The Word: I Corinthians 12:1-3
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.
You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
By Scott Fiddler
In Chapter 12, Paul starts a new line of thought. In the verses that follow verses 1-3, Paul lists the supernatural gifts that come with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Paul talks about prophecy, a gift by which a person, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaks the words of God to another person. Paul mentions healing, by which people are supernaturally healed of physical and mental ailments. And then there are miracles initiated by the prayer or act of a person through the power of the Holy Spirit. About spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be unaware.
I was unaware of spiritual gifts for the first fourteen years after a became a Christian. I was taught the gifts weren’t really supernatural but were just personality types. The prophet was someone who had a personality type eager to speak against sin. A word of wisdom representated a person who was wise. The problem is obvious: there is nothing supernatural in personalities. Even people who hate God and have no part of the Holy Spirit have a personality. It never set right with me to interpret away the supernatural out of the text of the Bible. If I did that, how could I trust the part about Jesus’s resurrection and my salvation? About spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be unaware.
Then I began to study the Book of Acts, and I saw these gifts being exercised in their true supernatural form. Peter, a disciple of Jesus, prayed for a man and God healed him right there on the spot to the amazement of all present. See Acts 3:1-10. People in Ephesus got baptized in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues and prophesying. See Acts 19:1-7. The Apostle Paul rebuked a magician who was interfering with people coming to the Lord in Cyprus, and filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul miraculously blinded the man. Amazed by this demonstration of the power of God, the governor of Cyprus got saved as a result. See Acts 13:9-12. About spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be unaware.
The first century Roman Empire was in no more need of the manifestation of these gifts than those alive today. People still need healing. People still need to hear a word from God that comes through a believer. People still need miracles. About spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be unaware.
Application
We need to be aware about spiritual gifts. We need to understand that the spritual gifts Paul describes in I Corinthians Chapter 12 are for today. We need to understand that the lives of the disciples and early Christians and their manifestation of the gifts are supposed to be part of a normal Christian life, not an anomaly. We also need to understand what spiritual gifts are and how they work, and we need to expect them to be operative in our lives and in our church.
City Life Starter 
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