Empowered: Living in the Spirit week 4

“Gifts of the Spirit”

Last week we looked at the fruit of the Spirit as recorded in Galatians 5.

The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Galatia, was countering a false teaching attempting to gain access to the church for the purpose of encouraging the believers to add circumcision as a needed requirement for salvation.

Paul clearly teaches that nothing can be added to the accomplished work of Christ on the cross. Rather, he encourages the believers to pursue the fruit of the Spirit to be the evidence of their salvation.

I also taught on the principle of the Holy Spirit’s fruit in our lives serving as the foundation for functioning in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

As we grow in the fruit of the Spirit, we then become equipped to properly function in the gifts of the Spirit for the glory of Christ.

Today, I want to talk about the Gifts of the Spirit.

Our text is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

[1Co 12:4-11 ESV] 4 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

Let’s begin with some opening observations.

First, the apostle Paul states that there are various gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to believers for the purpose of serving and edifying the church. He tells us that it is the Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts to the Church.

Secondly, Paul states that each of us receive a gift.

This gift(s) are given for “the common good.”

This statement indicates that although there is personal benefit to the individual as they are used by the Holy Spirit, the ultimate goal for the use of gifts is to benefit everyone in the Church.

Third, Paul then lists some of the gifts.

It is important to note that there are other portions of Scripture that lists additional gifts not listed in our text. (Romans 12/Ephesians 4)

In our text Paul identifies the following gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

Finally, Paul makes the statement: “all these are empowered by One and same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.”

Once again we see clearly that the Holy Spirit is the One who distributes gifts for the sake of empowering believers.

I have at times heard different ones claim that they do not have a spiritual gift.

This however is contradictory to what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12. According to our text, “the Spirit [gives] to each one individually as He wills.”

No one can make the claim Scripturally that they have not received a gift from the Holy Spirit.

For the sake of discussion, let’s take a quick look at the Scripture verses in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 to gain a complete view of the Holy Spirit’s gifts.

[Rom 12:6-8 ESV] 6 “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

[Eph 4:11-13 ESV] 11 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

These 3 Scriptural references serve as the primary texts describing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

One distinction can be helpful at this point.

The text in Ephesians are at times referred to as the “ministerial gifts.”

These gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, and teacher are listed by Paul as ones “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”

The Scriptural references in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 are typically viewed as “serving gifts.”

The primary distinction between the two is the belief that certain individuals receive the ministerial gifts as a calling into vocational ministry while the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 are distributed by the Spirit throughout the entire Body of Christ.

It is vitally important that each of us discover and develop the gift(s) that the Holy Spirit gives us.

Once again, Scripture indicates that the Holy Spirit gives each of us at least one gift.

A gift is given for the purpose of being used.

If we have a gift that we are not using, then we are not living according to the plan and purpose of the Holy Spirit for our lives.

The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts as He sees fit, but it is our responsibility to discover and develop the gift for the benefit of the Church.

What happens when someone doesn’t discover and develop their gift?

[1Co 12:12-20 ESV] 12 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.”

This teaching of Paul’s describes the functioning of the gifts as body parts.

Each part of our body is required to function properly in order for us to experience adequate health.

Paul is stating that when one part of the Church is not functioning, it affects the entire Church in a negative way.

I believe we will be held accountable for our use or disuse of the Holy Spirit’s gifts.

And as far as I can see in Scripture, there is no cancellation date attached to the gift.

Paul places strong emphasis on the need for each “body part” to function in its proper way.

His statement, “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing?” indicates that the Church functions properly as each believer steps fully into the gift of the Holy Spirit for their life.

The opposite is equally true. The Church suffers when believers do not use their gift.

I have at times had individuals approach me with a sense of guilt or even shame.

They proceed to tell me; “Pastor Bill, I felt called to the ministry when I was young, but I went a different path.”

They hang their head while sharing this revealing that they are still experiencing a condemnation over their life for a “missed opportunity.”

But let me remind us that, “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

Just because you may sense that you missed an earlier opportunity in no way means that you are unable to pursue God’s call on your life today.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to leave your current job and become a pastor.

There are ways that you can continue to work in your current place of employment and fulfill the call of God on your life.

Some of you may be asked to leave your place of employment for the sake of the Holy Spirit’s gifting/call.

If this is the case, God will provide a way for you to step out in faith.

I would advise you however to use caution and seek Godly counsel before making a life changing decision.

Often, it isn’t an issue of obedience as much as it is an issue of timing.

God sees our heart and He is fully aware of our desire to serve Him.

In His timing, the details come together as He desires.

Finally, let’s consider Paul’s statement: “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit.”

In a Pentecostal culture, the word “empowered” brings to mind certain images.

For many, being empowered by the Holy Spirit is loud, bold, and places emphasis on the power acts such as healing and deliverance.

After all Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit and He went around healing and delivering.

Let me ask, is the empowerment of the Spirit for “acts of mercy” any less than the gifts for miracles, faith, or healing?

The obvious answer must be no or we will contradict what Scripture teaches us about the “eye not saying to the hand, I don’t need you.”

It is my understanding that the empowerment of the Spirit is given equally for each gift to fully function.

The difference is witnessed in the use of the gift for the benefit of the Church.

We must keep in mind that the Holy Spirit gives to each one as He sees fit.

With the calling comes the enabling, and in the case of empowerment, the one gifted with mercy is empowered by the Spirit as much as the one empowered for miracles; the difference is in the manifestation.

Unfortunately, we in the Church have at times created a hierarchy unintended by Scripture.

We have had the tendency to place certain gifts on a pedestal to the exclusion of others.

Unless we are called to be a pastor or a missionary, our calling is often viewed as not as important.

This is a lie from the enemy which has been readily accepted by many today and has resulted in the loss of functionality in the Body of Christ.

We need pastors and missionaries,, and we need those who are gifted in wisdom, knowledge, teaching, serving, leading, giving and all the other gifts listed in Scripture.

Never sell yourself short!

If you do, you are actually diminishing the decision of the Holy Spirit for your life.

He chose to give that specific gift to you because He rightly sees the need for its contribution for the Church.

How do we discover our gift?

Here are 5 steps you can take to discover and develop your gift from the Holy Spirit.

1. Find a need and meet it.

Don’t make it about you. Keep it about benefiting the Church.

When we make it about us, we become stuck because we start looking for the perfect fit and tend to never get started.

Instead of asking what am I good at, ask where is the biggest need?

We discover best by becoming active.

2. Don’t take a test. Take an opportunity.

There are spiritual gift tests that we can take, but often we never get beyond the test.

When you step into an opportunity, give yourself a timeframe to try it out.

For example, serve in the area of need for 3 months. At the end of the time, evaluate how it is going.

This way you are not locking yourself into a place of serving for a lifetime that may not be a fit.

3. If you discover it isn’t a fit, try again.

I like to think in terms of “on ramps” and “off ramps.”

The on ramp gets us on the highway along with others.

We drive together and get a feel for the road.

If it isn’t the right road, then we take the off ramp, but we don’t sit on the side of the road, we find another on ramp to the next highway.

After a while, you will find the right road to drive on.

4. When you find your fit, go all in.

Scripture tells us, “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all that is within you.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

To me, this is the definition of excellence.

We don’t have to be perfect, but we do need to work toward excellence.

Working toward excellence will require us to go all in.

If I hold back, I will never rise up to my full potential with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

5. Find someone and help them grow in their gift.

The use of your gift doesn't stop with you.

Find someone you can pour into and help them discover and develop their gift for the Holy Spirit.

We grow the most as we help others grow. It’s the Body of Christ learning together as they serve together.

Summary:

The Holy Spirit gives each believer a gift for the benefit of the Church.

We are responsible to discover and develop the gift.

The best way to discover and develop our gift is by finding a need and meeting it.

We continue to serve as the Holy Spirit helps us rightly identify our gift.

We can start today.

Next Week . . .

“Scriptural Guidelines” (1 Corinthians 14)

Spiritual gifts in action for the corporate setting