I Believe in the Church
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The Gifts of the Spirit in the Local Church
The Gifts of the Spirit in the Local Church
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the 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 gives them to each one, just as he determines. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
“‘for Paul the Spirit, as an experienced and living reality, was the absolutely crucial matter for Christian life, from beginning to end’ (Gordon Fee. God’s Empowering Presence. The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul. p. 1).
The Spirit is a person who embodies the presence of God himself, a person who indwells and empowers God’s people in this present age.
This talk is more than just a study, its a plea for renewal, an appeal for the WCF to return to its biblical roots in recognising and appropriating the ministry of the Spirit in its life and work.
“The grand thing the Church wants in this time is God’s Holy Spirit. You all get up plans and say, ‘Now if the Church were altered a little bit, it would go on better.’ You think that if there were different ministers, or different church order, or something different, then all would be well. No, dear friends, it is not there that the mistake lies; it is that we want more of the Spirit…That is the church’s great want, and until that want be supplied, we may reform and reform, and still be the same. All we want is the Spirit of God.”(C. H. Spurgeon, 31 August, 1857, less than two years before the outbreak of Revival in the UK - Watson “ Beleive in the Church p. 155).).
The Church was born of the Spirit in Acts 2 but the disciples had already known something of His infilling and power in their lives as the Gospels make clear.
It was at Pentecost that the prophecy of Joel was fulfilled and the promised “gift of the Holy Spirit….is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Ac 2:38–39). “From that moment on the Church learned to live and move and pray in the Spirit.”(Watson p. 166).
However, when the Church fails to do this we can “grieve” and “quench” the Holy Spirit also - “Dr. A. W. Tozer say, “If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, much of what the church is doing would go right on; and nobody would know the difference.” ― Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Committed (Ruth & Esther): Doing God's Will Whatever the Cost.
And so we are commanded to “Be filled with the Spirit”(Eph 5:18). To seek His and note - HIM not It! We are not to think of the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force but a Person whom we are to get to know and allow to influence our lives as His holiness and power are made manifest transforming our lives and empowering us for service!
The Role of the Church and the Work of the Spirit are inseparably connected:
“Those appointed by God into positions of leadership in the church have a high calling. They not only teach the word and lead the people, they also set the tone of the church. They create its atmosphere and style and establish its philosophy of ministry. Their own sense of calling and destiny provides security, motivation and direction to the church…We should not be surprised to note a great contrast between churches led by genuine, anointed leaders who are loved, valued, respected and given freedom to lead, and churches where democracy rules. Boards and committees, elections and voting are unknown in Scripture. There must come a rediscovery of biblical norms where the Holy Spirit calls and equips leadership and where that leadership is given room to operate.”[The Spirit-Filled Church. Virgo, p.128]
In respect to the gifts of the Spirit operating in the life of the Church we must understand that the Holy Spirit is sovereign and He alone determines how these gifts are to be distributed and to whom!
We cannot make demands on Him - “the Lord is the spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”!
Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the 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 gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
“True spiritual life and freedom will come only in so far as the Church submits to the Spirit , listens to the Spirit and submits to the Spirit.”(p. 167).
Likewise that passage from Paul teaches us that no one has a monopoly on the gifts of the Spirit - “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” - we all have at least one gift of the Spirit and Paul makes it clear elsewhere that the person who “does not have the Holy Spirit of Christ, does not belong to Christ.”(Rom 8:14).
That does not mean to say that everyone has the same measure of filling or giftedness and it is possible to identify those who are “of good report and full of the Holy Spirit”(Acts6:3).
There is elitism here - no Gnosticism; no Montanism; no spiritual elites!
Further when Paul says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” he is emphasising the fact that the Church can't function correctly in the way that God intends without the manifestation of the Spirit.
“The truth is the the Church is totally dependent on the Spirit, and it must be continuously sustained and renewed by the Spirit. The Church depends for its very existence upon a certain impartation of fresh life from God, and cannot survive a day without it.”(Watchman Nee - Watson. p168).
Watson warns about the danger of the church becoming a “dead institution” as he observes that just as there is “no entrance into the Kingdom of God unless one is born of water and the Spirit’, so there is no life within the Kingdom unless the Spirit is continuously maintaining that life.”(p. 168).
"It is therefore of paramount importance that every church should not only understand the the Person and Work of the Spirit, but be open wide to His invigorating power. All our activities in the Church become empty and meaningless without the Spirit. “The written code kill” wrote Paul. “but the Spirit gives life.”(p. 168).
Whether we are worshipping God; praying; witnessing to the unconverted or preaching to the converted; being guided in God’s will or loving and serving His body we cannot do this without the Spirit (see John 4:20-24;John 16:13; Acts 1:8;Luke 24:49;Rom 8:14; Rom 8:26; 1 Cor 2:1-14;Phil 3:3;1 Thes 5:19-22;1 John 4:12).
As we think about the gifts of the Spirit in the local church we need to remember that the Church is ideally to be a Spirit-filled, worshipping community.
It should operate within ‘the magnetic field of the Holy Spirit’ ( Professor van Unnik: ‘Dominus Vobiscum: The Background of a Liturgical Formula’, New Testament Essays in memory of T. W. Manson, ed. by A. J. B. Higgins, 1959, 270-305 (294).
Ralph Martin observes that, “If we take the Church at Corinth as a norm, we may notice three components of Christian worship in that community. There was (i) the charismatic element. By this we mean the offering of enthusiastic praise and prayer under the direct afflatus of the Spirit, whether in intelligible or in ecstatic language (i.e. glossolalia, or the gift of ‘tongues’, 1 Cor. xiv. 2, 6 ff.)…Then, there was (ii) the didactic side. This covers all ministry in intelligible speech which aims at clarifying the will of God to the congregation, whether by teaching (1 Cor. xii. 8), instruction (1 Cor. xiv. 26), prophesying (i.e. preaching, 1 Cor. xi. 4, 5; xiv. 3) or discerning the truth (1 Cor. xiv. 29; cf. 1 Thess. v. 21; I John iv. 1)… The third element (iii) was eucharistic, which means simply the offering of praise to God, whether by prayer (1 Cor. xiv. 16), hymns and canticles (Eph. v. 19 f.; Col. iii. 16 f.; 1 Cor. xiv. 15 fill out the bare mention in 1 Cor. xiv. 26) or by the distinctive Christian ordinance of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. xi. 18 ff.). Again the ideal is that all these acts shall be for the Church’s good. Written large over all the Apostle’s directives for public worship at Corinth are the words: ‘Strive for the upbuilding of the Church’ (1 Cor. xiv. 12).”(Ralph P. Martin, “Aspects of Worship in the New Testament Church,” Vox Evangelica 2 (1963): 6-7).
Now, as to the gifts themselves:
9 are mentioned in this list in 1 Corinthians 12 but from other New Testament lists (Romans 12; Ephesians 4;1 Peter 4) - we know there are more and whilst some of them are clearly supernatural manifestations that cannot be learned; others are so-called “natural” gifts that may be thought of as more common among us, such as the gift of love; of leadership; of marriage even of celibacy. All these are “charisma”.
However, the NT makes no distinction between what we call supernatural and natural gifts of the Spirit.
What makes it a gift of the Spirt is twofold according to David Watson:
1. It must glorify Christ -1 Cor 12:3
Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
2. It must edify the body of Christ - 1 Corinthians 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
“Gifts are functions of the body of Christ. They are His eyes, hands and feet, with which He acts and moves on earth. When gifts are no longer an expression of Christ’s actions, then they are not only useless they are harmful in their effect. They are counterfeits which offer my neighbour nothing, but positively deceive Him”(Gifts and Graces).
The Church must avoid allowing believers to suffer from either an inferiority or superiority problem when it comes to gifts in operation - 1 Corinthians 12: 14-31:
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tonguesb? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.”
THE GIFTS:
The New Testament lists many spiritual gifts, which we can categorise as follows:
Romans 12:6-8
Romans 12:6-8
“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.” – Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, Showing Mercy.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
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.” – 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Faith, Healings, Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning of Spirits, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues.
1 Cor. 12:28-30
1 Cor. 12:28-30
“And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?” – 1 Corinthians 12:28-30
Apostleship, Prophecy, Teaching, Miracles, Healing, Helping, Administration, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues.
Ephesians 4:11
Ephesians 4:11
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,” – Ephesians 4:11
Apostleship, Prophecy, Evangelism, Pastor/Teacher.
1 Peter 4:9-11
1 Peter 4:9-11
“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 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.” – 1 Peter 4:9-11
Speaking, Serving.
Broadly speaking these may be categorised under three main groups:
Leadership Gifts:
ADMINISTRATION: The ability to help steer the church, or a ministry, toward the successful completion of God-given goals, with skills in planning, organization, and supervision.
APOSTLE: A person sent to new places with the gospel. You may have heard of missionaries going to different countries to help spread the Word; they could be described as apostles. An apostle can also provide leadership to other churches or ministries and offer advice on spiritual matters.
DISCERNMENT: The wisdom to recognize truth from untruth by correctly evaluating whether a behavior or teaching is from God or another, ungodly source.
KNOWLEDGE: This is the gift of someone who actively pursues knowledge of the Bible. This person may also enjoy analyzing biblical data.
LEADERSHIP: This aptitude marks a person who is able to stand before a church, to direct the body with care and attention, and to motivate them toward achieving the church’s goals.
WISDOM: The gift of being able to sort through facts and data to discover what needs to be done for the church.
2. Speaking gifts
EVANGELISM: The ability to successfully communicate the message of the gospel, especially to nonbelievers.
EXHORTATION: Competence in offering encouragement, comfort, and support to help someone be all that God wants them to be.
PROPHECY: The ability to speak the message of God to others. This sometimes involves foresight or visions of what is to come. This skill should be used only to offer encouragement or warning.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES: The supernatural ability to speak in another language (one that has not been learned).
TEACHING: The skill to teach from the Bible and communicate it effectively for the understanding and spiritual growth of others.
3. Ministering or Serving gifts:
FAITH: People with this gift have such great confidence in the power and promises of God that they can stand strong in their belief, no matter what may try to shake them. They can also stand up for the church and for their faith in such a way as to defend and move it forward.
GIVING: Those who have this gift are particularly willing and able to share what resources they have with pleasure, and without the need to see them returned.
HEALING: A capability used by God to restore others, be that physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually.
HELPS: Someone with this gift is able to support or assist members of the body of Christ so that they may be free to minister to others.
HOSPITALITY: A natural ability to make people—even strangers—feel welcome in one’s own home or church as a means to disciple or serve them.
MERCY: This is the defining trait of a person with great sensitivity for those who are suffering. It manifests itself in offering compassion and encouragement, and in a love for giving practical help to someone in need.
SERVING: A talent for identifying tasks needed for the body of Christ and using available resources to get the job done.
Sometimes believers have a sense that they are gifted in a certain way but at other times it is discovered as they serve.
As you step out in faith and obedience with a servant’s heart, the Holy Spirit will show you the areas for which He has gifted you. This often occurs through positive feedback from people who are experiencing God’s grace through your acts of service.
Sometimes you can recognize how you are uniquely gifted through the feeling you get from service—if it gives you great joy, it could easily be assumed that this is how you’re gifted and that you’re using your gifts in one of the ways God would like you to.
THE USE OF GIFTS:
We should use and appreciate them - if it leads to enrichment and the building up of the body of Christ that’s great! -Rom 12:6.
2. We should “earnestly desire them.”- 1 Cor 14:1
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
3. We should regulate them - 1 Cor 14 “decently and order”.
Their use should follow and be accompanied by teaching and instruction;
They must be used moderately and a due balance needs to be given to each manifestation. So when discussing the gift of tongues, Paul in the words of Gordon Fee says: “As to tongues”…in private use ‘as much as one pleases’, but in the congregation only when it edifies the body” (p. 151).
Certain things should not happen (i.e. tongues without interpretation) but always they should operate within an atmosphere of love and acceptance where when things go wrong people are not discouraged or even surprised and where misunderstandings or missteps take place, people forgive!
Crucially our aim always is to edify one another!(1 Cor 14:26).
However, we must not be scared and regulate them out of existence:
“There were excesses in the church at Corinth, but what does Paul say to them? Does he say, “Never speak in tongues again, never prophesy again, never give vent to these feelings that you have within you.” He does not say anything of the sort. The whole atmosphere in the early church was charged with the Spirit and they expressed that in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
The really important question of us to face is, are we like the early church, are we like the early Christians, rejoicing and praising God, filled with gladness and joy so that we amaze the world and make them think at times that we are filled with new wine? Let us avoid all excesses, let everything be done decently and in order, but above all quench not the Spirit. Rather be filled with the Spirit and give evidence of the fact that you are.” [Virgo, p.72].
Indeed Gordon Fee in the final chapter of his book is concerned to unleash the Spirit in the contemporary church, fighting the human proclivity to domesticate and channel the Spirit lest the Spirit challenge and subvert the structures of our settled ‘orthodoxy’ and comfortable traditions. The plea is ‘for the recapturing of the Pauline perspective of Christian life as essentially the life of the Spirit, dynamically experienced and eschatologically oriented—but fully integrated into the life of the church’ (p. 901).
4. We should glorify Christ in their expression - the focus is always on Him and not the gifted individual - prayer and praise should be offered in the exercise of gifts so that our focus in in the right place and on the right person and all glory is given to Him
5. We should test the use of gifts! - Testing what people teach and claim in the light of Scripture and not being afraid to reject those things which seem contrary to Scripture or cautiously weight those things which whilst not being contrary to Scripture may lack scriptural justification.
David Watson’s “guidelines” are “tests that we can apply to a person or to a movement when the claim is to be under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”” are very useful at this point: (p. 112-113):
Is Jesus Lord of that person’s life? - “no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”
Is Jesus acknowledged as perfect man and perfect God? -1 John 4:2
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3. Is the manifestation of the git in accordance with the Scriptures? - 1 Samuel 16:26; 16:14.
4. Is there true holiness and godliness about that person? - Matthew 7:15-20
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
5. Is there submission to Church leaders? - Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
6. Is the Church edified through this gift? - “Spiritual gifts are never for personal display or sensational titillation.”
7. Is love the compelling factor? - “Make love your aim and earnestly desire spiritual gifts”
MINISTRY TIME
Invite the filling of the Holy Spirit.
When you are blessed with a spiritual gift, it is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in you (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11).
As you surrender to and are filled by the Spirit, you give Him the opportunity to release and empower His spiritual gift in you. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul specifically encourages us to “be filled with the Spirit.” Paul implies here that this filling is a continuous action, rather than a one-time event. We see this in the original Greek text, which best translates as him saying; “keep on being filled with the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit wants to be invited to fill you. He wants to demonstrate God’s grace through you!
But just as He can be welcomed into your life, He can also be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19). If you want the Holy Spirit to dwell within you and release your gifts, you cannot at the same time reject Him through unbelief or sinful attitudes, thoughts, or actions.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight and wisdom in the exercise of spiritual gifts:
James says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (James 1:5).
Asking God for wisdom about our spiritual gifts is a good place to start. Since it’s God’s will for you to exercise your spiritual gifts, you can ask with confidence that He will respond and give you direction.
Seek prayer, discernment, and blessing from your spiritual leaders.
In the early church, leaders commissioned individuals into ministry. Paul (here called by his Hebrew name, Saul) and Barnabas were sent out in this way: “One day as [the leaders of the church in Antioch] were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.’ So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.” (Acts 13:2-3)
Paul, in turn, repeated this process with Timothy: “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you” (2 Timothy 1:6).
The prayers of our spiritual leaders are one way of releasing the Holy Spirit’s gifts. In Romans 1:11, Paul says, “For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.”
When you are embarking on a ministry—or if you are already involved in a ministry and have never done this—it is valuable (and biblical) to ask your church or ministry leaders to lay hands on you (by placing their hands upon your arm, shoulder, or head) and to pray for the Holy Spirit to empower you. If you are a leader, you can do this for the people who serve in your ministry.
Look for fruit.
Because it’s the Holy Spirit who empowers spiritual gifts, we should expect evidence of His presence, power, and work when we serve in our areas of gifting (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).
We can call this the “fruit test.” For example, if you think you have the gift of evangelism, you can ask, Are people following Jesus as a result of my ministry?
Or if you think you have the gift of mercy, you can ask, Do people feel Jesus’ love and compassion through me?
