Gifted: By God For God

Now before we dive into God’s word, I need to take a little pastoral privledge here and show you this.

As I was laying in bed that first night, it hit me, I have 3 daughters. And the church has a discipleship issue when it comes to raising boys to be men worthy of my daughter’s hands. So I figure I have about 20 years to help fix the discipleship problem in our churches.

For the next 3 weeks were going to be looking at Spiritual Gifts as a bridge into our fall series which will tackle discipleship.

Set let’s pray.

Super hero movies have been all the rage lately. The most recent Avengers Move already grossed $1 Billion Dollars worldwide. Even The Incredibles 2 has grossed close to $1 Billion and its a cartoon. Of the 35 movies that have grossed a billion dollars world wide in theaters, 9 of them have been superhero movies.

I think one of the reasons why people have been so infatuated with super heroes, is that many of us have this desire to have power to truly affect change in the world around us. For me, it’s always been Captain America. Not only does he embody agressive patriotism, but he started off as just a normal guy with a big heart. And then along comes a german scientist comes along and gives him the power to change the world. Changed by the power of Steroids…the American way.

For followers of Jesus, we don’t have to live in the Marvel Universe or the less popular and highly criticized DC Universe.

Changed by the power of Steroids…the American way.

For Christians, we have been given spiritual power for the purpose of changing the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. This spiritual power comes in the form of spiritual gifts.

John 14:12 ESV

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

1 Corinthians 12:1–13 ESV

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 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. 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.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit will come.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

We will receive power.

The Gospel means that Jesus abandoned His heavenly dwelling to be born in a manger. He lived a perfect life, demonstrated the power of God by doing signs and wonders, and even though he never sinned, he was betrayed, beaten, bruised, and crucified by being nailed to a cross. He was buried in a tomb and on the 3rd day He was raised again.

Now many of us think that Jesus died just so that we can go to heaven, but salvation is more than just a parachute that deploys upon death.

Jesus died, rose from the dead and then commissioned his disciples to change the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. To each one of Jesus’ disciples throughout history, has been given a spiritual gift to further his mission from the day the church started to the day He returns.

We are not gifted for our own good and self advancement.

Big Idea: Know your role, play your part.

We are gifted that God’s mission might be accomplished through us individually and collectively in the church.

1 Corinthians 12:1–6 ESV

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 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.

Now just like today, in the time Paul was writing to the church at Corinth, there was/is a lot of confusion related to Spiritual gifts. One of the biggest misconceptions is when and how spiritual gifts are given. They aren’t given until you are actually a Christian.

1. Spiritual Gifts are given by God at the time of our salvation. ()

1 Corinthians 12:1–6 ESV

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 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.

God the Holy Spirit to be specific endows us with power. However, it’s always good to point out the Trinity when it shows up in the pages of scripture. This is also a picture of the Trinity: Spirit, Lord, and God.

Now I get that only part of this main point is explicit in this text. That gifts are given by God seems to be pretty self evident. However, the second part is somewhat confusing. When do we receive our spiritual gifts.

Some want to say that we’re born with natural God-given talents and abilities that when we become followers of Jesus, are then redirected for His glory. However, based on scripture, particularly the book of acts, we see the followers of Jesus doing stuff they’ve never done before only after the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost.

There are a variety of Gifts and it goes without saying that not everyone is endowed with all of the gifts. All of the spiritual gifts are distributed amongst the different members fo the church. That way we all learn that we need one another.

-wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguish between spirits, tongues, interpretation

There are a variety of spiritual gifts.

-prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy

-apostle, prophecy, teachers, miracles, healing, helping, administration, tongues.

-hospitality, prayer,

Now personally, some people are born with special talents for art, or freakish athletic ability.

Now yes, some people are born with special talents for art, or freakish athletic ability, math, science or even writing.

Now personally, some people are born with special talents for art, or freakish athletic ability.

Spiritual gifts are give

It is true that all people have talents and it could be said that those talents come from God. But Spiritual gifts are specifically given for a purpose.

The point Paul is trying to make is that its not by shear effort that these gifts are obtained. They are given by God.

Illustration: When I was a young kid growing up in church, my Sunday school teacher told me what she thought my spiritual gifts are. I was 12 and been a Christian for 2 years. She also told me that I would be a pastor some day. Looking back she had the spiritual gift of discernment. Because of that, there were times on Sunday morning that I would arrive to church and find that I would be praying for the offering that day or would be telling my testimony in class. Forcing us to use our gifts. And she did this for others in the church too. We are in desperate need of those with discernment to prayerfully and humbly help others identify and use their spiritual gifts.

Application: So to know your role is to discern whether you are a follower of Jesus. Once you’ve established that you are, you must know that there is something special about you. Some role that God has given to you . Then you need to find out what that role is, by trial and error, asking people in the church. And then you need to work to develop that gifting as you build up the church.

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 ESV

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.

2. Spiritual Gifts are given for God as He accomplishes His mission through us. ()

Spiritual Gifts are meant to build up the church.

There are a variety of spiritual gifts.

-wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguish between spirits, tongues, interpretation

-prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy

-apostle, prophecy, teachers, miracles, healing, helping, administration, tongues.

-hospitality, prayer,

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 ESV

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.

3. Recognize that you a part of something bigger.

Application: How do we know what our spiritual gifts are? Well, I’m not a big proponent of tests? The best way to know what your spiritual gifts are is to immerse yourself in the church and let others tell you what they see in you.

When you interact with the church, you will find yourself using your gifts by nature. People will see those gifts and affirm you in them.

The best thing for you to do when you identify your gifting is to actually use it. Find someone else who has been using that same gift to build up the church and then let them help you develop that gift. This is a part of discipleship.

But it does take a willingness to join in. It takes a willingness to be open. It takes a willingness to serve in a way that others can affirm your gifts.

In my LifeGroup, one of the things that I’m doing is getting to know people and then identifying their spiritual gifts. As we do life together it becomes apparent what their spiritual gifts are. Now I just have to figure out a way to put them to work.

The danger: We will always be tempted towards comparison and competition. It’s a dangerous snare that we find it difficult to celebrate the gifts of others particularly when we see them as more important than ours. The truth is we must always remember that we have a place and a purpose that God has uniquely equipped only us to do. And without our participation, the church suffers.

There are also those who need to hear and respond to the gospel so that they may receive gifts to build up the church.

Reflection: How will you use your gifts to make a difference?