Spirit Filled: Christian (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 12:1-11; 27-31 Spirit Filled Christian Part 2 Introduction: Good morning. If this is your first time at Refuge Christian Fellowship - Welcome. Two weeks ago we began a new mini series called: Spirit Filled. We are exploring what the Christian’s relationship to the Holy Spirit is supposed to be, or, What does it look like to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit? I shared my own experience of feeling caught in the middle of two opinions - Hyper Charismatic/Pentecostal, on one endbeing Spirit filled means Ecstatic experiences, and physical manifestations only; and on the other end - A Cessasionist - being Spirit filled means conformity to the person of Jesus a life marked by holiness and obedience and not the ecstatic experiences. What we did is we looked at the the life and person of Jesus and saw how present and persistent the Holy Spirit was in his own life and how that was manifest in both the miraculous and a life of holiness and obedience. It seems to me that if our lives are to be patterned after the life of Jesus - then both aspects of the Holy Spirit holiness and obedience and as well as power and the miraculous - should be at work in our lives. Last week we took a non exhaustive look at what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the Christian from Regeneration, to baptism, to filling with the knowledge of God’s love, to equipping, convicting, teaching, - we saw how the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of the Christian is to conform us to God’s image displayed for us in Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s work brings holiness (A difference and distincion, we are God’s people) and obedience to God’s ways - his way of thinking, speaking and living. The NT calls Christians to live their lives in a distinct way - that will allow the Holy Spirit to continue his work of transforming our lives…. But being filled with the Spirit also brings what is called: Charismatic gifts, grace gifts, or manifestations of the Spirit: 1. Gifts, Ministries and manifestations of the Spirit 1. In 1 Corinthians, a pivotal exposition of the work of the Spirit in Christians, Paul summarizes an astonishing variety of manifestations of the Spirit. The common teaching is that he is teaching about spiritual gifts, which are supernatural endowments given by the Holy Spirit to believers at or after conversion to fulfill the mission of the church. This does not even come close to the rich diversity of the Spirit's work which may be through life long abilities, newly given abilities, or momentary manifestations. 2. The common translation of verse 1, "spiritual gifts," is misleading because the word "gifts" is not in the original Greek of this verse. Paul speaks instead of "spirituals" which focuses on the things of the Spirit, how the Spirit moves forward the mission of Jesus through the followers of Jesus. 3. Verse 4 speaks of gifts (charismata), which is any ability you have that the Spirit can pick up, animate, magnify, and repurpose to carry on the work of Jesus; any Spirit-empowered ability that is used in any ministry of the church. We see a list of gifts in Romans 12:6-8. While there are many different kinds of gifts ranging from quite supernatural (working of miracles, healings) to quite natural (administration) all are Spirit empowered abilities and continue the mission of Jesus. 4. Verse 5 goes on to speak of services or ministries (diakonia), the place or role or office where believers are called by God to serve inside and/or outside the church. We see a list of services in Ephesians 4:11-12, “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.” 1. There are many other inside services, elder, deacon, worship leader, children's teacher, as well as community services. 5. Verse 6 speaks of workings or activities (energema), things the Spirit does. It is a very general reference to all sorts of things the Spirit does in and through Christians. Finally in verse 7 Paul speaks of manifestations (phanerosis) of the Spirit and gives a list of them in verses 8-11. 2. What is the Purpose of these Gifts, Ministries and Manifestations? 1. The variety of gifts, services, and workings are manifestations of the Spirit in Jesus followers so we can worship God, serve His people and fulfill our mission of making disciples of all nations. It is we can do God’s kingdom work with His power. They are bestowed by God through the empowerment of His Spirit and must be exercised in love by following biblical principles and guidelines (1 Cor. 13-14). They are all connected to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:21-22). 2. Everyone has at least one and most Jesus-Followers have several "giftings" No person has all of them. 3. Listen to Isaiah 61 and how the Spirit works on God’s anointed Servant. It says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” 4. Or How Peter talks about Jesus in Acts 10:38 - "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him 1. The Holy Spirit does God’s work of restoring, and redeeming, comforting, and healing, lifting up and strengthening - the work of God’s kingdom with God’s power. 5. Listen to how these workings of the Spirit are described in the NT 1. 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, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. - Ephesians 4:11-16 2. “To each (Christian) is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 3. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” - 1 Peter 4:10-11 4. So if you are a Christian - you have the Spirit of God. When Jesus finished his work of redemption, he poured out his Holy Spirit on his Church. Each individual Christian is given a measure of the Holy Spirit to empower you for service to continue the mission of Jesus - in the world at large and in his church. 1. “The traditional model of the church is that of a pyramid, with the the pastor perched precariously on it’s pinnacle, like a little pope in his own church, while the laity are arrayed beneath him in serried ranks of inferiority. It is a totally unbiblical image, because the new testament envisages not a single pastor with a docile flock but both a plural oversight and an every member ministry. Not much better is the model of the bus, in which the pastor does all the driving while the congregation are the passengers slumbering in peaceful security behind him. Quite different from either the pyramid or a bus is the biblical model of the body. The church is the body of Christ, every member of which has a distinctive function.” - John Stott, The Living Church 2. One of the Bible’s favorite metaphors for the Church is a living growing body. Paul uses it multiple times, in Ephesians Romans and of course 1 Corinthians. 3. The idea behind this is that every member of the Church is absolutely essential, (just like each body part is essential and plays a part in a fully functioning body). No matter how small or large a congregation, no matter how smart, talented or resourced the individuals, spiritual or unspiritual - every one has a gift from the Holy Spirit, a ministry, and a part to play. 4. It seems to me that for many years the church, as a whole, has lost the understanding that the Sunday morning gathering is for the spiritual and physical strengthening of the church and not primarily a means of evangelism or “outreach”. Though evangelism is very important, when the Sunday morning gathering focus is nothing more than proclamation (An evangelistic sermon) you get a lot of listeners, observers and consumers but not many co-laborers and practitioners. We should be thinking of our Sunday gatherings in terms of a Theatrical play - the angels and the saints of heaven, God himself is the audience. 5. The church congregation are the performers. Each of us has a costume to wear, and lines to speak in order for the full production to take place - Our costumes are the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus that Paul says each of us are to be clothed with - we individuals should spiritually prepare ourselves to gather, and not just those who teach, or lead - we should all be in prayer -( speak to me, speak through me; minister to me, minister through me), We reflect on our daily practices, heart motives and mindset, confessing and repenting—preparing ourselves to meet with God’s people. We also, rehearse our lines and come prepared to play our part. Holy Spirit, use me to bring encouragement and help to others - exhortation, encouragement, comfort, correction, love and affirmation, etc 6. John Stott in his book The Living Church - speaks continuously of the vision of the Church form the Bible as an “Every Member Ministry.” One person, or even a group of persons cannot do everything - God has called each of as individuals to bring our unique gift, calling, personality, and perspective together, submitting to one another, working together that we might help one another grow in our identity in Christ, in human wholeness, in our knowledge and experience of God’s love for us while we work out his great plan to use the Church to proclaim the Gospel and bring people into his kingdom. 3. What are some of these Gifts, Ministries and Manifestations of the Spirit? 1. Taken from Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4 Paul list out very specific Giftings, services and manifestations of the Spirit which include: Apostles, Prophet, Teacher, Pastor, Evangelist, miracles, healing, helps, administration, various kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, prophecy, discerning of spirits, encouragement, contribution, leadership, mercy and service. This is not an exhaustive list of what the Spirit does - there is much more. Paul never mentions all the gifts in any passage; he gives examples rather than a definitive list. 1. Two OT gifts, craftsmanship (Ex. 31:5,) and worship (1 Sam. 16:16-18), don't appear in the NT lists. Nicolai loves to include the Spirit's super natural speed given to Elijah as well 2. Peter in his first Epistle doesn’t list out Spiritual gifts in the way Paul does but simply categorizes all Spiritual gifts under two columns Speaking and Serving: 1. Speaking Gifts: If someone speaks: covers the whole range of speaking gifts; prophecy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, teaching, evangelism and preaching. 2. Serving Gifts: If someone serves: this covers all those deeds one Christian does to or for another: Administration, care for the poor and sick (including contributing funds, distributing funds, and physical care), helps, leading, healing, miracles and similar acts that express God's love and mercy in concrete form. 3. Some of these gifts are very obvious while others are a bit more nuanced and sensational. Let me just talk for minute about a few of those gifts: 3. Sensational manifestations - these seem to be ways in which the Spirit speaks and works through individual christians when God’s people gather together. These are not actually gifts but more manifestations or eruptions of the Spirit. They are possible for all christians, at any time. - As Paul says, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” - 1 Cor 12:11 1. This should give us an expectation and excitement for what the Spirit might do through us when we gather together… 4. Word of Wisdom - This is not referring to someone who is educated, well read or experienced but rather a wisdom that comes supernaturally from God’s Spirit. This was perhaps the same Wisdom that King Solomon had but definitely the Wisdom Jesus had to answer the many difficult questions and trappings of the religious leaders. In the church, this wisdom is used to give divine direction and insight into life’s most confusing scenarios 1. The ability to have insight into people and situations that is not obvious to the average person combined with an understanding of what to do and how to do it. 2. Word of Knowledge - Revelation or insight that God gives to one Christian about another person or situation of which they would have otherwise have been ignorant and which is lie a knife cutting through to the heart of the matter, or a key unlocking that persons heart and mind in order for the Gospel to work. 1. This Knowledge was seen in Jesus When he spoke to the woman at the well. - He knew that she had been married five times and that the man she was with now wasn’t her husband - This was supernatural knowledge given by the Holy Spirit and it opened her heart to listen to Jesus and receive his grace. 2. Story of my mom and the woman with the Urn 3. It seems that this gift is in order for our hearts to be open or reopened to the God who sees, hears, cares, Speaks and acts. 3. Faith - this isn’t speaking of Saving faith - faith we have in Jesus for salvation. But Faith in a specific work that God wants to do or is doing. Gordon Fee defines the gift of faith as, “A supernatural conviction that God will reveal his power or mercy in a special way in a specific instance”. 1. This also seems to be at work in Peter when he raises the crippled man in Acts 3:1-10. At a word from Peter the man is healed 2. Outside of Scripture, George Mueller or Hudson Taylor are some of the greatest examples of this - George Mueller believed God had called him to serve the Orphans of Bristol and believed God would provide for that work - there are incredible accounts of millions of dollars being given, and a myriad of miraculous resources. Same with Hudson Taylor and his work in China. 4. Miracles and Healing - Jesus, Paul, and the rest of the early church lived in regular expectation that God would heal people’s physical bodies. There are countless testimonies throughout church history and present of God’s miraculous healing of his people - whether broken bones, or brain tumors, to infertility to terminal illness and everything in between. 5. Prophecy - This gift is rather broad in its manifestation - from Declaring Gospel truth (Preaching - usually not in my notes, yet it ministered directly to someone’s person or situation), to being the exact or appropriate word for an individual or group at the right time - encouragement, comfort, exhortation; to declaring future events.. 6. Discerning of Spirits - There are two Biblical references that come to mind with this gift - "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. (1 Cor 14:29) 1. And, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 2. The gift seems specific to discerning prophecy - whether true or false, but also wisdom in how to apply it. 3. We see it with Jesus and Peter - revelation from the Father, next words inspired by the devil… weird stuff. 4. Personal example: A Prophetess told me that the Spirit told her Satan was going to break my arm… never happened, and I told her that it wasn’t from the Lord. Why? How did I know? a message of fear and discouragement, no hope, no way out, no peace with it… gift of discernment… 1. Also seems to be a general supernatural discernment with people and situations…Paul with Bar-jesus, and Peter with Simon Magus 7. Tongues and Interpretations - There are foreign unlearned languages that spirit speaks through his people. The only gift that is used for self edification. Congregationally or corporately it is to be used along with the gift of interpretation - always done to bring encouragement, sometimes used prophetically 4. How do I discover the Spirits gifting, ministry and manifestations 1. Ask yourself “What am I good at?” “What am I passionate about?” “What do others confirm in me?” 2. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you, and or pray for a specific gifting 3. Ask, and observe “What are the needs of our church community? 1. “In too many of our congregations, spiritual gifts are seen through a hyper-individualist grid. We tell our people how to “unwrap” their gifts, to take a personality profile to find out what their gift is. We say, “Every member is a minister,” but what we mean is, “Every member should serve on a committee.” The gifts of the New Testament, though function as part of a home economy as the household is built up through the various parts thereof. In the New Testament we don’t find our gift through self examination and introspection and then find ways to express it. Instead we love one another, serve one another, help one another, and in so doing we see how God has equipped us to do so. This is why Paul always speaks of the spiritual gifts in terms of the whole body, of order, and of the primacy of love.” -Russell Moore 4. If we have some inclination, or feel a “leading” then discover Through trial and error. 1. Gifts are discovered in service to God and others. It is in humble service that we discover the gifts that we have and the greater gifts that we may need. 2. We need to avoid the danger of becoming consumed with the means or manifestation of spiritual gifts (what spiritual gift?) if we do that we will lose sight of the end goal (serving one another, glorifying God). Seek the end, seek to glorify God, seek to serve the needs of others, and I believe, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, you will find your spiritual gifts and our church community will grow, and mature and blossom into greater usefulness for God’s kingdom and God’s glory. Conclusion: Do you know and understand that God has called you to love and serve his people, his bride the Church? This is one of the main ways, if not THE WAY that we show our love and gratitude toward God. To the degree that we understand God’s love and commitment to us through Christ to that degree we will serve and invest in God’s church - to that degree we will set ourselves apart for the Spirits work and manifestation among us. The gospel,- the unfailing love, forgiveness and grace of God in what Jesus has done for us must be the fuel for our service to one another.