THE SPIRIT & HIS GIFTS
1 Cor. 12:8-11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: WHAT’S A MIRACLE?
1. A devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the range. Three weeks later a cow walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth.
2. The cowboy couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the cow's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward, and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!"
3. "Not really," said the cow. "Your name is written inside the cover."
4. A Miracle is a surprising event that’s not explainable by natural or scientific laws and considered to be the work of a divine agency.
4. When the Holy Spirit came down, a new dimension of the miraculous began to happen. Read with me.
B. TEXT
“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” 1 Cor. 12:8-11.
C. THESIS
1. We are having a continuing series on the Holy Spirit. We started in Genesis and have worked through the Books of the Bible, down to the Apostle’s Epistles.
2. Tonight we’re going to examine the Spiritual Gifts. We're going to take a few minutes and give a brief overview of these gifts, their differences, and their importance.
3. “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant” 1 Cor. 12:1. There are many people who don't understand the gifts of the Spirit and/or mistakenly teach that God has done away with the gifts. But they are real & vital for the Body of Christ today!
4. The title of this message is: "The Holy Spirit & His Gifts."
D. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. ORIGIN. Spiritual gifts are not natural gifts; they are manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
2. VOLITION. It is the Holy Spirit, not the gifts, that is resident in the Believer. The Holy Spirit imparts to the Spirit-filled Believer whatever gift is needed at the moment. The Apostle Paul instructs us to wait on the Spirit to bestow His gifts (Rom. 12:7).
3. MERIT. Spiritual gifts are not an evidence of holiness. Gifts are not given because we have reached perfection, but because of God’s grace and our yeildedness.
4. PURPOSE. The gift of the Spirit are meant to bring glory to God, to edify the Body of Christ, to convince unbelievers, to redirect the church, and to meet human need.
5. CANDIDATES. All who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit are candidates to be used in the gifts of the Spirit.
6. EXERCISE. The Holy Spirit will always exercise His gifts in conformity with the Word of God. Love must be the underlying motive in the expression of the spiritual gifts.
I. GIFTS OF REVELATION
A. WORD OF WISDOM
1. This is the supernatural communication from the Holy Spirit of a portion of God's Wisdom in order to know what to say or how to act in a given situation.
2. The word of Wisdom is NOT the result of intelligence, illumination, or godly wisdom. The word of wisdom is an impartation from God of correct conclusions or courses of action outside of your own experience and wisdom (Luke 21:13-14).
3. Examples of the Gift in Operation:
a. Solomon and the case of the disputed child (1 Kings 3:16-28; "cut the child in half and give half to each mother."
b. Examples would be Jesus's answer about the woman caught in adultery: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (Jn. 8:7).
c. Or, Jesus’ answer concerning tribute (Mt. 22:21): "Who's picture and name are on it? Then give to Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's."
d. James conclusion on the church problem (Acts 15:13-21).
e. Peter's vision of the animals in the sheet (Acts 10:10-20): "What God has cleansed, call not unclean."
B. WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
1. This is the supernatural communication of INFORMATION or understanding from the Spirit of God to an individual.
2. The Word of Knowledge is NOT:
a. A profound knowledge of Scripture or accumulation of facts;
b. Extrasensory perception;
c. An analysis of personality traits;
d. Not a gift of public speaking.
3. Examples of the Gift in Operation:
a. Samuel’s knowledge that King Saul was coming to him, that the asses were found, and that Saul was hiding in the stuff (1 Samuel 9:15-16; 10:2, 21-22).
b. Elisha's knowledge of the location of the Syrian army (1 Kings 6:8-12).
c. Jesus’ knowledge of the Samaritan woman's background (Jn. 4:16-18); "You've had five husbands and the one you now have is not your husband."
d. Another would be Peter's recognizing the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-9) or Paul recognizing the cripple’s faith (Acts 14:9).
e. Paul and the cripple’s faith (Acts 14:9).
C. DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
1. This is the distinguishing between spirits. It's being mentioned after the gift of prophecy suggests it's involved in judging utterances as mentioned in 1 Cor. 14:29.
2. It involves supernatural perception, differentiating between spirits, good and evil, true and false, in order to make a decision, especially about a spiritual manifestation or demonstration. 1 Jn. 4:1 tells us not to believe every spirit but to try the spirits, whether they be of God.
3. The discerning of spirits is NOT:
a. Perceptive character judgment;
b. Keen observation skills;
c. The power to discover faults in others (erroneously called "the gift of discernment").
4. Purposes and Scriptural Examples
a. To identify the spirits behind false prophets (Micaiah & Ahab: 1 Kings 22:22; false prophet Hananiah, Jer. 28:10-17; girl with spirit of divination, Acts 16:16-18.)
b. It was the gift used by Peter to see the motivation of Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:23) and bought Paul concerning Elymas/ Bar Jesus in Acts 13:8-11).
5. HUMOR. One man came up to his pastor and said, "Pastor, every time I come to church, in your sermon you say something that’s going on in my personal life that I need correction about. It's like you're reading my mind! YOU’VE GOT TO CUT THAT OUT!!!"
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: SPIRITUAL DROUGHT
1. Currently, 40 percent of the entire population of the planet has little or no access to clean water, and it is being
projected that by 2025 two-thirds of humanity will live in "water-stressed" areas.
2. In some areas of California their water usage has been severely restricted. Large containers of clean water have been brought in sponge bathing, teeth brushing, and drinking. Can you imagine?
3. However, lack of water is not a problem in the spiritual realm. We know of a never-ending supply, without restrictions, from our everlasting fountain, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all invited to come.
4. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit. (NASB) John 7:38-39.
5. Psalm 63:1 – “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” (NKJV) We just need to come to the fountain and drink.
B. THE CALL
1. Paul had some good advice for us; “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit (14:1); “But covet earnestly the best gifts” (12:31).
2. Paul spent an entire chapter (13) making sure that he stressed that our gifts should operate out of a motivation of love and not selfishness or pride.
3. God said we need these gifts operating in the Body. Therefore we do, and should earnestly seek them and their use in the churches.
4. Let’s ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit and use us in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
