson....

"No one individual in the church should expect to receive all the gifts of the Spirit. Neither should all the members expect to receive the same and identical gift or gifts. The New Testament likens the church, in which the manifestations of the Spirit appear, to the human body: different parts, doing different functions, yet all working together for a common goal."

~Ren

Sunday's Lesson: One Spirit, One Body

Read 1 Corinthians 12:7-25 and then answer the following questions..
1. For what reason is the Spirit given to the church?
2. What seems to be Paul's main concern here?
3. What is the role of the Spirit as depicted by Paul?
4. What point was Paul making through his use of the human body as an analogy for work of the Spirit in the church?

...At the same time, too, diversity is not the same as disunity. As Paul's analogy shows, though the parts of the body are different, look different, and work differently, they are all working in unity for a common purpose...

In your own experience, what's the greatest cause of disunity among us? Is it because we are all different and have different gifts, or is it because of something else? If so, what?

~Ren

God's warnings and counsels are plain and decided. As we read the Scriptures and see the power for good that there is in unity and the power for evil that there is in disunion, how can we fail to receive the word of God into our hearts? Suspicion and distrust are as evil leaven. Unity bears witness to the power of the truth. (195) {9T 194.3}

~Ren

According to the NT the gifts of the Spirit were given to meet the specific needs of a fledgling church. Why do assume that the needs of the modern church are the same so that the Creator must pour out the same gifts today?

God's Plan in a Diversity of Gifts.--In all the Lord's arrangements, there is nothing more beautiful than His plan of giving to men and women a diversity of gifts. The church is His garden, adorned with a variety of trees, plants, and flowers. He does not expect the hyssop to assume the proportions of the cedar, nor the olive to reach the height of the stately palm. Many have received but a limited religious and intellectual training, but God has a work for this class to do if they will labor in humility, trusting in Him.--Letter 122, 1902. {Ev 98.3}

Different gifts are imparted to different ones, that the workers may feel their need of one another. God bestows these gifts, and they are employed in His service, not to glorify the possessor, not to uplift man, but to uplift the world's Redeemer. They are to be used for the good of all mankind, by representing the truth, not testifying to a falsehood. . . . In every word and act, kindness and love will be revealed; and as each worker fills his appointed place faithfully, the prayer of Christ for the unity of His followers will be answered, and the world will know that these are His disciples.--Signs of the Times, Mar. 15, 1910. {YRP 191.3}


~Ren