Spiritual Gifts

Ryan Fregoso July 25, 2021 "Spiritual Gifts" 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 In 2005 I had a couple of big "firsts" in my career. One, I became a manager for the first time, and two, I worked in food service for the first time in my life. I learned quickly that I had a lot to learn about food service management. After a week or two in my new role, I went to my boss and let him know I was feeling a bit overwhelmed an over my head. He simply told me, don't worry about it. Just lead the team and take care of the customer, you will learn the rest over time. I did just that, I did what I was good at, taking care of my staff and taking care of the guest. I worked in food service management for about eight years, including some culinary school. And, overtime, as told, I learned the rest and became proficient in the role. The foundation for me was service. I was never the best server, cook, bartender or barista, but I could bus tables, run food, expedite the orders, seat customers, wash glassware and restock the ice bin at the bar, or stock the shelves at the coffee shop. I later discovered that my skill of service, was also a spiritual gift that the Lord has given me within the Body of Christ, in addition to other gifts. This morning, we continue in our series on the Holy Spirit. The first week, we looked at the presence of the Holy Spirit, last week we looked at the power of the Holy Spirit, and this morning, as you likely figured out from my opening, we are going to look at Spiritual Gifts. This is a big topic. One that could really be a sermon series in itself. Because of that, I won't break down each of these gifts, nor will we spend a lot of time in one specific passage. We will use 1 Corinthians 12 as starting point but will draw from other passages throughout the morning as well. While we do that, we will answer some questions, and apply some principles that we can develop in our lives that will help us to manifest these gifts in our lives. Let's go ahead and begin by reading 1 Corinthians 12:1-11: 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 HAS HE WILLS. The first thing I want to do here is define the phrase "Spiritual Gift" The Illustrated Dictionary of Bible defines it this way: Spiritual gifts are, "special gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon Christians for the purpose of building up the church" With that definition in mind, let's jump into our first question to answer this morning. HOW DO I RECEIVE SPIRITUAL GIFTS? In verses 4-7 of 1 Corinthians 12, we saw that Spiritual Gifts are manifested in service and in activities. He also makes it clear that these gifts are from the Lord. In the verses that preceded this, he reminds us that if it is from the Lord, the Holy Spirit has enabled it in our lives. Paul here is helping the reader understand that there are many gifts, and they are for the good of others. However, look a bit further at verse 11: 11 ALL THESE ARE EMPOWERED BY ONE AND THE SAME SPIRIT, WHO APPORTIONS TO EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY HAS HE WILLS. What about what Paul says in Romans 12:6: 6 HAVING GIFTS THAT DIFFER ACCORDING TO THE GRACE GIVEN TO US, LET US USE THEM: IF PROPHECY, IN PROPORTION TO OUR FAITH; To say it another way: Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit as He determines. We've already learned in this sermon series that the Holy Spirit enables us to have a relationship with the Lord, therefore, we see that He builds gifts into Christians in order to build into others within the body. Maybe one can look at gifts as building blocks for the general maturation of the saints. So, we see again, spiritual gifts are "special gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon Christians for the purpose of building up the church" The next question I want to answer this morning is ... WHO IS GIVEN SPIRITUAL GIFTS? The answer to this is simple. Every believer in Christ is given at least one spiritual sift. This may be a good time to list these gifts, which are examples, not an exhaustive list, beginning in verse 7. 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 HAS HE WILLS. First thing we see is the English word "EACH." To understand who "EACH" is, we need to look at the immediate context which takes us to verse one, where Paul addresses the "BROTHERS." You see, Paul says that each Christian has at least one gift. That's right, you have a spiritual gift. Okay, maybe this is a bit intimidating, and you don't believe Paul. So, let's see what Peter says in 1 Peter 4:10: 10 AS EACH HAS RECEIVED A GIFT, USE IT TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER, AS GOOD STEWARDS OF GOD'S VARIED GRACE: If each of us have received a gift, and each of us use that gift to serve one another, think about how we can reach others for Christ. To recap, Paul provides us with this list, one that is specifically curated for the church in Corinth: * Utterance of wisdom * Utterance of knowledge * Faith * Healing * Working of miracles * Prophecy * Discernment * Speaking in tongues * Interpreting of tongues Look again at verse 1 Corinthians 12:7 and 1 Peter 4:10, where we see that "EACH IS GIVEN" and "EACH HAS RECEIVED" Note too, these gifts may change over time. There are other gifts listed elsewhere in the bible too, including the gift of apostleship and shepherding, hospitality, leadership, administration, serving, and evangelism, to name a few more. But this section shows us that the gifts given to the Corinthians were relevant for them, which supports why these gifts may change over time. Paul addresses some of these a bit later in his epistle, specifically prophecy, speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Without getting too caught up in the details, Paul helps us to understand that using the gift for the benefit of the body is more important than the gift itself. That may also be why Peter stated that we must be good stewards of these gifts. It also leads us to two more things, first to our main idea today, which is: The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the Church and to bring glory to God. Did you see that? for the glory of God, it is not for us. Paul reminds us of this in verse 11: 11 ALL THESE ARE EMPOWERED BY ONE AND THE SAME SPIRIT, WHO APPORTIONS TO EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY HAS HE WILLS. That "HE" is the Lord. And it is HE who distributes and assigns these gifts. Better stated, this means that when we ask the Lord to reveal our gifts, it is not something that we should desire for our own selfish purpose. So, who then is given Spiritual Gifts? Every believer. The next question I want to answer is ... WHY DO WE HAVE SPIRITUAL GIFTS? First thing we see is that it is ... To build up the body. This comes directly from our primary passage today, in 1 Corinthians 12:7: 7 TO EACH IS GIVEN THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT FOR THE COMMON GOOD. The common good for who? For the body. So, let's take a look at an example of church leadership within this context. In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul speaks to the churches in Ephesus about unity and the role of the leadership within the church. Let's see what he says: 11 AND HE GAVE THE APOSTLES, THE PROPHETS, THE EVANGELISTS, THE SHEPHERDS AND TEACHERS, [all functions within the church that exercise their gifts, why?] 12 TO EQUIP THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, FOR BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST, You see, the purpose for exercising gifts is for the building of the body, we also see that it is also ... To give glory to God. Peter added these words: 11 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. Moments ago, we saw in Ephesians 4 that we have Spiritual Gifts for the building up of the church. This also implies that there are and were periods of time where some gifts were used for a specific purpose. Remember this verse from last week in Acts 1:8, where we were reminded that the apostles received the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus empowered the early church leaders to perform miracles to build the early church. Later in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul provides this insight in verses 27-31: 27 NOW YOU ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST AND INDIVIDUALLY MEMBERS OF IT. 28 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. 29 ARE ALL APOSTLES? ARE ALL PROPHETS? ARE ALL TEACHERS? DO ALL WORK MIRACLES? 30 DO ALL POSSESS GIFTS OF HEALING? DO ALL SPEAK WITH TONGUES? DO ALL INTERPRET? 31 BUT EARNESTLY DESIRE THE HIGHER GIFTS. AND I WILL SHOW YOU A STILL MORE EXCELLENT WAY. Seemingly, Paul is saying that certain gifts are given for a certain time for a certain purpose in a certain place. That is to say that the Lord will provide to the Body, the gifts that they need, when they need it. Another aspect of this may include how our Spiritual Gifts impact those outside of the church. Let's be honest, there is a bit of a stereotype when it comes to Christians, particularly those of certain denominations. Not to get into details, because that is not the point, but think about how some of these things are viewed by those outside of the church. Does it bring people to Him? Does it build others up? Or is it simply bringing attention to oneself? In 1 Corinthians 14, that is exactly Paul's point regarding the gift of tongues. Next, HOW DOES ONE EXERCISE THESE GIFTS? Well, first, and foremost ... With humility. Paul tells us in Romans 12:3-6a: 3 FOR BY THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME I SAY TO EVERYONE AMONG YOU NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY THAN HE OUGHT TO THINK, BUT TO THINK WITH SOBER JUDGMENT, EACH ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF FAITH THAT GOD HAS ASSIGNED. 4 FOR AS IN ONE BODY WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS, AND THE MEMBERS DO NOT ALL HAVE THE SAME FUNCTION, 5 SO WE, THOUGH MANY, ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND INDIVIDUALLY MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER. 6 HAVING GIFTS THAT DIFFER ACCORDING TO THE GRACE GIVEN TO US, I'm sure we've all heard the saying, "it's not work if you love what you're doing!" I think that is true in some ways, but the Lord doesn't want us to become too comfortable in what we are doing, rather we should serve with joy and zeal. It is critical that we exercise our gifts with joy, with others in mind, and for the glory of God. He reminds us in verse 3 that these are "gifts of grace," they were given to us by the Holy Spirit, for God's purpose, so we are not to think too highly of ourselves. Finally, the next question that needs to be answered is ... HOW DO I DISCOVER MY SPIRITUAL GIFT? Now this one is not as clear as some of the other questions we discussed so far this morning. I am going to give you five things that you can do to identify these gifts from the Holy Spirit. Now, just like the other list, this is not exhaustive. 1. Read a. The passages we discussed today (which were many) help us to see some different aspects of how the Holy Spirt gives and enables these gifts. b. Recall too, that these gifts discussed today are not exhaustive, there are many gifts, c. So generally, as you read, circle, underline, journal, highlight (whatever your preferred method) the gifts that you feel resonate with you, then do this ... 2. Pray a. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you as you read? b. How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you when you think over these gifts? Then, 3. Ask a. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the gift that He has given to you, and ask Him to empower you b. Recall, James said that if one seeks wisdom, to pray for it! c. And Jesus said to ask and it will be given to you! d. Sometimes even your friends and family can help you to see what you cannot see in yourself, so ask them too. And next ... 4. Serve a. We say this often at Thornydale, if you're not sure what your gift is, or where you should serve, just get plugged in somewhere. b. When you begin serving others, and serving with others, not only will some of these gifts be revealed, but others may also see something in you that you don't see in yourself 5. Look a. Look for affirmation from the Lord b. Is what you are doing producing fruit? c. Are people being blessed by your service or activity? d. And most importantly, is God being glorified in your service or activity? I know we covered a lot of ground this morning, but if nothing else, remember our main idea this morning: The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the Church and to bring glory to God. Years ago, I saw that the team that I led was stretched very thin, then I realized that they were involved in a lot of other things outside of the day to day operation. So, I finally challenged them, asking them "is what you're doing positively impacting the customer? The employee? The finances of the business?" If not, then we must not participate, as it's not producing fruit. So, I have two questions for you this morning: Is what you are doing in the body of Christ? 1. Bringing Glory to God? and is it 2. building up others in the body of Christ? Let's pray. 2