For the Common Good Pt. 5

Intro: The Spirit at Work Among Us

Good afternoon Church! And welcome to Pt. 5 of our series within a series as we have been camping in Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians which we have titled “For the Common Good.” Now, over the last few weeks, we’ve seen that before the Holy Spirit comes into a believer’s life, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Paul says in Romans 8 that we were hostile to God — unable and unwilling to submit to Him. As J.D. reminded us a couple of weeks ago, what needs to happen first in every person is the miracle of regeneration. The Spirit of God must bring us from death to life, opening our eyes to see Jesus as Lord and softening our hearts to submit to His work in us.

And once the Spirit comes, we’re not receiving some kind of impersonal power or energy or essence. We are receiving a Person. The Holy Spirit is not a force to use — He is the very presence of God who indwells His people. This means that He doesn’t simply improves us or modifies our behavior; He transforms us completely.

Ezekiel prophesied that God would one day take our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh that he would take His law and write it on our hearts and cause us to walk in His ways. This is what happens when the Spirit enters our lives. He transforms our worship. As we saw last Sunday — He takes us from self-centered worship to Christ-centered worship. And as He transforms our worship, He aligns our perspective. What once revolved around me now revolves around God. And because it revolves around God, it begins to revolve around that which He loves — people.

When that happens, our purpose changes too. We begin to realize that the presence of the Spirit in us is not just for our own benefit, but — as we saw in V7 — it’s for the common good, for the building up of the whole body of Christ.

Now, as we move into verses 8 through 11, Paul takes us a step further. He moves from the purpose of the gifts to the practice of the gifts — from why the Spirit gives to how the Spirit works. And what we’re going to see in these verses is that the gifts of the Spirit are not random abilities or spiritual upgrades. They are the manifestation of the Spirit Himself.

When God gives us gifts, He’s not just handing us spiritual tools — He’s giving us Himself. The Spirit is both the giver and the gift. That’s a crucial distinction, because if we misunderstand this — if we begin to treat the gifts as things detached from the presence of God — we’ll end up with the same problems the church in Corinth faced: division, pride, and competition.

But when we understand that every spiritual gift is actually an expression of His own presence and power in us, everything changes. Because through these gifts, the Spirit is not only working through us — He is also shaping and transforming us.

1. The gifts of the Spirit are not just what the Spirit gives—they’re on of the ways He dwells within us.

And this brings me to an image that helps us understand this:

In the year 1879, Thomas Edison introduced one of the greatest inventions in human history — the light bulb. This invention changed the world. Think about it: who doesn’t have a light bulb in their house? Over the years, it has been improved and redesigned, but the idea remains the same — a small glass bulb that brings light wherever it’s connected to power.

Now, here’s the thing. Edison didn’t just give the world a new object. He gave the world electricity in a form it could use. A light bulb by itself is completely useless. It can sit there looking perfect, shaped just right, but unless the current of power is flowing through it, it produces no light. The real gift is not the glass or the filament — it is the power that makes it glow.

In the same way, you and I are like those light bulbs. Every believer has been designed uniquely by God — different shapes, different callings, different wiring. But none of us shines by ourselves. What makes the difference is the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us.

The gifts of the Spirit, then, are the ways that His power and presence are manifested through our lives. It’s not that God just gives us energy to use; it’s that His own presence fills us and produces the light. The Spirit isn’t just the electricity — He’s the person who chooses to live inside the lamp. He doesn’t just send power from afar; He abides in us, empowering us to shine for the good of the body and the glory of Christ.

So when you see the gifts of the Spirit in operation, what you’re really seeing is the current of the living God flowing through His people. We are the light bulbs — He is the power. And when His presence flows through us, the whole church lights up. So if you have your Bibles go with me to:

1 Corinthians 12:8–11 NASB 2020

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (V10) and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. (V11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

With this in mind, in today’s text we will begin to look at four ways the Holy Spirit builds up the body of Christ. And as we’ll see, the Spirit does this through the gifts He gives His people:

I. The Spirit Gives Understanding (V8)

The first way the Holy Spirit builds up the body of Christ is by giving His people understanding. Look with me at verse 8

1 Corinthians 12:8 NASB 2020

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

Now, before we unpack what Paul’s list here in V8, I want to highlight two important clarifications.

First, the list of gifts we find here in 1 Corinthians 12 is not exhaustive. Paul isn’t giving us every possible gift of the Spirit. There are other gifts mentioned in places like Romans 12 and Ephesians 4, and we also see various expressions of the Spirit’s work throughout the New Testament church. So what we have here is not a complete catalog but a representative picture—examples of how the Spirit moves and equips the body for ministry. The key idea is that these are gifts wisely, freely and sovereignly distributed by the Holy Spirit to each believer as He wills.

Second, and equally important, we must understand that ability does not equal maturity. 

2. Just because a believer possesses a spiritual gift does not mean they are spiritually mature.

Paul already established that every believer has received a gift from the Spirit—no one is left out. But he also made it clear in the opening chapters of this letter that the Corinthians, though rich in gifts, were poor in maturity. He even thanked God that they were “not lacking in any gift” (1:7), and then spent the rest of the letter correcting their pride, their divisions, and their immaturity. So before we go any further, we need to remember this:

3. Having a spiritual gift is not the same as walking in spiritual maturity.

The gifts of the Spirit are meant to build up the body, not to puff up the individual.

Now back to V8, notice the way Paul phrases his statement at the beggining of V8 — “For to one is given ______” and then “to another ________”. In other words, not everyone receives the same gift. Paul’s making something really clear here. And if you remember what we saw last Sunday in verse 7, he already told us that to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

So what was Paul saying here in V8? Here in V8 Paul is reminding us that while every believer has received a gift, we don’t all have the same one. The Spirit is the one who moves among us, flowing through each member of the body, granting to some the gift of words of wisdom and to others the gift of words of knowledge.

So the Spirit Himself is the one at work. He’s the one empowering believers.

4. When Paul speaks of the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, he’s describing gifts through which the Spirit gives the church understanding.

Now, as we proceed this afternoon my plan was look at the 9 gifts mentioned in V8-11 (however we will begin with the first two) So, let’s begin with the first one.

Word of Wisdom:

Paul begins his list of spiritual gifts with what he calls “the word of wisdom.” The phrase comes from two Greek words — logos meaning “word” or “utterance,” and sophia meaning “wisdom.” Now, if we trace this back through the letter, Paul is clearly touching a nerve that runs deep in the Corinthian church. From chapter 1, verse 17, all the way through chapter 2, Paul confronts the so-called “wisdom” that had captivated the Corinthians.

In the name of wisdom, they had begun to reject both Paul and the gospel he preached. As we’ve seen throughout the first part of our series, Return to the Gospel, in turning away from the gospel, they were, in fact, turning away from Christ Himself. They were chasing after the wisdom of the age—philosophical eloquence, persuasive rhetoric, intellectual pride. But Paul deliberately refuses to meet them on those terms. He says he didn’t come with “excellence of speech or wisdom,” Why not? Because,

5. True wisdom is not found in human eloquence or clever reasoning, but in the message of Christ crucified.

So when Paul uses the phrase “word of wisdom,” he’s taking one of their favorite terms and redefining it in light of the Spirit’s work. He’s showing them that the kind of wisdom the Spirit gives is radically different from the wisdom they admired. The “word of wisdom” isn’t some mystical insight or secret revelation that sets one believer above another.

6. The Word of Wisdom is Spirit-inspired utterance that recognizes and proclaims that the crucified Christ is the wisdom of God.

As Paul said earlier in Chapter 2, “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory In other words, the truly wise person is the one who, by the Spirit, grasps the beauty and power of the gospel and declares it.

7. The Spirit enables believers to see what the world cannot see — that the cross, which seems like weakness and foolishness, is in fact the wisdom and power of God.

And it’s worth noting: this particular gift doesn’t show up again in any of Paul’s later lists. That may suggest that Paul’s main concern here isn’t to elevate this as some special class of revelation, but to confront the Corinthians’ obsession with human wisdom by re-centering them on the wisdom that only comes through the Spirit — the wisdom of the cross.

We actually see a clear picture of the Word of Wisdom in Paul’s own ministry. In 1 Corinthians 2:1–5

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 NASB 2020

And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (V3-4) I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (V5) so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.

And what or who is the source of this wisdom?

1 Corinthians 1:22–24 NASB 2020

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, (V24) but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

That’s it—that’s the Word of Wisdom in action. Paul had the learning, the intellect, the ability to impress them with arguments, yet he deliberately chose to rely on the Spirit’s power rather than human persuasion. He came in weakness, fear, and trembling, but what flowed from his lips was true wisdom—Spirit-given understanding centered on Christ crucified. Through that message, hearts were changed and the church was built.

And that’s what this gift looks like today.

8. The Word of Wisdom is not about being clever, articulate, or persuasive—it’s about being Christ-centered.

It’s the Spirit enabling us to apply the truth of the gospel to life in a way that exalts Christ and strengthens others. Sometimes that happens in preaching; other times it happens across a coffee table, in counseling, or in a moment of prayer. It’s when someone brings gospel clarity into confusion, gospel hope into despair, gospel humility into pride. The truly wise believer doesn’t just point people to solutions—they point them to the Savior.

So, when we counsel, when we teach, when we speak into someone’s pain or confusion, the Word of Wisdom reminds us that true wisdom always leads us back to the cross. The Spirit gives His people wisdom not so we can sound profound, but so that through our words, others might see the profound beauty of Christ and learn to depend on Him. Now this brings us to the next gift Paul mentions—the Word of Knowledge.

Word of Knowledge:

Like the first, this one also begins with the word logos—meaning “word” or “utterance”—and is joined with gnosis, the Greek word for “knowledge.” Once again, Paul is reclaiming a term that the Corinthians had twisted. The church at Corinth prided itself on knowledge—worldly knowledge, philosophical understanding, and intellectual status. They were impressed by eloquence and style, following their favorite leaders based on personality rather than the message of the cross. So just as Paul reframed “wisdom” through the lens of the gospel, he now reframes “knowledge” as something that flows from the Spirit, not from human pride.

The exact nature of this gift is harder to define. Some suggest Paul is describing a supernatural endowment of knowledge—factual information revealed directly by the Spirit, knowledge that could not be known otherwise. Others view it as an inspired ability to teach or to give deep spiritual insight into the meaning of Scripture. Both ideas carry truth, but given its placement between revelation and prophecy, it most likely refers to a Spirit-given revelation

9. Word of knowledge is a Spirit-give revelation, a moment where God imparts knowledge of something hidden for the purpose of building up the church.

A powerful biblical example of this appears in Acts 5 with Ananias and Sapphira. The couple sold a piece of property and presented part of the proceeds to the apostles while pretending to bring the whole amount. Peter, having no natural way of knowing their deception, confronted them, saying, “You have not lied to men but to God.” In that moment, Peter received supernatural knowledge—a revelation from the Holy Spirit exposing what was hidden. This then is an example of what a word of knowledge may look like in action: not just intellectual understanding, but a Spirit-given insight that brings truth to light and protects the integrity of the church.

Ultimately, the Word of Knowledge reminds us that the Spirit equips the church not merely with information, but with divine insight—truth revealed for the good of the body.

10. Through this gift, the Spirit builds up the church by exposing what is hidden, affirming what is true, and guiding God’s people to walk in integrity and discernment.

The goal, as always, is not to elevate the gifted person, but to exalt Christ and strengthen His body through Spirit-given understanding.

We see the Word of Knowledge most powerfully when it serves others in love.

11. The Spirit doesn’t reveal hidden things to satisfy our curiosity or make us appear spiritual — He does it to bring comfort, conviction, or healing to the people of God.

Sometimes, in a moment of prayer or worship, the Spirit may impress something specific on your heart — a burden, a sorrow, a sense that someone nearby is struggling in a particular way. You may not know all the details, but in that moment, the Holy Spirit is prompting you to minister. Perhaps you feel a sudden heaviness for someone battling depression, or a quiet conviction to encourage a person who’s on the verge of giving up. That’s the Spirit using this gift to build up the body, guiding you to speak life, hope, and truth into their situation

This is what a healthy expression of the Word of Knowledge looks like in the church. It’s humble, it’s Spirit-led, and it always points people back to Christ. It’s not about calling people out — it’s about calling people closer to the heart of Jesus.

12. When the Spirit gives knowledge, He reveals what is hidden not to shame, but to heal; not to expose, but to restore.

You can see glimpses of this throughout the New Testament — Jesus Himself models it in John 4 with the Samaritan woman at the well. He reveals knowledge of her life that only God could know, but He does it with grace and compassion, to draw her to living water. The same Spirit who worked through Jesus now works through His people, equipping us to know how to minister wisely and tenderly to those in need. So this means that:

13. When the Spirit gives knowledge, our role is simple: listen, discern, and obey.

Let Him lead you to speak truth in love, to comfort the weary, and to strengthen the broken. Because the Spirit knows the needs of the body even better than we do — and He delights to use His people as instruments of His wisdom, knowledge, and grace.

As we close today, we’ve seen that the Holy Spirit builds up the body of Christ by giving His people understanding—through words of wisdom and words of knowledge. These are not given to make us look spiritual, but to make Christ known and His church whole. My desire was to walk through all nine gifts, but for the sake of time, we’ll linger here—because these two set the foundation for how the others must be understood.

Paul begins with wisdom for a reason.

14. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and before we can speak on behalf of God, we must first learn to revere Him.

The Spirit must first transform our worship, aligning our hearts away from idolatry and self-centeredness. He must then align our perspective, teaching us to see others the way Christ sees them—not as projects, but as people deeply loved by God. And finally, He must clarify our purpose—that every gift He gives is meant to build up, not to tear down; to serve, not to shine; to glorify Christ, not ourselves

When those three truths take root—transformation, alignment, and purpose—the Spirit’s gifts begin to flow naturally. The Word of Wisdom teaches us to speak the truth of the cross with humility and power.

15. The Word of Knowledge enables us to see the hidden pain in others, not to expose them, but to bring healing and hope through the love of Christ.

The Spirit reveals so that He can restore.

So as Family in Christ, this is the kind of church we long to be: a people open to the movement of the Spirit, not to draw attention to ourselves, but to magnify Christ; not to expose one another, but to heal, to restore, to edify. May we be a community that listens for the Spirit’s voice, speaks with the Spirit’s wisdom, and serves with the Spirit’s heart—for the glory of God and the good of His body.