Unleashing Our Spiritual Gifts

The Stradivari Society of Chicago performs an important role in the music world. The society entrusts expensive violins into the hands of world-class violin players who could never afford them on their own.

Top-flight violins made by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century masters like Antonio Stradivari produce an incomparably beautiful sound and now sell for millions of dollars each. Their value continues to climb, making such violins highly attractive to investors. But “great violins are not like great works of art,” writes music critic John von Rhein. “They were never meant to be hung on a wall or locked up under glass. Any instrument will lose its tone if it isn’t played regularly; conversely, an instrument gains in value the more it is used.”

And so it is that those who own the world’s greatest violins are looking for first-rate violin players to use them. The Stradivari Society brings them together, making sure that the instruments are preserved and cared for. One further requirement made by investors in such violins: the musician will give the patron at least two command performances a year.

Like the Stradivari Society, God also entrusts exquisite “violins” into the care of others. He gives us spiritual gifts of great value, which remain his property. He wants them used. He delights to hear beautiful music from our lives. And he wants us to play for him.

Today, we continue our series on stewardship by examining the topic of the Stewardship of Our Gifts.

We will be examining 1 Peter 4:10-11 & 1 Cor 12.

This whole concept of spiritual gifts is a broad subject in Scripture.

Let’s read 1 Peter 4:10-11 first.

Main Point: Biblical Stewards Faithfully Minister Grace to Others.

1 Peter 4:10–11 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

What should we know about spiritual gifts to help us manage them well?

2 Major Truths to help us...

#1 Major Truth...

God Has Uniquely Equipped Every Believer to Serve Him.

1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a special gift...

To make sure we are all operating from the same foundation here is a basic definition of spiritual gifts:

Spiritual gifts are divine capacities for ministry, given by the Holy Spirit to all believers, used under His complete control, to build up the church and to glorify Christ.

Every part of that definition is important…we’ll explain them more as we go along.

Now turn over to 1 Cor 12.

The Spirit gives gifts to every believer as He wills…1 Cor 12.

1 Corinthians 12:1 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.”

The word gifts is in italics meaning it is supplied by the translators for clarity because the context reveals the discussion here is on gifts.

The original text simply reads pertaining to the Spirit…referring to that which has a spiritual quality or characteristics or is under some form of spiritual control.

That is a significant point here for the Corinthian church because Paul had to distinguish them from the mystical ecstatic experiences that were found in the pagan religions of Corinth.

1 Corinthians 12:7 “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Manifestation = disclosure = sense here is that a clear indication of the existence or presence of some person or thing…namely the Holy Spirit.

In other words, at the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit provides the evidence of his presence in our lives by equipping us with a divine capacity to minister to others.

When used correctly, under His control, people receive a spiritual benefit.

1 Corinthians 12:11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

Notice it says here that the Spirit is distributing to each one.

Distributing = dividing, apportion

Each one...That is universality…every believer is gifted.

individually…

Individually = particular = unique or specific to a person or thing.

meaning it is tailored to who God designed you to be.

We are as uniquely gifted as fingerprints.

Even twins have different fingerprints...

Every one of us is stamped with absolute uniqueness.

There’s no one like us.

When the Spirit of God gives us gifts, He takes into account all that makes us who we are (skills, abilities, talents, personality, desires, etc) and uniquely equips and empowers us with a supernatural capacity to serve the body as only we can.

A question I always get asked in this is how can we each be uniquely gifted when there are so few gifts listed?

Four main texts regarding spiritual gifts:

Romans 12:1-13.

1 Cor 12-14.

Eph 4:7-11.

1 Peter 4:10-11.

When you look at all those passages you will see a number of different gifts listed and the lists are not the same…we need not think of them as an exhaustive list...

Although there are some specifics to the identifications of each gift, they function more like broad categories the Spirit selects from

Think of them as being on a color palette and each gift is a color and God takes His paintbrush and paints you…he dips into different color categories and paints you a unique color.

You’re not the same as someone else.

Even if all of us had the gift of teaching we would all teach differently, uniquely.

1 Corinthians 12:4–6 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.”

Varieties…same Spirit...

varieties of gifts but the same Spirit.

varieties of ministries but the same Lord.

ministries = same word used in 1 Peter 4 10 as service…

The Lord gives believers unique ministry arenas in which to fulfill their giftedness.

varieties of effects but same God energizing those gifts.

effects = word we get energy from...

All three members of the Godhead are involved in the distribution and use of the gifts.

Jesus freely measures out what we have…Eph 4:7

Ephesians 4:7 (NASB95)

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

He measures out that gift in different ways…the word for gift here is a different word for gift that emphasizes the gift is given freely…as a king freely gives bounty to his people after a victory...

So however much Jesus decided to give us is exactly the right amount…no more, no less than what he deemed was right for us.

You might have a gift that comes from the category of teaching, or showing mercy, or service, etc...but the measure by which you are given that gift might vary.

God gives the strength and faith necessary to operate that measured gift…Rom 12:3; 1 Peter 4:11

Romans 12:3 “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

1 Peter 4:11 “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

We’ve already seen how God provides the varieties of power to energize and accomplish them…so he applies the faith, strength, and energies to accomplish what He wants accomplished.

Remember we’re talking about divine capacities, not natural talents…talents are just one aspect of the total package.

Unbelievers have talents…when an unbeliever trusts in Christ, the Holy Spirit can then take that natural talent and enable it with divine power to be used to benefit the body and glorify Christ.

Our spiritual gifts are a unique capacity to minister to the body of Christ as the Spirit of God flows through us.

Every believer has them and you’ve got one that nobody else has.

So you take that unique gift in a unique ministry with a unique effect with a measured amount of grace and a measured amount of faith and then you add your physical capabilities, your training, your background, your opportunities, your environment and all your influences and you function like nobody else … nobody else.

As a body, we need every believer to function as God designed them if we are to grow the way God desires.

1 Corinthians 12:12–15 “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.”

Your feet can’t go around saying well because I’m not a hand I’m not important so I’m not going to serve.

No believer should compare or contrast themselves with any other member, because each one is different and each one is important.

I suppose I could learn to walk on my hands, but I prefer to use my feet, even though I have not yet learned to type or to eat with my feet. The ear cannot see and the eye cannot hear, yet each organ has an important ministry. And have you ever tried to smell through your ears?

Everyone is equally important!

1 Corinthians 12:16–17 “And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?”

Everyone has a different function.

1 Corinthians 12:18 “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”

God uniquely designed the body to look and function the way He wants it.

God, in his grace, made some to be toes, some to be fingers, some to be eyes, some to be tongues…etc.

1 Corinthians 12:19–23 “If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,”

There is a tendency today for some people to magnify the “showy” gifts.

Some believers feel very guilty because they possess gifts that do not put them into the limelight.

It is this attitude that Paul speaks against here.

Just because someone functions differently, that does not mean their function is inferior.

Remember who gives the gifts.

The Holy Spirit equips some with “behind the scene gifts”… not one who desires to teach or preach but you love showing mercy to others, enjoy helping out where ever help is needed...

The Holy Spirit sees fit to provide every church with the exact gifting that church needs…

if there seems to be an abundance of certain gifts and an absence of certain gifts, then we need to recognize that is by God’s design.

We can’t underestimate anyone’s significance.

However God has designed us, all of us are to function in that role…

Truth #1 — God Has Uniquely Equipped Every Believer to Serve Him.

Major Truth #2 …

We Are Responsible for Managing Those Gifts as Stewards of Grace.

1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

We are to manage them faithfully.

Steward = house manager…which means we are responsible for managing our gift.

We don’t own our gift…God does...

We’ve been entrusted with those gifts…we are to manage them faithfully.

We can either increase it or bury it. God wants us to increase it…meaning put it to work...we’re under obligation to use our gift.

God can call us into account at any time with how we used it…did we use it, did we use it for the right purpose, did we use it faithfully

Remember 1 Corinthians 4:1–2 “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”

So we are to be trustworthy, faithful, in how we manage them.

We are to manage them as resources God gave to display His grace.

Gift = charisma, that’s the word from which we get grace.

In Ephesians 4:7 when it talks about Christ’s gift, it uses a word that emphasizes the freeness of the gift.

In 1 Cor 12 is talking about the character of the gift, it’s a spiritual capacity…distributed and controlled by the Spirit.

Here we see our spiritual gift is a gift of grace.

We receive it...It is undeserved. It us unearned.

We have no claim on our gifts!

manifold grace of God … this word means diversified, multi-colored

It reminds us again of 1 Corinthians 12:4–6 he says there are varieties of gifts, there are varieties of ministries, there are varieties of effects.

God gives these gifts and He gives these ministries and He gives these effects in all kinds of varieties, manifold, multi-colored giftedness.

Some people get bogged down trying to get overly technical to identify their specific gift and define it.

I know there have been all kinds of computer studies that will tell you your gift. You fill out two sheets and they’ll send you back a little paper that tells you your gift.

I don’t think you can really analyze it by a computer.

We are never commanded to discover our gift…we are commanded to use it.

How we discover our gift is to simply be active in ministry to others, allowing the Holy Spirit to use us how He sees fit, and fill us with His power to show grace and glorify Christ.

Because there is such variety in how God shows His grace, it is equally variable in how he uses us to do that.

What helps you display God’s grace in a unique way as you minister through the power of the Holy Spirit?

The key is just be available to be used and then seize those opportunities...

We are obligated to use them for the benefit of the body.

Employ = serve = used 3x in these two verses.

It is the word we get deacon from…it is someone who waits tables...

Now no gift is for any individual to use for their own personal benefit...

Gifts are not given so that believers can congratulate themselves on their abilities. They are bestowed “to serve others.

There are a variety of ways you can serve others with them.

The point is, no spiritual gift is given to benefit self…they are to be used for the benefit of others…to lift up the other person with the multi-colored grace God wants to extend to them at that moment in the way only you can do.

When we choose to not use our gifts, we cripple the body.

Just think through Paul’s analogy of the body and if we had people who were uniquely gifted by God to be eyes but wanted to be hands or feet or mouths, then we would be blind.

We are to use them the way God intends.

1 Peter 4:11 “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Peter places the gifts into two general categories…serving gifts and speaking gifts.

All gifts are serving gifts, but their function is either speaking or serving.

You either have been given a speaking gift or a serving gift.

You could also have a combination of both.

You can go back to those lists in 1 Cor 12 and Romans 12 and identify the category each one would fall into.

If you have speaking gifts, speak the truth of God.

Utterances = That term is used of Scripture.

It refers to the Old Testament.

It is so used in Acts 7:38 and in Romans 3:2.

Whenever we use a speaking gift, we must speak God’s truth, not our own ideas.

He is simply saying if we have a speaking gift, whenever we speak and use that gift, we better make sure it aligns with Scripture.

Peter makes a very, very strong statement here.

If you have serving gifts, serve with the strength of God.

Secondly, if you have a serving gift, then you do that by the strength which God supplies.

If our gift is the gift of helps or a gift in the area of administration or giving or mercy, a gift of discerning, some function of serving the body of Christ, then we better do that by the strength which God supplies.

We better be energized by the Holy Spirit, walking in the Spirit, Spirit-filled so that we’re not doing it in the flesh.

How will we know?

When we serve out of love for others and a desire to glorify God.

We use them faithfully with the goal of glorifying God.

At the end of verse 11 he says, “So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever amen.”

What’s the intention of all that we do?

that God may be glorified in all things, everything we do...

We can only glorify God through Jesus Christ.

“To whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.”

That should be our ultimate priority…glorify God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Summary on gifts:

Every believer has them, but individually they are unique.

They sovereignly come from God as a free gift of His grace.

They are spiritual capacities energized by the Holy Spirit to minister to the body.

We are to use them as faithful stewards for His glory and the benefit of the body.

They are as varied as fingerprints.

Speaking gifts must be used to communicate God’s truth.

Serving gifts must be used with His strength.

Lesson For Life — God Wants Us To Invest The Gifts He Entrusted to Us.

Remember the 3rd principle of stewardship…We can either invest or bury what God entrusts to us…God wants us to invest it.

Since the gifts are to be used to benefit others…how are you displaying God’s multi-layered grace to others?

Looking at all of who you are…your skills, talents, desires, experiences,interests, etc…

where would you like God to use you?

If you’re not sure where or how you let’s talk!

Remember how God has uniquely equipped you is important and necessary for the body to grow…every one is needed.

Don’t think that just because someone else is already doing what you may want to do and have the capacity to do that you are not needed...

Ephesians 4:15–16 (NASB95)

but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Let’s ask for God’s help.