Sermon Tone Analysis

Gifts of Grace

I Corinthians 12:1-11

“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.”

I Corinthians 12:4-6

This fall we have been taking some time to look at the Mission Statement of The Seed.

Our Mission statement is simple, but it is not easy.

Our Mission Statement is filled with action words like: know, grow, go and sow!

When we founded The Seed seven years ago, we felt called to “Know God’s Love, Grow in Christ’s Grace, Go in The Power of The Holy Spirit and Sow Seeds of Faith.”

Know! Grow! Go! Sow!

Over the past six weeks, we have looked at the powerful “In Christ” statements found in the Bible.

We have looked at the fact that we are “found in Christ and have faith in Christ.”:

We have looked at the joy of knowing that we are “forgiven in Christ and we are forgiving in Christ.”

We also discovered that we will “finish in Christ because we are God’s masterpiece in Christ.”

Found In Christ!

Faith In Christ!

Forgiven In Christ!

Forgiving In Christ!

Finish in Christ!

God’s Masterpiece In Christ!

When we come to know who we are in Christ and to whom we belong in Christ, we grow in Christ’s grace.

Last week, Pastor Jeff Carver gave us a wonderful message on the person and the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of The Trinity.

The Holy Spirit is the identical twin of the Jesus.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John that He must leave so that He can give us the Holy Spirit to be with us always.

The truth of the Bible is that Holy Spirit has come into each heart of every person who believes Jesus is Lord.

Let us turn in our Bibles today to I Corinthians 12. Before we come to God’s living Word, let us come to our Living Lord in prayer.

“God of all grace, come and shower us anew with Your grace.

Help us to see not only with our hearts, but with our minds Your limitless gifts of grace.

Amen”

I Corinthians 12:1-11

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

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.

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 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.

11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.[i]

In my research this week, I read of an extraordinary manufacturer who gave each of his employees a hanging mirror and a handsome reproduction of the head of Christ for Christmas one year.

The Christian businessman presented the gifts personally with these instructions: “Hang the mirror on one side of the room and the picture of Christ directly across the room, so that when you look in the mirror you will see the face of Christ along with yours.”

Then this pensive admonition: “It’s going to take both to get you through.”[ii]

To be honest with you it will take the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to get us through.

Today, I want to take a few minutes and look at the ministry and mission of the Holy Spirit.

Let us set this passage in context today.

When Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, the church was struggling.

Some in the church looked down upon others in the church.

There were divisions in the church between the rich and poor, the slave and the free, the Jew and the Greek and those who thought they were the gifts from God and those who thought they had no gifts at all.

The members of the church were looking at one another and were placing value judgments on one another based on performance, competence, and charisma.

Some of the members had more “impressive” talents, skills, and gifts than others, and the Corinthian obsession with power and status was causing them to overvalue some members’ contributions and to undervalue the contributions of others.

Paul is writing to teach that each person has been given gifts of grace by the Holy Spirit and all these gifts are given for building up the body.

Well, I could say that things have not changed in 2000 years.

“Now concerning spiritual gifts …” (v. 1).

The word pneumatikon here is different than the word for gifts in verse 4 (charismata).

Paul wants the church to not be uninformed about God’s gifts.

This is Paul’s “so what” and it could be ours.

God wants us to be informed about His gifts of grace.

Gifts of Grace

In our reading today, Paul’s discussion of “spiritual gifts” may sound odd, especially to skeptics.

What in the world are spiritual gifts?

Does God actually bestow, grant, confer or give Christians gifts, talents, and abilities?

“Spiritual gifts” is the word that is used for these gifts of grace.

These gifts of grace, or “Spiritual Gifts” are outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, I Peter 4 and Ephesians 4. I believe that many times, we misunderstand “spiritual gifts.”

Some believe that these gifts of God are primarily miraculous in nature.

Some believe that these gifts are only given to a few people.

Some believe that the gifts given by the Holy Spirit stopped long ago with the Apostles.

Some believe that these gifts are for a person’s own benefit and glory.

I like how D. A. Carson defines “spiritual gifts.”

Carson says that “spiritual gifts can be translated as ‘grace gifts.”[iii]

Spiritual gifts are not something on top of grace or better than grace, but are manifestations of God’s grace to his people.

At their core, spiritual gifts are gifts; they are given.

One cannot merit or earn a spiritual grace gift.

It is something that is given that one does not deserve.

One does not deserve or earn a gift!

This is difficult for individuals to understand because of the achievement-focused cultural context in which we live.

Although we seem to understand the language of gift, we do not live in a culture where a pure gift is understood.

Think of it this way, many celebrations that include gifts typically reflect the idea of achievement, attainment, accomplishment.

“Gifts” are given to people to mark out their achievements.

Children receive “gifts” at Christmastime for being nice as opposed to being naughty.

Graduating seniors get “gifts” to mark their success in completing a program.

Our grandchildren received a gift for making the honor roll.

“Gifts” are given at weddings, promotions, and even at retirements.

Come to think of it, acts of kindness that are not attached to achievement are rare and strikingly beautiful.

In our society today, meaning is found in what is achieved, won, and earned, and achievement gives us a sense of accomplishment, and winning assures us that they are special.

So often in our society when we earn something, it assures us that we have rights and are entitled to special privileges.

Because our lives are filtered through an achievement-centered culture, even encounters with gifts are marred by our performance.

“Gifts” are seen as things that can be achieved or earned.

When we come to this reading today, we need to see a gift as a gift.

Not something we could earn or deserve, but a gift of grace.

I would like to give you a gift today!

No strings attached.

(Hand out little wooden crosses)

I encourage you to hold on to this little cross today.

Think of the gift that God has given to you through His cross of His One and Only Son, Jesus.

What Paul is saying in verse three is that “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”

Our faith is a gift!

We didn’t choose this gift!

We didn’t earn this gift of faith!