We’re going to spend some time today talking about 9 of those gifts and how God wants to use them in the body – but I was reminded by my “mouse problem” that we must be connected to the giver of the gifts – the Holy Spirit – in order to be able to make use of his gifts. God wants to use each disciple of Christ in unique and powerful ways through the exercise of spiritual gifts that he gives to each one.
My prayer as we discuss the spiritual gifts is that you will be informed of the many ways God gifts His church – and you will develop a healthy desire for spiritual gifts to be at work in YOU!
There are over 25 gifts and roles mentioned in New Testament passages, and it would be difficult to give all of them sufficient time – so my plan is to simply give you a brief explanation of the gifts and demonstrate how those gifts can be used in ministry here at CTK church.
We’ll spend today working through the gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:7-10, and will look at the other gifts mentioned in other passages of scripture over the next 2 weeks.
1 Corinthians 12:7-10
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
1. MESSAGE (or WORD) OF WISDOM
Different than natural wisdom that comes through experience and learning. The spiritual gift of a message of wisdom is supernatural revelation of the right words to say and the right things to do at the right time.
Luke 21:14-15
But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
Acts 6:8-10
Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen….They began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.”
When God gives you the gift of the “word of wisdom” – you will find yourself in conversations with people where you are able to speak exactly what is needed. You’ll find things coming to mind that you had forgotten you knew. When you use the gift of wisdom, It can bring an end to an argument. It can bring enlightenment to someone who is confused. It can help people avoid disastrous consequences of making the wrong choices.
At CTK we need people with this gift to be active in small group ministry. If you have been given this gift, you’ll be called upon by God to use it to help speak wisdom to those in your group. We also need people to utilize this gift when witnessing to others. They may come up with a question you don’t know how to answer. Be praying as you’re talking to them for God to grant you the gift of wisdom, so that you can get through their objections and help them receive God’s love.
This is the gift of wisdom. And it works in conjunction with the second gift mentioned by Paul…
2. MESSAGE (or WORD) OF KNOWLEDGE (Greek “gnosis”)
Supernatural revelation of information and/or skills that were otherwise unknown to the recipient of the gift.
In Acts 4, we find the story of Peter and John healing a blind man on the Sabbath, and then being summoned for questioning about it. As they answer the Jewish authorities, they have a boldness, authority, and courage in speaking that went beyond their training. We read about it in verses 7-13.
Acts 4:7-13
They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Another example in scripture of the gift of message of knowledge is in Acts 5.
Acts 5:1-3
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
How did Peter know that Ananias and Sapphira had done this? There is no indication that it was anything other than supernatural wisdom that had been imparted to him via the Holy Spirit.
Again, where do we need people with this gift at CTK? We need them in our small group ministry. We need them in prayer ministry with people after the service. We need them out on the front lines, sharing Christ with people with the boldness and courage that only the Holy Spirit provides!
3. FAITH (greek “pistis”)
The special ability to trust in God through difficult circumstances and the ability to believe solidly in the fulfillment of God’s promises and plans.
Those with this gift often scare other people with their confidence. They are willing to take steps of faith that often seem unreasonable or even foolish to others. But their confidence and faith in God allows them to see incredible things happen when they take those steps.
Abraham is one Bible character who definitely demonstrated the gift of faith.
Romans 4:18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and became the father of many nations…
If you remember the story, when Abraham was 75, he had been promised by God that he would be the father of many nations, but it was not until 25 years later that God finally came through on his promises.
CTK needs people with the gift of faith to be involved in prayer on Thursday mornings and on the prayer team. We need people with the gift of faith to keep loving and reaching out to people who are difficult to love and reach. We need people with the gift of faith to give shape to future plans for expansion of CTK Oak Harbor locations and/or facilities.
4/5. GIFTS OF HEALING/MIRACULOUS POWERS
The supernatural ability to heal physical and emotional wounds and/or demonstrate God’s ability to supercede the laws of nature.
There are many examples of this in gift at work in the book of Acts, but if we look at chapter 3 we find a great one. Peter and John were on their way to pray at the temple. A man blind from birth was there at the gate begging.
When asked for money, Peter’s response was classic:
Acts 3:6-8
Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.
There are people within this congregation who have had experience praying over people and seeing them miraculously cured. This is NOT just something that fake televangelists do to steal money from people. It is a way that God has used throughout the history of the church to bring glory to himself.
Where do we need people with these spiritual gifts? In prayer ministry, and in small group ministry. We need people who feel God has gifted them to give healing to others to be unafraid to approach people and follow through with that prompting of the Spirit.
6. PROPHECY
Receiving and communicating an immediate message of God to His people with authority and urgency.
Most people think of prophecy as foretelling the future, such as was done on occasion by Old Testament prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. But by far the more common use of the gift of prophecy is speaking clear messages from God for the PRESENT TIME.
Acts 15:32
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
Acts 20:10-11
After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, ’In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ "
Chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians has much more to say about the gift of prophecy, so I’m going to wait till we get there to speak in depth about this gift – called the most important gift by Paul.
For now let me just say I pray for God to release this gift in our midst, through people who are open to God using them in very direct ways, and who are courageous enough to speak when they are certain God is telling them to speak.
7. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SPIRITS
The ability to know with assurance whether certain behavior purporting to be of God is in reality divine, human, or Satanic.
Christians with this gift can recognize the true motives of people and also recognize when a person is distorting the truth or communicating error. This person often can recognize when Satan or other evil spirits are at work in a given person or situation.
Acts 16:16-18
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
This scripture reminds us that demonic spirits will often mask themselves as really coming from God in order to deceive and distract the true work that God want to accomplish. It can be difficult to tell sometimes where certain ideas and motivations come from. That is why we need people at CTK who are gifted at discerning when the church or individuals in the church are being distracted or even attacked. As the pastor I need people in this congregation who can help me look out for and do spiritual battle with the forces of darkness.
TRANS: The last two gifts of the Spirit we’ll discuss today go together:
8/9. SPEAKING IN TONGUES and INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES
The ability (a) to speak to God in a language one has never learned and/or (b) to receive and communicate a message of God to his people through a language never learned.
Interpretation is the ability to interpret such a message to the church.
Acts 2:1-11
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
Acts 10:44-46
44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
This gift is without doubt the most controversial and potentially divisive gift of all the gifts mentioned in scripture. As with prophecy – Paul gives this gift a full chapter of attention in chapter 14 – and so I will wait till then to deal with the issues Paul discusses there.
Let me just quickly say that there are clear limitations given in Paul’s writings for the use of this gift in public worship settings. However – Paul also says he wishes everyone would have this gift because of the benefits it brings in his own relationship with God.
Here at CTK I pray that God will bless many of us with this supernatural gift in order to build up His church.
CONCLUSION:
Phew! That was a lot of information wasn’t it? I hope you’re beginning to see that God desires to do incredible things in and through each of us. He did incredible supernatural things in the people we read of in the Bible – and He is still at work in these ways today. He is looking for those whose hearts are ready and willing to be used. He desires to reveal himself to us in powerful ways – but He will not force himself upon us.
I don’t have all the answers about all the spiritual gifts – but I know that I desire the work of the Holy Spirit among us – for it is the power and work of the Holy Spirit which is the true “breath of God” among us.
