Gifted

I have said this in both sermons so far and I want to remind you again. The approach I am taking with this series is not a denominational or charismatic approach. I am not teaching what certain denominations or movements teach us about the Holy Spirit. I am concerned with what scripture teaches us. There is a lot of stuff out there when it comes to this subject that has caused a lot of confusion, unfortunately a lot of people tend stray away from learning about the role of the Spirit in their lives because of this confusion.

This is unfortunate because as I have been trying to show you over the past few weeks, the church was founded through the coming of the Spirit, and scripture was written by the Holy Spirit through divine inspiration.

The Holy Spirit is the cog in the wheel that helps the church be what Jesus called it to be. The Spirit is what helps the church live on mission.

In other words....if a church neglects the workings of the Spirit, I would question, and I think scripture makes a strong case to question, if such a church is a church at all.

Just because people gather and verbally claim to be “in Christ” doesn’t mean they represent Christ at all. Often in North American culture many “churches’ are actually just a social democracy with a religious system of ethics they claim to follow. There is nothing about them that represents or lives the mission of the church Jesus founded.

The coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 launched the church into it’s Jesus given mission, to be a blessing to the nations, to make disciples that make disciples, to baptize and teach others to live like Jesus lived.

If a church is not seeing lives transformed, if disciples are not being made, then it is fair to question if it is actually a church at all. One day I will do some more teaching on that subject. But I want you to understand one simple thing…a church that shows no evidence of the fruits of the Spirit, a church that doesn’t love others unconditionally, is not a church on mission, it is not a Spirit filled church.

The apostle Paul deals with these exact issues in many of his letters. The first passage that discusses Spiritual gifts is a good example of this.

There are four key passages in the New Testament that teach us about the gifts of the Spirit. This morning we are going to take a brief look at each of these four passages.

In 1 Corinthians Paul is dealing with a church that thinks they are extremely spiritual. They are a large church with a gifted preacher, they have the best worship teams, and attract people from all around Corinth. They know what a church should look like and so they do everything they can to look the part. However, Paul is frustrated with them because of some of the things they are doing that has taken them off of mission. To Paul the mission is everything.

The church in Corinth practices Spiritual gifts, but they have made the gifts all about themselves. So Paul leads into his correction concerning the gifts like this:

1 Corinthians 12:1 NIV

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

In other words, they have been uniformed and Paul needs to teach them, to inform them about how the gifts of the Spirit work.

You have to understand something about the early church in order to track with Paul’s thinking.

The Holy Spirit was not just a concept to the apostles and those who followed Jesus. The Spirit was an experienced reality. They walked by the Spirit, they followed the leading of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was central to how they understood God and their calling to make disciples, to heal and see lives transformed by the preaching of the Gospel.

So this subject was extremely important to Paul, and central to what he wanted his churches to understand. So when he says I don’t want you to uninformed, he means that this is important, it’s important you understand this so you can be a church on mission.

Charismatic Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:4–11 NIV

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a 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 distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

The gifts of the Spirit all have the same origin: the triune God. These gifts that Paul list in this passage derive from the Greek word “charismata”. This is where our English word charismatic comes from. These are the charismatic gifts that have caused so much debate in the church. Paul tells us that there is a diversity of gifts, a diversity of purposes for the gifts, and a diversity of activities linked to the gifts. But, the important thing to understand is that these diverse gifts are manifestations of the Spirit for the common good.

In the church in Corinth people who used these gifts thought they were more important then those who didn’t use these gifts. Paul is correcting this. All gifts of the Spirit are for the common good, to build up the body. The general purpose of all Spiritual gifts is to benefit all Christians in the local congregation.

Paul lists these charismatic gifts:

Message of Wisdom (revealing what God did on the cross through Christ)

Message of Knowledge (Theological rational for decisions concerning Christian living)

Faith (Trusting God with amazing confidence)

Gifts of Healing

Miraculous Powers (driving out demons, overcoming bondage)

The charismatic gifts are gifts that are given when and how the Spirit decides, and they always point people to Jesus and show the power of the cross. They are not about the person receiving the gift, it’s about the people around that person. In other words, these gifts are given when needed to meet a specific purpose when needed. They are given to serve others.

Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs Spiritual Gifts: The Holy Spirit Equips the Church

a spiritual gift is an ability in some way to express, celebrate, display, and so communicate Christ. We are told that gifts, rightly used, build up Christians and churches. But only knowledge of God in Christ builds up, so each charisma must be an ability from Christ to show and share Christ in an upbuilding way.

It’s amazing to know that God will empower Christians to have the right words to say in the right moment, to have big faith when needed, to stand against evil, and show the power of the cross.

The second passage in the NT that addresses Spiritual gifts is found in Romans. Paul gives us a different look at gifts:

Romans 12:3–8 NIV

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

In this passage Paul is calling the people to humble service in the church. Humility is a key concept to using your gifts. There is one body with different gifts. Not everyone has the same function, but when each of us finds and functions in our Spiritual gifts the church is built up. In this passage Paul lists more common gifts and encourages people to live in their gifting, not try to function outside of your gifts.

If your gift is to teach, then teach, etc. In other words if your gift is to show mercy, show mercy, don’t try to teach. Oh and cheerfully function in your gift. In other words don’t envy others and want what their gifting is. Just use what you have been given for the common good.

Lexham Survey of Theology Spiritual Gifts in the Church

Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world.

The gifts that Paul addresses in this passage are more common gifts then the charismatic gifts. These are the gifts that fill out the body, and each person has one and should be using it for the glory of God, for the church to carry out it’s call; edification of the church and God’s salvific mission to the world. The gifts are always about the church being on mission!

The third section of scripture that teaches about Spiritual gifts is in Ephesians, these are the gifts that the Spirit has given the church:

The Gifts that Equip the People

Ephesians 4:7–12 NIV

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

The Holy Spirit has given specific gifts to specific people so that they can equip the saints. Paul says these are the people who’s role is to use their gifts to equip the church for works of service so that the body of Christ, the church may be built up.

The apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastor/teacher is a gift from the Holy Spirit to the church for this purpose. These are specific callings, or offices that are held in the Christian community. The people who have these callings are judged more strictly then others in the church because of the level of influence they have. They play an important role in the body of Christ, this is why Paul says they are a gift to the church.

The fourth passage that addresses Spiritual gifts rounds out the subject nicely. This time it’s not Paul, but Peter who brings us teaching on this subject. Peter says that each of us are gifted to serve.

Gifted to Serve

1 Peter 4:10–11 NIV

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Use your gifts to serve others! Peter says this is being a faithful steward of God’s grace. Whenever you speak you do it as one who speaks the very words of God. We are to serve with our gift with great strength, strength that God provides, so Jesus can be praised, because it’s all about Jesus.

God has given every church, this church, everything it needs to be on mission, to be amazing.

If we are falling short of being like Jesus as a church it’s because not everyone is using their gifts to serve others, to build others up, to show others the way of Jesus. It is so important that everyone in the body of Christ uses their gifts for the glory of Christ.

Unfortunately, not everyone does this, and so we fall short.

I often hear people say they don’t know what their gift is, so they don’t know how to go about serving.

I struggle with this for several reasons. Firstly, as one learns to listen to the Spirit, to be filled by the Spirit your gifts will be revealed to you. If we as a church would tune into the still small voice of the Holy Spirit we wouldn’t have any issues with knowing our gifts.

Secondly, many of us use our gifts everyday, but we use them for our benefit and glory.Many times your gifts are obvious, they are things your naturally good at, things you have a passion for. We will naturally benefit from our gifts, there is nothing wrong with that, but they were given to you for the benefit of others, so use your gifts to serve.

One caution I would through out there is this…just because your good at something doesn’t mean it’s your spiritual gift. There are people who are teachers by career that don’t have the spiritual gift to teach. That doesn’t mean they are not good teachers, it’s just not their spiritual gift.

Spiritual gifts are something that burns inside you. Something that you would feel empty without. There is a holy discontent when it comes to your spiritual gift. It’s not about making money, or a career, it’s something that you know you have to do.

Like for example, when you see injustice and you can’t help but have compassion, mercy for the person suffering the injustice. No matter how hard you try you just can’t ignore it, it keeps you up at night. Guess what, the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you that you have the gift of mercy, so go show mercy to the person suffering. Don’t analyse it, don’t over think it, just go do it, it’s your gift.

Closing

God doesn’t keep your gifts a secret, He wants you to know so you can play your role in the body to help with the mission. If you think something is missing in our church then your the person God has given the passion for whatever it is, so you need to be the person that finds those with gifts of leadership to help you get it started. If you have the gift to lead, then you should be leading, or coming alongside someone to help them get something going. If you don’t have the gift to lead, don’t try and lead, find people with other gifts to help. Nothing in the body of Christ is done as one single person, you have to surround yourselves with the other body parts, the other gifts.

Our gifts are given to us for the common good. We need to use them so the body is complete. We also need to know what gifts we have and what gifts we don’t have. Don’t try to be a pastor if your not gifted to teach and lead, a shepherd leads the flock, often giving hard corrections and guidance to stubborn sheep who don’t want to be lead. If it’s not your gift you won’t last, you will burn out and quite.

God will give you the strength, Peter says, to live your gift. Accept your gift, play your role for the common good of the body of Christ. Always remember what the mission is, to bless others, to share Christ, to build people up and love unconditionally.

We need each other, we need all the parts working together. That is how the church will lives it’s mission. It’s not about us individually, it’s about us coming together to form the body, and Christ is the head. It’s all about Jesus.

Big Idea: The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given as the Spirit chooses, with the purpose of building up the church and glorifying Christ. The people of Christ are called to respond to their Spirit given gift with acts of service for others. When the body uses it’s gifts, the body thrives, grows and flourishes. So we need to listen to the nudging of the Spirit in our lives and learn to respond with obedience.

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