There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. (6) And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. (7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: (12) For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (13) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. Our Lord promised immediately before His ascension to the right hand of the Father that “You shall be baptized by the Holy Spirit not many days hence.” On Pentecost this promise was literally fulfilled with a general diffusing of the gifts of the Spirit to all classes both male and female with the manifestation of the diversity of these spiritual gifts. Of course there were many false claims of gifts of the Spirit; outright delusion; imposters; those inflated ego driven pretenders. This was the state of the church in Corinth that Paul addresses in the verses we study today and he does so by means of analogy between the church and the human body. The body is one organic whole as is the church is with the indwelling Spirit as the principle of its life. There are diversity of organs and members of the body just as the Spirit manifests diversity of gifts and offices in the church. Both in the body and the church there is unity in diversity. The members of the body are mutually dependent; just so the diversity of gifts in the faithful are for the edification of the whole church. The body is determined by God and the spiritual gifts are distributed by God. So, we should be contented with our gifts as there is no superiority of gifts

There is diversity of gifts but the same Spirit; the same God works all in all by His Spirit. There are all and equal gifts of the Spirit guiding the mode of serving the Son and the effects are due to the Father; there is a strong underlying doctrine of the Trinity here. Gifts have the same source but diverse manifestations. The Spirit who dwells in all believers manifests Himself in different ways in different believers. There are gifts of healing, gifts of teaching – gifts not for gratification of their recipients but for the good of others in the church. A preversion of this as a means of self exaltation is a sin against their giver.

The Prophet Joel told that the Messianic period would be a time of gifts of the Spirit.
“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions, And also on My menservants and on my maid servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, (2) until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, (3) to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. (4) And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; (5) for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.” (6) Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (7) And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (9) Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. (10) And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, (11) who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke; historian, Gentile, physician and sometimes companion of the apostle Paul. In Acts, Luke tells how Christ’s church began in Jerusalem and spread to the ends of the earth – he provides a link between his gospel and the spread of Christianity from a few Jews to the world. He is really describing the acts of Jesus through the Holy Spirit in His witnesses. Acts was probably written toward the end of Paul’s life as there is no mention of persecution of Nero – and no mention of the death of Paul – or of the destruction of the Temple by Rome in 70 A.D. Both Luke’s gospel and Acts are written to an unknown man. And both are written to provide an accurate historical foundation in Jesus Christ. Both are based on eyewitness testimony by credible men and the main message of both centers on Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead.
Our verses today show the sovereignty of God – nothing can stop what He intends to do. The coming of the Holy Spirit changed the apostles from self seeking, doubting and fearful men to bold, obedient and confident witnesses to the gospel showing the power is in the Spirit, not in men. We must first live for God before we can speak (witness) for Him. Jesus lived perfectly for 30 years and then taught at His appointed time. Jesus was raised up in His physical body not as a Spirit – think of the implications of that! Before the Ascension of our Lord, He gave the command – the not ambiguous command – that the apostles were to be His witnesses to the whole world. This new expectation/commission was to be the continuing ministry of Jesus, spread not by the apostles but by the divine power within them. The main message was the resurrection of Jesus; the seal of God on His acceptable sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin.
Christianity is faith rooted in history. It is the power of God’s word and God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ with the apostles as witness. God is at work in history through His church.

As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. (26) But Peter lifted him up, saying “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” (34) Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. (35) But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. (44) While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. (45) And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. (46) For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, (45) “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (48) And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke, historian, physician and frequent companion of the apostle Paul. The verses we study today deal with the conversion of the first Gentiles; the Lord had given the apostles the great commission to preach the gospel to all nations in all the known world and according to Acts, we realize years had gone by since the death and resurrection of Christ and this command had not been carried out. We do not read of any apostle going to the Gentiles until one of them (Cornelius), prompted by a vision, actually sent for Peter and asked him to come. Cornelius was a captain of a Roman cohort of 100 men of Israel’s occupying army. We are told he was a devout, God fearing man and a Gentile, stationed in Caesarea which was the Roman provincial capital of Israel – the Jews despised the Roman occupation.
At the same time God sent a vision to Peter breaking down his cultural and religious prejudices. In his vision Peter was shown that what God had cleansed was no longer unholy: that there is no longer any difference between Gentile and Jew and all men are equal in the eye of God. Peter was told to meet the men (even then) at the gate and go with them to Cornelius. We read that as Peter went in to Cornelius, this proud Gentile centurion of the Roman army bowed down at a Jewish man’s feet. I love Peters response as he raised Cornelius – that he (Peter) was also a man. Many were assembled to hear Peter who had not even finished his preaching the gospel when the second recorded gifts of fire and tongues occurred; God had set his seal on these Gentiles. Spiritual salvation had come to the Gentiles. Paul was the primary agent to the Gentiles but Luke makes it clear that Peter is now in full sympathy to this position.

Our verses today tell us of a turning point in God’s plan of salvation; salvation is not based on national identity nor based on good works. God took the initiative here in sending the gospel. Jesus Christ is Lord of ALL whether we acknowledge Him or not.

And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. (27) But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. (28) So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. (29) And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. (30) When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him on to Tarsus. (31) Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Spirit, they were multiplied.

The Acts of the Apostles is an historical record of the early church, written by Luke. In chapter nine Luke follows Paul in his earliest Christian experience. Saul, later know as Paul, was a Hellenistic Jew which is a term for Jews born in nations of the Gentiles. (Paul was also a Roman citizen as well as a Hebrew of Hebrews.) Our verses today are taken from the history of Paul after his conversion (Paul elaborates on this time in his letter to the Galatians ) when Paul went to Arabia where he received his message from the Lord Himself. He then returned to Damascus to preach the gospel and after a period of three years Paul went to Jerusalem to meet the apostles. Understandably, Paul, a former scourge of the early Christians, was feared by the apostles and it was only through the testimony of Barnabas that he met with Peter and James, the half brother of Christ. He apparently was only with Peter for a period of 15 days during which time he boldly preached that Jesus was the Son of God and the Christ, enraging the Jewish leadership who tried to kill him. It’s good to note here that no one is the target of deadly persecution who is ineffective.

Luke stresses here the genuineness of Paul’s conversion by showing the radical change in him. Paul’s message had a strong doctrinal flavor- his letters had a theological foundation before moving to a practical application; they were written for everyday Christians and with Paul’s letters composing most of the New Testament, today we have sound biblical doctrine.

Luke’s progress report on the early church tells us that “the brethren” fearing the deadly intentions of the Jews, brought Paul out of Jerusalem to Caesarea and then to Tarsus where he was born and this was followed by a period of peace. There was always tension where Paul preached the gospel but the period of peace was not because of his removal from Jerusalem. Caligula was now the Roman Emperor and issued new regulations for the Jews – one of which ordered that the statue of the Emperor be displayed in the temple – and Caligula sent his regulator to enforce the new laws. The ensuing negotiations diverted the ruling Jews from persecuting Christians and thus the church had a period of rest and they were multiplied.