ILL: Jason was a friend who was one of those people who seemed good at everything. He was artistic, outgoing, smart, a good preacher. I was glad to call him my friend, but boy, did I feel inferior! Do you ever feel like that around others?
We may not all be Jason’s, but the reality is every believer has been gifted in some way to serve God’s church. So we’re beginning a new series on the gifts - what they are and how to discover yours.
But if we are going to understand the gifts, first we need to know the giver - the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit the subject of a lot of misunderstanding, but he’s a greater gift than any ministry gift we may be given.
THE SPIRIT IS GOD
So who or what is the Holy Spirit?
As Christians we understand that there is one God and that God is one. So one of the most basic declarations about God in the Old Testament is found in Deut 6.4, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one."
And yet God in his essential being is three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Bible doesn’t come straight out and say this and so some people want to argue the point, but we really aren’t left with much choice when we get into it. Let’s look at some of the simplest.
In Matt 28.19 Jesus commands us to make disciples and to "baptise them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." A Jew hearing this would have understood Jesus as saying the Son and the Spirit are equal with the Father.
In 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul says, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." This is Paul signing off a letter and asking God to bless them. And get this, Jesus comes first in the list, not "God". So we begin to build up this picture of the Triune nature of God.
Finally, Gal 4.6 says, ’Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."’ Again we see that something of the Triune nature of God is being expressed here as each one is part of the other.
ILL: Perhaps the closest analogy is to our human nature. You are a single, integrated being with a spirit, a mind and a body. You are not three beings in one or one being divided up into three. We know that when our minds are sick, our body is affected and vice versa. In fact, what happens in our spirit affects our mind and body as well and researchers have found that people who pray regularly are generally happier and more positive than those who don’t. This leads some people to believe that spirituality is all in the mind, or that it’s just our neurons doing what they’re hardwired to do, but that’s not true. It’s because we are spiritual beings and that spirituality is an integral and indivisible part of who we are. It also explains why psychology and biology will never be sufficient in understanding our humanity, they both leave out the essential ingredient of spirituality.
Like all analogies you will probably find lots of holes in it, especially since God is something completely other than us. But my point is that God is one - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
And this means that the Holy Spirit is God. He was not created by God. He is not inferior to the Father or Son. He is not some impersonal force given to us by God to use or manipulate. He is the sovereign Lord, creator and life giver who we rely on for every breath and to whom we must submit.
But he does have a particular role in the Godhead, and this morning I want to pull out just three that Paul touches on in this passage on the gifts.
THE SPIRIT ENABLES US TO CONFESS "JESUS IS LORD"
Paul writes in v.3 that, ’No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. But surely anyone can say it, it’s just three words! So what does he mean?
In Matt 7.21 Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven." The words are meaningless if they are not accompanied by a faith commitment. And incidentally, so is any ministry we might perform!
Paul says in Rom 10.9-10, " If you confess with your mouth, ’Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
So when Paul says that no one can say ’Jesus is Lord’ except by the Spirit, he means that the Spirit enables us to make the declaration of faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour.
It’s like the difference between reading about someone in a book and actually meeting them. It’s all about encountering Christ through the Spirit.
ILL: You could tell me about this really gorgeous woman and even show me a picture of her and I might go, "Yep, she’s pretty hot - most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen." But then she walks into the room - and you know I’m talking about my wife, don’t you? - and you’ve got to pull out the defibrillator and pick me off the floor. "Whoa, she’s hot!"
And there’s a clue to the purposes of the gifts here as well. If the Spirit leads us to Jesus, so do the gifts he gives. They’re designed to build faith in Christ and bring him glory. If you want to discover and move in your spiritual gifts, you need to make sure you’re life is oriented towards Christ because they’re about him. But that’s for another time.
THE SPIRIT BRINGS US INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD
The second thing the Spirit does is closely related to this confession of Christ’s Lordship and it has to do with us being part of God’s family. In v. 13 Paul says, "We were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body."
But what is this ’Baptism by one Spirit’? Actually, the Greek here means baptised with or in one Spirit. As we’ll see, it’s Jesus who baptises us with the Spirit, not the Spirit who baptises us.
There are very few verses in the Bible that speak directly of the Baptism of the Spirit. The gospels all tell us that Jesus is the one who baptises us with the Spirit (Matt 3.11; Mark 1.8; Luke 3.16; John 1.33).
Acts 2.4 tells us that on the day of Pentecost the disciples were filled with the Spirit, and later in Acts 11.16 Peter equates this with the baptism of the Spirit.
There are different understandings over what the baptism in the Spirit means. Some understand it to be this event where we’re filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues. I understand it a little differently.
When Paul wrote ’You were all baptised with one Spirit,’ he was writing to a church that was racked by dissension, in part, over the gifts. He goes on to say in v.30 that some of the people in Corinth actually don’t speak in tongues, and that’s OK because not everyone has the same gifts. It’s part of the diversity the Spirit brings. And so Paul is writing to a group of believers, not all who speak in tongues, but all who have been baptised by one Spirit.
When Jesus baptises us with the Spirit, The Spirit gives us new birth, he makes us a new creation, we become God’s children and part of God’s family, we become living stones in God’s temple and members of the body of Christ. In other words, through the Spirit he brings us into community, into relationship with Christ and with one another. So Eph 4.3 says, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."
Earlier we saw that, because the Spirit enables us to make the good confession of faith, we have a clue that the gifts he gives will be about glorifying Jesus and building each others’ faith in him. Here we can get this clue that if the Spirit brings us into God’s new community, then the gifts are probably also given to build up the community. And this is exactly what we see in v.7, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."
If we want to discover and effectively use our spiritual gifts we have got to be in community. This is context and a primary purpose for the gifts. You cannot discover your spiritual gift, let alone use it, in isolation from other Christians because gifts are given precisely for other Christians!
And friends, just coming to church on Sunday isn’t going to do it for you, either. For a few of us Sunday is a really big ministry day. But for most Christians, the greatest needs and opportunity and fulfilment in ministry happens in small groups and in serving people in other ways throughout the week. Maybe even in your jobs! Maybe some of you with gifts of teaching or administration or craftsmanship or helps or a host of other gifts are using them out there already! But we need you to use them in the church as well, and being the Church, living as God’s family is 24 hours, 7 days a week.
The Spirit makes us into a community and gives us gifts to strengthen the community.
THE SPIRIT EMPOWERS US FOR MINISTRY
In v.7 Paul writes, "The manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good," and v. 11, "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit."
The Spirit brings us into Christ, he brings us into community and he turns us outward and gives us power to serve others.
In Acts 1.8 Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses."
In fact, did you know that even Jesus relied on the Spirit in his ministry? In Matt 12.28 when he was having one of his run-ins with the religious leaders he said, "if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."
And Acts 10.38 says, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him."
And in the same way the Spirit gave Jesus power to serve, he gives us power for service, also.
So what does this mean for us? First of all, we can all expect the power of the Spirit to be at work in us. The manifestation of the Spirit is give to "each one".
Secondly, the ministry of the Spirit should be obvious, that’s what ’manifestation’ means. Now, it doesn’t mean spectacular. Paul mentions a lot of seemingly ordinary gifts, but when they’re the work of the Spirit through us they have a power and effectiveness that brings great glory to God and strength to the Church.
And they’re not really our gifts, are they? They’re the Spirit at work in us. What an awesome thought, that God works in us and through us and uses us to do his work. Don’t you want to be part of that?
Friends, the Spirit is given to give us power to serve, and he’ll work through you if you’ll submit to him.
CONCLUSION
What a great gift that God himself comes and makes his home in us! His Spirit comes and takes up residence with our spirit. How mind blowing is that!
He’s not something to be afraid of or to be avoided. He’s someone to be welcomed and to rejoice in and submit to.
He’s someone who will change your whole life when we have faith in Christ, he draws us into community and gives us power to join him in his mission in the world.
So let’s not be afraid as people and as a church to say, ’Come, Holy Spirit.’
