The Gifts of the Spirit Part One

Activities - is what we talked about last week in diversities. There are diversities of gifts and diversities of how the gifts are used. The same gift but used in the character of each person.

As we start to now move into the gifts of the Spirit lets read over them as a whole:

We find this list:

1 Corinthians 12:4–11 ESV

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 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. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

We than read this list:

Romans 12:6–8 ESV

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

And then:

1 Corinthians 12:28 ESV

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

Here is the list as a whole

Apostle

Prophecy

Evangelist

Serving – Also referred to as “ministering,” the Greek word diakonian, from which we get the English “deacon,” means service of any kind, the broad application of practical help to those in need.

Teaching – This gift involves the analysis and proclamation of the Word of God, explaining the meaning, context and application to the hearer’s life. The gifted teacher is one who has the unique ability to clearly instruct and communicate knowledge, specifically the doctrines of the faith.

Encouraging – Also called “exhortation,” this gift is evident in those who consistently call upon others to heed and follow God’s truth, which may involve correction or building others up by strengthening weak faith or comforting in trials.

Giving – Gifted givers are those who joyfully share what they have with others, whether it is financial, material, or the giving of personal time and attention. The giver is concerned for the needs of others and seeks opportunities to share goods, money, and time with them as needs arise.

Leadership – The gifted leader is one who rules, presides over, or has the management of other people in the church. The word literally means “guide” and carries with it the idea of one who steers a ship. One with the gift of leadership rules with wisdom and grace and exhibits the fruit of the Spirit in his life as he leads by example.

Mercy – Closely linked with the gift of encouragement, the gift of mercy is obvious in those who are compassionate toward others who are in distress, showing sympathy and sensitivity coupled with a desire and the resources to lessen their suffering in a kind and cheerful manner.

Word of wisdom – The fact that this gift is described as the “word” of wisdom indicates that it is one of the speaking gifts. This gift describes someone who can understand and speak forth biblical truth in such a way as to skillfully apply it to life situations with all discernment.

Word of knowledge – This is another speaking gift that involves understanding truth with an insight that only comes by revelation from God. Those with the gift of knowledge understand the deep things of God and the mysteries of His Word.

Faith – All believers possess faith in some measure because it is one of the gifts of the Spirit bestowed on all who come to Christ in faith (). The spiritual gift of faith is exhibited by one with a strong and unshakeable confidence in God, His Word, His promises, and the power of prayer to effect miracles.

Healing – Although God does still heal today, the ability of men to produce miraculous healings belonged to the apostles of the first century church to affirm that their message was from God. Christians today do not have the power to heal the sick or resurrect the dead. If they did, the hospitals and morgues would be full of these “gifted” people emptying beds and coffins everywhere.

Miraculous powers – Also known as the working of miracles, this is another temporary sign gift which involved performing supernatural events that could only be attributed to the power of God (). This gift was exhibited by Paul (), Peter (), Stephen (), and Phillip (), among others.

Distinguishing (discerning) of spirits – Certain individuals possess the unique ability to determine the true message of God from that of the deceiver, Satan, whose methods include purveying deceptive and erroneous doctrine. Jesus said many would come in His name and would deceive many (), but the gift of discerning spirits is given to the Church to protect it from such as these.

Speaking in tongues – The gift of tongues is one of the temporary “sign gifts” given to the early Church to enable the gospel to be preached throughout the world to all nations and in all known languages. It involved the divine ability to speak in languages previously unknown to the speaker. This gift authenticated the message of the gospel and those who preached it as coming from God. The phrase “diversity of tongues” (KJV) or “different kinds of tongues” (NIV) effectively eliminates the idea of a “personal prayer language” as a spiritual gift.

Interpretation of tongues – A person with the gift of interpreting tongues could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language that was being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand.

Helps – Closely related to the gift of mercy is the gift of helps. Those with the gift of helps are those who can aid or render assistance to others in the church with compassion and grace. This has a broad range of possibilities for application. Most importantly, this is the unique ability to identify those who are struggling with doubt, fears, and other spiritual battles; to move toward those in spiritual need with a kind word, an understanding and compassionate demeanor; and to speak scriptural truth that is both convicting and loving.

We will get into each of these in more detail as we continue, but that is the list as a whole

I want to first look at this idea of the gifts of Ministries.

Diversities of Ministries:

1 Corinthians 12:5 ESV

and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

We see the word services or ministries is how this can be translated. In other words there are different ministries that are giftings.

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

In Ephesians we see this list of ministry giftings: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, and Pastor-teacher:

Gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers: Paul described four offices (not five, as in the commonly yet erroneously termed “five-fold ministry”).

(Guzik, David. Ephesians. Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013. Print. David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible.)

Apostles: Literally translated or derived from the idea of “Sent-out”. Yet in our context we know that they have a special ministry. Their main job was to layout the foundation of the New Testament. How do we know that:

Ephesians 2:20 ESV

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

I find it interesting that many people leave this out in their lists as a whole

They do it as if it does not even exsist

This is not true we read it, we know it is there so we need to discuss this

I know that there are some who use the title as Apostle. I am not crazy about this.

They are giving themselves a man made title and not a title by God.

I say this becasue I do not believe that people will have this same type of title. And many use titles to give them an authority that will build up themselves and not work of the Lord.

The Apostles were about being bondservants not about being Apostles

This title is one that comes with humility and in that humility a natural authority give by God.

We need to remember that these gifts and callings we have are not given to us by education, or position, They are given to us by God and are not our own to give out:

Ephesians 2:6 ESV

and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

We read this in the beginning of : “and He gave...” God in His grace, or unmerited giving, is the one who has given us these gifts.

They are not by our works just as our salvation is not by our works -

God does not give us these things based on our worth, for Jesus is our only worth

He gives by His grace

The Apostle position is one that I believe can and is manipulated today. If one is an apostle, others will not be able to argue with their authority.

Apostle so-n-so said so it must be true.

This is Dangerous

The original Apostles were in position to lay a foundation as we read in . Put today that foundation is laid so we no longer need that type of person to write scripture.

Let me know say I know this sounds like I am picking and choosing which gifts are for today and which are not.

That is not what I am doing - I am showing your the position and calling of that gift.

Can God rise up another Apostle today - of course.

Also the apostle today is a person who is be called to be God’s special ambassadors.

A missionary is one who is sent out,

one who has a special calling on their life to go into the world or be “sent-out” into the world in a gifted way.

Think of:

James Hudson Taylor

Jim Elliot and His wife Elizabeth Elliot

These people are called to a work that is gifted by God. It takes a special calling to do this.

The Calling or gifting of the first Apostles we see have this criteria:

Acts 1:21–23 ESV

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias.

This was who they were looking for in order to fill this spot.

Many believe they jumped the gun and that person was to be Paul/Saul

he also fit the criteria as we know he would have been involved in all these things as well

He is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles still.

Next lets look at the Prophet

The Greek word translated “prophecy” in both passages properly means “a speaking forth.” According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the word refers to “discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events.” To prophesy is to declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of God, or to make known in any way the truth of God that is designed to influence people. (https://www.gotquestions.org/spiritual-gifts-list.html)

Prophecy is a gift that many just assume it is for-telling the future.

This is not the case.

Some also believe it is what happens in a bible study

In some cases this may happen but it is not the same gift

A prophet is one who “forth-tells” the word of God

this means that one may tell what is to come

But most importantly it is telling the heart of God to others in an unknown way from a physical sense.

One may have special knowledge on what you need to be cautioned of

What the next steps are

Over all it is a direct message from God.

We also need to remember the seriousness of prophecy:

Deuteronomy 18:20–22 ESV

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18

And we need to also understand that all prophecy is allowed to be judged:

1 Corinthians 14:31–33 ESV

For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

1 Corinthians 14:

We have every right to hear a “thus says the Lord” and not head it so long as it does not line up with scripture.

We are not told anywhere to just believe, but to have a heart that is seeking the truth of God.

Again manipulation of a gift is not from God

He never forces us but always us to seek Him in order to believe fully

If a gifting ever manipulate us or forces us to do - it is not from God

the gift informs then the choice is up to the person to do or not to do

Next lets look at the Evangelist:

This is gift to be able to deliver the gospel message clearly and in a special way

We do read such verses as:

2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

do the work of an evangelist - or tell others of the Gospel message

This is the work of all of us, pastors and layperson alike

But this gift is very special in the sense that God uses them to reach the heart of man in a spacial way

Billy Graham - Franklyn Graham - Greg Laurie - Moody - Billy Sunday - George Whitefield - and many others

There are many others this is just a few.

These men were able to reach the hearts of millions by just doing what they were called to do

The Gifts of the Spirit Part One

What is the Baptism of the Spirit