Gifts of the Spirit
Romans 12:4-8
This morning we are continuing to talk about the Holy Spirit and the things He produces and provides in our life. For the last 2 weeks we have talked about the fruit that the Lord grows in us through His Spirit.
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This week we are transitioning to the Gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us when we trust in Jesus as our Savior.
Did you know you have been gifted?
Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, “I don’t feel very gifted.”
Maybe when you look around at others you think that they are the ones who have been gifted, but you sure don’t feel like it.
I have felt that way at times myself.
I see people who can sing and think “Oh how I could worship the Lord if I could sing like Billy or play the piano like Nancy, but I have not been gifted in that way.”
Sometimes, I do feel like I have been gifted in that way, but it seems to come and go. It comes when I am in my car and have the radio playing, but this gift seems to go away when people are around because my voice doesn’t seem to sound to them like I think it does when I am by myself!
Anyway I am sure there are things that each one of us wish we could do, but we can’t, and that sometimes makes us think we can’t do anything.
Well, I want to tell you today, that if you are a Christian, if you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have a Spiritual gift from the Lord with unique abilities that only you can do in the particular church you are a part of.
Transition
This morning I want us to learn about Spiritual gifts by asking some questions.
And the first thing we need to know is
What are Spiritual gifts?
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A Spiritual gift is a divine ability or enablement given to those who have received Christ.
There are 3 main sections of Scripture with teaching about Spiritual gifts, plus a few other miscellaneous Scriptures. We find teaching along with some of the individual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and Romans 12, along with a couple of other Scriptures that might list an individual gift that is available.
Paul is the apostle that talks most about these gifs and in 1 Corinthians 12,
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Paul says “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant…”(1 Corinthians 12:1)
Paul wants us to know about and understand that we have been given spiritual gifts. These gifts are received by those who have the Spirit of God indwelling them and we only have the Spirit of God indwelling us when we believe in Christ.
Ephesians 1:13 - And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit indwells us as we receive Christ as Savior and He gives us a Spiritual gift, an ability to do something that we could not do before, or He enables us to use a talent that we have already been given, in such a way that we are using it for His glory and not our own.
And that leads to our second question that we need to answer about Spiritual gifts.
What is the purpose of Spiritual Gifts?
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Spiritual gifts are given for the common good and the building up of the church
1 Corinthians 12:7 - Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good
Ephesians 4:12 tells us the gifts are “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”
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A spiritual gift is something that God gives to or enables his followers to do for the benefit and building up of the church.
He has given each one of us who follow Him a gift. It is not something we are to use for own benefit but for the common good and we should be using our gift to build up others in the church to be able to use their gifts even more effectively.
Are you using your gift for the building up of the church?
Maybe you are sitting here today and thinking, I don’t even know what the gifts are, let alone if which one I have.
Well, throughout the Scripture we see many types of gifts given to Christians.
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Within Christianity there is not complete agreement on what all the gifts are or on if some of the gifts that were given are still relevant or available for believers today.
So I want to start out talking about these different types of gifts and to consider their purpose.
The first type of Spiritual gifts I want to look at are
The Sign Gifts
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Within Christianity it is debated whether the sign gifts are still valid for today.
These sign gifts would include such gifts as the gift of tongues, the gift of being able to do miracles, and the like.
That these gifts were given, available and used in the New Testament is not debated within Christianity.
We call them sign gifts, because these gifts were often used as a sign to authenticate a message or messenger that was from God.
OT example – Authenticate Moses
In the Old Testament we see that God did signs and wonders to confirm that He was speaking through Moses.
Then the LORD said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? (Numbers 14:11)
The Lord was leading the people out of Egypt where they had been held captive as slaves for 400 years.
NT – Authenticate Jesus as Messiah
In the New Testament, the Father affirmed Jesus as the Messiah through signs, wonders and Miracles.
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know (Acts 2:22-23)
NT - Authenticate the Gospel
In the New Testament, God also authenticated the message of the gospel given through the Apostles with signs, wonders and miracles..
How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Hebrews 2:3-4)
God was ushering in the New Covenant and paying for the sins of mankind through Jesus.
As revelation continued through the apostles, and Scripture was recorded, we see a shift to the miracle of the revealed word of God being used to authenticate a message or messenger that is speaking the Lord’s words into our lives.
Listen to what Luke says about the Bereans in acts as the gospel continued to go forth and Paul preached it to them.
Acts 17:11 - Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
They examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was authentic. Yes, Paul as an apostle was someone who could do miracles. But as the Scripture was revealed, there was less need for miracle workers as authentication could be made as people tested what was said against the word of God.
It appears that even gift to perform miracles by the apostles lessened over time as Paul had some ailment, “a thorn in his flesh” that he could not heal with his gift to perform miracles.
Opinion
So, to me, I am giving a viewpoint here based on my understanding of Scripture, I don’t believe that the sign gifts are necessary in our culture today as the purpose God used sign gifts for is not necessary as we authenticate a message or messenger through the written word of God.
Now, even though I believe that these gifts are unnecessary today in this particular culture, we need to be cautious in being dogmatic on this because the Scripture also says, as Paul continues to expound on the gifts to the Corinthians, to “not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
(1 Corinthians 14:39-40)
So while I personally don’t believe that the sign gifts have purpose today, we see this as an issue that does not separate us. While we don’t practice these gifts like tongues in our worship service, we do not forbid people to practice them outside of our service in their homes if they believe otherwise.
One other thing I think we should make clear is that while I don’t believe the gift of miracles is prevalent in our day and culture, I do believe that God still does miracles, just not through specific people like the apostles whom God gave the gift of miracles to. Instead, I believe that God still does miracles, but through the work of His Spirit and the prayers of His people.
But again, this is an area that we can disagree on and still work side by side in this church, seeking to fulfill the great commission.
The area of Spiritual gifts that I really want to focus on though are
The Serving Gifts
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Whereas the sign gifts are a sign of God’s work in authenticating a message or messenger and may or may not be temporary for a time when God is doing something new, the serving gifts are definitely not temporary and each of us who are believers will have at least one of these gifts that we are to use for the common good and the building up of the church.
In one of the other passages that speak about the gifts, Romans 12, we see about half of these serving gifts spoken about.
Romans 12:4-8
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
When I do a Spiritual Gifts Assessment, we assess for 11 different gifts that can be used in service to the Lord.
We find 6 of them in this Romans passage
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The gift of Serving or helps
The gift of Teaching
The gift of Encouragement
The gift of Giving
The gift of Leadership
The gift of Mercy
In addition to those 6, we find elsewhere in Scripture,
The gift of Administration (1 Corinthians 12:28)
The gift of Discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10)
The gift of Evangelism (Ephesians 4:11)
The gift of Hospitality (1 Peter 4:9-10)
The gift of Shepherding (Ephesians 4: 11)
I want to give you a brief overview of each of these gifts.
This morning I want you to listen to these overviews. I will give out a written copy of the overview next week, but this morning I just want you to hear these and think about them and consider if that is an area that God has gifted you in.
______ A = Administration – The God given gift that enables a person to coordinate and organize given plans and people so that ministry may be accomplished and goals met. (1 Corinthians 12:28)
______ B = Discernment – The God given gift that enables a person to discern between spiritual truth and error in other people’s teachings and the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of falsehood in people’s lives. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
______ C = Encouragement – The God given gift enables a person to encourage and strengthen, build up and exhort other Christians so that they may better continue on in the faith and take bold actions. (Romans 12:8)
______ D = Evangelism – The God given gift the enables a person to form relationships and communicate the truth of the Gospel in a relevant and effective manner whereby people see there need to receive Jesus as their Savior. (Ephesians 4:11)
______ E = Giving – The God given gift that enables a person to give abundantly and joyfully and sacrificially of their time, talent, and treasure to help individuals ministries advance the Kingdom of God. (Romans 12:8)
______ F = Helps/Serving – The God given gift that enables a person to see spiritual significance in practical, hands on serving, that meets the needs of individuals and the church. (1 Corinthians 12:28; Romans 12:7)
______ G = Hospitality – The God given gift that enables a person to provide and create environments where people feel welcomed and cared for by providing food, fellowship and shelter enabling people to connect and enter into community. (1 Peter 4:9-10)
______ H = Leadership – The God given gift that enables a person to see the bigger picture and motivate others to accomplish tasks to the best of their abilities to reach a goal or accomplish a vision. (Romans 12:8)
______ I = Mercy – The God given gift that enables a person to empathize with people who are facing hardship or difficult circumstances so that they may show compassion and express love and grace so that an individual may find comfort. (Romans 12:8)
______ J = Shepherding – The God given gift that enables a person to guide, direct and encourage others onto spiritual maturity in Christ. Willingly enters into long term relationships to see people grow spiritually. (Ephesians 4:11)
______ K = Teaching – The God given gift that enables a person to understand, explain and help apply the whole counsel of God’s word to people’s lives. (Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:28)
Do any of those seem like an area that the Lord has gifted you in?
Perhaps you are unsure.
Nest week, during the service, we are actually all going to take a Spiritual gifts assessment to help you to be able to discern where the Lord has gifted you to serve for the common good of the church and the building up of the people.
But this morning, I want us to recognize and understand that if you have received Christ, God has a purpose for you and He has gifted you in such a way as to be able to accomplish that purpose. Our job is to discover that gift and to fulfill that purpose relying on the strength and power of the Lord.
Oh what a Great and Awesome God we have.
We are going to close in worship singing about just How Great our God is.
I invite the worship team up and for each of you to stand as we worship the God who has gifted us and given us purpose.
Let’s worship.
